“Someone once said that if you sat a million monkeys at a million typewriters for a million years, one of them would eventually type out all of Hamlet by chance. But when we find the text of Hamlet, we don’t wonder whether it came from chance and monkeys. Why then does the atheist use that incredibly improbable explanation for the universe? Clearly, because it is his only chance of remaining an atheist. At this point we need a psychological explanation of... Read more

    I’ve seen this charge (that Mormon women go in for cosmetic surgery at a stupendously high rate) a fair number of times.  It’s often intended to illustrate how dysfunctional and phony Mormon culture is.   Of course, it’s wrong — as such accusations often do — to conflate Utah culture with Mormon culture.  First, a significant proportion of Utah residents, particularly in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, aren’t practicing Mormons or even Mormons at all.  Second, the... Read more

    The title provides no clue, but this interesting article is focused on Rod Dreher’s provocative new book The Benedict Option, on which I’ve been posting from time to time over the past month or so:   http://theweek.com/articles/684365/why-many-conservative-christians-feel-like-persecuted-minority   Posted from Newport Beach, California     Read more

    Of course, knowing a few Canadians, I’m not altogether surprised:   http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/next/earth/remnants-of-earths-original-crust-found-in-canada/   Posted from Newport Beach, California     Read more

    Ever wondered what they are?  Hint:  They make great pets.   http://scripturalmormonism.blogspot.com/2017/03/jerry-grover-on-cureloms-and-cummoms-in.html   Posted from Newport Beach, California     Read more

    The newest instantiation of the biweekly Hamblin-Peterson column in the Deseret News:   http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865675903/The-religion-of-the-biblical-patriarchs-2-and-it-doesnt-appear-to-be-Judaism.html   Posted from Newport Beach, California     Read more

    Doug Ealy called the unfortunate meme above to my attention.   Please understand that I’m a life-long and very serious political conservative.  Moreover, I’m a hardcore Anglophile and Europhile.  I think very highly of Western civilization.  I’m happy to have been born and raised within it, and I’m proud of the many rich artistic, scientific, literary, philosophical, medical, humanitarian, and musical contributions that it has offered to the world.  My undergraduate major was in Greek, with a minor in... Read more

    “Oh, what a tangled web we weave . . .  when first we practice to deceive.” Sir Walter Scott   I’ve been thinking about Sir Walter Scott over the past few days.  I’ve always loved his tale of Ivanhoe, of course.  I’ve read it at least twice, as well as — it was a humorous gift from one of my sons — once in Arabic translation.  And, lately, I’ve been reading Quentin Durward.   On Wednesday night, with... Read more

    An interesting article.  Not especially surprising, once you think about it:   Author maintains that Muslims have influenced America for centuries   Posted from Newport Beach, California     Read more

    If it’s Friday — and it is — there must be a new article in Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture.  And, in fact, there is a new article:   http://www.mormoninterpreter.com/bare-record-the-nephite-archivist-the-record-of-records-and-the-book-of-mormon-provenance/   Posted from Newport Beach, California     Read more