Earlier this year, I participated in a conference on religious freedom and related subjects in Uzbekistan. One of the others who attended and presented there was Shima Baradaran Baughman, who was born in Iran and who is now Woodruff J. Deem Professor of Law at Brigham Young University. I’ve been impressed by an essay that she recently published in the Deseret News, not least because of the somewhat dramatic personal family story that she tells in it: “Perspective: The Constitution is not partisan — it protects us all: Having seen life without constitutional rights, I know why people across the world still long for America’s freedoms.”
And here is another article from the Deseret News, written by President Dallin H. Oaks, formerly professor and interim dean of the law school at the University of Chicago, former president of Brigham Young University, former associate justice of the Utah Supreme Court, and, of course, currently First Counselor in the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: “Perspective: Our inspired Constitution: The U.S. Constitution is the foundation for a well-ordered government of laws, and not of men.”
Apropos of these two Deseret News articles, I call your attention to three additional items:
- The Wall Street Journal: “Pam Bondi Needs a Free Speech Tutorial: The Attorney General seems to think ‘hate speech’ is illegal. Charlie Kirk knew better.”
- National Review: “Pam Bondi’s First Amendment Follies”
- National Review: “Pam Bondi’s Ridiculous 24 Hours”
I think it worth reproducing here the full and complete text of the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
The reference here is to Congress. (Not coincidentally, Article 1 of the Constitution is about Congress, not about the Executive Branch or the Presidency.) However, I do not believe that, by saying that “Congress shall make no law. . . abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press,” the Framers were intending to tell us that, while Congress may not make such a law, the executive branch of the Federal Government is at liberty to abridge free speech or freedom of the press at will, without such a law, by either real or threatened litigation or by presidential fiat or by imperial decree.
I wrote yesterday about a Patheos blog in which it was suggested that the assassination of Charlie Kirk may have been orchestrated by Mike Lee, John Curtis, Mitt Romney, and Spencer Cox. Apparently, though, the execrable Candace Owens believes that Benjamin Netanyahu and the Jews were behind it. (I cannot bear the thought of watching the entirety of her video in order to get the precise details down. Life is short, and then we die.) But inquiring minds want to know: Why couldn’t the conspiracy have been a joint effort of Cox, Curtis, Lee, and Romney, acting in concert with Benjamin Netanyahu, the Rothschilds, and the infamous Elders of Zion? Why does it have to be an either/or? I see no reason for these theories to be in competition with each other.
Many years ago, I watched a black-and-white documentary video that, unfortunately, I’ve been unable to find again for your edification. In it, the video’s creator scientifically recreated the sinking of RMS Titanic in his home bathtub, using tiny metal ship models and ice cubes. He was able to demonstrate thereby, to his satisfaction, that the conventional explanation for the sinking of the Titanic is unsustainable and that, therefore, the Jews did it. But that video, I think, was a satire.
While we’re on this theme, by the way, I found this article interesting. It appeared in the Jewish Journal, and it’s actually somewhat more interesting than its title and subtitle would suggest: “Why Jews Make Such a Big Target for Haters: The problem is that the haters never stop reminding us that we’re different, and in the anatomy of hatred, difference is the lead virus.”
(Wikimedia Commons public domain photograph)
These new items went up yesterday on the perpetually unchanging website of the Interpreter Foundation:
For the 4 September 2025 Come, Follow Me segment of the Interpreter Foundation Podcast, Terry Hutchinson and Martin Tanner discussed the Come, Follow Me Doctrine & Covenants lesson for September 22 – 28 covering D&C 106–108. The Discussion segment of the 4 September 2025 podcast can be accessed at https://interpreterfoundation.org/interpreter-podcast-september-3-2025.
Once again, Jonn Claybaugh comes through with a concise set of notes for teachers and students of the Come, Follow Me curriculum of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Undeniable photographic evidence continues to mount, documenting the obliteration of the sky above Cody, Wyoming, and the complete obscuring of the surrounding mountains, by a Latter-day Saint temple that is being built there. Having reached its full height, the temple now looms menacingly over that once-lovely metropolis — thus fulfilling prophecy. (To avoid any misunderstanding, please note that the very tall line that emerges from the cupola of the temple in at least one of the photographs is not actually part of the building but is, rather, a construction crane.)
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