A second article appeared today in Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture:   http://www.mormoninterpreter.com/the-ammonites-were-not-pacifists/#more-8917   The story of the Ammonites, the people of Anti-Nephi-Lehi, plainly has continuing relevance still today.   Posted from Göteborg, Sweden     Read more

    “And why does man weep when he is sad? I asked at last—Because the glass in the eyes must be washed now and then, so that we can see clearly, said the child.” August Strindberg (1849-1912)   Posted from Göteborg, Sweden     Read more

      Today’s reading, Alma 31, introduces us to the (in)famous Rameumptom, the elevated platform from which the apostate Zoramites would offer up their complacently self-righteous weekly prayer.   Here are some interesting thoughts, from the Book of Mormon Onomasticon Project that was once associated with FARMS or the Maxwell Institute, on the etymology of the word Rameumptom:  https://onoma.lib.byu.edu/index.php/RAMEUMPTOM   I’m struck, too, by the fact that, in 31:35, Alma remarks of the Zoramites that “many of them are... Read more

    It being Friday, Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture has published a new article today:   http://www.mormoninterpreter.com/nephis-change-of-heart/   We hope that you’ll find it interesting and enjoyable!   Posted from Göteborg, Sweden     Read more

    I don’t think that I’ve mentioned this item before:   http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865656112/Joseph-Smith-apparently-was-not-Josephine-Lyons-father-Mormon-History-Association-speaker-says.html?pg=all   I think it significant, given the image that some have come to believe (and to advocate) of Joseph Smith as a debauched sex-addict, that it’s been so very hard, to this point, to find many descendants from him.   Surely there ought to be hundreds, if not thousands by now, from his plural wives.  But there aren’t.   Incidentally, we’ll be seeing our friend Ugo Perego... Read more

      Yesterday, I mentioned the anger that some are expressing at the “fact” that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has issued no statement regretting the massacre in Orlando or expressing its condolences:     “I guess that righteous indignation is a lot more satisfying than using Google is”     Some of those who are indignant at the Church’s supposed silence in this matter are also expressing their rage at the way the Church’s view... Read more

    Probably few people today remember or think about Dag Hammarskjöld.  In his time, though, and for some years after his death in a mysterious plane crash in what is now Zambia, on 18 September 1961 — while he was engaged in a mission to end a conflict there — he was a major figure.  A Swedish diplomat and the second secretary general of the United Nations (and considered by more than a few the best ever to hold... Read more

    “The stubborn critic would say: ‘What is the benefit of these sciences?’ He does not know the virtue that distinguishes mankind from all the animals: it is knowledge, in general, which is pursued solely by man, and which is pursued for the sake of knowledge itself, because its acquisition is truly delightful, and is unlike the pleasures desirable from other pursuits. For the good cannot be brought forth, and evil cannot be avoided, except by knowledge. What benefit... Read more

    My Deseret News column for today is up.  I’m just slow to acknowledge the fact:   http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865656270/Joseph-Smith-or-the-sword.html   Posted from Uppsala, Sweden     Read more

    I check in fairly regularly on a couple of ex-Mormon hate sites in order to be aware of what’s agitating the hive.   A popular new topic on one of them is angry disgust at the failure of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to issue any kind of statement of regret or comfort in response to the mass murder at that gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida.   The Church’s silence demonstrates its hatred for homosexuals.   See here.... Read more