{"id":109220,"date":"2025-02-25T03:07:58","date_gmt":"2025-02-25T10:07:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=109220"},"modified":"2025-02-25T03:08:27","modified_gmt":"2025-02-25T10:08:27","slug":"chalk-another-one-up-for-the-word-of-wisdom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2025\/02\/chalk-another-one-up-for-the-word-of-wisdom.html","title":{"rendered":"Chalk up another one for the Word of Wisdom"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"sdkjflskjfslkjfalkslajks\"<\/a>
Looking across to Moloka\u2019i from Maui \u00a0(Wikimedia Commons public domain photograph)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The local whale-watching people are very concerned. \u00a0Apparently there are still reports on the internet that the August 2023 fire that destroyed most of Lahaina has put an end to whale watching here, in one of the best places in the entire world for observing whales. \u00a0But it\u2019s not true. \u00a0And they\u2019ve asked us to get the word out. \u00a0False reports are hurting them, economically. \u00a0So here I am, trying to get the word out.<\/p>\n

We spent a substantial portion of Monday afternoon out in the Maui Nui Basin \u2014 that is to say, on the water between the islands of Maui, L\u0101na\u02bbi, and Moloka\u2018i \u2014 in quest of the great white whale. \u00a0Or, anyway, in quest of humpback whales. \u00a0And our quest was highly successful, which isn\u2019t surprising, since the current census of humpbacks puts their number in the area at roughly two thousand. \u00a0They come here to give birth to their calves, and to mate. \u00a0And, while the whale calves are nursing, the adults, both male and female, fast for the entire time that they\u2019re here, since little or no food exists for them in the area. \u00a0Their fast can continue for several months before they return to Russian waters or to the waters of Alaska and the Aleutian Islands. \u00a0(They ignore the borders.) \u00a0The whole thing is remarkable.<\/p>\n

We were out with a group called Dive Maui<\/em>. \u00a0We saw whales spouting, breaching, slapping the water with their pectoral fins, teaching their newborns. \u00a0We saw juveniles and mothers and \u201cescorting\u201d males. \u00a0One mother and baby came up really close to our raft to take a good long look at us. \u00a0They swam around us, up close to us, behind us.<\/p>\n

Truth be told, I enjoy simply being out on a boat. \u00a0I also really enjoy seeing wild animals in their native habitat. \u00a0So does my wife, which is why we\u2019ve done whale watching many times off of at least three of the Hawaiian Islands, as well as off the coast of Victoria, British Columbia; Depoe Bay, Oregon; and Dana Point, California. \u00a0We wanted to go whale watching in Cabo San Lucas a bit more than a year ago, but the whale season wasn\u2019t on there yet.<\/p>\n

Curiously, though, I\u2019ve never been interested in hunting. \u00a0In this, my father and I amicably parted ways. \u00a0In fact, we never even really talked about it; I simply didn\u2019t pick it up. \u00a0He grew up as a hunter in rural North Dakota, and, among other things, he and his brother participated every year in the annual Utah deer-hunting season. \u00a0(As a child, I worried every year that he might kill Bambi.) \u00a0He made sure that I was trained in the use of firearms and in gun safety \u2014 he had been a rifle instructor in the Army for a while \u2014 but, as I recall, he took me out hunting only once. \u00a0For rabbits. \u00a0I got off a pretty good shot that day and killed a rabbit, and I was inconsolable. \u00a0I hated it. \u00a0I could think of no good reason why, solely for my enjoyment, that rabbit should have been hopping happily along one moment and, in the next moment, die a violent death at my hand.<\/p>\n

A few years ago, my wife and I went up into the Canadian Rockies with two other couples. \u00a0One of the men that we were with is a very serious hunter, both with a rifle and with a bow and arrow. \u00a0His collection of hunting trophies is impressive. \u00a0One mid-morning during that trip, in Banff National Park, we came across a magnificent stag in a meadow. \u00a0Our friend lamented that he had no rifle with him. \u00a0I, in turn, marveled at that. \u00a0The thought of killing so majestic a creature hadn\u2019t so much as occurred to me and, on my own, would never<\/em> have occurred to me. \u00a0I don\u2019t think any the less of our friend \u2014 any more than I thought less of my Dad \u2014 for his interest in hunting. He\u2019s a really good man, in multiple respects a far better one than I am and certainly a more useful one. \u00a0I was just amazed, in this specific regard, at how differently we seem to be wired.<\/p>\n

