The story that we told in the Interpreter Foundation’s 2024 dramatic film Six Days in August — and on which we’ll be expanding in our forthcoming series of short Becoming Brigham documentaries — continues to be directly relevant to current events in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as general conference proceeds and as we approach the establishment of a new First Presidency. Pending release of our mini-documentaries (which we expect to begin in January), here’s a helpful article in the Deseret News: “The history of succession in the Church of Jesus Christ: The principles and procedures associated with the selection of new leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have long been established”
I watched this 52-minute compilation last night, and enjoyed it quite a bit. There are wonderful things happening: “Watch the October 2025 Edition of the World Report”.
And if this 22-minute video thrills you even a quarter as much as it thrilled me, you’ll be . . . well, pretty thrilled. I regard the Perpetual Education Fund and BYU-Pathway as among the most phenomenal things that the Church has ever done: “General conference special: ‘Pathway to Hope: Jane Clayson Johnson in Africa.'”
I’m not the only person who feels that way: Deseret News (11 April 2025): “Notre Dame professor: BYU-Pathway Worldwide may become Latter-day Saints’ ‘biggest gift to the world’: BYU-PW president predicts the low-cost, quality online education initiative will hit a massive milestone in student numbers later this year as the Church of Jesus Christ addresses global disparities”
And here’s a related item about BYU-Pathway: “Emmy Award-winning journalist shares how BYU–Pathway is ‘transforming higher education’: Speaking at BYU, Jane Clayson Johnson outlines how BYU–Pathway is providing students a ‘Pathway to Hope’”
The Pathway project needs more involvement from teachers, tutors, and even employers. It seems to me something that is absolutely worthy of support and of volunteers.
It has been widely noted, in the aftermath of the attack in Grand Blanc, Michigan, that a considerable number of commenters, immediately after condemning the murders, scurried with unseemly to repair any potential boundary breaches and to guarantee the exclusion of the “Mormons” by assuring anybody who was paying attention that Latter-day Saints are cultists who aren’t really Christians. In that regard, this article in USA Today was important: “Slurs, stereotypes and violence have long plagued members of the Mormon faith: Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have long been subjected to prejudice and violence.”
And it was very good to see this story:
- Deseret News: “Catholic church in Utah filled to overflowing for a special mass for President Russell M. Nelson: Latter-day Saints expressed appreciation to the church in Heber City for the ‘beautiful and profound gesture’”
- Catholic News Agency: “Utah Catholic church offers Mass for repose of soul of late LDS president”
Moreover, although I would really like to talk to him about this, David DesRosiers, at RealClearPolitics, had some good things to say: “The Parents of Charlie Kirk’s Prodigal Assassin: Commentary” My friend and former BYU colleague Ralph Hancock has written a response to David DesRosiers that I hope he will publish somewhere.
And this article, which appeared in the Wall Street Journal but which, I think, is accessible to the general public, came as a very pleasant surprise. “Russell M. Nelson’s Style Directive: The president insisted on using the Mormon church’s unwieldy full name. He had a point.”
Of course, one of the greatest recent stories involving the Church has been the astonishing and astoundingly generous Latter-day Saint response to the killings in Michigan (which, by the way, would almost certainly have been much more numerous had law enforcement personnel not responded so very, very quickly) — including the fundraiser for the widow and family of the attacker. Here are some worthwhile articles or videos:
Associated Press: “Mormon church leaders encourage forgiveness and love after Michigan attack”
Fox2 Detroit: “Grand Blanc church attack: LDS member raises over $300K for family of shooter”
NPR: “After Michigan attack, fundraising for shooter’s family a ‘forgiveness moment'”
Jana Riess: “I am proud of my Mormon people”
Thoughtful Faith: “This is My Religion: Christianity and the Michigan Shooting”
“In coming days,” President Russell M. Nelson famously said, “we will see the greatest manifestations of the Savior’s power that the world has ever seen.” A number of critics have mocked him for saying this, though I don’t doubt that some very great miracles (in the conventional sense of the term) are still in the offing. But isn’t the donation, by Latter-day Saints, of more than $300,000.00 for the dependents of a man who sought to massacre a congregation of Latter-day Saint men, women, and children something of a miracle?
This put me in mind of a 3 August 2025 article in the Deseret News: “Perspective: The horizon is bright for the future of global faith: Compared to the days when combative atheism dominated public discussion, it’s hard to miss the array of signs and data hinting at a groundswell of religious resurgence”
However, and by the way, I wasn’t especially surprised that no new temples were announced at this weekend’s general conference. In recent years, the pace of completing and dedicating new temples has fallen well behind the rate of their announcement. That couldn’t continue.
I won’t be offering a conventional list of items today from the Christopher Hitchens Memorial “How Religion Poisons Everything” File™. Clearly, though, BYU-Pathway and the Perpetual Education Fund — mentioned above — have their source there. And the October 2025 edition of the Church’s World Report (to which I supply a link above) contains a number of materials that are obviously from the Hitchens File.
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