Daniel C. Peterson's Blog, page 975

Is life really better under Scandinavian-style socialism?

    But is life really better under Scandinavian-style socialism?   Maybe.  Or maybe not:   http://www.cato.org/publications/econ...    

“The Return of the King”

    It probably matters that I’ve been a major and very serious fan of J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis since high school, but I thought that this BYU devotional address by Elder Larry Y. Wilson, of the Seventy, was quite good:   http://www.byutv.org/watch/b27316ba-f...    

Brief but excellent thoughts from Patrick Mason on encountering difficult things in Church history

    http://www.plonialmonimormon.com/2015...    

A chiastic article in a modern newspaper

    Yesterday, I posted a link to a piece by Jack Welch about his discovery of chiastic structures in the Book of Mormon and his subsequent experience with the study of chiasmus there and elsewhere:   http://www.patheos.com/blogs/danpeter...   My friend Michael De Groote, an attorney and writer (and, for years, a reporter for the [Read More...]

“Tech Wizardry Solves Mysteries of Egypt’s Royal Mummies”

    http://www.wired.com/2015/12/modern-m...    

On retaining anger

    Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned. The Buddha      

“‘When the Land and the Stones, and the Books Tell the Story So Plain’: Quiriguá”

    Mark Wright and Steve Smoot and Neal Rappleye and others — maybe many others; am I the only person who’s been left out? — have recently been cavorting around Mesoamerica.  Here’s a report from their trip, of which I’m profoundly jealous:   http://www.studioetquoquefide.com/201...    

BOM 1 Nephi 9

      In 1 Nephi 6, Nephi indicated that his chronicle would concentrate not on temporal matters but on sacred ones.   That is not to say, however, that a secular record wasn’t kept.  In today’s short reading, 1 Nephi 9, Nephi explains that he’s made two sets of plates — the larger to accommodate [Read More...]

Are YOU part of a vulnerable religious minority?

    “Americans place a higher priority on preserving the religious freedom of Christians than for other faith groups, ranking Muslims as the least deserving of the protections, according to a new survey”:   http://bigstory.ap.org/article/de486b...   Understandable, in a way.   And, in fact, too many Latter-day Saints, I’m sorry to report, have been quite serene [Read More...]

Are drunks in the audience ruining Broadway performances of “The Book of Mormon”?

    I have no idea.  But this article claims that they are:   http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/artic...   If it’s really happening, perhaps they’re secret agents sent by the evil Mormon cult to disrupt the play?