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Here are links to three items that have recently been posted on the website of the Interpreter Foundation:<\/p>\n
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Conference Talks:\u00a0 \u201cThe Day of Atonement, the Mosaic Temple, and the Christian Sacrament of Communion: Links and Symbols\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n This presentation was given by Shon D. Hopkin<\/a> at the Interpreter Foundation\u2019s 2014 Temple on Mount Zion Conference, on Saturday, 25 October 2014.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The New Testament in Context Lesson 19:\u00a0 \u201cRejoice with Me; for I Have Found My Sheep Which Was Lost\u201d<\/em>: Luke 12\u201317 and John 11<\/a><\/p>\n In the 9 April 2023 Come, Follow Me<\/em> segment of the Interpreter Radio Show, Terry Hutchinson and John Gee and Kevin Christensen discussed New Testament lesson 19, \u201cRejoice with Me; for I Have Found My Sheep Which Was Lost,\u201d covering Luke 12\u201317 and John 11.<\/p>\n The other segments of the 9 April 2023 radio show can be accessed at https:\/\/interpreterfoundation.org\/interpreter-radio-show-april-9-2023<\/a>.\u00a0 You will be delighted to know that the Interpreter Radio Show can be heard live on Sunday evenings from 7 to 9 PM (MDT), on K-TALK, AM 1640.\u00a0 You can also listen to it live on the Internet at ktalkmedia.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Come, Follow Me<\/em> \u2014 New Testament Study and Teaching Helps:\u00a0 Lesson 19, May 1 \u2014 7:\u00a0 Luke 12\u201317; John 11<\/a>\u2014<\/a>\u201cRejoice with Me; for I Have Found My Sheep Which Was Lost\u201d<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n Once again, as he regularly does, Jonn Claybaugh<\/a> provides a set of concise notes for Interpreter readers who are students and teachers of the \u201cCome, Follow Me\u201d curriculum of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n From another front:\u00a0 On Tuesday, my wife and I had our first script meeting with our core group of filmmakers for the Six Days in August<\/em> project<\/a>.\u00a0 It\u2019s exciting to see things beginning to get underway.\u00a0 I still have a fairly steep fundraising hill to climb, though.\u00a0 And I hate asking people for money.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n I had the opportunity yesterday morning of joining with a group at the headquarters of the Temple Square renovation project in Salt Lake City.\u00a0 We were given a presentation about the effort by one of its leaders and, afterwards, we walked over to the site itself.\u00a0 It\u2019s a huge, complex, and ambitious undertaking.\u00a0 Very impressive.\u00a0 In fact, I didn\u2019t know how big<\/em> it is; I don\u2019t think I remembered that even the Joseph Smith Memorial Building is also wholly or partially shut down.\u00a0 But I can\u2019t wait until it\u2019s finished.\u00a0 We\u2019ve been without the Salt Lake Temple for too long already.<\/p>\n This has special personal meaning for us.\u00a0 We were married in the Salt Lake Temple.\u00a0 Even back then, when there were far fewer temples than there are now, I had other favorites that I, at least, personally considered \u2014 Oakland and Manti and Cardston, for instance \u2014 but none of our families lived near them and, excepting Cardston, none of them had any particular connection to our families.\u00a0 Los Angeles was a possibility, but, given that our families were centered in the Denver and Los Angeles and Salt Lake City areas, the Salt Lake Temple was centrally located.\u00a0 And, given its history and its iconic importance, the decision turned out to be really easy for us.\u00a0 My wife\u2019s grandparents could be there, for one thing.\u00a0 The drawback was that the Salt Lake Temple is a very busy wedding venue in the summer, and that we didn\u2019t know the temple officiator who performed our sealing.\u00a0 (I\u2019ve sometimes envied people who had a father or uncle or grandfather or even a family-friend member of the Twelve officiate at their marriage.). But then, we didn\u2019t have any such connections anywhere<\/em>.<\/p>\n I\u2019m impressed by President Russell M. Nelson\u2019s willingness to launch this project, knowing, at his age \u2014 he is currently in his ninety-ninth year \u2014 that it\u2019s very possible that he will never again in this life be able to enter a dedicated Salt Lake Temple for meetings of the Brethren or for his own personal temple service and temple worship.\u00a0 I hope, though, that he will.\u00a0 He\u2019s in remarkably<\/em> good health.\u00a0 But the anticipated completion date for the Salt Lake Temple\u2019s renovation is now 2026.\u00a0 And, if you\u2019re already ninety-eight years old, that\u2019s a very long way off.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Today, as a theme for what I\u2019m sharing from the Christopher Hitchens Memorial \u201cHow Religion Poisons Everything\u201d File<\/em>\u2122, I\u2019ve chosen to focus on a trio of horrific ways in which following the teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints blights human lives and damages society:<\/p>\n \u201cPornography use at any level harms romantic relationships, says new BYU study\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cPerspective: The surprising case for marrying young: For many, getting married as a 20-something is no obstacle to fun, professional success or a stable marriage\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cToo Risky to Wed in Your 20s? Not if You Avoid Cohabiting First: Research shows that marrying young without ever having lived together with a partner makes for some of the lowest divorce rates\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cPerspective: Cohabitation doesn\u2019t help your odds of marital success: As Taylor Swift and \u2018lover\u2019 Joe Alwyn learned, in most cases, living together hurts your odds\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cPerspective: Is my faith \u2018terrible for women\u2019? Not if you believe the data: As a scholar and woman of faith, I know the good that religion offers\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n But I don\u2019t want to neglect these three atrocities, which were found in the vicinity<\/em> of the Hitchens File.<\/em>\u00a0 They clearly illustrate the nature of the theocratic hellscape that is Utah \u2014 where (coincidence?) the Church has its headquarters:<\/p>\n \u201cOpinion: For the 16th time, Utah\u2019s economic outlook tops the nation: Why is Utah the best? It comes down to preparation\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a>