Daniel C. Peterson's Blog, page 282

“Cosmic Optimism”

    I published this column back in the late 1990s, in the Provo Daily Herald:   In a world filled with violence, poverty, suffering, illness, accidental death, disappointment, frustration, and hatred, pessimism is an ever-beckoning possibility.  And, for some, pessimism shades eventually into utter despair, hopelessness, and cynicism. In the long term, the secular […]

One of the highpoints of the annual calendar

    Yes!  Today is Palindrome Day!  It’s 02/02/2020 or o2o22020 — which, when read backwards, is 2020/02/02, or 02022020.  (Personally, I didn’t need reminding about Palindrome Day, but somebody did remind me this afternoon, coincidentally but precisely at 2:20 PM.)  Somewhere, I’m told, there’s even a huge football game being played to mark the […]

A non-LDS experience with angels?

    Here are some new items on the website of the Interpreter Foundation:   Come, Follow Me — Study and Teaching Helps: Lesson 6, February 3 – 9: 2 Nephi 1-5   Audio Roundtable: Come, Follow Me Book of Mormon Lesson 6 “We Lived after the Manner of Happiness” 2 Nephi 1-5 This Interpreter Radio Roundtable for Come, Follow Me Book of Mormon […]

Brigham Young on the life to come

    I found these quotations in Brent L. Top, What’s On the Other Side: What the Gospel Teaches Us about the Spirit World (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2012).  I believe that Brigham Young had at least one near-death experience — possibly including one when he was suffering from Rocky Mountain fever during the […]

In the wake of the Senate vote on witnesses (II)

    In a previous post, I wrote briefly about William F. Buckley’s role in putting together a unified and rather successful American conservative movement out of very disparate elements.  He was certainly not the only person involved — Robert Taft, Barry Goldwater, Ronald Reagan, and others played vital parts — but he illustrates the […]

In the wake of the Senate vote on witnesses (I)

    One of the most important contributions that the late William F. Buckley Jr. made to the American conservative movement, apart from his stylish public advocacy of conservative principles — he became a major hero to me already in my early teens — was his effort to create unity among the various factions on […]

6 October 1981, in Luxor, Egypt

    My wife and I took the overnight train from Cairo to Luxor on Monday night, 5 October 1981.  When we arrived in Luxor fairly late the following morning, we instantly sensed that there was something odd in the air, but we couldn’t tell at first what it was.   We eventually found out […]

“Light Began Once More to Grow”

    This little piece appeared today in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship:   “Light Began Once More to Grow” Abstract: Readers are surely aware that the birth of the Christ child is the reason we celebrate Christmas. Members of the Church may be less aware, though, of the notable birth of […]

Dr. Collins and (the late) Dr. Salisbury

    I originally published this column in the Provo Daily Herald back on 2 February 2007.  Thirteen years later, some elements of it are out of date.  But I stand by the basic idea:   One of the great scientific achievements of recent decades has been the mapping and sequencing of human DNA completed […]

“The Manifesto was a Victory!”

    First, here’s another item for your voracious Christopher Hitchens Memorial “How Religion Poisons Everything” File:   “In the news? How Kobe Bryant’s Catholic faith saved his marriage and turned his life around”   But there’s other religion news, as well:   “New Smart Doorbell Will Argue With Jehovah’s Witnesses, LDS Missionaries For You”   […]