*** I found this item in the Christopher Hitchens Memorial “How Religion Poisons Everything” File©, and thought that some here might find it delectably horrifying: “Research: Religious Americans Less Likely to Divorce: Recent data suggests that faithful young adults can marry in their 20s without increasing the risk of separation.” One noteworthy fact that is mentioned in passing in the article is this: More than 70 percent of American marriages are preceded by cohabitation. Does... Read more
*** Back on 1 December, Scott Gordon sat down with Dr. John Gee to interview him. That interview was accessible live to “Sustaining Members” of FAIR. It has now, however, been made more generally available and at no charge: “”Ask the Egyptologist” – Virtual fireside with John Gee” I’m impressed that John was willing to do this interview so soon after our return from the Interpreter Foundation’s “Ultimate Egypt” tour. We had just returned fairly... Read more
*** This was another day when things didn’t go even remotely according to plan, but it turned out to be a good one anyhow. We spent most of it walking around the pool at the western end of the National Mall. We visited the memorials to the Korean War, the Second World War, and the Vietnam War. Especially looking at all the names on the Vietnam wall, it’s impossible not to think of the lives cut short,... Read more
*** Yesterday’s visit to Arlington National Cemetery was a substitute for what we had thought we would be doing. Plans changed. But it was both interesting and meaningful. Arlington is replete with former presidents, generals, admirals, justices of the Supreme Court, senators, secretaries of State and Defense, and other dignitaries. It’s a class on American history. But it also, iconically, features row after row after row of virtually identical white headstones that mark the final earthly... Read more
*** I want to share with you the links to three articles from a prior number of Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship: Daniel C. Peterson, “Celebrating Exactitude, When It’s Appropriate” Abstract: It’s almost always better to be right than to be wrong, to be exact than to be sloppy. In scholarship generally and serious scriptural study specifically, it’s important to work toward precision in both interpretation and explanation. However, the Lord is fully... Read more
*** Two new pieces, both of them book reviews, went up today in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship: “A Masterpiece on Resisting Our Impulses to Leave,” by Daniel Ortner Review of S. Michael Wilcox, Holding On: Impulses to Leave and Strategies to Stay (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2021). 128 pages. $11.99 (paperback). Abstract: In his latest book, S. Michael Wilcox has written a masterpiece on grappling with doubts and overcoming our impulses to leave the Church. Wilcox displays a refreshing... Read more
*** Flying eastward today, I watched and enjoyed the film Black Nativity, which I had never seen before. It’s based on a 1961 play by the famous Harlem Renaissance writer Langston Hughes (1901-1967). Originally released in late November of 2013, it really is a Christmas film. And, although not entirely unpredictable, it’s far more thought-provoking (and actually far more Christian) than the typical Lifetime or Hallmark Channel movie. I enjoyed it. I also read part of... Read more
*** Contrary to the reputation that’s been carefully cultivated for me in some circles over the past decade or two, I’ve never favored nor enjoyed no-holds-barred internet fisticuffs. Nor have I ever supported personal attacks. People who really know me, I think, will have no problem believing that, in fact, I’m very far from the image of the mean-spirited attack dog that some cherish of me. I do believe that frank disagreement and honest argument... Read more
*** Come, Follow Me — D&C Study and Teaching Helps: Lesson 52, December 20-December 26: Christmas (“The Living Christ”) Another piece kindly produced for the Interpreter Foundation by Jonn Claybaugh. Audio Roundtable: Come, Follow Me Doctrine and Covenants Lesson 52 “The Matchless Gift of God’s Divine Son”: Christmas The Interpreter Radio Roundtable for Come, Follow Me Doctrine and Covenants Lesson 52, “The Matchless Gift of God’s Divine Son” on Christmas features Terry Hutchinson, John Gee, and Kevin Christensen.... Read more
*** I’ve been hoping to find a nice uninterrupted period for reflection and writing. I intended to use it to write a little piece—inadequate though it would inevitably be —about my friend and long-time colleague John L. Sorenson, who died last week at the age of ninety-seven, only a few days after the passing of the Latter-day Saint Mesoamericanist V. Garth Norman. Obituary for John Leon Sorenson And here is the testimony that he wrote back... Read more
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