{"id":32948,"date":"2016-04-22T16:34:18","date_gmt":"2016-04-22T22:34:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=32948"},"modified":"2016-04-22T16:35:42","modified_gmt":"2016-04-22T22:35:42","slug":"former-senator-bob-bennett","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/04\/former-senator-bob-bennett.html","title":{"rendered":"Former Senator Bob Bennett"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Robert<\/a>
An official portrait of then-Senator Bob Bennett (R-UT): \u00a0\u201cNot Just a Pretty Face,\u201d said the billboard slogan during his first senatorial campaign. And that was very true. He\u2019s a remarkable man.
(Wikimedia Commons)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Joe Cannon, the principal opponent whom he defeated in order to gain the Utah Republican nomination for the United States Senate in the first place, has been a friend of mine for many, many years.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

With a friend, I had lunch with Mike Lee, who eventually defeated him and took his place in the Senate, while Mike Lee was still considering whether or not to run.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

And yet, that said, I think extremely highly of Bob Bennett. \u00a0I like him very, very much. \u00a0I would be content were he still serving in the Senate. \u00a0I regretted his unceremonious dumping by the Utah Republican Party.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

For one thing, while he served in the Senate he was a strong and helpful supporter<\/a> of the Middle Eastern Texts Initiative and the Islamic Translation Series, BYU projects that I conceived and founded and that I led until my expulsion\u00a0from BYU\u2019s Maxwell Institute\u00a0in 2012.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

But that sounds merely self-interested. \u00a0I admire him for much more than merely his help to a project that I valued.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Twice, I\u2019ve heard him speak extemporaneously and at some length, without advance warning, about Islamic history and civilization \u2014 and his grasp of the subject was genuinely remarkable. \u00a0(It impressed the ambassador of Jordan at one small home-cooked dinner that we shared in the Washington DC, and, on another occasion, it impressed a number of Arab diplomats who were gathered for a formal dinner at the Embassy of Saudi Arabia.) \u00a0After 9\/11, he said, he was appalled to recognize how ignorant he was of the Middle East and Islam, so he undertook a self-conceived program of reading to bring himself up to speed. \u00a0 \u00a0And he did.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I was also privileged to read the manuscript of his 2009 book Leap of Faith: Confronting the Origins of the Book of Mormon<\/a><\/em> before it was published. \u00a0Candidly, I expected\u00a0to be unimpressed. \u00a0Senator Bennett was a busy politician who made no pretense of being a scholar, and I anticipated that\u00a0his manuscript would be mostly devotional and fairly shallow. \u00a0Okay. \u00a0Not memorable. \u00a0I read it as a favor to the person (not Senator Bennett) who had asked for my evaluation of it. \u00a0But, as it turned out, I thought the book excellent. \u00a0Really, very good.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I was sad to hear some time ago that Brother Bennett was struggling with pancreatic cancer, and I\u2019m saddened, now, to hear that he\u2019s suffered a stroke. \u00a0My prayers and best wishes are with him and his family.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

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

\u00a0 \u00a0 Joe Cannon, the principal opponent whom he defeated in order to gain the Utah Republican nomination for the United States Senate in the first place, has been a friend of mine for many, many years. \u00a0 With a friend, I had lunch with Mike Lee, who eventually defeated him and took his place […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32948","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nFormer Senator Bob Bennett<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"    Joe Cannon, the principal opponent whom he defeated in order to gain the Utah Republican nomination for the United States Senate in the\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/04\/former-senator-bob-bennett.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Former Senator Bob Bennett\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"    Joe Cannon, the principal opponent whom he defeated in order to gain the Utah Republican nomination for the United States Senate in the\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/04\/former-senator-bob-bennett.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sic et Non\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-04-22T22:34:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-04-22T22:35:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/files\/2016\/04\/Bob_Bennett_official_portrait_2009.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dan Peterson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dan Peterson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/04\/former-senator-bob-bennett.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/04\/former-senator-bob-bennett.html\",\"name\":\"Former Senator Bob Bennett\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-04-22T22:34:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-04-22T22:35:42+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045\"},\"description\":\"    Joe Cannon, the principal opponent whom he defeated in order to gain the Utah Republican nomination for the United States Senate in the\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/04\/former-senator-bob-bennett.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/04\/former-senator-bob-bennett.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/04\/former-senator-bob-bennett.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Former Senator Bob Bennett\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/\",\"name\":\"Sic et Non\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045\",\"name\":\"Dan Peterson\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dan Peterson\"},\"description\":\"\\\"Life was very unsatisfying until I discovered Dan's blog, which gave me a reason to live.\\\" (gemli, 7 November 2019)\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/author\/danpeterson\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Former Senator Bob Bennett","description":"    Joe Cannon, the principal opponent whom he defeated in order to gain the Utah Republican nomination for the United States Senate in the","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/04\/former-senator-bob-bennett.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Former Senator Bob Bennett","og_description":"    Joe Cannon, the principal opponent whom he defeated in order to gain the Utah Republican nomination for the United States Senate in the","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/04\/former-senator-bob-bennett.html","og_site_name":"Sic et Non","article_published_time":"2016-04-22T22:34:18+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-04-22T22:35:42+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/files\/2016\/04\/Bob_Bennett_official_portrait_2009.jpg"}],"author":"Dan Peterson","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dan Peterson","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/04\/former-senator-bob-bennett.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/04\/former-senator-bob-bennett.html","name":"Former Senator Bob Bennett","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-04-22T22:34:18+00:00","dateModified":"2016-04-22T22:35:42+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045"},"description":"    Joe Cannon, the principal opponent whom he defeated in order to gain the Utah Republican nomination for the United States Senate in the","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/04\/former-senator-bob-bennett.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/04\/former-senator-bob-bennett.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/04\/former-senator-bob-bennett.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Former Senator Bob Bennett"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/","name":"Sic et Non","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045","name":"Dan Peterson","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Dan Peterson"},"description":"\"Life was very unsatisfying until I discovered Dan's blog, which gave me a reason to live.\" (gemli, 7 November 2019)","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/author\/danpeterson"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32948","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1019"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32948"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32948\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32948"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32948"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}