Way back in 1990 — I never imagined myself being as old as I am now! — I published two articles with what was then called the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies (FARMS) in which, among other things, I argued that the so-called “Gadianton robbers” of the Book of Mormon weren’t merely a criminal syndicate but represented an alternate and dissident form of religiosity:   “Notes on ‘Gadianton Masonry'”   “The Gadianton Robbers as Guerrilla Warriors”   Later,... Read more

    This story pleases me very, very much:   http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865671591/LDS-church-provides-place-for-displaced-Muslim-community-to-pray.html   What doesn’t please me is that I’ve forgotten who called it to my attention yesterday.  (I was slow in blogging about it.)  I apologize.   But it reminds of a statement from the Prophet Joseph Smith.   He said many wonderful things, of course.  Among my favorites is this, from a 15 December 1840 letter that he wrote to the Twelve from Nauvoo, Illinois.  It was published in Times and Seasons (1 January 1841,... Read more

    Some of you may find this thirty-minute talk by Dr. David H. Bailey of interest.  It was given at a 2013 Interpreter Foundation conference on science and religion:   “Science vs Religion: Can This Marriage Be Saved?”   Brother Bailey, a computer scientist and mathematician, worked for fourteen years at NASA Ames Research Center and then, after 1998, as a Senior Scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.  He is now officially retired, but he remains active as, among other things, a... Read more

    A superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions. Confucius (Kǒng Zǐ, 551 BC – 479 BC)     Read more

    Some will take this as an attack on science:   “Science falling victim to ‘crisis of narcissism'”   They will, as always, be wrong.     Read more

    Just off the phone with a friend — a prominent Syrian intellectual — in Damascus.  It was about midnight when our call ended.  He was very tired, but he still had to go out and find water.  ISIS has evidently destroyed one of the major water pipelines into the city; for the past month or so, four million or more people have been obliged to get their water from tanker trucks.   He’s happy that Mr. Obama is... Read more

    This article was, no doubt, occasioned by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir’s participation in the 2017 presidential inauguration:   http://www.economist.com/blogs/erasmus/2017/01/mormons-and-music   The Choir’s performance on the steps of the Capitol yesterday, whatever one thinks of the decision to perform or (for that matter) of Mr. Trump, brought international attention to both the Choir and the Church.  I haven’t gone looking for evidence of such attention, but I haven’t had to:  The Economist is a British magazine.  And, last night, I... Read more

    Returning, just now, from dropping a son off at the Salt Lake City airport, I tuned in (as I typically do while driving) to KBYU-FM, which specializes in classical music.   For a substantial portion of the drive, they played, first, Johann Strauss’s Emperor Waltz (the Kaiser-Walzer) and, then, Beethoven’s Egmont Overture.   I’ve loved the music of Johann Strauss for as long as I can remember.  But, this time, as I listened to this often-magnificent Strauss piece I found... Read more

    The latest iteration of the joint bi-weekly Hamblin/Peterson column in the Deseret News:   http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865671460/6-religion-friendly-films-from-Hollywood.html     Read more

    Thanks to Matthew Wheeler for calling my attention to this two-minute video:   https://www.youtube.com/shared?ci=rtflAPU-rNg   For many of us who’ve lived in the Islamic world, the adhan (أَذَان‎‎; the “call to prayer”) is one of the most beautiful and evocative sounds on earth.   If you have 3.5 minutes, you might listen to this version of the adhan, which is accompanied by a reasonably adequate translation:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_LN0hznp-A   (Note:  The dh in adhan is pronounced like the th in that... Read more