Matthew 26:21-25 Mark 14:18-21 Luke 22:21-23 Compare John 13:21-30   Somebody evidently needed to play Judas’s part in the drama of atonement and salvation.  For that matter, I suppose that somebody needed to play Satan’s part, as well.   However, neither of them will be rewarded for fulfilling these roles.   Likewise, in order for this mortal probation to be complete there must be betrayals and unkindness.  But those of us who do such things should expect no thanks... Read more

    A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul. George Bernard Shaw     Read more

    There’ve been an unusual number of stories of late about whiny college students demanding “safe spaces” where they won’t be challenged by ideas that make them unhappy, and so forth — ramping political correctness and First-Amendment-denying speech codes up to new, intolerant heights.   This piece from the president of Oklahoma Wesleyan University is, therefore, a very gratifying contrast:   http://www.okwu.edu/blog/2015/11/this-is-not-a-day-care-its-a-university/     Read more

    Matthew 26:26-29 Mark 14:22-25 Luke 22:15-20 Compare John 6:51-58; 1 Corinthians 11:23-25   It’s striking to me that, while the ordinance of the sacrament (as Latter-day Saints understand it) was instituted in the Old World and commemorates events that occurred there, the actual sacramental prayers that we use today come from the Nephites.  (See Moroni 4 and Moroni 5.)     Read more

    Common sense isn’t a reliable guide to the structure of the cosmos.  Things are much, much more interesting than that:   http://arstechnica.com/science/2015/11/scientist-says-huge-clumps-of-dark-matter-may-lie-just-beyond-the-moon/   Of course, in the image above the Moon appears to be surrounded by dark matter.  Why didn’t we notice that before?     Read more

    This is, I think, a very good article:   http://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/mormons-gay-marriage-benedict-option/   And, obviously, it’s written by a non-Mormon.     Read more

    The Joseph Smith Papers project is one of the most important ever undertaken in the study of Mormonism, and certainly ranks among the most important currently underway:   https://www.facebook.com/JosephSmithPapers/photos/a.10151929183517973.1073741826.54051677972/10153714194172973/?type=3&fref=nf&pnref=story   Thanks to Eric Lopez from bringing this item to my notice.     Read more

    It will probably upset some folks out there, but it seems that there’s enough time to think.   http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/climate-change-will-not-be-dangerous-for-a-long-time/     Read more

    Some of you who read Portuguese may find this article, about the new temple to be built in Lisbon, of interest:   http://expresso.sapo.pt/sociedade/2015-11-28-Templo-mormon-nasce-no-Parque-das-Nacoes   Posted from Atlanta, Georgia     Read more

    The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.   Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.  Posted from Atlanta, Georgia     Read more