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***<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Critics of the Church of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints<\/a> sometimes dismiss articles written by Latter-day Saint scholars and\/or published in Latter-day Saint venues on the grounds that they\u2019re Latter-day Saints.\u00a0 Such dismissals are very common among certain types of critic.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n So I\u2019m going to cut to the chase. \u00a0Arguments \u2014 and I use the term argument<\/em> here as scholars and logicians typically do, to refer to orderly presentations of evidence intended to support propositions and not to mere \u201cdisagreements,\u201d let alone to \u201cfights\u201d \u2014 are properly assessed on the basis of two elements:<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n 1) \u00a0Is the adduced evidence solid, and adequately representative of the situation?<\/p>\n 2) \u00a0Is it arranged according to the principles of sound logic?<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n They aren\u2019t properly evaluated on the basis of who made them.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Thus, if Polyneices says \u201cAll men are mortal, and Socrates is a man, so, therefore, Socrates is mortal,\u201d it doesn\u2019t matter whether Polyneices is a Latter-day Saint, or a Jew, or Black, or an adulterer, or a saint, or a serial killer, or an undertaker with a personal financial interest in the mortality of Socrates. \u00a0It doesn\u2019t matter whether his assertion has been peer reviewed, whether it\u2019s been published in the prestigious Journal of Truths Acceptable to the Fashionable\u00a0Elite<\/i>, or whether it\u2019s merely been inscribed into a watermelon using a dull Swiss Army knife. \u00a0What matters is whether or not all men really are mortal, whether Socrates really is a man, and whether the logical syllogism \u201cAll A are C, B is a member of the set of A, therefore B is C\u201d is logically valid.\u00a0 And it is<\/em>, by the way: The conclusion follows from the premises, and the premises are true. \u00a0If the argument is to be overturned, that will require disputing either the truth of the premises or the validity of the logic. \u00a0Pointing to Polyneices\u2019s movie preferences, or his hot temper, or his poor taste in shoes, or his bad hair, would be perfectly irrelevant.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n By the same token, if Alexandros says \u201cAll cacti are mammals, and Paris is in Germany, so, accordingly, William Shakespeare is Thailand\u2019s greatest architect,\u201d that argument will be, um, problematic even if it passed peer review and was published in the Academic Journal Greater than All Other Academic Journals<\/i>. \u00a0Even if Alexandros holds views that most high-status folks share\u00a0on religion and politics. \u00a0And even if a poll of professors of dentistry shows that virtually all orthodontists, whether in North America or Europe, endorse it. \u00a0Why? \u00a0Because its premises are factually false \u2014 cacti aren\u2019t mammals, and Paris isn\u2019t in Germany \u2014 and<\/em> because its logic is invalid. \u00a0(\u201cAll A are B, C is D, therefore E is F\u201d is a thunderously, screamingly, invalid logical form.)<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n To pronounce an argument dismissible solely because its author is Jewish, or Catholic, or Republican, or White, or even (as in the case of yours truly) ugly and unpleasant is an instance of the ad hominem<\/i> logical fallacy \u2014 which, despite common misconceptions to the contrary, isn\u2019t about being nasty. \u00a0It\u2019s about focusing on irrelevancies. \u00a0(Which may explain why it\u2019s often classified as a \u201cfallacy of irrelevance.\u201d) \u00a0To dismiss an argument because it wasn\u2019t published in the Right Kind of Journal is similarly irrelevant. \u00a0An argument can be sound even without its having been published at all. \u00a0In fact, all sound published arguments were, prior to publication, originally sound unpublished<\/i> arguments. \u00a0(Duh.)<\/p>\n I addressed several of the\u00a0recurring objections to the scholarly legitimacy of the publications of FARMS (e.g., concerning peer review)\u00a0back in 2006, in an article entitled \u201c<\/span>The Witchcraft Paradigm: On Claims to \u2018Second Sight\u2019 by People\u00a0Who Say It Doesn\u2019t Exist.<\/span>\u201c<\/span><\/a> \u00a0These objections\u00a0still<\/i> recur, of course, although they\u2019re often focused on the Interpreter Foundation these days (FARMS having since been absorbed into the Maxwell Institute, which has now set its face resolutely against publishing the sorts of things that once generated controversy \u2014 and attention, and, in a way, general relevance \u2014 for it.) \u00a0But I stand by what I wrote in that article, and I encourage those who want to quarrel with me on these matters to read it first. \u00a0We\u2019ll all save time that way.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n ***<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n I like and I recommend this Public Square Magazine<\/em> article, by Cassandra Hedelius and Jeff Bennion:<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cTreasuring All That God Has Revealed: It\u2019s unwise to hope for future revelation while rejecting the insight God has brought forth today\u2014especially when it comes to a doctrine that prophets have so emphatically taught will not change.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n ***<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Sometimes, if you can believe it, people who hate religious faith actually go several days at a time without hearing really meaty news of serious outrages committed by theists in the name of God.\u00a0 It can be discouraging.\u00a0 But today isn\u2019t going to be one of those days.\u00a0 Thanks to the Christopher Hitchens Memorial \u201cHow Religion Poisons Everything\u201d File<\/em>\u00a9, I\u2019m able to share not just one but several<\/em> such horrors with you, horrors that should fill you with extremely gratifying righteous indignation:<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cTongan Saints on Tongatapu Rush Aid to Outer Islands: Nuku\u2019alofa Latter-day Saints donated tonnes of food, clothes, bedding, fuel and other supplies over the last 48 hours, which was loaded onto a ship on Saturday morning, bound for communities in desperate circumstances on Ha\u2019apai and other outlying islands\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cElder Ian S. Ardern Talks About Tonga Humanitarian Efforts on BBC Radio\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cLives Blessed by Lighting the World: Generous donations are made through Light the World Giving Machines\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201c3 ways Latter-day Saints in England are serving refugees\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cMore than just sewing fabric \u2014 Days for Girls service project changes lives of givers and receivers\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cHow a JustServe project went viral, leading to thousands of handmade Christmas ornaments for flood victims\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n ***<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The eruption of that undersea volcano was enormous<\/a>.\u00a0 So this article that caught my interest seemed worthy of mention:<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n