Daniel C. Peterson's Blog, page 1076

“Study: Religion is Beneficial to Mental Health”

    Ever wonder why so many atheistic critics seem unhinged?   Wonder no more!   http://www.breitbart.com/big-governme...   I’m joking, of course.  To a certain extent.   Posted from Erfurt, Germany

“The Sun-God Also Rises: A Christian’s Eulogy for ISIS-Occupied Palmyra”

    http://philosproject.org/isis-palmyra...   “Whether education can foster and improve culture or not, it can surely adulterate and degrade it. For there is no doubt that in our headlong rush to educate everybody, we are lowering our standards, and more and more abandoning the study of those subjects by which the essentials of our culture—of [Read More...]

“John Bernhisel’s Gift to a Prophet: ‘Incidents of Travel in Central America’ and the Book of Mormon”

    Is it Friday?   Yes, it’s Friday.   So it’s time for another article from the Interpreter Foundation!   http://www.mormoninterpreter.com/john...   My long-time friend and former Maxwell Institute colleague Matthew Roper continues his look at certain claims about the geography of the Book of Mormon.   I hope you enjoy it.   Posted [Read More...]

“First Class”

    Novelist Orson Scott Card provides a ringing endorsement for an essay by Cassandra Hedelius:   http://www.nauvootimes.com/cgi-bin/na...   Posted from Erfurt, Germany

Two passages from Martin Luther

    “Our Lord has written the promise of resurrection not in books alone, but in every leaf in springtime.”   “God writes the Gospel not in the Bible alone, but also on trees, and in the flowers and clouds and stars.”   Martin Luther   Posted from Erfurt, where he attended the university and [Read More...]

Is Mitt Romney considering an entry into the Republican presidential race?

    I don’t know.   I admit that I’ve wondered whether he might.   Right now, Donald Trump is successfully demagoguing it up, and the supposed “powerhouse” Jeb Bush — whose entry into the race may have been the factor influencing Governor Romney to stay out — hasn’t exactly been dominating the field.   [Read More...]

“‘This Land’ and ‘This Continent’”

    My friend and former Maxwell Institute colleague continues his reflections upon elements of the “Heartland” view of Book of Mormon geography:   http://etherscave.blogspot.de/2015/08...   Regarding one individual’s recent demand that non-”Heartlander” views be suppressed, see this, with its link:   http://fornspollfira.blogspot.de/2015...   Posted from Erfurt, Germany    

“Calgary driver says he’ll quit if forced to drive [gay] pride bus”

    People like this shouldn’t be permitted public employment anyway:   http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2015/08/...   Perhaps, indeed, they ought to be placed in camps.  Re-education camps, if you will.   Certainly they should be punished and marginalized for their offenses.  After all, we’re talking about a fundamental principle here — tolerance of differences — that society [Read More...]

“Bush, Rubio compete for ‘vital’ Mormon vote in Nevada”

      http://utahpolicy.com/index.php/featu...   Of course, this will all be irrelevant if the 2016 president election turns out to be Trump versus Clinton.   (What a depressing thought.)   Or Trump versus Sanders.   At least a Trump v. Sanders contest would have the advantage of being entertaining:  Boorish capitalist swashbuckler versus dull socialist [Read More...]

Hell in a green and pleasant land

    A couple of nights ago, we had dinner in the town of Weimar, only about kilometers from Erfurt.   Weimar is tiny — it has only about 65,000 inhabitants — but its cultural importance is enormous.   Martin Luther was in Weimar on several occasions.   Between 1608 and 1617, Johann Sebastian Bach [Read More...]