A brief blog entry that may give you some food for thought:   http://hostsofheaven.blogspot.com.eg/2017/05/why-church-is-true-part-1-little-details.html   Posted from Cairo, Egypt     Read more

    If so, this is really interesting:   http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865679554/Did-Trump-just-delete-the-Muslim-ban-from-his-website.html   For those who may be unaware, I recently signed a legal brief connected with Mr. Trump’s executive orders on immigration:   “Amici Curiae Brief by Scholars of Mormonism Opposed to Trump’s Refugee and Immigrant Ban”   Posted from Cairo, Egypt     Read more

    An exclusive report from the New Yorker’s great investigative journalist Andy Horowitz:   http://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/trump-boasts-that-his-impeachment-will-get-higher-tv-ratings-than-all-other-impeachments?mbid=nl_051217%20Borowitz%20Newsletter%20(1)&CNDID=23287945&spMailingID=11009981&spUserID=MTc5NTcwNjkwMTE4S0&spJobID=1161053559&spReportId=MTE2MTA1MzU1OQS2   Posted from Cairo, Egypt     Read more

    The “Great Hymn to the Aten” is a poem, composed during the middle of the fourteenth century before Christ, that is attributed to the henotheistic or monotheistic Pharaoh Akhenaten [Amenhotep IV].   Here is a quotation from the middle of the text, as published by James B. Pritchard:   How manifold it is, what thou hast made! They are hidden from the face (of man). O sole god, like whom there is no other! Thou didst create the world... Read more

    Another week, another Thursday column:   http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865679751/The-Benedict-Option-or-The-Brigham-Option.html   Posted from Jerusalem     Read more

    Taylor Petrey (who, like me, was among the nineteen signers of a recent amicus brief regarding President Trump’s executive orders on immigration) offers a challenging point of view in the Deseret News:   “The failures of Mormon conservatism”   Let me say, first of all, that I’ve defended political diversity in the Church.  I have no desire to drive Democrats or even socialists from membership in the Kingdom.  I’ve drawn considerable flak, to choose just one example, for my... Read more

    Every once in a while, somebody accuses me of supporting “rape culture.”   It always puzzles me, since, so far as I can recall, I’ve never committed nor endorsed nor excused rape, which I regard as a serious crime.  Heck, I regard even consensual sex outside of marriage as a grave sin.  I don’t indulge in pornography and strongly disapprove of it.  I believe that women should be treated with honor and respect.  So how, exactly, am I... Read more

    We went up onto the Temple Mount this morning, walking past the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock.  It gave me a good chance to discuss a few Islamic subjects.  Coming down off of the Mount via Al-Ghazali Square, we next walked to the Church of St. Anne, a traditional birthplace of the Virgin Mary that’s adjacent to the Pool of Bethesda.  We looked at the remains of the pool and sang in the church, which... Read more

    http://www.realclearreligion.org/articles/2017/05/11/five_rational_arguments_why_god_very_probably_exists_110139.html   Posted from Jerusalem     Read more

    An amazing solar system beyond our own:   http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2017/05/newly-discovered-trappist-1-solar-system-all-seven-planets-synchronize-in-nearly-perfect-time-with-t.html   Posted from Jerusalem     Read more