Daniel C. Peterson's Blog, page 32

“We all have work; let no one shirk.”

  For me, one of the most important principles in writing about the religious beliefs of others is this one:  Those about whose religious beliefs one is writing should be able to recognize their religious beliefs in what has been written. They may say that the author has expressed one or more elements of their […]

California, out I come, back from where I started from

  I love California.  I grew up there.  I earned my doctorate there.  I typically go back to California several times annually.  I’ve missed only one year, I think, of going to California.  That was during my mission to Switzerland.  Once, several years ago, I realized that I hadn’t gone back at all — with […]

Over Cajon Pass for the Thousandth Time

  I was delighted to learn this morning that The Hat has expanded beyond its cradle in the San Gabriel Valley.  The Hat was founded in 1951, with its first location at the corner of Garfield Avenue and Valley Boulevard in Alhambra.  That was the very place that I grew up going to — it’s […]

“The Turn of the Tide”

  Even among those who love his writing — and I am definitely among them — C. S. Lewis is little known as a poet.  Here, though, I share a poem of his (“The Turn of the Tide”) that was written for Christmas.  It’s worth a slow and thoughtful reading, I think: Breathless was the […]

This will probably do little or no good.

  For the better part of the past week, several places in social media have been enflamed with controversy regarding a photograph showing a group of Muslims praying in what is obviously a Latter-day Saint meetinghouse.  On the wall in the background, what appears to be a painting (perhaps a painting of Jesus, but perhaps […]

“Finding Nephi’s Ore”

  Last night, at the Islamic Center of Southern California, I participated in a dinner that was followed by a discussion and a Q&A that involved me and Salam al-Marayati, the president and co-founder of the Muslim Public Affairs Council.  Our conversation and our responses to questions went well, I think, and they were recorded […]

An inexplicable inconsistency remains unexplained

  Vital Signs 43/4 (2024), the current issue of the newsletter of the International Association for Near-Death Studies (IANDS), includes the text of a letter (dated 30 October 2024) that was sent by Dr. Janice Miner Holden, who currently serves as the president of IANDS, to the actor Al Pacino. Mr. Pacino recently experienced an […]

A year-end report

  Between sixteen and thirty-five percent of all annual charitable gifts in the United States are given in December.  Nearly 30% of annual online donations occur in December, with spikes on Giving Tuesday and the last days of the month.  Ten percent of all giving occurs on 29-31 December, as donors make final contributions before […]

Muslim prayer in a Latter-day Saint meetinghouse?

  I don’t know the source of the photograph above, so I can neither give credit to the photographer nor ask his or her permission to share it.  I apologize for that.  But the photograph has apparently generated considerable conversation, not to say controversy, and I feel that I ought to say something about it. […]

Thoughts on Syria (and on a Slander)

  Some notes about the astonishing turn of events in Syria: Russia is a big loser in this story.  Vladimir Putin invested a great deal in supporting Bashar al-Assad’s regime.  For one thing, he was interested (as Soviet leaders and czars have been since Peter the Great) in acquiring a warm-water naval port.  Latakia, on […]