Daniel C. Peterson's Blog, page 818

The greatest verse in the Qur’an?

    “God — There is no god but He, the Living, the Sustainer.  Neither drowsiness nor sleep overtakes Him.  To Him belongs everything in the Heavens and on Earth.  Who can intercede with Him, except by His permission?  He knows what is present before them and what will be after them.  They cannot comprehend [Read More...]

“You are what you eat”?

    Rumor has it that my most obsessive and unhinged critics have been guzzling this stuff for many years now.   Which plainly seems to show that it may have very distinctive and worrisome side effects.   Posted from Newport Beach, California    

Are humans of the race of the Gods?

    A post by the invaluable Robert Boylan on a very important topic — perhaps the one, more than any other, that constitutes the distinctiveness (and, to many, the heretical blasphemy)  of Mormonism:   http://scripturalmormonism.blogspot.c...   Posted from Newport Beach, California  

BOM Alma 57

    As usual, just a brief note on today’s reading:   First of all, my comments yesterday about the unrealistic survival rate among Hellman’s 2060 young warriors apply perhaps even more to this chapter.   Secondly, Alma 57 reminds me of my father’s accounts of the Second World War, during which he spent the most significant [Read More...]

What to expect

    While time lasts there will always be a future, and that future will hold both good and evil, since the world is made to that mingled pattern.  Dorothy L. Sayers (1893-1957)   Posted from Newport Beach, California    

Three thoughts on Islam

    “The truth is that just as the ‘West’ is not a homogenous entity with one view on foreign and domestic policy, nor are Muslims.”  (Maajid Nawaz   “There is no more effective way to radicalize American Muslim youth than for political leaders to make public displays of prejudice against all Muslims. Suspicion will [Read More...]

Against simplistic reasoning — in science, history, politics, religious disputes, and so forth

    “We must recognize,” argues this article, “that single events have multiple causes.”   An obvious point.  Or so one might imagine.   But, very often, people don’t seem to realize it.   And why not?   It’s the Jews’ fault.   Or the Mexicans’.   Or the Mormons’.   Or the big corporations’.   [Read More...]

Mormons, Evangelicals, and Current American Politics

    “Why Mormons and evangelicals may diverge on Trump and what that means”   “Mormons have prayed at four of the GOP’s past five national conventions”   “Religious Conservatives and Donald Trump — the Cheapest Date in Politics?” Posted from Newport Beach, California    

Why Utahns, Mormons, and others should probably NOT cast a protest vote for Gary Johnson

    Sigh.  As I’ve already said, while I harbor deep sympathies for libertarianism, I have a number of serious reservations about the full Libertarian Party platform — and very specific reservations about this year’s Libertarian Party presidential nominee, Gary Johnson, the former Republican governor of New Mexico.   Unfortunately, Mr. Johnson has just made [Read More...]

Joy mingled with occasional stabs of sadness

    “The death of a beloved is an amputation.”  (C. S. Lewis)   We had a pleasant afternoon and evening yesterday with my nephew and his wife and their very young son and infant daughter.  I couldn’t help but think, though, of my brother, and of the fact that these grandchildren never knew him.   [Read More...]