Daniel C. Peterson's Blog, page 837

Independence Day

    If, after the pancake breakfasts and the family activities and the grilling and the fireworks, you would like to think for just a few moments about what this country means, these two pieces might help:   Charles C. W. Cooke, an Oxford-educated political thinker who came to the United States in 2011, holds that [Read More...]

“How religious involvement influences life and well-being”

    A nice summary by Jenet Jacob Ericsson:   http://www.deseretnews.com/article/86...   The late Christopher Hitchens’s iron law that “religion poisons everything” is beginning to look . . .  Well, it’s beginning to look slightly dubious.   Posted from Park City, Utah    

A stunning rendition of the National Anthem at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC

    I love it:   http://insider.foxnews.com/2016/07/02...   Posted from Park City, Utah    

“Elder Neil L. Andersen throws out first pitch at Dodger Stadium”

    I grew up an avid Dodgers fan.  (As I think I’ve mentioned, I was there when Sandy Koufax threw his first no-hitter.)   There were and are few things more pleasant than a summer evening at Dodger Stadium in Chavez Ravine.   So I would have thoroughly enjoyed this.  And, if I still [Read More...]

“Muslims can be patriots, too”

    A piece that was published nearly six years ago, but that seems to me even more relevant now than it was then:   http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2010/1...   Posted from Park City, Utah    

Church and State, Together for Good

    Critics and and will carp, complain, and cynically mock.  That, unfortunately, is what they do.  But this is the kind of thing that really matters:   https://www.lds.org/media-library/vid...   And on this day when many of us commemorate the founding of the United States of America, it seems appropriate to me to celebrate the service [Read More...]

BOM Alma 44

    Just a brief note — a quotation, really, on one little element in today’s reading, Alma 44.  I take it from the July 1991 Insights newsletter that was published by the old Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies (FARMS), back in its heyday:   Symbolic Action as Prophetic Curse At one point [Read More...]

“Astronomers release spectacular survey of the distant Universe”

    Wow.  Notice the number of galaxies — galaxies — disclosed in a deep-space survey of an area of our earthly sky equivalent to four full moons:   http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/news/pres...   The visible universe is inconceivably vast.  (And that’s the visible universe.)  At a minimum, that should inspire feelings of profound humility.   3 And God [Read More...]

You must listen to this today

    If you’re an American, or if you care about America or the idea of America, you must listen to this, the great anthem of the Union during the American Civil War, at least once today:     I realize that it’s too explicitly Christian for the purpose, but I confess that, if I [Read More...]

“Presbyterian Church USA offers prayers to Allah, acknowledges Muhammad as prophet”

    Thanks to Jeff Schrade for bringing this item to my notice:   Presbyterian Church USA offers prayers to Allah, acknowledges Muhammad as prophet   I respect Robert Spencer.  He’s very bright, and quite well informed.  And I, too, am concerned about political correctness.  I, too, want clarity in our understanding of Islam (as [Read More...]