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<\/a>I\u2019m absolutely delighted at this news, and am not altogether surprised by it: \u00a0\u201cElder G\u00e9rald Causs\u00e9 Is Called to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n I\u2019m very sympathetic to the position taken by the Australian astrophysicist Graham Phillips<\/a> in his brief essay \u201cThe Emperor\u2019s Free Will.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n The issue of free will versus determinism always puts me in mind of a familiar story from James Boswell\u2019s 1791 Life of Samuel Johnson<\/em>, in which Boswell reports an exchange with the great English writer and lexicographer who is the subject of his biography. \u00a0Samuel Johnson has been described (by the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography<\/i>) as \u201carguably the most distinguished man of letters in English history\u201d:<\/p>\n \u201cAfter we came out of the church, we stood talking for some time together of Bishop Berkeley\u2019s ingenious sophistry to prove the non-existence of matter, and that every thing in the universe is merely ideal. I observed, that though we are satisfied his doctrine is not true, it is impossible to refute it. I never shall forget the alacrity with which Johnson answered, striking his foot with mighty force against a large stone, till he rebounded from it, \u201cI refute it thus.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n There are not a few philosophers and scientists, currently, who, in fealty to their commitment to mechanistic physicalism, take the position that not only is our freedom or agency an illusion, but our consciousness itself<\/em>. \u00a0It seems remarkably strange to me to deny our most fundamental and direct perception \u2014 our immediate (which is to say, our unmediated) awareness of our selves and of the decisions that we make \u2014 in order to clear the \u00a0way for acceptance of a theory that can only result from a series of indirect inferences and deductions. \u00a0When Ren\u00e9 Descartes wanted to dig down to the bedrock of a proposition that absolutely could not be doubted, he proposed his famous Cogito ergo sum<\/em>: \u201cI think, therefore I am.\u201d<\/p>\n It also seems odd to me to think that I\u2019m mistaken in thinking that I think, and especially so when, according to the theory, there is no \u201cI\u201d to do the thinking. \u00a0That\u2019s why I\u2019m reminded of Dr. Johnson and his very tangible stone. \u00a0His argument isn\u2019t exactly overwhelming as a specimen of rigorous philosophical analysis, but it does undeniably possess a certain, umm, force<\/em>.<\/p>\n In 1899, the Canadian novelist Lily Dougall \u2014 by no means a Latter-day Saint \u2014 published a work of fiction called The Mormon Prophet<\/em>. \u00a0(I alluded to it in yesterday\u2019s blog entr<\/a>y.) \u00a0That novel of hers is available online from Project Gutenberg<\/a>. \u00a0I was struck by the following passage in her \u201cPreface\u201d to the book, in which she alludes to some of the background research that she did in preparation for her writing:<\/p>\n Near Kirtland I visited a sweet-faced old lady\u2014not, however, of the Mormon persuasion\u2014who as a child had climbed on the prophet\u2019s knee. \u201cMy mother always said,\u201d she told us, \u201cthat if she had to die and leave young children, she would rather have left them to Joseph Smith than to any one else in the world: he was always kind.\u201d This testimony as to Smith\u2019s kindheartedness I found to be often repeated in the annals of Mormon families.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Coincidentally, Martin Tanner, Hales Swift, and Brent Schmidt discussed Joseph Smith during the 5 November 2025 episode of the completely moribund Interpreter Foundation\u2019s podcast: The Interpreter Foundation Podcast \u2014 November 5, 2025: The Life and Personality of Joseph Smith<\/a><\/p>\n We continue to work on our forthcoming series of short Interpreter Foundation video documentaries, Becoming Brigham<\/em>. \u00a0Here are links to three Becoming Brigham<\/em> trailers that we produced for FAIR. \u00a0The first two are thirty seconds in length, while the third is sixty seconds long:<\/p>\n BB 30 Sec Trailer A v1.0 ProRes 444<\/a><\/p>\n BB 30 sec Trailer B v1.0 ProRes 444<\/a><\/p>\n BB 60 sec Trailer 1 v1.0 ProRes 444<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n We still need additional funding in order to complete the Becoming Brigham<\/em> series as we envision it, and so, if you\u2019re at all interested in helping this project come to full fruition, we invite you to contribute to it: \u00a0\u201cDonating to the Interpreter Foundation.\u201d<\/a>\u00a0 Donations \u2014 whether large or small \u2014 are not only welcomed but needed<\/em>. \u00a0We are entering into the biggest season of the year for charitable donations, so I want to get the Interpreter Foundation on your radar.<\/p>\n For online donations, nonprofits in the United States typically receive between 24% and 47% of their annual online revenue during the months of November and December. \u00a0<\/span>Approximately 30% of all annual charitable giving occurs in December, with about ten percent of all donations made in the last three days<\/em> of the year. \u00a0Indeed, a significant portion of year-end giving \u2014 about 5% of total annual donations \u2014 takes place specifically on 31 December. \u00a0<\/span>This year-end surge is no doubt driven by the spirit of the holidays, but it\u2019s also driven by obvious tax considerations, since, under federal tax law in the United States, donations made by 31 December are eligible for tax deductions.<\/p>\n There are innumerable worthy causes out there. \u00a0I realize that. \u00a0Still, I hope that you will agree with me that the Interpreter Foundation is one of them. \u00a0And, by the way: \u00a0For the record, please note that, contrary to the continual insinuations and accusations of certain anonymous critics, I receive and will receive no income from either your donations or Becoming Brigham<\/em> or any other Interpreter Foundation project. \u00a0My wife and I are, ourselves, contributors to the Interpreter Foundation, both financially and, much more significantly, in terms of time and labor. \u00a0We\u2019re both volunteers and donors.<\/p>\n If you have interest or questions (or concerns), please contact me at danielcarlpeterson@gmail.com<\/a>. \u00a0If you merely want to insult me, though, feel free to send your rant to me via this address<\/a>.<\/p>\n I just found this item in the Christopher Hitchens Memorial \u201cHow Religion Poisons Everything\u201d File<\/em>\u2122. \u00a0It\u2019s appalling that the Latter-day Saints have been permitted to extend their evil influence beyond the Great Basin West: \u00a0\u201cPatrick Mahomes and Andy Reid just appeared in a commercial together to promote a joint BYU-Texas Tech service project\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n And the Hitchens File<\/em> is far from exhausted. \u00a0Here\u2019s yet another infuriating horror: \u00a0\u201cLocal Mormon church<\/a> donates over 70,000 lbs of food to Food Bank of Iowa.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n Moreover, if you become righteously indignant at such terrible theistic outrages as those that are mentioned just above, you might also derive a satisfying shiver of displeasure from these <\/em>reports:<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u00a0 I\u2019m absolutely delighted at this news, and am not altogether surprised by it: \u00a0\u201cElder G\u00e9rald Causs\u00e9 Is Called to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.\u201d I\u2019m very sympathetic to the position taken by the Australian astrophysicist Graham Phillips in his brief essay \u201cThe Emperor\u2019s Free Will.\u201d The issue of free will versus determinism always 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