The Nephite system of weights and measures is, among other things, “a subtle reminder of the authenticity of the Book of Mormon”:   https://knowhy.bookofmormoncentral.org/content/why-you-should-care-about-the-nephite-weights-and-measures-system   And please remember that, if we accept the notion that Joseph Smith was just making this up on the fly, dictating it a rate of 8.5-11 printed English pages daily, he could have spent only a few minutes on this subject.   Posted from Grindelwald, Switzerland     Read more

In reading this interesting (and, to me, eery and rather chilling) essay, I couldn’t help but think of C. S. Lewis’s brilliant novel That Hideous Strength:   “The most avid believers in artificial intelligence are aggressively secular – yet their language is eerily religious. Why?”   I’m not sure that the religious impulse — which I regard as a natural and normal one, very likely divinely implanted or (perhaps better) a legacy of our premortal past — ever really goes away.... Read more

    I wonder if anybody is really thinking about this:   http://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2017/june/us-prepares-deport-iraq-chaldean-christians-ice-shaou.html   Does anybody care?   Posted from Grindelwald, Switzerland     Read more

    “A human life is a schooling for eternity.” — Gottfried Keller (1819-1890)   Posted from Grindelwald, Switzerland     Read more

    “He’s attacking science!” at least one frequent commenter on my blog will exclaim, as predictably as if he were one of Pavlov’s dogs, when he sees this note.  “He’s attacking science!”   I’m not, of course.   I’m simply pointing out that science, being a human enterprise, is subject (in its own unique ways) to the same human factors — including sloppiness, psychological quirks, uncontrolled ambition, haste, deceit, ideological bias, and sheer incompetence — that affect all other... Read more

    The valleys of Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald sit nearby each other to the south of Interlaken, where I spent seven months of my mission.   I don’t know whether we of that era had much of an impact on Switzerland, but I can testify that Switzerland — and particularly this area, the Berner Oberland — had (and continues to have) an enormous impact on me.     The Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald valleys are dominated by a gigantic wall of... Read more

    I’m very pleased that the leadership of the Church appears to be assuming a prominent role at such gatherings, internationally:   http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/mormon-apostle-speaks-at-international-religious-freedom-symposium   Posted from Grindelwald, Switzerland     Read more

    This seems a potentially interesting book.  It might be especially helpful for those who are worried about Muslims as an alien and threatening presence in America; I can imagine that it might humanize Muslims a bit for such readers, and help them to know at least one Muslim as a real individual person:   http://religionnews.com/2017/06/07/haroon-moghul-writes-candidly-about-growing-up-muslim-in-america/   Posted from Grindelwald, Switzerland   Read more

    http://edition.cnn.com/2017/06/12/politics/9th-circuit-travel-ban/index.html   The Ninth Circuit is the court in which a group of nineteen Mormon scholars and/or scholars of Mormonism — I was among them — filed an amici curiae brief related to Mr. Trump’s travel ban back in April:   “Amici Curiae Brief by Scholars of Mormonism Opposed to Trump’s Refugee and Immigrant Ban”   There are, of course, legitimate security reasons to pay close attention to those who are admitted into the United States.  But this is... Read more

    How did Brigham Young University do?  Did it make the rankings at all?  Should Church members and friends of the University be embarrassed?  How can we explain these results?   https://www.forbes.com/value-colleges/list/#tab:rank   Posted from Grindelwald, Switzerland     Read more