An interview with Dr. Brad Wilcox, available on the website of the Interpreter Foundation:   http://www.mormoninterpreter.com/what-is-grace-with-brad-wilcox/   Posted from Monterey, California     Read more

    Are my libertarian leanings genetic?   “The strongest and most important characteristic of the Norwegian people . . .  is their love of freedom, which leads them to set their highest priority on individual rights under common law.  Since this last trait is the essence of the American ideal, it means that the Norwegian immigrant is already a good American before he even leaves home.” Ole Edvart Rølvaag (1876-1931), in Omkring fædrearven (Concerning Our Heritage, 1922)   Posted from Monterey, California... Read more

    He was an enormous formative influence on me.   When I was about fourteen or fifteen, some members of my home ward in San Gabriel, California, thinking that I might enjoy BYU Education Week.  So they invited me to come with them when it was being held in either (I can’t remember exactly) Covina or West Covina.  On the roster were such lights as Hugh Nibley, Truman Madsen, Daniel Ludlow, and — believe it or not — Bruce... Read more

    Candidly, I’m not optimistic.  But I hope, nonetheless, that the Kleins will prevail in court:   http://www.frc.org/updatearticle/20170301/bakers-roll   I regard recent encroachments on religious liberty as a definite move in the direction of tyranny.  Fascism with a human face.   One benefit — I hope — of the Trump victory will be the placement of judges on the courts who will uphold freedom of conscience and rein in the power of the overweening mega-state to impose its will... Read more

    Ben McGuire weighs in on a controversial Old Testament passage of which Latter-day Saints are justly fond:   http://www.fairmormon.org/archive/publications/reconsidering-psalms-826   Posted from Monterey, California     Read more

    Why do so many members of the public seem to hate and/or fear scientists?   Here’s one suggested answer:   https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/how-does-the-public-rsquo-s-view-of-science-go-so-wrong/   I’m not sure that I agree completely.  But I think he may be partially right.   I know, though, that I dislike this sentence:   “Experts must continue, as citizens, to advocate for those things they believe to be in the public interest . . .”   Sometime within roughly the past ten years, the weird... Read more

    “.عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ عَمْرٍو قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ الرَّاحِمُونَ يَرْحَمُهُمْ الرَّحْمَنُ ارْحَمُوا مَنْ فِي الْأَرْضِ يَرْحَمْكُمْ مَنْ فِي السَّمَاءِ“ (1924 سنن الترمذي كتاب البر والصلة باب ما جاء في رحمة المسلمين)     “Abdullah ibn Amr reported: The Messenger of Allah [Muhammad], peace and blessings be upon him, said,  “‘Those who are merciful will be shown mercy by the Most Merciful.  Be merciful to those on the earth and the One in the heavens will... Read more

    The latest installment of the biweekly Hamblin-Peterson column has appeared in the Deseret News:   http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865674717/The-twilight-of-the-Hawaiian-gods-came-suddenly.html Posted from Monterey, California     Read more

    “All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence, and then success is sure.” Mark Twain   Sometimes, I fear that Mark Twain’s cynical opinion on this subject might actually be true.   Posted from Monterey, California     Read more

    I’m a bit late in announcing it — I’ve been in the air and on the road today — but Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture continued its uninterrupted record of publishing at least one new article every Friday yet again today:   http://www.mormoninterpreter.com/meeting-zoram/#more-10114   Sorry to have worried some of you.   Posted from Monterey, California     Read more