Daniel C. Peterson's Blog, page 997

“What child is this?”

    Maddie Wilson offers today’s contribution to the “Social” element of the 2015 Christmas campaign “A Savior is Born”:   https://www.mormon.org/christmas/madd...    

“Growing up Muslim among the Mormons”

    Thanks to Shereen Emara Salah for bringing this article to my attention:   http://davisclipper.com/view/full_sto...    

Whatever it is, they’re against it. In fact, they HATE it.

    The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has revealed the design for its soon-to-be-built temple in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  Ground for the new temple will be broken on 12 February 2015, in a ceremony presided over by Elder Neal L. Andersen, of the Quorum of [Read More...]

“The Trump Circus Rolls On”

    It’s unspeakably depressing to see the damage that a sinister and demagogical buffoon is doing to the Republican Party and to the cause of conservatism:   http://www.nationalreview.com/article...   Maybe this nation does, after all, deserve what it seems likely to get.    

“Muslims, the New Mormons”

    Non-Latter-day Saint historian John Turner points to some resemblances in the reception of the two groups by the American public:   http://www.patheos.com/blogs/anxiousb...    

What ends a nation?

    Throughout history many nations have suffered a physical defeat, but that has never marked the end of a nation. But when a nation has become the victim of a psychological defeat, then that marks the end of a nation. Ibn Khaldun (1332-1406)

Be the first person on your block to pronounce her name correctly!

    Mostly, I hear the name of the contemptible San Bernardino murderess Tashfeen Malik given as Tash-FEEN Ma-LEEK, though I’ve sometimes even heard it pronounced Taf-SHEEN Ma-LEEK.  (Which reminds me of the old joke about the agnostic insomniac dyslexic who lies awake at night, wondering if there’s a Dog.)   I’ve been puzzled about

70,000 Indian Muslim clerics issue fatwa against ISIS, al-Qa’ida, and terrorism

    Thanks to Jabra Ghneim for alerting me to this story:   http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/in...   http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/6...   But, I respond, who cares?   Ban ‘em all anyway!   If the king of Saudi Arabia has grandkids studying at Georgetown, toss ‘em!  If a famous Muslim neurosurgeon from Toronto has been invited to attend a conference [Read More...]

“Not written in this book”

    Today’s Deseret News column is up:   http://www.deseretnews.com/article/86...    

What a billion Muslims really think

    Many people in the West quite confidently discuss Muslim attitudes on the basis of no real acquaintance with either the Islamic world or actual Muslims.   So I’m going to recommend a book:   Several years ago, the Gallup organization undertook an enormous, multi-country survey of the Islamic world, the largest ever done.  The results [Read More...]