{"id":109960,"date":"2025-04-21T15:25:56","date_gmt":"2025-04-21T21:25:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=109960"},"modified":"2025-04-21T17:16:35","modified_gmt":"2025-04-21T23:16:35","slug":"making-the-world-a-better-place-or-not","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2025\/04\/making-the-world-a-better-place-or-not.html","title":{"rendered":"Making the world a better place, or not?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
Pope Francis (1936-2025) \u00a0(Wikimedia Commons public domain photo; presidencia.gov.ar)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cFirst Presidency Offers Condolences on Passing of His Holiness Pope Francis\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

As the First Presidency has already done, I offer my condolences on the death of Pope Francis to any Catholic readers who may perhaps wander through here. \u00a0The Pope\u2019s passing comes as a surprise to many, including me, because he seemed to be recovering reasonably well from a lengthy and serious hospitalization a few weeks ago. \u00a0 Just yesterday, he both appeared on the balcony of St. Peter\u2019s Basilica to deliver his Easter blessing<\/a> to the crowd assembled in the piazza below and, just prior to that appearance, gave an audience to U..S. Vice President J. D. Vance<\/a>. \u00a0(I decline to speculate on any causal relationship that the latter may have had with the Pope\u2019s death only a few hours afterward.)<\/p>\n

The passing of a pope is an epochal event. \u00a0On a personal note, papal succession was much in the news during the couple of months of my marriage, and I paid fairly close attention to what was going on. \u00a0(I\u2019ve always found the Vatican fascinating, and St. Peter\u2019s is probably my favorite place to visit \u00a0in Rome \u2014 Rome itself being one of my favorite places altogether.) \u00a0 Pope St. Paul VI died shortly after my wife and I were married. Pope John Paul I was elected a few weeks later, and then suddenly died after a papacy of only thirty-three days. \u00a0Shortly thereafter, the lengthy and vastly consequential pontificate of Pope St. John Paul II began. \u00a0I admired him enormously and, in January 2001, had the privilege of attending a relatively small meeting over which he presided. \u00a0(On this, see \u201cWhen the Pope left the Vatican for a meeting of healing:\u00a0When Pope John Paul II hosted a number of bishops from the ancient non-Catholic churches of the East, the location of the Papal Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls was significant.\u201d<\/a>)<\/p>\n

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\"He's<\/a>
The official 2025 inaugural portrait of President Donald J. Trump<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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Here yesterday, on Easter Sunday, I shared a number of brief items about the holiday and the event that it commemorates. \u00a0I should also have included this Easter conference talk from the late Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: \u201cSunday Will Come.\u201d<\/a> \u00a0It was kindly brought to my attention by Kenngo1969, one of this blog\u2019s readers. \u00a0(Incidentally, my wife and I knew Elder Wirthlin\u2019s sister Judith, whom he mentions in his remarks, quite well. \u00a0She and her husband, Tom, were Church service representatives in Egypt for part of the time that we were living there, and they were valued friends.)<\/div>\n
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I did not include the Easter message below, from the President of the United States, because I hadn\u2019t seen it until after I had posted my blog entry for the day:<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Happy Easter to all, including the Radical Left Lunatics who are fighting and scheming so hard to bring Murderers, Drug Lords, Dangerous Prisoners, the Mentally Insane, and well known MS-13 Gang Members and Wife Beaters, back into our Country. Happy Easter also to the WEAK and INEFFECTIVE Judges and Law Enforcement Officials who are allowing this sinister attack on our Nation to continue, an attack so violent that it will never be forgotten! Sleepy Joe Biden purposefully allowed Millions of CRIMINALS to enter our Country, totally unvetted and unchecked, through an Open Borders Policy that will go down in history as the single most calamitous act ever perpetrated upon America. He was, by far, our WORST and most Incompetent President, a man who had absolutely no idea what he was doing \u2014 But to him, and to the person that ran and manipulated the Auto Pen (perhaps our REAL President!), and to all of the people who CHEATED in the 2020 Presidential Election in order to get this highly destructive Moron Elected, I wish you, with great love, sincerity, and affection, a very Happy Easter!!! <\/span><\/div>\n
From Donald Trump Truth Social 04\/20\/25 08:46 AM<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\"Kirtland<\/a>
Ron Romig, the former archivist for the Community of Christ who was then serving as its historic sites specialist for the Kirtland area, took this photograph of a few of us \u2014 standing in front of the Kirtland Temple \u2014 when we were back there doing some filming several years ago. Karl Anderson (aka \u201cMr. Kirtland\u201d) stands third from left with his wife, Joyce.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

