Larded with both brazen dishonesty and astonishingly mean-spirited vitriol — I’m reliably informed that these are the signature characteristics of most if not all my writing — my most recent weekly column has appeared in the Deseret News:   http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865683704/When-not-to-decide-is-also-a-decision.html   Posted from the Mediterranean Sea     Read more

    Available through the website of the Interpreter Foundation:  The  ubiquitous Stephen Smoot is interviewed (for roughly forty minutes) on a topic near and dear to my heart:   http://www.mormoninterpreter.com/lds-perspectives-podcast-stephen-o-smoot-the-divine-council/   I wrote a bit about the subject in my essay “‘Ye Are Gods’: Psalm 82 and John 10 as Witnesses to the Divine Nature of Humankind.”   Posted from just off the northern coast of Sicily     Read more

    A really interesting scientific experiment in Hungary:   https://gizmodo.com/what-happens-to-wolves-when-theyre-raised-like-dogs-1796458238   Posted from just off the northern coast of Sicily     Read more

    This should come as no great surprise:   https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2017/06/27/there-is-now-a-dramatic-generational-divide-over-white-evangelical-attitudes-on-gay-marriage/?tid=pm_pop&utm_term=.e1b669be8b01   What to take away from it?   One obvious lesson concerns the power of law as a social tutor:  White attitudes toward blacks and segregation and related matters changed dramatically — and, manifestly, for the good — in the wake of certain Supreme Court decisions and the 1964 Civil Rights Act.  Attitudes toward same-sex “marriage” are changing dramatically now, in the aftermath of Justice Kennedy’s decision in the... Read more

    Today has been a sea day, which I’ve really enjoyed.  I love being on the ocean.  (Alas, though, and despite all my handwashing, I’ve caught a cold, which somewhat mitigates the pleasure.)   I lectured to our Cruise Lady group on the significance of the Book of Mormon today, and on some of the Witnesses.  That was in the morning.  In the afternoon, inspired by fact that we had just been in Balkan territory once controlled by the... Read more

    “Culturally, however, Sicily had great advantages. Muslim, Byzantine, Italian, and German civilization met and mingled there as nowhere else. Greek and Arabic were still living languages in Sicily. Frederick learnt to speak six languages fluently, and in all six he was witty. He was at home in Arabian philosophy, and had friendly relations with Mohammedans, which scandalized pious Christians. He was a Hohenstaufen, and in Germany could count as a German. But in culture and sentiment he was... Read more

    I’ve sometimes thought that a course in basic economics ought to be required for graduation from American high schools.  This article does nothing to convince me that it wouldn’t be a good idea:   http://www.nationalreview.com/article/449025/seattle-minimum-wage-hike-hurts-low-wage-workers-study-obvious-economic-result-left   Posted from just north of Sicily     Read more

    This element of contemporary Japanese culture has, I confess, always struck me as more than a little bit strange:   http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/06/23/national/christian-style-weddings-grow-popular-japan-allure-optics-religion/#.WVPeo2Vy7dm   Posted from off the northern coast of Sicily     Read more

    I confess that I can see both sides of this issue, even though, on the whole, I probably agree with the majority.  This will require careful thought and cautious judgment:   https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/06/trinity-lutheran/531399/   Posted from just off the northern coast of Sicily     Read more

    An interesting hypothesis from Jasmin Gimenez:   Star Trek Fan Theory: The Nephites were part of the Obsidian Order   I found myself thinking, as I read her comments, about the Book of Mormon’s “robbers of Gadianton.”  Of course, I’ve thought about them before, as indicated here.   Posted from the Ionian Sea     Read more