Daniel C. Peterson's Blog, page 1242

Is Islam the driving force behind general Arab support for Palestinians and concerns about Iraq?

    I’m belatedly getting around to reading James Zogby’s book Arab Voices: What They are Saying to Us, and Why It Matters (Palgrave Macmillan, 2010).   It’s a very instructive book.   Jim Zogby, whom I hosted a number of years ago when he visited BYU, is a noted figure in the Arab American [Read More...]

In preparation for tomorrow night’s BYU football game

    I’m very pleased to see BYU’s helmets for tomorrow’s home football game against Houston:   http://www.cougarboard.com/board/mess...   Thanks to my friend and former colleague Ed Snow for bringing this to my notice.    

About a couple of service missionaries in Argentina

    There is, and has long been, a serious shortage of senior missionaries worldwide.   Think of how satisfying it would be to have helped to build a temple:   http://azmormonnews.com/2014/09/st-da...   Are you planning on serving a senior mission?      

1 Nephi 9

    In 1 Nephi 6, Nephi indicated that his chronicle would concentrate not on temporal matters but on sacred ones.   That is not to say, however, that a secular record wasn’t kept.  In today’s short reading, 1 Nephi 9, Nephi explains that he’s made two sets of plates — the larger to accommodate [Read More...]

ObamaCare, ISIS, and free speech at Berkeley

    I subscribe to the Wall Street Journal, largely (though not entirely) for its superb editorial pages.  It’s a wonderful publication, often ranked first, or at least toward the top, of the world’s newspapers.   Every day, I read valuable articles in it.  I’ve linked to them repeatedly here, but, sadly, nonsubscribers often have [Read More...]

Another signal from the State that religious convictions will no longer be honored as they once were

    Latter-day Saint student groups, to the best of my knowledge, already typically meet on private Church property, are supported by Church money, and so forth, so that the effect on them of such rulings as this will (I think) be minimal if not altogether non-existent:   http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2...   Still, I think the trend [Read More...]

“Freedom isn’t free: ‘Sliding’ vs. ‘deciding’”

    Ralph Hancock sounds a warning voice, attempting to remind us of what everybody once actually knew (and what most people probably still do know, even if they try really hard to deny it):   http://www.patheos.com/blogs/soulandc...    

Dissent isn’t welcome

    I miss William F. Buckley Jr. terribly.  He was a major hero of mine from my youth.  I began subscribing to National Review when I was fourteen, and have subscribed continuously, with only a few exceptions — e.g., when I’ve been living in the Near East, and during (part of) my mission to [Read More...]

An introspective bird?

    A short item by Jason Goldman in the September 2014 issue of Scientific American reports on an experiment conducted by Arii Watanabe of the University of Cambridge.   The question was whether animals — specifically, in this case, western scrub jays — can think about their own thinking.  Whether, that is, they are [Read More...]

They got it all.

    They never suggested that it was likely to be lethal, and I was never particularly worried, but I have to admit that the word cancer does give you a rush when it’s applied to . . . well, you.   Squamous cell carcinoma.   So I had it excised nearly two weeks ago, and have [Read More...]