In a previous post, I wrote briefly about William F. Buckley’s role in putting together a unified and rather successful American conservative movement out of very disparate elements. He was certainly not the only person involved — Robert Taft, Barry Goldwater, Ronald Reagan, and others played vital parts — but he illustrates the important service that a public intellectual can play. (The great Milton Friedman also played a crucial part.) Donald Trump has done a very great... Read more
One of the most important contributions that the late William F. Buckley Jr. made to the American conservative movement, apart from his stylish public advocacy of conservative principles — he became a major hero to me already in my early teens — was his effort to create unity among the various factions on the political and cultural right. There were libertarians who were passionately committed to free markets but who cared little if at all about social issues.... Read more
My wife and I took the overnight train from Cairo to Luxor on Monday night, 5 October 1981. When we arrived in Luxor fairly late the following morning, we instantly sensed that there was something odd in the air, but we couldn’t tell at first what it was. We eventually found out that Egyptian radio and television had been broadcasting the annual “victory” parade that was held in Cairo to celebrate Operation Badr. What was Operation Badr? It was a military effort... Read more
This little piece appeared today in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship: “Light Began Once More to Grow” Abstract: Readers are surely aware that the birth of the Christ child is the reason we celebrate Christmas. Members of the Church may be less aware, though, of the notable birth of a child, millennia later, of distant secondary importance. Plainly, given this article and yesterday’s column in the Deseret News (“How ‘God is light’: The concept of... Read more
I originally published this column in the Provo Daily Herald back on 2 February 2007. Thirteen years later, some elements of it are out of date. But I stand by the basic idea: One of the great scientific achievements of recent decades has been the mapping and sequencing of human DNA completed by the Human Genome Project (HGP). During roughly the same period that that vast effort began to bear fruit (a working draft of the human... Read more
First, here’s another item for your voracious Christopher Hitchens Memorial “How Religion Poisons Everything” File: “In the news? How Kobe Bryant’s Catholic faith saved his marriage and turned his life around” But there’s other religion news, as well: “New Smart Doorbell Will Argue With Jehovah’s Witnesses, LDS Missionaries For You” “Black Missionary Arrives At White Church To Teach Them How To Clap On Beat” Unfortunately, my friend Tarik LaCour tells me based on his many... Read more
I originally published this column in Provo’s Daily Herald, back around 14 April 2000: A widespread assumption, especially among intellectuals, holds that belief in God derives from irrational, immature needs and wishes, whereas atheism or skepticism results from a grown-up, rational, no-nonsense view of the world as it really is. The most famous statement of this position comes from Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, in his book The Future of an Illusion. According to Freud, religion... Read more
He came to me from the fields With the gold of the grain in his eyes, And soon he was beyond me, Having seen the white sea of light where angels are. (Lucy Mack Smith, speaking of her son, the young Joseph Smith. From the poetic drama The Prophet, by Clinton F. Larson.) My column for today in the Deseret News: “How ‘God is light’: The concept of a close link between light and God runs through... Read more
Here are a few more notes from Susan Easton Black and Larry C. Porter, Martin Harris: Uncompromising Witness of the Book of Mormon (Provo: BYU Studies, 2018). The passage below is actually cited from Mary Elizabeth Rollins Lightner, “Diary of Mary Elizabeth Rollins Lightner,” typescript, p 4, L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah: Mary Elizabeth Rollins had converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Kirtland, Ohio. Years later,... Read more
New on the website of the Interpreter Foundation: “Teachings and Testimony of the First Vision: General Authority Teachings and Testimonies of the First Vision”: Part Five of a Series Compiled by Dennis B. Horne *** New, from our friends at Book of Mormon Central: “Archaeological Evidence for 7 Locations on Lehi’s Journey to the Promised Land” “Watch: Compelling Book of Mormon Evidence for Lehi’s Journey through Arabia” And don’t forget the classics: Journey... Read more
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