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***<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n I have, to this point, made no comment here (or anywhere else, really, public or private) about the very well publicized announcement by Mr. Jeff T. Green that he is formalizing his decade-long apostasy from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints<\/a> by demanding that his name be removed from its records.\u00a0 First of all, I think it simply a very sad story.\u00a0 Beyond that, I have no particular interest in Mr. Green \u2014 I had never heard of him before \u2014 and I don\u2019t generally think that bad personal decisions by billionaires are of any more significance or original creativity than are bad personal decisions by non-billionaires.\u00a0 (I\u2019m reliably informed that Mr. Green even lifted some of the boilerplate language of his public letter from a template that he had apparently found on an ex-Mormon website.)<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n However, in my meanderings on the web I\u2019ve come across three comments by others about Mr. Green\u2019s very public departure that I thought worthy of sharing here:<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201c\u2018Tis the Season to Spread Enmity\u201d\u201d by Meagan Kohler and Jacob Z. Hess<\/a><\/p>\n \u201c\u2018Tis the Season: Good Will to Men,\u201d by Benjamin Pacini<\/a><\/p>\n \u201c\u2018Tis the Season to Spread Enmity?\u201d by Michael Peterson (no relation and quite distinct from the article of the same title above)<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n There.\u00a0 That may well be the last and only thing that I\u2019ll ever have to say on this regrettable story.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Christmas is rapidly receding into the distance.\u00a0 (Only 362 shopping days \u2014 and eleven hours \u2014 until Christmas Day 2022!)\u00a0 While memories of it still linger, though, I would like to share a couple of Christmas-related things that are worth your reading and reflection:<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cChristmas and Western hope,\u201d by Ralph Hancock<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cElder Holland shares the powerful rebuke he received while his father was dying on Christmas morning,\u201d by Jeffrey R. Holland<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n ***<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n I enjoyed participation last night in the Interpreter Radio Show with Steve Densley and Matt Bowen.\u00a0 Rather miraculous, really.\u00a0 Steve was in Utah, Matt was in Hawaii, and I was in Virginia.\u00a0 We shouldn\u2019t take such things for granted.\u00a0 What would Brigham Young or Abraham Lincoln have thought about such a broadcast \u2014 or, for that matter, about radio broadcasts in general?\u00a0 Anyway, for part of the time we discussed my article \u201cChristmas and a Condescending God,\u201d<\/a> which, in one passage, raises precisely the issue as discussed in this short piece:<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThis is actually a doctrinal question: Did the infant Jesus cry?\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n ***<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Because of comprehensive renovation and construction, Temple Square in Salt Lake City isn\u2019t up to its usually splendorous Christmas self, and it won\u2019t be again for two more years or so.\u00a0 But some other places have been.\u00a0 For example:<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cChristmas Lights Shine Bright around the Mexico City Mexico Temple\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n I hope that, when it\u2019s finished, the grounds of the Richmond Virginia Temple will be brilliantly illuminated for Christmas.\u00a0 Its location is both beautiful and prominent.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n ***<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Amidst all of the hustle and bustle \u2014 to coin a phrase \u2014 of the Christmas season, did you ever get a chance to sit down and watch the Church\u2019s wonderful short film, The Christ Child: A Nativity Story<\/em>?\u00a0 It\u2019s not quite eighteen minutes long.\u00a0 I think it\u2019s superbly done, and even moving:<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The Christ Child: A Nativity Story<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Please, if you haven\u2019t seen it, or if you haven\u2019t seen it recently, set aside twenty reasonably quiet, uninterrupted minutes and watch it.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Here\u2019s an interesting and, I think, a rather important article that appeared in the Deseret News<\/em> on Christmas Day:<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWhat makes families flourish or flounder? 5 studies you might have missed: From where people want to live and why it matters to what faith and community offer families\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n At least one part of it \u2014 \u201cBeing part of a religious community offers great benefits\u201d \u2014 clearly comes from the Christopher Hitchens Memorial \u201cHow Religion Poisons Everything\u201d File\u00a9<\/em>, because it\u2019s . . . well, it\u2019s horrible<\/em>.\u00a0 Chilling.\u00a0 Yet another redundant example of the abominations and suffering caused by religious belief, \u201cincluding preventing depression and suicide, extending longevity, improving marital outcomes, facilitating happiness, meaning, forgiveness and hope.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Moreover, the author of the Harvard study under discussion reports that \u201cthe size of the effects of religious community participation tend to exceed those of other forms of social participation. With regard to effects on mortality, suicide and cardiovascular disease, the effects of religious service participation are larger than for any other social participation indicator examined, including marriage, time spent with friends, with family, hours spent in other community groups or even their composite.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Truly abhorrent.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n And it\u2019s frighteningly reminiscent of this terrifying article that was published in 2019, and that, it must be admitted, is only one among many similar pieces that might be cited.\u00a0 The Hitchens File<\/em> is absolutely overflowing with such horrors:<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAre religious people happier, healthier? Our new global study explores this question\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n ***<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Finally, I close with a link to an article by Jeff Lindsay that I hope will be widely read:<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cMay We Follow the Science and Stand for Life\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a>