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***<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Newly up today, from Kyler Rasmussen<\/a>, on the website of the Interpreter Foundation:<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cEstimating the Evidence Episode Episode 17: On Geographical Consistency\u201d<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n [Editor\u2019s Note: This is the seventeenth in a series of 23 essays summarizing and evaluating Book of Mormon-related evidence from a Bayesian statistical perspective. See the\u00a0FAQ<\/a>\u00a0at the end of the introductory episode for details on methodology.]<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n And please be sure to mark your calendar for the upcoming next installment in our series of virtual firesides entitled \u201c\u201cA Life Lived in Crescendo\u201d:\u00a0Selected Punctuation Marks of Joseph Smith\u2019s Final Years.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 It will be given this coming Sunday, 31 October 2021, at 6 PM (Utah time).\u00a0 Depending upon where you\u2019re located, of course, your viewing may be interrupted from time to time by the occasional imp, ghoul, ballerina, princess, ninja, or superhero:<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAll the Measures of Joseph\u201d \u2013 Keys and Continuity in the Succession of 1844<\/em>, with Ronald K. Esplin<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n ***<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Cody Quirk kindly brought this interesting article, written by Dawn Araujo-Hawkins<\/a> in The Christian Century,<\/em> to my attention:<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWhy are so many of the most influential moms on the internet Mormon?\u00a0 Influencer culture and LDS theology fit together surprisingly well.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n And some of you may find this item from the Deseret News<\/em> interesting, as well:<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWhat Utah can teach the country about gay rights and religion: A new video celebrates the state of Utah\u2019s efforts to broaden LGBTQ rights and religious freedom protections at the same time\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n As someone whose general inclination runs somewhat (though not quite entirely) libertarian, I\u2019m not entirely happy with the so-called \u201cUtah compromise.\u201d\u00a0 (This has absolutely nothing to do with my Latter-day Saint position on homosexual behavior.)\u00a0 As a realist who is fully aware that his quasi-libertarian views aren\u2019t widely shared, though, I recognize that politics is the art of the possible.\u00a0 I understand that compromise is essential.\u00a0 This, therefore, may be the best that can be done.\u00a0 And it\u2019s not all that bad.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n I\u2019m late in sharing this piece by Harvard\u2019s Roger Porter (a Latter-day Saint and a personal acquaintance), but I think it still worthwhile:<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cColin Powell: A great leader\u2019s American journey\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n ***<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cCancel culture\u201d on what, I suppose, likes to call itself the religious, cultural, and political \u201cRight\u201d these days:<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cFired After Endorsing Vaccines, Evangelical Insider Takes a Leadership Role\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n I was struck by this slightly longish but powerful article in The Atlantic<\/em>, by an author who is himself a professing Christian:<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n