I continue my attempt to dig myself out of the hole into which I fell when my computer failed me last week. That is, I’m trying to catch up on my reports from this Interpreter Foundation educational tour to Guatemala and Mexico. We spent the first part of our first full day in Guatemala by visiting a huge open-air relief map of the country, showing its mountainous highlands and its flat jungle lowlands. Very helpful, much in the way... Read more
I’m still making an effort to catch up on the reporting of this Interpreter Foundation educational tour: Last Thursday, 24 October, on the morning after the catastrophic computer failure that silenced me for the better part of a week, we spent most of the day walking around a small portion of the Guatemalan Parque nacional Tikal. The ruins of Tikal, which were occupied from approximately 600 BC until about AD 750, are, quite simply, stunning. The site is surrounded by... Read more
I’m going to make a serious effort to catch up on my reporting from this Interpreter Foundation educational tour in Guatemala and Mexico. I’m several days behind because of the mysterious computer malfunction that crippled me from Wednesday night until last night, Monday night. But I think that I can compensate for that, more or less. We arrived on Sunday night in Tapachula, a city that is located in the far southeast of the state of Chiapas, México, near... Read more
To the nearly giddy delight of several folks on the Peterson Obsession Board, Six Days in August has, thus far, considerably underperformed our hopes and expectations at the box office. As a consequence, it will probably not last much longer in theaters. So, if you’ve been a’thinkin’ about seein’ it someday on a big screen, you might want to take action very soon in that regard. On the Obsession Board, explanations for the film’s relatively unimpressive performance in theaters... Read more
For the next two weeks or so, I’m not going to be able to spend as much time on my computer as I typically do. I won’t be able to manage this blog as well as I usually do, or to respond as quickly to emails and comments. I’ll miss all or almost all of the criticism and mockery aimed my way at the Peterson Obsession Board. I’ll be otherwise occupied, and I won’t always have access to the... Read more
Did you see Six Days in August last night? If not, don’t fret. Morning has broken. (Blackbird has spoken.) The sun has arisen, with healing in its wings. You can go to the movie today, and tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow. Go all three days! From the perpetually dying Interpreter Foundation: Margaret Barker’s Master Classes on the Hebrew Scriptures: November 9 and November 16 The Interpreter Foundation is pleased to offer two seminars from noted scholar Dr. Margaret... Read more
Six Days in August has been out in theaters for approximately ten days now. It’s impossible to guarantee or to predict how long its theatrical run will continue. So, if you haven’t yet seen it, or if people whom you would really like to see it haven’t done so yet, now — now — is the time to act. The last time that a positive view of Brigham Young was offered on a commercial theatrical screen was in 1940.... Read more
I saw this title (or something like it) on a Latter-day Saint-related message board. I never read through the thread there and, now, I probably wouldn’t be able to find it. But I once posted something on this subject and have been attacked ever since for what I said, by people who plainly didn’t understand what I said. So I thought, What the heck? I’ll try it again. Yes, there can be valid criticisms of the Church. Both of... Read more
At this point, I’m pretty sure that you regret having spent last night watching that boring and utterly predictable football game between BYU and Oklahoma State when, instead, you could have been in the audience for a screening of Six Days in August. And, of course, you have nobody to blame for that but yourself. Fortunately, though, you still have a shot at redemption. Go see it today! I jest but, candidly, turnout for Six Days in August has... Read more
Thanks to the generosity of FAIR, I was able to record a couple of video interviews this afternoon in their American Fork studio. One was with Samuel T. Wilkinson, author of the superb book Purpose: What Evolution and Human Nature Imply about the Meaning of Our Existence. The other was with Ben Spackman. Both revolved around questions of biological evolution and faith. I’ll let you know when they go up. Professor Wilkinson gave an excellent lecture yesterday on the... Read more
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