At the initiative of the good folks at Patheos (particularly Kathleen Mulhern), and thanks to their efforts, this blog (Sic et Non) now has a Facebook page of its own:   https://www.facebook.com/PatheosSicEtNon/?fref=photo   Facebook is 95% mystery to me.   When it comes to social media, I stand (rather wobbly and with very blurred vision) on the shoulders of giants.  Or, at least, on the shoulders of people far more knowledgeable and competent than I am on this... Read more

    The conservative writer Ben Shapiro expresses views along the lines that many of us in the #NeverTrump movement have been thinking:   http://www.dailywire.com/news/3896/shapiro-i-will-never-vote-donald-trump-heres-why-ben-shapiro   Needless to say, I would quibble with him on one matter:  He is far more negative on Mitt Romney than I am, even though I’ve been a serious conservative since long before Ben Shapiro was born.  I saw Governor Romney as electable.  More important than that, though, I saw him as a remarkably good, competent, and... Read more

    Here’s a column that I wrote for Easter 2013:   http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865576869/Christs-resurrection-was-a-witnessed-fact-not-a-later-fantasy.html     Read more

    Before I go any further, I want to call your attention to a nice little article that sheds light on the meaning of the name Mosiah:   http://publications.maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/fullscreen/?pub=1110&index=28   But now, on to a quick and very brief comment about Mosiah 13, today’s reading:   As was shown in the first verse of the previous chapter, Abinadi’s concern isn’t with his own personal fate; he’s concerned to be able to convey his divinely-assigned message.   Part of that message... Read more

    I’m very fond of the excellent second-tier English poet A. E. Housman (d. 1936), who, along with writing such works as “To an athlete dying young,” from A Shropshire Lad, was a prominent classicist at the University of Cambridge.  The melancholy mood of many of his poems speaks to me.  I’ve even made a minor pilgrimage to his grave.   Housman was an atheist, and sometimes a hostile one.  But he had moments of yearning.  This poem, entitled... Read more

    We’ve just returned from a magnificent performance of Händel’s Messiah by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, accompanied by the Orchestra at Temple Square.  Mack Wilberg, the Choir’s conductor, substantially reconceived Händel’s masterwork for a larger choir and with re-arranged accompaniment.   I don’t believe that I’ve ever heard the Choir sing as powerfully as I did tonight.  And the four soloists — Erin Morley (Soprano), Sasha Cooke (Mezzo-Soprano), Paul Appleby (Tenor), and Joseph Barron (Bass) — were superb.  I’m... Read more

    For this Easter weekend, Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture posts a special, reflective piece by Joseph Grenny:   http://www.mormoninterpreter.com/why-did-you-choose-me/   For last year’s Interpreter Easter reflection, by W. Mitt Romney, see here.     Read more

      Read more

    I wrote this column for Easter 2015:   http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865625528/In-submission-is-our-salvation.html     Read more

    Latter-day Saints seldom think about Good Friday.  We take our lead too much, I’m afraid, from the culture around us, which, having failed (thus far) to commercialize Easter very thoroughly, pretty much ignores the holy days preceding it.   But Eric Huntsman hasn’t forgotten.   Here’s a really good collection of materials, suggestions, and thoughts that he’s put together for this very significant day:   http://huntsmanseasonal.blogspot.com/2013/03/good-friday.html     Read more