I’m aware — although an egocentric conviction that others ought to be interested in one’s every thought seems pretty fundamental to being a writer, and especially to being a blogger — that  not everybody out there will care very much about the details of my daily round here in the Santa Fe area.  Nonetheless, this blog serves in part as a sort of public journal for me and as an explanation of where I am to certain family and... Read more

    Back on 1 July, on his interesting blog called “The Blade of Averroes,” Pedro Olavarria offered a helpful summation of the actual issues involved with NHM/Nahom and, along the way, illustrated how very poorly Phillip Jenkins has been handling the Book of Mormon in his now lengthy series of blogged attack-posts on the topic:   http://averroes2.blogspot.com/2015/07/the-jenkins-follies-nahom-and-starwman.html   I must admit that I’ve been very disappointed in Professor Jenkins, on several levels.   For instance, Wadi Sayq, as a... Read more

    “Don’t Try Trusting Iran”   “Obama’s Jihadist Stimulus Package”   “Obama’s Iran Deal is the Opposite of What He Promised the American People”   “Obama’s Iran Agreement: A Bad Deal for America, A Bad Deal for Middle East Peace”   Posted from Santa Fe, New Mexico     Read more

    Luke 12:33-34 Compare Matthew 6:19-21   The simple fact is that material possessions wear out and become obsolete.  Houses burn down.  Things get broken, are stolen and lost.  The pleasures associated with them fade.  They become “old hat.”   Seeking lasting satisfaction in a new car or a new HD-TV or a new house or a new dress or a new cell phone is a quest that’s bound to fail.   We all know this.  But we forget it.  Constantly.... Read more

    This isn’t really a “how-to” guide for aspiring scientific con-men.  Rather, it’s a reflection on possible ways of making them easier to detect:   http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/neuroskeptic/2015/07/14/the-perfect-scientific-crime/#.VaXeLkvgMdt   Posted from Santa Fe, New Mexico     Read more

    In case you haven’t seen them, here are the latest installments in the Jenkins/Hamblin exchange:   Hamblin 29: Rappleye ABMS Bibliography   Hamblin 30: Rappleye on Methodology   Jenkins 20:  Does the Past Exist?   Posted from Santa Fe, New Mexico     Read more

    “Someone has said that it requires less mental effort to condemn than to think.”  (Emma Goldman)   Posted from Santa Fe, New Mexico     Read more

    Luke 12:22-32 Compare Matthew 6:25-34   A difficult standard.   It may be significant, though, that the roughly equivalent passage in the Book of Mormon, in 3 Nephi 13:25-34, is expressly directed not to the faithful at large, but specifically to the Nephite Twelve, who’ve been called into full-time service.  We might also apply it further to full-time missionaries.   Posted from Santa Fe, New Mexico     Read more

    http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/church-comments-on-boy-scouts-of-america-resolution-on-adult-leader-standards   Posted from Santa Fe, New Mexico     Read more

    Daniel Pipes is very controversial, but he’s no idiot and he has impeccable academic credentials for the study of the Near East.  Son of of a Harvard specialist in Russian history, he received all of his degrees (including his own doctorate) in Middle Eastern history from Harvard, while punctuating his training there with six years of study in Germany and Egypt.  And he’s taught at Harvard, the University of Chicago, Stanford, and the Naval War College.   In any event, here’s... Read more