Daniel C. Peterson's Blog, page 1219

“Mitt Romney is using this joke to make fun of President Obama”

    I’m told that it’s only Mormons who would like to see Mitt Romney as the 2016 Republican presidential nominee.  This puzzles me, because there seem to be more of us nationally and in Iowa than I had realized.  And I was chatting in the pool three days ago with an engineer from Chicago who [Read More...]

Columbus Day, and “Columbus among the Nephites”

    It being Columbus Day and all, I thought I would call attention again to this column from just a few weeks back:   http://www.deseretnews.com/article/86...   Posted from Princeville, Kauai, Hawaii    

How to explain the similarities?

    I’ve been passing on snippets of Hawaiian folklore – here, here, here, here, here, and here – and now, perhaps, it would be appropriate to follow up with a summary statement.  It comes from Abraham Fornander (d. 1887), a Swedish-born emigrant to Hawaii who became an important journalist, judge, and pioneer Polynesian ethnologist, and who was the author of, among other things, [Read More...]

Fareed Zakaria: “Islam has a problem right now”

    But Bill Maher and Sam Harris — a pair of anti-religious ideologues — are still quite wrong.   Walker Wright brought this article to my attention.  I strongly agree with and endorse it:   http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinion...   Posted from Princeville, Kauai, Hawaii    

“Kobani still stands against ISIS and all odds, but for how long?”

    The Kurdish defenders of Kobani are genuine heroes who deserve the admiration of people worldwide:   http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles...   Posted from Princeville, Kauai, Hawaii    

Two British thoughts on socialism

    “[No society can survive the socialist] fallacy that there is an absolutely unlimited number of inspired officials and an absolutely unlimited amount of money to pay them.” G. K. Chesterton, “The Debate with Bertrand Russell,” BBC Magazine (27 November 1935)   Posted from Princeville, Kauai, Hawaii    

“The Shepherds of Israel”

    Craig Foster, Cassandra Hedelius, Stephen Smoot, and Daniel Peterson are the discussants in The Interpreter Foundation’s ninety-third (93rd) scripture roundtable, which, in connection with 2014 Gospel Doctrine Lesson 43, concentrates on passages from the book of Ezekiel:   http://www.mormoninterpreter.com/scri...   Posted from Princeville, Kauai, Hawaii  

“I Will Write It in Their Hearts”

    In this, the ninety-second (92nd) scripture roundtable posted by The Interpreter Foundation, Shon Hopkin, Martin Tanner, and Bruce Webster focus on the Old Testament book of Jeremiah in a discussion keyed to Lesson 42 in the 2014 Gospel Doctrine manual:   http://www.mormoninterpreter.com/scri...   Posted from Princeville, Kauai, Hawaii    

“I have made thee this day . . . an iron pillar”

    The Interpreter Foundation has now posted its ninety-first (91st) scripture roundtable.  This one, keyed to Lesson 41 in the 2014 Gospel Doctrine manual and focused on the book of Jeremiah, features Ben McGuire, Mike Parker, Daniel Peterson, and Bruce Webster:   http://www.mormoninterpreter.com/scri...   Posted from Princeville, Kauai, Hawaii    

This story might strike you as vaguely familiar.

    The sixth in my little series — of which previous installments appear here, here, here, here, and here — taken from that intriguing essay by C. M. Hyde:   Here, he cites a history of the Sandwich Islands — that is, of the Hawaiian Islands — published by the Rev. Sheldon Dibble at Lahainaluna in 1843:   [Read More...]