Another episode of the continuing story:   Judaism, like Islam, finds a major source of its religious author­ity and practice in the past. But modern values like democracy, equal rights, and religious toleration have come into general accep­tance only since the time in which the fundamental documents of the two religions were composed or revealed. Consequently, they do not directly figure in the sacred texts upon which the two faiths are based. How, then, are they to be... Read more

    Several times on this blog I’ve mentioned the annual libertarian extravaganza known as FreedomFest.   I’ve participated in (I think) two or three of these previously, and I’ll be doing so yet again this year.   On Thursday, 12 July, from 1 PM to 1:50 PM, I’ll be debating with Michael Shermer on the topic of “Is Faith Compatible with Reason?”  To save you the agonizing suspense, I’ll argue that yes, faith is compatible with reason.   It... Read more

    Nearly three decades ago now, I spent a summer in Berkeley, California, participating in a small seminar led by the preeminent student of comparative religions Huston Smith (1919-2016) and sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities.   It was an extraordinary and memorable experience on many levels — not the least of which was being able to attend a complete performance of Wagner’s “Ring Cycle” over at the San Francisco Opera during my stay in Berkeley —... Read more

    My most recent column for the Deseret News has appeared.  I’ve been busy with other things today, but here’s a link to it:   “11 contributions of the Book of Mormon”   ***   The most recent Old Testament KnoWhy from the Interpreter Foundation is now available:   “How Does the Story of David’s Loyalty to Saul Apply in Our Day?“: An Old Testament KnoWhy relating to the reading assignment for Gospel Doctrine Lesson 23: “The Lord Be Between... Read more

    A bit more of the story:   As the center came under attack it was clearly the Church itself that was being assaulted. The LDS claim that this was a university building, an academic facility, rather than a mission home or a church, was almost universally brushed aside as a smoke screen. Still, many people in and out of Israel rose to the defense. Mayor Kollek did not back down from his support of the center, but defended... Read more

    Our most significant activity of Wednesday was a visit to the magnificent and still relatively new National Museum of African American History and Culture — the Museum opened on 24 September 2016 — which I recommend very enthusiastically.  It’s entertaining, inspiring, touching, and sobering, by turns.  And the story that it tells positively demands a future life in which the sufferings of this one, for so many of God’s children, might be compensated and rewarded.  In this context as in... Read more

    Continuing with the story:   Such attempts at conciliation did not, however, pacify the most militant opponents of the center. Throughout its three years of con­struction, hysterical articles appeared in local newspapers and in the American Jewish press about the Mormon “threat” to Judaism and to the holy city of Jerusalem. (During one period lasting some­what less than three weeks, 345 articles appeared in the Israeli press about the Latter-day Saints and their building.) The center, it was... Read more

    I published this column very nearly four years ago.  It was all that I could do.   She was born four years ago today:   Some are displeased with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints over socio-political disputes, gender concerns, and other perceived grievances. While I seldom if ever share their specific issues, I don’t discount them. I know they can hurt. However, compared with ultimate questions of life and death, they seem thin, even trivial.... Read more

    This is one of my all-time favorite quotations, and it just so happens that it’s from one of my all-time favorite writers:   “It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which,if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you... Read more

    Another few lines:   The dedication of the Orson Hyde Memorial Garden repre­sented the fulfillment of a long-standing dream for many members of the Church. But another dream remained. That was the construc­tion of a visitors’ center in Israel, probably to be combined with facilities for the growing number of students who came year after year to participate in BYU’s study programs in Jerusalem. Although it was fully realized that proselyting, as such, was not a viable option... Read more