“There is usually only a limited amount of damage that can be done by dull or stupid people. For creating a truly monumental disaster, you need people with high IQs.” Thomas Sowell Read more
“There is usually only a limited amount of damage that can be done by dull or stupid people. For creating a truly monumental disaster, you need people with high IQs.” Thomas Sowell Read more
Luke 10:29-37 This is one of the most beloved and memorable of all of Christ’s parables. My friend and former FARMS colleague Jack Welch offers a very interesting perspective on it here: “The Good Samaritan: A Type and Shadow of the Plan of Salvation” I discussed a fascinatingly different translation of this story in a column that I published late last year: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865617412/A-very-contemporary-translation-of-the-New-Testament.html?pg=all You can easily guess what the “unprintable racist epithet” is;... Read more
There are two big double-chapel LDS meetinghouses that share a single parking lot north of the Orem Costco. On 8th South and 8th East, I think. I’m speaking in the east chapel of the northernmost/easternmost of the two chapels. It’s a very fortunate thing that the person who invited me to speak called this morning to remind me. (Somehow, it hadn’t been written down on the calendar, and I was planning on participating in an Interpreter Foundation... Read more
The nihilistic death-cult calling itself the “Islamic State” (aka ISIS or ISIL) has begun destroying monuments in the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra: http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/24/middleeast/syria-isis-palmyra-shrines/ And it continues to play with various ways of cruelly executing its prisoners: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2015/06/24/barbarism-by-book-new-isis-video-aims-to-show-religious-purity/ But I hear less and less outrage. We’re adapting, I suppose. And the barbarism continues, essentially unchallenged. Read more
In response to my recent defenses of Brigham Young (for which, see here and here and here), two more people (beyond Greg Smith) have kindly brought additional stories to my notice. The first is a reader who calls himself “ideeho.” I don’t have easy access at the moment to my copy of Arrington’s Brigham Young: American Moses, but “ideeho” tells me that the story comes from chapter 10 and that, in his copy (and presumably in mine), it... Read more
Doug Ealy brings this interesting item to my notice from the Harvard Business Review: https://hbr.org/2015/07/the-internet-makes-you-think-youre-smarter-than-you-are?utm_campaign=Socialflow&utm_source=Socialflow&utm_medium=Tweet It might help to explain a huge amount of online idiocy and misbehavior. Read more
In response to something that I posted last night, some critics have eagerly pointed out to me that I, as a Latter-day Saint, am in a poor position to advocate “traditional marriage.” After all, didn’t we Mormons once practice “plural marriage”? Others have argued that “traditional marriage” is a relatively recent institution. Which, I suppose, may be true — depending upon how one defines “traditional.” But I didn’t mention “traditional marriage.” That’s not terminology that... Read more
The discussion continues between Professor Phillip Jenkins, a reputable non-LDS scholar who, it turns out, has no respect for belief in the Book of Mormon and still less for attempts by scholars to defend it, and Professor William Hamblin, a believing LDS scholar. These are the latest installments. Items identified as “Jenkins Rejoinders” are from Dr. Jenkins. Those termed “Jenkins Responses” are from Dr. Hamblin. Jenkins Rejoinder 3: Evidence Jenkins Rejoinder 4: Game Over Jenkins Response... Read more
Luke 10:25-28 Compare Matthew 22:34-40; Mark 12:28-34 τοῦτο ποίει καὶ ζήσῃ. “Do this, and you will live.” With that kind of promise coming at its conclusion, this brief passage ought to be given a great deal of thoughtful attention by all disciples of Christ. Maybe daily. Read more
It seems very likely that, within a few days, a lawyer by the name of Anthony Kennedy will cast the deciding vote to redefine the primordial human institution of marriage for the United States of America. His qualifications for this rather consequential task include three years of studying contracts, the law of evidence, torts, criminal law, and other such things at Harvard Law School. I would like to be surprised, but I’m pretty much resigned to at least... Read more