If anybody has an update on this matter — factual, please, not an angry rant or an ad hominem attack — I would appreciate seeing it:   http://www.nationalreview.com/article/442691/social-science-gay-study-doesnt-add   In the meantime, it scarcely needs to be pointed out that ideological dogmatism and science don’t mix very well.     Read more

    We at the Interpreter Foundation don’t want you to run out of things to do at this uneventful time of the year.  So here’s a little something for you:   http://www.mormoninterpreter.com/video-of-margaret-barkers-speech-theosis-divinization-now-available/   Enjoy!     Read more

    Samuel Tadros provides a very helpful historical overview and an analysis of the current situation.  It’s a bit longish, and you can easily see that he has his eye on a primary audience in Australia, but, for those who’re interested in the topic, the article is entirely worthwhile:   “Endurance and Decay: Does Christianity Have a Future in the Middle East?”   This article, from the Economist, is shorter and much more oriented toward current events:   “The... Read more

    There’s been a recent flurry of excitement among certain critics of Joseph Smith and Mormonism regarding a new video by Dan Vogel.  Brian Hales responds to it here:   Response to Vogel’s Second Polyandry video   Incidentally, for those interested in (or troubled by) the subject of Joseph Smith and early Mormon plural marriage, Brian Hales runs an excellent site.  And this site, run by Ugo Perego, is also well worth watching on early Mormon polygamy as on several... Read more

    “Some people grumble because roses have thorns; I am thankful that the thorns have roses.” Alphonse Karr (d. 1890), French critic, journalist, and novelist     Read more

    Although one hubristic reader directed me this morning to post no more political comments on my blog, I’m going to throw caution to the winds and do so anyway:   https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/12/13/why-the-political-world-needs-more-mitt-romneys/?utm_term=.99f0f832f5c3   I agree with this article.     Read more

    An entertaining and provocative 17.5 minutes:     It’s pretty painfully obvious to me that the two atheist interlocutors didn’t really get the point.  Of course, in fairness, they’re scarcely alone in this.  I’ve found that the atheists I’ve spoken to have rarely been able to see the issue, either.  They often assume, quite indignantly, that the claim is that atheists can’t be good people, or that atheists are indifferent to moral evils.  But that isn’t the point... Read more

    The 2016 United States tax year is coming to a close, and many Americans are thinking about charitable gifts, as well as about Christmas.   There are hundreds, if not thousands, of worthwhile charities that do a host of good things.  They nourish children, fight diseases, support museums, furnish scholarships, underwrite schools and colleges, sponsor missionaries, fund research, combat human trafficking, sustain symphony orchestras, provide medical care, dig freshwater wells, and many other things that I can’t even begin... Read more

    You might find this retrospective interesting.  There’ll be stories that you had forgotten, and, very possibly, stories that you hadn’t heard about in the first place:   http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/2016     Read more

    Most of you have probably already heard about this — I’m a bit late reporting on it — but it’s a fascinating discovery:   http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/12/feathered-dinosaur-tail-amber-theropod-myanmar-burma-cretaceous/   So much, it seems, for the dinosaur images and dinosaur figures that I grew up with.  (I didn’t, contrary to popular fable, grow up with actual dinosaurs.  The last one had died of old age several years before I was born.)     Read more