Bill Hamblin and I published the column below in the Deseret News on 11 July 2015:   The so-called “New Atheists” differ from previous generations of vocal unbelievers (e.g., Bertrand Russell and Antony Flew) by not merely repudiating the existence of God but aggressively denying the moral legitimacy and cultural value of religious faith. They’re fond of citing the great 17th-century mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal: “Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully,” he said, “as when... Read more

    I published the column below in the Deseret News on Thanksgiving Day 2016:   It’s not insignficant that the verbs “to think” and “to thank” (compare German “denken” and “danken”) share the same linguistic root.  The scriptures are replete with exhortations to “remember,” to reflect, to thank:   “O give thanks unto the Lord,” says the psalmist (105:1-5), “call upon his name: make known his deeds among the people.  Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him: talk ye... Read more

    For some reason, I found myself thinking during sacrament meeting today about 1 Timothy 6:20-21, which, in the King James Version of the Bible, reads as follows:   “O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called: Which some professing have erred concerning the faith.”   I’ve occasionally heard this passage interpreted in church discussions as referring to apparent clashes between religion and science, faith and... Read more

    I published this 2015 Thanksgiving column in the Deseret News:   Although American Thanksgiving Day began as a harvest festival, it’s not about eating.  Most of us eat quite well—often too well—every day, so meals aren’t special.  It’s not even really about family.  As its name implies, it’s about giving thanks. And we have much for which to be thankful. Why is there a universe in the first place?  Why is it so precisely fine-tuned as to produce... Read more

    Knowing what to call the region often known as the “Middle East” is surprisingly difficult.   What is it east of?  Morocco, which many people consider Middle Eastern, is west of France.  And why should Paris and London be considered the center of the world, anyway?   And what is “the West?”  Is it a geographical region or a cultural given?  Is Australia part of it?   Of course, some don’t consider Morocco part of the Middle East.... Read more

    We spent the bulk of the day today sailing to and from Santa Catalina Island and on the island itself.  I began coming to Catalina when I was a little boy — I honestly can’t remember my first time over on the old “Great White Steamship” (now long since retired) — but, prior to today, I hadn’t been back for at least a couple of decades.  So it was fun to see familiar sights again.     We... Read more

    We’re just back from my traditional stop at the Shake Shack overlooking Crystal Cove, just off the Pacific Coast Highway.  I’ve been stopping off at this little landmark since I was a child, when we would travel between our home in the San Gabriel Valley and the homes of a paternal aunt and a paternal uncle in San Diego and Chula Vista.  We always stopped and ordered date shakes, and that’s what I order now.  The various burgers... Read more

    Rather like the giant Antaeus of classical Greek mythology, I feel the need to touch my native soil, California, fairly frequently. It’s good to be back home. It will always feel like home to me.   Breathes there the man, with soul so dead, Who never to himself hath said, This is my own, my native land! Whose heart hath ne’er within him burn’d, As home his footsteps he hath turn’d, From wandering on a foreign strand! If... Read more

    Helen Keller: The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart.   1 Corinthians 13 (English Standard Version [ESV]: 1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but... Read more