“What Caused the Darkness and Destruction in the 34th Year?”     Read more

    Wow.  So much can already be seen in this ad, from way back in 1988:     The frenetic hype.   The failed business launch.  The underperformance.  (Within a few months, “Trump: The Game” could best be found in dumpsters and thrift stores.)   The self-aggrandizing emphasis on his own name and brand.  (Count, if you can, the number of times that Trump is repeated in the ad.)   And — very interesting in view of his recent refusal to... Read more

    “I seek forgiveness from God for my lack of sincerity when I seek the forgiveness of God.” Rabi‘a al-‘Adawiyya       Read more

    Act for this life as if you live forever; act for the afterlife as if you die tomorrow. ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib (d. AD 661)         Read more

    I’m grateful to Kevin Taylor for alerting me to this concise and very lucid essay:   https://www.aaas.org/page/what-scientism     Read more

    “The Most Despicable Accusation Yet against ‘Never Trump’” “The Art of the Deal with Conservatives, In Four Steps”   Phoenix 12News:  “Former CIA agent picking up Arizona Mormon votes for president”   Los Angeles Times:  “It’s not just women and minorities. Donald Trump has a Mormon problem — and here’s how it could cost him”     Read more

    A nice article in Meridian Magazine:   http://ldsmag.com/why-the-other-accounts-of-the-first-vision-shouldnt-challenge-your-faith/     Read more

    Third Temple on Mount Zion Conference in memory of Matthew B. Brown Saturday, 5 November 2016 251 Tanner Bldg, BYU   9:15           Stephen Ricks                        Session chair Opening prayer 9:30           Jeffrey Bradshaw                   “By the Blood Ye Are Sanctified”: Temple Themes in Joseph Smith’s Translation of Moses 6:59–63 and Genesis 17:4–7 10:15         David Calabro                        The Choreography of Genesis: A Ritual Reading of the Book of Abraham 10:45         15-minute break 11:00         Alex Douglas                         Gentiles in the Temple: Worship and... Read more

    Compare and contrast:   “How Trump Changed Evangelicals”   “Utah Is the Political Conscience of the Nation”   (Thanks to Jiminy Brunswick for bringing the latter article to my notice.)     Read more

    The latest iteration of my weekly “Defending the Faith” column has appeared in the Deseret News:   http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865665194/The-inspired-plans-for-the-Kirtland-Temple.html     Read more