Daniel C. Peterson's Blog, page 855

A major Hollywood film about the Sufi mystic Jalal al-Din Rumi?

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/201...   I’m both thrilled and worried.   I regularly teach the Masnavi — twice annually, of late — in one of my courses.  Rumi is a fascinating thinker, and an enormously influential one.  Some have called his Masnavi “the Persian Qur’an.”   What is Hollywood likely to do with such a person?   I [Read More...]

Three from Ronald Reagan

    The most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the government and I’m here to help.   Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.   How [Read More...]

BOM Alma 23

    Today’s reading, Alma 23, reports briefly on the consequences of one of the most successful missionary efforts in history.   Notice in 23:14 that the Amulonites and the Amalekites are the only holdouts.  They were “dissenters” from the Nephites, and, as I mentioned yesterday, apostates are very commonly the most embittered and hostile [Read More...]

“The Unsung Hero of Western Science”

    Almost every educated person has heard of Aristotle.  How many recognize the name Theophrastus?   http://www.theatlantic.com/science/ar...    

“Are you looking for a church with perfect leaders?”

    My Deseret News column for today is up:   http://www.deseretnews.com/article/86...   Thus far, though, my regular atheist non-fans don’t seem to be awake.    

“Civil Society: Faith in the Public Square”

    The third of three articles in a series issued by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints:   http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article...   For links to the first two, see here:   Pluralism and Civil Society    

“Trump’s Mormon Problem: ‘That’s Not How We Roll in Utah'”

    I have to say that, on this issue, I’m very proud of my adopted state and of my co-religionists:   https://www.yahoo.com/news/trumps-mor...   I do sometimes wonder, though, whether Mr. Trump, who is well known for holding grudges and for seeking to punish those who fail to genuflect before him with sufficient enthusiasm, might [Read More...]

An evening of Mark Twain

    I know that I sound like a broken record: I’ve said this many times.  But the Hale theaters are a Wasatch Front treasure.   With a friend tonight, my wife and I enjoyed dinner at the Market Street Grill in South Jordan and then attended a first-rate performance of the musical Big River [Read More...]

Introducing the Arabs

    I’m working on an introductory book about Islam and Muslims that I’m aiming at a Latter-day Saint audience.  (It will be a heavily revised version of the second edition of my earlier Abraham Divided, but so substantially altered and updated that I don’t regard it as merely a third edition; it will bear a [Read More...]

Seeking our Cincinnatus

    In his treatise Cato Maior de Senectute — generally called, in English, On Old Age — the Roman orator, master Latin prose stylist, philosopher, and statesman Marcus Tullius Cicero writes about a semi-legendary figure from even earlier Roman history by the name of Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus.   Widely respected in Rome for his successful battle [Read More...]