Daniel C. Peterson's Blog, page 934

The socialist imperative

    Back in the thirties we were told we must collectivize the nation because the people were so poor. Now we are told we must collectivize the nation because the people are so rich. William F. Buckley, Jr.  

Honoring Elder Robert Gay (please don’t worry; he’s quite healthy)

    My wife and I were privileged, nearly three weeks ago now, to attend a dinner in honor of Elder Robert Gay of the Seventy, whom I’ve known since before his call as a General Authority and even before his assignment as a mission president in Ghana.  It was sponsored by the Utah Youth Village, [Read More...]

BOM 2 Nephi 33

    Anybody who writes very much — whether we’re talking about published books or plays, or letters or emails, or journal entries — knows that it’s very difficult to express all that one wishes to convey by means of mere letters on a page or a screen, and understands how inadequate mere words are to [Read More...]

“More Terrible Than Even the Persecutions of the Jews: The Mormon Experience in ‘Ha-Magid'”

    An interesting piece from Allen Hansen:   http://calba-savua.blogspot.com/2013/...    

“Can we please stop pretending marijuana is harmless?”

    You may be aware that Utah has been experiencing controversy of late on the matter of the legal status of marijuana — and particularly so since the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints took a public stand regarding one of two relevant bills being considered by the state legislature.   For various [Read More...]

A perspective on science and religion

    “I have trouble understanding why people drift away from the Church. . . .  There are all kinds of contradictions that I don’’t understand, but I find the same kind of contradictions in science, and I haven’’t decided to apostatize from science.” Dr. Henry Eyring    

“This scholar says she’s unlocked the secret of the Pyramid Texts”

    I have to admit in advance that, without having seen her book, I’m inclined to be sympathetic.  For one thing, I rather like it when outsiders (e.g., Michael Ventris, with Minoan Linear B) stir things up in seemingly settled fields.  For another, I’ve always disliked it when scholars assume that ancient people were fools [Read More...]

“When the Lord’s choicest blessings come imperfectly wrapped”

    Because it was written by a friend and former neighbor, and because roughly eighteen months ago, my wife and I had a similar experience with a granddaughter — some of the most excruciating pain I’ve ever experienced, something that I never want to experience again, and, in a very real sense, something that was made [Read More...]

Robert W. Blair, 1930-2016

    My wife and I were saddened, yesterday, to learn of the death of Bob Blair, whom we’ve known for many years as a member of a monthly reading group to which we belong.   He was a remarkable linguist, the founder of BYU’s Department of Linguistic, a former mission president, a devoted Latter-day [Read More...]

Jewish Telegraphic Agency: “For Jewish Mormons, hybrid identity seen as no contradiction”

    A fairly brief item in a Jewish publication about the relatively small but interesting (and perhaps growing) community of Latter-day Saints from Jewish backgrounds:   http://www.jta.org/2016/02/21/news-op...