I’m hoping to be able to attend at least part of next year’s FreedomFest. (Alas, I have an obligation elsewhere that will make attending the first day essentially impossible. But I may be able to show up late.) FreedomFest 2020 Anyway, some of you will be interested in the scheduled keynote speaker. The organizer of FreedomFest sent me this video link last night: *** And now for some science and some more or... Read more
During the decade or so that I’ve been writing regular columns for the Deseret News, the editors have opted twice not to publish an article that I’ve submitted. The first occasion came quite a few years ago. My subject then was how current Catholic and Protestant theologians writing on the “social model” of the Trinity were, in my view, arguing for positions that, in important ways, have come to resemble Latter-day Saint conceptions of the Godhead. Although... Read more
Some time ago, having been urged to it by several friends, I read Jordan B. Peterson, 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos (Toronto: Random House Canada, 2018). Here is one of the passages from the book that struck me: [P]arents should come in pairs. Raising young children is demanding and exhausting. Because of this, it’s easy for a parent to make a mistake. Insomnia, hunger, the aftermath of an argument, a hangover, a bad day at work... Read more
And, while I’m at it, I think that I’ll share a relevant quotation from then-Elder Dallin H. Oaks, who currently serves as First Counselor in the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: Religious persons who pursue scientific disciplines sometimes encounter what seem to be conflicts between the respective teachings of science and religion and must work through how to handle these apparent conflicts. Others, such as I in my pursuit of... Read more
So far as I know, Chick-fil-A doesn’t interrogate customers regarding their sexual preferences before taking their orders and serving them. I’m also told that the company doesn’t discriminate in hiring. But such things don’t matter, at least in some eyes. If a person holds the wrong views on homosexuality, that person does not have a right to earn a living. So some folks apparently feel: “First Chick-fil-A in the UK to close just 6 months after opening... Read more
“Astronomers have spotted a new type of storm on Saturn: The tempests are larger than other squalls but smaller than massive Great White Spots” “Does Io Have a Magma Ocean? Future space missions will further our knowledge of tidal heating and orbital resonances, processes thought to create spectacular volcanism and oceans of magma or water on other worlds.” “Gas ‘Waterfalls’ Reveal Infant Planets around Young Star: ALMA witnesses planet formation in action” “Fingerprints of Earth’s original building... Read more
Over the next few days, I think that I might share a few passages that struck me during my recent reading of Hermann Hesse’s novella Siddhartha. Here’s a short one that seems to me to explain, in a way, why it was necessary for us to come to earth. Obviously, neither Hesse nor his fictional Siddhartha would have seen it in quite that way, but I, coming to the story from a Latter-day Saint perspective, did. ... Read more
A transcript of the remarks that I delivered at the August 2019 FairMormon conference, which focused on the women at Christ’s tomb and on the women who were among the unofficial witnesses to the Book of Mormon, has now been posted on the FairMormon website. I haven’t yet had time to read it through, but I trust that it’s reasonably accurate — and, indeed, perhaps too much so, since it probably reveals my umms and uhs and you... Read more
As I’ve already mentioned here, I was recently released from my latest stint as a Gospel Doctrine teacher. My time in this most recent Church assignment lasted something on the order of eight years, but I was sad to see it come to an end. Gospel Doctrine class is my absolute favorite calling in the Church; the only one that could possibly compete would be “adjunct apostle,” an ecclesiastical office that I have designed myself and in which,... Read more
“Latter-day Saint Apostle Rededicates Frankfurt Germany Temple: Four-year renovation is complete” There are some nice photographs of the temple (including its interior) at the link above, and a video that includes at least a few seconds of Elder and Sister Uchtdorf speaking in German. (I liked that.) There are also some good photographs, exterior and interior, here: Frankfurt Germany Temple Photograph Gallery More photographs from the rededication are available on the Church website for Germany: https://www.presse-mormonen.de/artikel/apostel-der-kirche-jesu-christi-weiht-den-frankfurt-tempel... Read more
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