Dallin H. Oaks, Joseph Smith, and the Right of Habeas Corpus

Last updated on: June 4, 2025 at 6:20 am By Dan Peterson

Two or three weeks ago, reports circulated in the news media that the Trump administration was considering suspension of the right of habeas corpus, at least for some. See, for example, “Trump administration considers suspending habeas corpus” “Stephen Miller says Trump administration ‘looking at’ suspending habeas corpus” And this Wall Street Journal opinion piece by William A. Galston (in whose company, for what little it may be worth, I once spent a week at a small seminar in Málaga,... Read more

A Space Odyssey

Last updated on: June 2, 2025 at 5:25 pm By Dan Peterson

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A few months ago, motivated by nothing in particular, I re-read T. E. Shaw’s translation of The Odyssey of Homer. (For those who might be unaware, T. E. Shaw was a pseudonym for T. E. Lawrence, who is otherwise known as “Lawrence of Arabia” — a character who has fascinated me for much of my life. There is much more to him than is contained even in the [great] David Lean film about him.) It was the first time... Read more

Historical ironies

Last updated on: June 1, 2025 at 9:42 pm By Dan Peterson

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My wife and I were back in Nauvoo and Carthage, Illinois, a few weeks ago. We were there for several days of work on the series of mini-documentaries that the Interpreter Foundation is producing under the title of Becoming Brigham. Every time I visit the area, I find myself thinking about the remarkable way in which the history of that part of Illinois has unfolded. Thomas Sharp and his conspirators down in Warsaw, to the south of Nauvoo, and... Read more

On “the recalled experience of death”

Last updated on: May 31, 2025 at 9:50 pm By Dan Peterson

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Very recently, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints issued three new sets of official resources to help Church members understand and answer their own questions and those of others on their respective topics. These three are focused on: Church Financial Administration Temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Religion vs. Violence There is much in these materials to learn and to ponder, and I think that members of the Church and the Church itself... Read more

Beware the chains of hell! And mark the dates!

Last updated on: May 30, 2025 at 12:32 pm By Dan Peterson

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Two new articles have just appeared in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship: The first of the two is “The Bands of Death, the Chains of Hell, and the Seed Motif,” written by Noel Hudson, Abstract: This article continues a discussion of the imagery, words, and phrases that make up a specific leitmotif, called the seed motif. Two instances of the seed motif found in Alma are discussed as a seemingly intentional diptych in which one narrative reflects... Read more

Some Notes on Mesoamerica and the Book of Mormon

Last updated on: May 29, 2025 at 10:15 pm By Dan Peterson

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Here are two further sets of notes from John W. Welch, ed., Reexploring the Book of Mormon: A Decade of New Research (Salt Lake City and Provo: Deseret Book, 1992): “Nephi’s Bows and Arrows,” by William J. Hamblin (41-44) “I, Nephi, did make out of wood a bow, and out of a straight stick, an arrow.” (1 Nephi 16:23) “The symbolic message of the broken bow, first detected by Alan Goff, was highlighted in the March 1984 issue of the F.A.R.M.S.... Read more

No Last Visit to London?

Last updated on: May 29, 2025 at 1:35 am By Dan Peterson

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We attended a matinee performance on Wednesday afternoon of the play Giant, which stars John Lithgow as the writer Roald Dahl. Running at the Harold Pinter Theatre, Giant focuses on issues of anti-Semitism and on Dahl’s fierce criticism of Israeli military violence against civilians in Beirut, which actually did engulf him in criticism in 1983 and which seem exceptionally timely in 2025. The play also stars Elliot Levey and Rachael Stirling (who, by the way, is the daughter of... Read more

I married a theater major

Last updated on: May 28, 2025 at 3:24 am By Dan Peterson

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It was odd to wake up this morning and to recognize nobody at breakfast. “Empty chairs and empty tables.” Our group were already dispersed by about 7 AM, but my wife and I chose to sleep in. However, we ourselves moved from the group hotel, which is located almost directly adjacent to the Gloucester Road Station of the Underground, to a hotel over near Marble Arch. We can stay in this one on points, which means that, in a... Read more

Frederic, Jane, Henry, and their homes

Last updated on: June 4, 2025 at 6:16 pm By Dan Peterson

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We were up early this morning for a brief visit to Winchester Cathedral, where Jane Austen is buried. Then we drove to Chawton, where Jane lived her last eight years. We walked over to Chawton House, one of the estates that belonged to her brother — that’s a slightly strange and complicated story, including his changing his surname from Austen to Knight — and saw there the graves of her mother and her sister, as well as a small... Read more

With the Saints in England, both Latter-day Saints and not

Last updated on: May 26, 2025 at 2:27 pm By Dan Peterson

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We attended church at the Hyde Park Chapel on Exhibition Road this morning. What a marvelous location! It’s very near to the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum, Royal Albert Hall, and the Albert Memorial. Every time I’ve attended sacrament meeting at Hyde Park, I’ve run into interesting people. One significant occasion was in 2012, which was probably the worst year of my life thus far. My parents were already gone by that time,... Read more

Who had a coat of many colors?