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<\/a>This particular item is probably also to be found \u2014 I haven\u2019t looked for it there yet \u2014 in the legendary (but not merely mythical) Christopher Hitchens Memorial \u201cHow Religion Poisons Everything\u201d File<\/em>\u2122: \u00a0The Interpreter Foundation Podcast \u2014 August 21, 2025: Interpreter<\/em> Articles and \u201cAre Latter-day Saints Happier?\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n For the second 21 August 2025 episode of the Interpreter Foundation Podcast, Terry Hutchinson, John Gee, and John Thompson discussed various recent articles in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship<\/em> and recent posts on By Common Consent<\/a> and Times and Seasons<\/a> titled (in part) \u201cAre Latter-day Saints Happier?\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n While we\u2019re talking about the Hitchens File<\/em>, though, I did locate this<\/em> item in it: \u00a0\u201cWhich states have happiest people \u2014 and what creates happiness? WalletHub study finds emotional and physical well-being, work and community contribute happiness\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n Of course, inquiring minds want to know the reason behind Utah\u2019s dismal showing in this study. \u00a0And it\u2019s not hard to understand the background: \u00a0Plainly, involvement with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints<\/a> leaches happiness right out of the souls of those who are so unfortunate as to be involved with it. \u00a0If the Church weren\u2019t so dominant in the state, there can be no real question that Utah would have ranked first. \u00a0Consider the state\u2019s restrictive liquor laws alone: Can there be any actual happiness in a place that so severely limits chemical assistance?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n We drove down the Oregon coast today. \u00a0Obviously, we made our pilgrimage to the Tillamook Creamery<\/a>. \u00a0We also drove over to Cape Meares<\/a>, where we walked about to the various sights and spectacular scenic overlooks. \u00a0In fact, we stopped at quite a number<\/em> of overlooks. (The Oregon coast can be rather grand.) \u00a0The metereological forecasts had suggested that today would be quite rainy, but it wasn\u2019t. \u00a0Instead, the weather was surprisingly sunny and pleasant.<\/p>\n Yes. \u00a0Yes. \u00a0Yes. \u00a0I\u2019ve eaten \u2014 eaten food \u2014 <\/em>several times during this trip. \u00a0I won\u2019t even attempt to deny it. \u00a0And, sometimes, I\u2019ve enjoyed<\/em> the food. \u00a0Shameful, I know, but there you have it.<\/p>\n Leaving the Seaside\/Astoria area was a bit sad, and particularly so, in a sense, because we had just discovered Broder Strand<\/a> in Astoria and because I had just discovered that the Pig\u2019N Pancake<\/a> restaurant near where we were staying in Seaside makes not only really good sourdough pancakes (which I already knew, though I had forgotten how good they are with a triple berry syrup) but also \u2014 my new discovery \u2014 extremely good thin and crispy Swedish pancakes that are topped with imported lingonberries and whipped butter.<\/p>\n There is a significant Scandinavian heritage in and around Astoria. \u00a0There is, for example, a Finn Ware shop<\/a> there, and Suomi Hall<\/a>, where Lodge #2 of the Finnish Brotherhood meets, and, as I saw only yesterday, an Astoria Nordic Heritage Park<\/a>.\u00a0 \u00a0What really delighted me several years back, though, on our first visit to the area, was to see a lodge building for the Sons of Norway (Sons of Norway Land \u2013 Nidaros Lodge No. 18<\/a>). \u00a0Honestly, I\u2019d never really thought<\/em> of the Sons of Norway before, except in connection with jokes that my father told me while I was growing up. \u00a0Here\u2019s one of them:<\/span><\/p>\n The local Sons of Norway are holding a meeting to discuss the problem of their lodge\u2019s declining membership. \u00a0The discussion goes back and forth, and none of the suggestions has really captured the enthusiasm of the assembled lodge members.<\/p>\n In the back of the room, though, Ole has been raising his hand, hoping to get the attention of the others. \u00a0(In such stories, it\u2019s always<\/em> Ole.) \u00a0Finally, the lodge\u2019s leader calls on him. \u00a0So Ole stands up and addresses his fellow Sons of Norway.<\/p>\n \u201cVell,\u201d he says, \u201cdiss iss a difficult problem. \u00a0But,\u201d he continues, \u201cI tink I haff de solution. \u00a0I say ve change de name uff de lodge from de \u2018Sonss uff Norvay\u201d to de \u201cSonss uff B@#$%es,\u201d ant denn ve can include de Svedes, too!\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n At Broder Strand in Astoria, my wife and I shared\u00a0\u00e6bleskiver<\/em> (a kind of Danish pancake), served with lingonberry jam; kotbullar<\/em> (Swedish meatballs) in an absolutely delicious mushroom sauce or soup; and Norwegian potato lefse<\/em> of the kind that my grandmother used to make \u2014 the love of which, after she died when I was just five years old, my father passed on to me. \u00a0Alas, though, my kitchen skills don\u2019t extend much beyond boiling water, and my wife isn\u2019t especially fond of potato lefse. \u00a0<\/em>Moreover, like my mother before her, she\u2019s very reluctant to make it because it\u2019s both labor-intensive and exceptionally messy. \u00a0And, to make the situation even more<\/em> deeply tragic, on the rare occasions that I\u2019ve seen lefse<\/em> for sale (e.g., in Norway and at the Norwegian pavilion at EPCOT in Orlando, Florida), it\u2019s almost always been flour<\/em> lefse<\/em>, which just isn\u2019t my family tradition and which I don\u2019t like nearly as much. \u00a0Several years ago, we found a place in rural Minnesota that made wonderful potato lefse<\/em>, exactly like the lefse<\/em> with which I grew up (which even Broder Strand\u2019s wasn\u2019t, not quite), so I bought a fair amount of it and we (or, anyway, I) ate it for several days thereafter. \u00a0I was delighted to learn that they would also ship<\/em> it \u2014 but less so when I discovered that the price was roughly comparable to that for shipping gold bullion.<\/p>\n<\/a>
with Cape Meares National Wildlife Refuge (http:\/\/www.fws.gov\/oregoncoast\/capemeares\/index.htm) and Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge (http:\/\/www.fws.gov\/oregoncoast\/oregonislands\/index.htm) in the background. (Roy W. Lowe\/USFWS)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/a>