There are few chapters of scripture that are more comforting to believers than Alma 40.   I’ve had to cite this passage at more than one family funeral:   11 Now, concerning the state of the soul between death and the resurrection—Behold, it has been made known unto me by an angel, that the spirits of all men, as soon as they are departed from this mortal body, yea, the spirits of all men, whether they be good or evil, are taken home to that... Read more

    He’s running against one of the weakest, least charismatic, most vulnerable Democratic candidates in the history of that party, and yet he’s likely to snatch defeat from the very jaws of victory:   http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/byron-york-polls-are-telling-donald-trump-the-truth-but-hes-not-listening/article/2595055   If Mrs. Clinton were a stronger candidate, it would already be completely over.   Posted from Brockwood Hall, Cumbria, England     Read more

    An outside perspective on the Church’s efforts to promote temporal human welfare:   http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/2016/06/24/mormon-welfare-program/31091/   The late Christopher Hitchens claimed, over and over again, that “religion poisons everything.”  He appears to have been mistaken on that point.   On another note, I’m pleased to belong to an organization that does so much good.   Posted from Brockwood Hall, Cumbria, England     Read more

    Some of the more sophisticated critics of the Book of Mormon have occasionally argued that literacy was virtually unknown among pre-exilic Israelites — which, if true, would seem to compromise both the claims to historicity of the early books of the Bible and of the Book of Mormon.  (After all, Lehi and Nephi and their successors are, obviously, highly literate.)   John Gee has been taking aim at that argument, off and on, for a number of years... Read more

    Some pointers from the Church, as introduced by Elder Von Keetch of the Seventy, on how to deal with sensitive social and religious issues:   http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/video-series-mormons-defend-religious-freedom-respect-differences#prclt-Z11W7Tdb   Posted from Brockwood Hall, Cumbria, England     Read more

    Just think of all the glorious things to see out there!   http://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/06/the-enormous-mountains-of-alien-worlds/489101/   Posted from Brockwood Hall, Cumbria, England   Read more

    I bought a book on English place names during a prior trip to England when we were in the Midlands, and it has given me a great deal of pleasure.  I mean, how can you possibly top village names like Upper Piddle and Lower Piddle?  Or Lickey End?  Or Letch Lane?  (Is that Lois’s disreputable brother?)   Once you get the hang of them, it’s fun to make additional such names up, to operate as a kind random generator.  Here... Read more

    A very perceptive piece by Damon Linker about the recent referendum in the United Kingdom:   http://theweek.com/articles/632380/how-brexit-shattered-progressives-dearest-illusions   I was struck the other day by the British journalist David Goodhart’s distinction in the debate over Britain’s relationship to the European Union — which I saw cited here — between what he called “somewhere people” and “nowhere people.”  By those terms, he’s referring to residents of the UK who feel deeply English, profoundly connected to the traditions of their little island, its... Read more

    Thanks to Kyle Pratt for bringing this very good photo essay to my attention:   http://ldsmag.com/article-1-14541/   And, while I’m at it, here’s an extremely interesting article on “What Newspapers in the 1800s Said About the Martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum.”   Posted from Brockwood Hall, Cumbria, England       Read more

      I’ve recently had several people ask me what I might recommend to them, so that they can learn more about Islam.  There are lots and lots of good books, but I can at least identify these two items, one a book and one a recorded lecture-set, as not being the absolutely worst things on the market:   https://www.amazon.com/Muhammad-Prophet-God-Daniel-Peterson/dp/0802807542/ref=sr_1_2?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1467066768&sr=8-2&keywords=Daniel+Peterson+Islam   https://www.amazon.com/Latter-day-Look-at-Islam/dp/168047975X/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1467067536&sr=8-1&keywords=Daniel+Peterson+Islam   Posted from Brockwood Hall, Cumbria, England     Read more