Daniel C. Peterson's Blog, page 972

Three quotations about punctuation

    I’m a really, really serious editor, and I’m really, really dedicated to proper punctuation.  Why?  Because it matters.   Fortunately, I’m not quite the only person who thinks this way.  Lynne Truss does, as well.  Here are three quotations from her:   “A panda walks into a cafe. He orders a sandwich, eats [Read More...]

“Larycia Hawkins ‘Flabbergasted’ by Wheaton’s Move to Fire Her”

    It would be inaccurate to say that my vote would count for nothing at Wheaton College, near Chicago.  On the contrary:  With regard to theology, my vote, coming from a Mormon, would almost certainly do substantial damage to anyone or anything receiving it.   But I do want to publicly say, for what it’s worth, that [Read More...]

“Why Federal Lands are So Wildly Controversial in the West”

    Useful background, I think, to the standoff in Oregon:   http://news.nationalgeographic.com/20...    

“America will elect its first Latino president — and other New Year’s predictions”

    I realize that this item is from way back last year, but I wanted to put it on record:   http://www.nationalreview.com/article...   We’ll see how well David French does.    

“Mass Sex Abuse in Cologne: Part of a Disturbing Trend among Middle East and North African immigrants”

    This is very troubling:   http://www.nationalreview.com/article...   Almost as troubling, though, was the astonishingly boneheaded response of Cologne’s mayor, Henriette Reker:   http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/07/wor...    

“So now Muslims can be fired for praying?”

    Hmmmmm.  This raises really serious issues:   http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles...    

“A massive new resource for students of the Book of Mormon”

      This is a very big deal:   http://www.deseretnews.com/article/86...   And it will grow bigger still.    

“Adventures in Islam: The Myths and Legends of Muslim Homogeneity”

    There are some things (especially in the opening paragraphs) with which I would quibble, but she makes an important point:   http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tithi-b...   Thanks to Jabra Ghneim for alerting me to this article.    

“Going booze-free? The effects of a month without alcohol”

    Some drinkers have begun a tradition of abstaining from alcohol during the month of January.  A few call it the “dryathlon”:   http://www.theguardian.com/science/br...    

BOM 1 Nephi 12

      Today’s Book of Mormon reading is 1 Nephi 12.   Out of all that that chapter covers, I want to say something today about “the large and spacious building” to which allusion is made in 1 Nephi 12:18, but which was, of course, first mentioned as part of Lehi’s vision in 1 Nephi 8.   [Read More...]