Daniel C. Peterson's Blog, page 279

“What is the Islamist Movement?”

    Bill Hamblin and I published the column below back in the early 2000s.  To which particular “terrorist atrocity” was it referring?  I can no longer recall.  But since, alas, there are constantly new terrorist atrocities, it scarcely matters.   What is the Islamist Movement? Following last week’s terrorist atrocity, many people have been […]

Yup! Religion Poisons EVERYTHING!

    Quite a number of years ago, my late friend Bill Hamblin and I published the article below in the Provo Daily Herald.  The first-person voice is Bill’s:   The Transformative Power of Religion Although this column generally focuses on the history and importance of world religions, we occasionally examine aspects of our own […]

“God and mr. hitchens,” again

    I’ve been asked by a reader to substantiate my lack of admiration for the 2007 bestseller god is Not Great, by the late Christopher Hitchens.  It’s been years since I’ve paid any attention to that unfortunate offense against the world’s forests, but here are a couple of abbreviated specimens of my take on […]

Chelsea Handler on “Mormonism”

    We’re just back from a performance of the Jeff Hamilton Trio in the Concert Hall of the Noorda at Utah Valley University (Jeff Hamilton on drums, Tamir Hendelman on piano, and Jon Hamar — whose appearance curiously reminded me, just a bit, of the young Clayton Christensen — on bass).   Of late, our neighborhood […]

“The best thing since sliced bread”?

    “UV Light On Airplanes Could Prevent Spread Of Coronavirus And Other Infectious Diseases”   “An ancient galaxy grew massive — then oddly stopped making stars: Something abruptly tossed star-making gas from this galaxy or stopped it from falling in”   ***   The pizza company Little Caesars has been running an amusing commercial based […]

“God’s Love for All Mankind”

    Every once in a while, I think it appropriate to remind Latter-day Saints and others of this very important and quie remarkable document from the First Presidency — which is to say, from the presiding authorities — of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  It is a statement that has been […]

Civics 101: Senator Romney and Representative Government

    One argument that has recently been raised against Senator Mitt Romney’s vote to convict President Donald J. Trump on the the first article of impeachment runs as follows:   A majority of Utahns — perhaps in the low to mid-50% range — favored the acquittal of President Trump. Congressional representatives should follow the […]

“Who is Adam?”

    A new piece has been posted on the website of the Interpreter Foundation:   Science & Mormonism Series 1: Cosmos, Earth, and Man: Who Is Adam? Part of our book chapter reprint series, this article by Trent D. Stephens originally appeared in Science & Mormonism Series 1: Cosmos, Earth, and Man (2016). Abstract:Trent Stephens, retired professor […]

On “the crisis of contempt”

      I continue in the spirit of another very recent blog entry:   Arthur Brooks, who served for a number of years as the president of the conservative/libertarian American Enterprise Institute and who is now a professor in the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, was the keynote speaker at […]

“Thanatopsis”

    The once-famous poem “Thanatopsis” (roughly, “a reflection on death,” from the Greek thanatos (“death”) and opsis (“view,” “sight”), by the American poet William Cullen Bryant (1794-1878), concludes as follows:   So live, that when thy summons comes to join    The innumerable caravan, which moves    To that mysterious realm, where each shall take    His chamber […]