I originally published this column in the Deseret News on 13 March 2014: “I’m an atheist,” the late actress Katherine Hepburn once told an interviewer, “and that’s it. I believe there’s nothing we can know except that we should be kind to each other and do what we can for each other.” Plainly, atheists can be, and often are, good people. It’s wonderful that Katherine Hepburn knew those things. I believe that she did know them; I... Read more
I have never firmly made up my mind what to think about the famous “Shroud of Turin.” Nothing in my faith really hangs upon its authenticity or lack of authenticity. But if it really is the burial shroud of Christ — and, even more importantly, a kind of “photographic” evidence of his resurrection, as some believe it to be — then it is profoundly significant. With a major exhibit on the Shroud evidently coming to the Museum... Read more
One of the ways that I like to write is simply to throw things rapidly into a computer file, as the thoughts occur to me, for later revisiting. At that point, I’ll clean them up, organize them into a suitable flow, check assertions, provide references where appropriate, smooth out inconsistencies, and otherwise make what I’ve written suitable (I hope) for publication. I’ve already announced my intention to compile a small volume of brief introductions to books that... Read more
I was recently sent the following link that I think some will find of interest: “East St. Louis, IL Used to Be an Ancient City with Pyramids” It’s not an academic article, of course, and it certainly wasn’t published in a scholarly journal. Still, it’s fun. Does it prove the Book of Mormon true? Does it demonstrate that the “Heartland” model of Book of Mormon geography is correct? No. The narrative of the Book... Read more
Taking our friends to the Calgary airport earlier today, we first stopped by the Calgary Alberta Temple, which is not far distant from airport terminals. (We saw it on its ridge from the Trans-Canada Highway while taking our other friends to the airport on Saturday evening.) I had seen photographs of Calgary’s temple before, but had not previously seen it in person. I was much more impressed than I was expecting to be. Its setting is absolutely... Read more
Some object to the Arabian Nights because certain of the stories are plainly misogynistic. And this is undeniably the case: You don’t need to go further to see it than the frame story itself, with King Shahriyar’s very negative opinion of the character of women and his plan to sleep with a different virgin every night and then kill her the following morning. And some object to them because they can be crude and even rather pornographic. (As... Read more
We dropped one of the couples that have been traveling with us off at the Calgary airport on Saturday night. Today, we dropped the other couple off. Our last day in Canmore was remarkable. We did a long backcountry loop, often on very rough roads, through the Peter Lougheed Provincial Park and the Kananaskis Country, with occasional stops for hiking. For quite a while, we watched a large bull moose grazing in a gorgeous meadow near... Read more
It’s a bit late, perhaps, to post a link to this item in the wake of Pioneer Day, but I think that I’ll do it anyhow. I can’t say that I always agree with Jana Riess. Not even with absolutely everything that she has to say in this article. But it’s worth reading, nonetheless: “All hail the Mormon pioneers!” And I do very much agree that we still have pioneers in the Church today. Here is... Read more
This is horribly, unspeakably, agonizingly sad: “Syrian girl dies after saving sister’s life in heart-stopping airstrike photo” And please watch the associated video. Is there really nothing at all that we can do? I have stood many times beside the United Nations observation post atop Mount Bental in the safety of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. I’ve looked down from there into Syria, upon the abandoned city of Quneitra and the United Nations monitoring station... Read more
I’m pleased to say that, sitting here in the western portion of the Canadian province of Alberta, nestled in the Canadian Rockies, I was able to catch part of tonight’s Interpreter Radio Show live on my laptop. Why didn’t I catch it all? I could have, had I been near my computer to do so. I’m very grateful for those who do the Interpreter Radio Show every Sunday, week after week. It’s just one of the ways... Read more
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