New, on the website of the Interpreter Foundation: \u00a0Interpreter Radio Show \u2014April 6, 2025, including Doctrine and Covenants in Context: \u201cThe Promises \u2026 Shall Be Fulfilled\u201d covering D&C 45<\/a><\/p>\n

The 13 April 2025 episode of the Interpreter Radio Show featured Terry Hutchinson, Mark Johnson, and Kevin Christensen, along with special guest Ignacio Garcia during the second hour. They discussed the Come, Follow Me<\/em> Doctrine & Covenants lesson for 5-11 May covering Doctrine and Covenants 45, the book by Ignacio Garcia about Eduardo Balderas, and the recent article by C. Thomas Black in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship<\/em>. \u00a0Their conversation was recorded. \u00a0It has now been edited to remove commercial interruptions and made available, at no charge, for your listening pleasure.<\/p>\n

In the Salt Lake Valley, the Interpreter Radio Show can be heard on Sunday evenings from 7 to 9 PM (MDT), on K-TALK, AM 1640, or \u2014 if you prefer (or if you have no practical alternative) \u2014 you can listen live on the Internet at ktalkmedia.com<\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Contra<\/a>
This charming item is apparently already circulating in the Flagstaff area.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Opposition to the building of Latter-day Saint temples has surged in recent years. \u00a0The Cody Wyoming Temple seems to have finally gotten past the challenges, but, despite its unanimous approval by the Las Vegas city council, the Lone Mountain Nevada Temple is still facing considerable resistance.<\/p>\n

The Church announced its intention to build a Flagstaff Arizona Temple on 6 April 2025. \u00a0That\u2019s just slightly more than two weeks ago. \u00a0Moreover, I didn\u2019t immediately pounce on this story; it\u2019s several days old already. \u00a0It certainly didn\u2019t take much time for opponents to begin to rally against the idea of a Latter-day Saint temple in their community! \u00a0We\u2019re probably still several months away from the announcement of a specific site, to say nothing of a building design or a lighting plan. \u00a0But those who seek to stop the coming of a temple to the Flagstaff area didn\u2019t hesitate. \u00a0They\u2019ve jumped right in, as the image above illustrates.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been through Flagstaff a few times, but not recently. \u00a0Can anybody tell me whether the city has electricity? \u00a0Are there any nighttime lights in the area? \u00a0And is time travel common in northern Arizona? \u00a0(I\u2019m curious to learn how the temple\u2019s opponents already know that the temple will conflict with city codes, interfere with local astronomical observatories, and violate Flagstaff Region Plan 2030.) \u00a0Furthermore, is it a requirement for ecclesiastical buildings in Flagstaff to provide ongoing economic benefits to the city? \u00a0Are<\/em> there any churches in Flagstaff? \u00a0Inquiring minds want to know.<\/p>\n

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

\u00a0 \u201cFirst Presidency Offers Condolences on Passing of His Holiness Pope Francis\u201d As the First Presidency has already done, I offer my condolences on the death of Pope Francis to any Catholic readers who may perhaps wander through here. \u00a0The Pope\u2019s passing comes as a surprise to many, including me, because he seemed to be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":109966,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1697,38602,2905,788,13537,641],"class_list":["post-109960","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-arizona","tag-flagstaff","tag-latter-day-saint","tag-mormon","tag-pope-francis","tag-temple"],"yoast_head":"\nMaking the world a better place, or not?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"  "First Presidency Offers Condolences on Passing of His Holiness 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