I occasionally thought \u2014 never very earnestly \u2014 that I would have enjoyed taking up landscape and wildlife photography as a serious hobby. \u00a0That kind of hunting and that kind of exploring out in nature I could have enjoyed very much. \u00a0But not the kind with a gun or a bow and arrow.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
A beach near Wailea (Wikimedia Commons public domain image)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With my wife\u2019s sister, we visited a beautiful little cove on Sunday afternoon, over on the southwestern side of the island in the vicinity of Wailea. \u00a0I was amused to find myself in conversation with an aging-hippie-looking fellow there who turned out to be a Lebanese-born physician. \u00a0He had trained and practiced in France and French Switzerland for many years \u2014 his wife is French \u2014 and is now based in Boulder, Colorado (where his politics must fit right in, albeit on the leftward end of even the Boulder<\/em> spectrum.) \u00a0My sister-in-law mentioned to him that I do Arabic, so he immediately put me to the test with a super-Egyptian colloquial expression, wondering whether I knew it and whether I knew what it means. \u00a0Happily, I passed the test. \u00a0So there\u2019s yet another<\/em> person whom I\u2019ve successfully fooled!<\/p>\n

\"Amazon<\/a>
There\u2019s still a fair amount of water left on the planet (as here, in the Amazon River), so abstaining from alcohol or even Coke products isn\u2019t inevitably fatal and need not leave one completely thirsty. \u00a0(Wikimedia Commons public domain photograph)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

My friend Dr. Lynn Johnson forwarded to me what seem to be excerpts, gathered by Ken Pope, from Sanjula D. Singha, et al., \u201cFor brain health, one drink a day is not better than none,\u201d in the eminent British medical journal The Lancet. \u00a0<\/em>It\u2019s apparent that either Dr. Johnson or Ken Pope, or perhaps both, have been searching in the section of the Christopher Hitchens Memorial \u201cHow Religion Poisons Everything\u201d File<\/em>\u2122 that pertains directly to the Latter-day Saints and their \u201cWord of Wisdom\u201d:<\/p>\n

The Review of Evidence on Alcohol and Health from the US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) brings renewed attention to the possibility that moderate alcohol consumption might yield health benefits. The report\u2019s meta-analyses found that moderate consumption was associated with reductions in all-cause mortality and cardiovascular disease-related mortality (including stroke- related mortality). When advising patients on the risks and benefits of moderate alcohol consumption, however, clinicians will do well to bear in mind three key considerations. First, study design: the meta-analyses described in the NASEM report rely on observational studies, which are constrained by confounding, reverse causality, and selection bias. Mendelian randomisation, which uses genetic variants to infer causal relationships, can bypass these limitations and consistently challenges the notion of health benefits from alcohol consumption at any dose, showing a linear relationship between alcohol consumption and all-cause mortality. \u00a0Second, lived experience is of paramount consideration: the NASEM report evaluated a range of outcomes beyond mortality, including risk of heart disease, stroke, neurocognition, and cancers. Patients might prioritise some outcomes over others. The report states that insufficient evidence is available on any health benefits of moderate alcohol consumption for neurocognition and risk of dementia. When discussing the long-term effects of alcohol consumption with patients, we have found it helpful to focus on dementia, stroke, and depression, which collectively result in more than 9 million deaths and more than 200 million disability-adjusted life years per year, as well as an annual global economic burden exceeding US$3 trillion. \u00a0The vast majority of adults have had personal experience, or know someone well who has had personal experience with dementia, stroke, or depression, giving meaning to the discussion. At present, the evidence supports recommending abstinence from alcohol to reduce risk of these conditions across the lifespan.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Posted from K\u0101\u02bbanapali, Maui, Hawai\u02bbi<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 The local whale-watching people are very concerned. \u00a0Apparently there are still reports on the internet that the August 2023 fire that destroyed most of Lahaina has put an end to whale watching here, in one of the best places in the entire world for observing whales. \u00a0But it\u2019s not true. \u00a0And they\u2019ve asked us […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":98490,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2145,18631,2905,788,27849,2147],"class_list":["post-109220","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-alcohol","tag-lahaina","tag-latter-day-saint","tag-mormon","tag-whale","tag-word-of-wisdom"],"yoast_head":"\nChalk up another one for the Word of Wisdom<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"  The local whale-watching people are very concerned. \u00a0Apparently 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