A really, really long post for the eve of Thanksgiving

Last updated on: November 26, 2025 at 5:20 pm By Dan Peterson

This iteration of our weekly reprint series starts off, I’ll admit, on a rather embarrassing note. But it soon gets better: Steadfast in Defense of Faith: “David Hume On Human and Divine Things: The Inescapability of Political Apologetics,” written by Louis Midgley: Part of our book chapter reprint series, this article originally appeared in Steadfast in Defense of Faith: Essays in Honor of Daniel C. Peterson, edited by Shirley Ricks, Stephen D. Ricks, and Louis Midgley. For more information,... Read more

From a mass-casualty hate-crime survivor

Last updated on: November 26, 2025 at 9:27 am By Dan Peterson

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I spent several minutes yesterday skimming through a few newspaper letters to the editor regarding the expletive-heavy chanting that was directed at me and other adherents of my faith during Saturday night’s BYU/Cincinnati football game. A surprising number of those letters directed us to stop whimpering, to get over our “victim mentality,” and to ponder the significance of the fact that it’s certainly the fault of the Jews themselves of the Latter-day Saints themselves that everybody everywhere hates them.... Read more

On my apparently deep dislike of the Beatles

Last updated on: November 25, 2025 at 11:43 am By Dan Peterson

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Here is a quartet of follow-up articles regarding the topic of yesterday’s blog entry, which was entitled “Bigots in the Bleachers”: Deseret News: “Cincinnati athletic director apologizes for profane chants directed toward BYU: The chants took place this past weekend during BYU football’s visit to Cincinnati” Deseret News: “Perspective: What more can universities do to prevent explicit chants at BYU games? Lessons from previous instances to date could help other universities ward off this derogatory pattern” Cincinnati Enquirer: “Will... Read more

Bigots in the Bleachers

Last updated on: November 24, 2025 at 11:11 am By Dan Peterson

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Well, BYU won its tenth football game of the season last night (as compared to one loss), defeating the University of Cincinnati at Nippert Field in Ohio. I don’t typically comment about BYU athletics here, or about sports in general. And this comment won’t really be about football, either. I want, though, to call attention to something that’s connected with last night’s contest: For years now, prior to road games, BYU has sponsored tailgate parties that focus on generating... Read more

As easy a way to do good as can be imagined

Last updated on: November 22, 2025 at 11:28 am By Dan Peterson

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At Christmastime, which can sometimes become a mere orgy of consumerism and materialism, many of us know and understand that it is more blessed to give than to receive. An interesting phrase, that. It comes from the Lord Jesus Christ. No surprise there. But it may surprise some to realize that it doesn’t appear in any of the four New Testament gospels. Rather, it is cited by the Apostle Paul at Acts 20:35. He is speaking to the elders... Read more

Of Giants and Stereotypes

Last updated on: November 21, 2025 at 12:57 pm By Dan Peterson

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A short article that I wrote for Meridian Magazine went up this morning: “The Case Against Sola Scriptura: From the Bible Itself” And this new article appeared today on the unchanging and effectively dead website of the Interpreter Foundation: Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship: “Of Book of Mormon Stories—and Giants,” written by Brant A. Gardner: Abstract: Stories of giants have occurred throughout the ages and in different cultures. These stories contrast to the scientific evidence... Read more

Pilgrims Invited

Last updated on: November 20, 2025 at 1:41 pm By Dan Peterson

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This article went up online yesterday, on the never-changing and totally dead website of the Interpreter Foundation: Steadfast in Defense of Faith: “The Restored Gospel and the New Liberalism: The Inescapability of Political Apologetics,” written by Ralph C. Hancock Part of our book chapter reprint series, this article originally appeared in Steadfast in Defense of Faith: Essays in Honor of Daniel C. Peterson, edited by Shirley Ricks, Stephen D. Ricks, and Louis Midgley. For more information, go to https://interpreterfoundation.org/books/steadfast-in-defense-of-faith/.... Read more

Autumnal thoughts from Utard

Last updated on: November 19, 2025 at 5:53 pm By Dan Peterson

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Christmas is coming in just thirty-six days! Sure, we still have Thanksgiving Day before us — in the United States, anyway — but Thanksgiving is a pretty modest affair. Obviously, it hasn’t yet been adequately commercialized. There’s only so much one can do to monetize bread stuffing and cranberries and pumpkin pies, and, well, turkeys continue to demonstrate their stupidity by failing to unionize. Anyway, where such delights were once fairly rare, required a lot of hard work and... Read more

“Texas On My Mind”

Last updated on: November 18, 2025 at 8:55 pm By Dan Peterson

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I was not pleased to see this in the New York Times: “Texas Governor Declares Muslim Civil Rights Group a ‘Terrorist Organization’: Gov. Greg Abbott said the state could now take steps to shut down the Council on American-Islamic Relations. The group said the declaration had no basis in fact or law.” The group in question is the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR. While I haven’t followed them at all carefully, I’ve had some slight interactions with CAIR over... Read more

Will we ever enjoy universal respect? Don’t count on it.

Last updated on: November 17, 2025 at 3:01 pm By Dan Peterson

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Have you watched any of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives? I haven’t. I simply can’t summon up any interest in it. If you have, though, what do you think of Jana Riess’s take on the show? “How authentically Mormon are Hulu’s ‘Mormon Wives’? — ‘Secret Lives’ offers an absurdly one-sided picture of Mormonism. But it’s also not fully wrong.” And there’s this, from The Washington Post. I confess to being mildly discouraged by its not entirely well-informed attitude... Read more

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