This royal throne of kings, this sceptred isle,  This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars,  This other Eden, demi-paradise,  This fortress built by Nature for herself  Against infection and the hand of war,  This happy breed of men, this little world,  This precious stone set in the silver sea,  Which serves it in the office of a wall  Or as a moat defensive to a house,  Against the envy of less happier lands,–  This blessed plot, this... Read more

    I’ve paid him no attention whatever.  I’ve never, to the best of my recollection, seen him on television nor heard his voice.  If he’s written anything, I haven’t read it.  I didn’t watch his debate with the young-earth creationist Ken Ham.  (For that matter, I’ve never paid any attention to Ken Ham, either.  I’ve never seen him on television, nor heard his voice, nor read anything that he might have written.)   But it’s been impossible to escape... Read more

    A heart-breaking, heart-warming story from the Pacific Northwest:   http://kpug1170.com/news/007700-bellingham-girl-recieves-care-package-from-brigham-young-university/   Posted from Bergen, Norway     Read more

    I thought this article quite interesting — and neatly complementary to this recent column.   Posted from Bergen, Norway     Read more

    Today, we caught a ride around the harbor of Bergen with a friendly and loquacious Norwegian on his motorized sailboat.  One of the things he pointed out to us was a very large and genuinely ugly building that was built by the Nazis when Bergen was the headquarters of the German U-boat fleet in occupied Norway.  (With its protected fjords and its easy access to the waters around Britain, Norway was perfect for submarines.)  The facility serviced the... Read more

    One can always quibble with such lists — the most obvious oddity about this one is its failure to include even a single member of the First Presidency or the Council of the Twelve, and one wants to know “Influential how? Upon whom? Upon what?” — but they always make for interesting reading:   http://www.newsmax.com/TopBestList/newsmax-list-mormons-influential/2016/08/24/id/744898/   Posted from Bergen, Norway     Read more

    Ralph Hancock’s remarks at the 2016 FairMormon conference in Provo, delivered earlier this month, stirred up a bit of controversy.  As always, though, his is an important, thoughtful voice that merits close attention:   http://www.fairmormon.org/perspectives/fair-conferences/2016-fairmormon-conference/love-wins-charity-loses   He doesn’t do philosophy in slogans or soundbites.   Posted from Bergen, Norway     Read more

    Here’s a scientist who believes that (mortal) humans will never understand consciousness:   http://wavefunction.fieldofscience.com/2016/08/physicist-ed-witten-on-consciousness-i.html   This is something like the position held by the philosopher Colin McGinn, which is often called “mysterianism.”   I suspect that they’re right.   And I think it may be because consciousness is primary, basic, irreducible, and, accordingly, not explicable in terms of “constituent parts” or causes.  I believe it to be one of the few “givens” in the universe.  Like axioms in geometry,... Read more

    Marvin Perkins’s remarks at the 2016 FairMormon gathering in Sweden are up, and well worth a listen.   Incidentally, my admiration for faithful black members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints prior to 1978 is profound.  I’m not at all confident that I would have, could have, remained active and committed had I been in their position.  Remarkable people.   Posted from Bergen, Norway     Read more

    Some are always curious to know what I’ll be teaching, so here’s the list:   Arabic 362 — medieval Arabic literature in translation (I’ll be concentrating on the Qur’an) Integrated Humanities 242 — an introduction to the culture and civilization of Islam Middle East Studies (Arabic) 250 — an introduction to the religion of Islam Arabic 490R — directed readings in Arabic   Posted from Stardalen, Norway   Read more