“Whatever else history may say about my candidacy, I hope it will be recorded that I appealed to our best hopes, not our worst fears; to our confidence, rather than our doubts; to the facts, not to fantasies. And these three – hope, confidence, and facts – are at the heart of my vision of peace.” Ronald Reagan (1980)     Read more

    It’s all over, folks.  See this.     Read more

    http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865676384/Record-year-for-LDS-giving-fueled-by-I-Was-a-Stranger.html   Some critics will denounce this effort as too little.  (Presumably, they’re doing far, far more.)  Others will be infuriated that the Church is doing this at all.   See some of the reader comments, for instance.  They’re a bit depressing.   Here is the website for LDS Charities, which is only one of the several Latter-day Saint organizations doing charitable and humanitarian service.  (The typical Mormon ward is another example of such organizations.  See also here.)... Read more

    I was busy over the weekend and, plainly, downright oblivious.  But yesterday — what some are now annually calling Book of Mormon Day — marked the 187th anniversary of the first publication of the Book of Mormon.   In that connection, the estimable Robert Boylan posted links on his blog to two important documentaries about the Book of Mormon that the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies (aka the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship) produced... Read more

    “There’s Mysteriously Large Amounts of Methane on Mars”   Some anti-Mormons fear that unusual amounts of methane may point to a large Mormon population there, since, in New Zealand, sheep are a major source of the gas.     Read more

    Not even remotely pretending to be an exhaustive list:   “Muslim women gather on Westminster Bridge to condemn ‘abhorrent’ attack”   “Media Ignores 20 Million Muslims Who March Against ISIS”   “Islamic Statements against Terrorism”   “Here Are the (Many) Muslim Condemnations of ISIS You’ve Been Looking For”   “Muslim Voices Against Extremism and Terrorism – Part I Fatwas & Formal Statements by Muslim Scholars & Organizations”   “How Muslims around the world condemned the Paris attacks: ‘Terrorism... Read more

    http://www.studioetquoquefide.com/2017/03/book-of-mormon-day-reading.html   It’s probably just coincidence that the Book of Mormon first went on sale precisely ten years to the day from the date in 1820 that has recently been contended to be the very day of Joseph Smith’s First Vision.  (Has anybody ever noticed it before?  I don’t know.)   And, of course, the proposed 1820 date may be incorrect.  It’s not a certainty.   But the thought is interesting.  Every once in a while, I notice... Read more

    God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time; Enjoying one moment at a time; Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it; Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will; That I may be... Read more

    “How Exoplanets Can Violently Die”   33 And worlds without number have I created; and I also created them for mine own purpose; and by the Son I created them, which is mine Only Begotten. 34 And the first man of all men have I called Adam, which is many. 35 But only an account of this earth, and the inhabitants thereof, give I unto you. For behold, there are many worlds that have passed away by the word of my power. And there are many that now stand, and innumerable are they... Read more

    I have slightly mixed feelings about this article, but, on the whole, I quite like it:   The Coming Revolution Inside of Mormonism   I don’t know whether the judgmentalism in church is as bad as the author describes it.  I feel little if any of it myself — I claim no moral credit for that; it’s simply something I’ve never felt and can’t really imagine feeling it (which may result from a personality defect as much as... Read more