Whatever else one thinks of Israel, whatever one’s politics, Mark Twain asks a marvelous question here, one that is worthy of reflection:   “If statistics are right, the Jews constitute but one percent of the human race.  It suggests a nebulous dim puff of stardust lost in the blaze of the Milky Way.  Properly, the Jew ought hardly to be heard of, but he is heard of, has always been heard of.  He is as prominent on the planet as... Read more

    I think that this analysis is on target.  Donald Trump was an eminently beatable candidate:   https://www.commentarymagazine.com/politics-ideas/liberals-democrats/the-democratic-partys-problem-democrats/   Of course, a very large share of the blame must go to Hillary Clinton herself.  Few if any other serious Democratic presidential contenders would have lost the 2016 election.  Here’s an article — please pardon the obnoxious opening sentence — that I also think basically sound.  I like one of the titles that it appears under:   “Dear Hillary:  You’re... Read more

    Do we — can we — “choose” belief or unbelief?   I’m not sure that the answer to this question is a simple Yes or No.  Nor am I sure that the answer is even remotely the same from one person to the next.   But it’s a substantial question and, for more than a few, one with practical implications.   Here’s a brief article on the topic:   When belief dies, can it be resurrected?   Posted... Read more

    Some may find this a bit surprising:   http://www.realclearreligion.org/articles/2017/05/04/blasphemy_isnt_just_a_problem_in_the_muslim_world_110136.html   Posted from Tel Aviv, Israel     Read more

    I have to confess that I found (and find) this conference slightly bemusing:   http://gazette.com/mormon-scholars-debate-joseph-smiths-role-in-translation/article/1602374   I’m puzzled by the fact that Royal Skousen wasn’t on the program.  Nor Brant Gardiner, who has argued a rather different position.  Nor, for that matter, any linguist or specialist in ancient languages.   Still, I’ll be interested to examine these presentations as they become available.   Posted from Tel Aviv, Israel Read more

    Fascinating (if slightly alarming) reading:   https://cosmosmagazine.com/geoscience/the-science-of-supervolcanoes   And don’t miss this, too:   “Seven of the biggest volcanic explosions to rock the Earth”   Volcanism is a much less prominent component of the geological history here in Israel.  But that doesn’t mean that the area is geologically quiescent.  Earthquakes, for example, have been recurrent events, both prehistorically and, quite significantly, during historical times.   The Jordan Rift Valley, which is also called the Syro-African Depression, is a... Read more

    From the invaluable Jeff Lindsay, China’s representative on the board of the Interpreter Foundation:   http://mormanity.blogspot.co.il/2017/05/the-rod-of-iron-part-of-another.html   Posted from Tel Aviv, Israel     Read more

    “Light travels faster than sound.  That’s why some people appear to be bright until you hear them speak.”   Posted from Tel Aviv, Israel     Read more

    I’m looking forward to this:   Renée Fleming and Bryn Terfel Join Mormon Tabernacle Choir In New Album   When I get back . . .   Posted from Tel Aviv, Israel     Read more

    LOL.  This will probably get some clicks:   http://www.plonialmonimormon.com/2017/05/pornography-agathography-and-egyptian.html   So be it, though.  It’s an important point.   I’ve often marveled for similar reasons at the horrified (mostly Evangelical) anti-Mormon reaction to the idea, advanced by some nineteenth-century Mormon leaders though never even remotely official doctrine, that Jesus might have been married.  And, for that matter, to the notion of an embodied God.  It’s always seemed to me to reflect a profoundly unbiblical attitude toward sexuality and,... Read more