My Day Began In Logan, Utah

Temple in Cache Valley — The Logan Utah Temple was dedicated in 1884. Its fortress-like exterior — much like that of the temples in Manti and in Salt Lake City — is probably not without significance. (Photo from LDS.org)

I spoke this morning to a gathering of Seminary and Institute teachers in Logan, Utah, adjacent to the campus of Utah State University. My basic subject — it was a somewhat informal presentation — was the Qur’an’s view of the patriarch Abraham, who is the common father of all of the “Abrahamic faiths” (or of what Arabic-speaking Muslims often refer to as al-adyan al-samawiyya, “the heavenly religions,” which are Judaism, Christianity, and Islam).

But I also prefaced my presentation by showing, for the first time publicly, a newly-prepared trailer for the Interpreter Foundation’s forthcoming Becoming Brigham series of short video documentaries. As it happens, the trailer focused on Camrey Bagley Fox’s interview with LaJean Purcell Carruth, who works for the Church History Department but lives within a few blocks of the venue where I was speaking, In the video selection that I used this morning, LaJean spoke of her experience in recovering the genuine words of Brigham Young from George D. Watt’s Pitman shorthand.

Before heading back down to Utah Valley, I had a good conversation over a good lunch at The Beehive Pub & Grill with Dallen Craven and my host in Logan, Wade Ardern, whom I first met back in the late 1990s in his native New Zealand. I had dinner at the home of his parents in Temple View.

In the distance, Shirinian. sdlkflsdfjlskflksopiufuo — The view from where I was sitting, in the Show Barn at Thanksgiving Point, at the Interpreter Foundation’s display tables. Aaron Shirinian is speaking. (A photograph with my iPhone.)

In the evening, I attended the opening session of the 2025 FAIR Conference. First of all, I have to say that this year’s conference location, the Show Barn at Thanksgiving Point (in Lehi, Utah) is, at first and subsequent glance, magnificent. I really like it. There may be problems with it of which I’m unaware — if there are, they’ll inevitably reveal themselves in due course — but I love it. It seems the best that FAIR has ever had.

As one of the sponsors of this year’s conference, the Interpreter Foundation has a couple of tables in the rear of the hall. I’ll spend most of my time during the conference at one or the other of the tables; already, they’ve been a wonderful place to chat with friends who’ve come by. One of the nice things is that the latest Interpreter book — Abraham and His Family in Scripture, History, and Tradition: Proceedings of the Conference held May 3 & 10, 2025 (Jeffrey M. Bradshaw, John S. Thompson, Matthew L. Bowen, and David R. Seely, eds.) is on display at our tables and possibly (I didn’t have a chance to look) for sale in the FAIR bookstore. (The “book” is actually in two volumes.) It was the first time that I’ve seen Abraham and His Family in Scripture, History, and Tradition in its final published form.

The first speaker for the conference was Scott Gordon, FAIR’s longtime president, who welcomed attendees, offered a brief overview of the organization’s founding and history, and encouraged members in the audience to contribute financially to its support.

The keynote speaker for the evening was Aaron Sherinian, who is the still relatively new Managing Director of the Church Communication Department for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He delivered, very well, an engaging and encouraging address under the title “Fluent in Our Faith: Identifying and Communicating Evidence of the Glad Tidings of the Gospel in Our Life.“ I won’t attempt to summarize what he said — although a major point that he made was that this is an exceptionally exciting time to be trying to communicate with others about our faith — but I encourage you (if you haven’t already heard it) to watch the video of his speech when it eventually goes up on the website of FAIR.

The audience tonight seemed to be pretty large. I was pleased with the turnout, and it’s always good to many friends among the FAIR regulars

Three Tellys! — The three Tellys won by “Six Days in August” — two silver and a bronze — on display on the Interpreter Foundation’s table at the 2025 FAIR Conference. Photo by Steve Densley.

I was told this evening at the opening session of this week’s 2025 FAIR Conference that the Interpreter Foundation’s 2024 theatrical film, Six Days in August, is currently available for free on Amazon Prime Video. This was a surprise to me. Evidently, though, it’s good news. Apparently, our movie is being used as a come-on to attract subscribers to the streaming service. You can watch it with a free Prime trial.

But there’s other news from the world of movies, television and entertainment. This comes from The Onion, one of my major sources for current events: “Study: More Americans Converting To Mormonism In Hopes Of Getting Hulu Series”

Newfane, VT white church — A church from the 1830s in Newfane, Vermont (Wikimedia Commons public domain image)

And here are a quartet of recent news and opinion items that caught my attention:

“Insights From a Law Professor on Why Religious Freedom Matters: Scholar and a lawyer of religious freedom Steven T. Collis speaks on the importance of understanding religious liberty”

“Americans’ trust in the church rebounding after seeing record lows: Poll” (Not referring to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.)

“How the Elite Changed Its Mind on Christianity: Bush-era New Atheism couldn’t last forever.”

“Forget what you think you know about marriage and divorce in the U.S. Here’s what’s up: New report finds shifts in family behavior, but most children now raised in 2-parent homes”

Yes, it'll be held in a BARN. — Yes, this year’s iteration of the annual FAIR conference has been relegated to a barn.

But I close, as I am wont to do, with disturbing reports that have been drawn from the Christopher Hitchens Memorial “How Religion Poisons Everything” File™: