Ramadan Kareem!

First of all, I want to wish a Ramadan Kareem to any Muslim readers that I might have.  The holy month of Ramadan — a period of fasting, scripture-reading, and reflection — began last evening (Tuesday evening) and will continue through 19 March.

It also happens, this year, that the forty-day period of Lent (also a time for reflection and of at least some abstinence) commences today and continues until 2 April, so that Lent and Ramadan roughly coincide.  (That’s why yesterday was Mardi Gras (“Fat Tuesday”) — marking the last day of indulgence before the solemn Christian fasting season of Lent begins on . . .  well, Ash Wednesday — which was today.)

And, while I’m thinking of Muslims, let me say that — unless there’s something about this Washington Post story that I don’t know — this is disgusting:  “GOP congressman who says he supports dogs over Muslims faces calls to resign: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York) said Tuesday that Rep. Randy Fine (R-Florida) is “an Islamophobic, disgusting and unrepentant bigot.””

Have you been wondering where to catch all four of the currently available episodes of Becoming Brigham?  Wonder no more!  They’re all accessible at becomingbrighan.com.  Moreover, just in case your pain threshold is unusually high: I blathered on and on for about twenty-two minutes for this interview with BYU-Idaho Radio:  “Dan Peterson shares details on new Brigham Young documentary series”

Incidentally, the fourth installment of Becoming Brigham features Matt Grow, the managing director of the Church History Department in Salt Lake City.  Here is a recent Deseret News article that also showcases him:  “What this historian has learned from writing President Holland’s biography: Vulnerability and hope in Jesus Christ defined the late Apostle’s life, says biographer Matt Grow after two and a half years of interviews”

This previously published article went up online today as part of the Interpreter Foundation’s “chapter reprint series,” which means, contrary to the uneasy suspicions of at least one unfortunate critic of the Foundation, that we are not attempting, by making it available at no charge online, to pretend that it hasn’t already been published.  He should sit down, use his smelling salts, and try to relax:  Steadfast in Defense of Faith: “The Seven Seals in the Apocalypse of John,” written by John W. Welch:

Part of our book chapter reprint series, this article originally appeared in Steadfast in Defense of Faith: Essays in Honor of Daniel C. Peterson, edited by Shirley Ricks, Stephen D. Ricks, and Louis Midgley. For more information, go to https://interpreterfoundation.org/books/steadfast-in-defense-of-faith/.

“All who have traveled or worked closely with Dan and Debbie Peterson—which my wife, Jeannie, and I have been fortunate to do on several occasions—know well of the great joy Dan experiences and radiates as he expounds on some new discovery, especially some new bit of information that validates or elucidates some significant point of religious history, some scriptural insight, or some treasured gospel truth. His confident grin and inviting gestures animate that joy especially when that new bit of knowledge corrects some popular but wrong-headed idea. In honoring and welcoming Dan to the ranks of the retired (but not yet the tired), I am personally thankful for the opportunity to advance some new ideas to the understanding of the mysterious book mentioned and used symbolically at the beginning of chapter 5 in the last book of the New Testament, the Revelation of John.”

A curious Sunday-night tradition among teenagers and young adults has unexpectedly developed around the grounds of the Mount Timpanogos Utah Temple.  I had never heard of it before, but it has now even drawn the attention of a non-Latter-day Saint publication:  “Rites And Wrongs”

It’s been snowing outside.  And I’m old enough to know that this isn’t the first time that it’s snowed here in Orem.  (No.  Really.  It’s true.)

I’m beginning to think about the Interpreter Foundation tour of Latter-day Saint and more generally Christian England that Kristine Frederickson and I will be leading this coming May.  As part of that, I intend to watch the videotaped lectures that we sponsored before last year’s tour of England.  So, tonight, I’ve just finished watching the lecture that was given on 26 March 2025 by Jamie Horrocks (Ph.D., Indiana University), who teaches British literature at Brigham Young University:  “Truth Will Prevail!: Victorian Britain in the First Missionary Moment”

Her presentation is very, very good, weaving the socio-economic background with the religious climate and the literature of the period.  I heartily recommend it to you, even if, for manifestly inadequate reasons, you’ve chosen not to go with us this coming May.

Here’s yet another horror from the Christopher Hitchens Memorial “How Religion Poisons Everything” File™:  “Creative Ways Church Members Are Using Talents to Serve Their Communities: From crocheted wigs to quilts, see how members are using crafting talents to bless others”

On one level, I regret being obliged to impose these oppressive accounts on you.  However, if you’re going to claim (at least, with any real degree of plausibility) that you’re a member of the “reality-based community” (as some anti-theists actually do) you need to face the cold, hard facts head on.