I’ve been interested to see the very negative response, in certain regions of the web where everything about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is mocked and disdained by bitter apostates, to President Russell M. Nelson’s periodic whirlwinds of national and international “ministry tours.”

Rather than marveling at a 94-year-old man’s remarkable vigor and at his strong desire to be out among his fellow Latter-day Saints, encouraging and comforting and strengthening them — which, even if one considers him and his followers deluded, remains impressive — they deride him as motivated by an obscene craving for the adulation of mindless cultists, by a laughable dream of imitating the pope, by a greedy desire to maintain his allegedly lavish lifestyle by fleecing his gullible flock of their money, and even, weirdly, by a love for round-the-world sightseeing and Caribbean beach vacations. (Plainly, they haven’t paid much attention to his actual schedule on these trips, which is crammed full of meetings and speeches.)

Wouldn’t it be better if he gave to the poor the money that is being spent on his travel and on his (supposed) large retinue of accompanying servants? (See John 12:3-6.)

Well, I’m willing to bet that very few, if indeed any at all, of the Latter-day Saints who have been able to greet President Nelson in such places as Bangkok, Bengalaru, Concepción, Harare, Hong Kong, La Paz, Lima, Nairobi, Santo Domingo, and Winnipeg have resented his visit.

This sort of mockery and complaining says much more about his critics than it does about President Nelson. Very eloquently, in my judgment.

But wouldn’t it be better if they were to devote the time they spend on sneering at the Latter-day Saints to doing good somewhere? Perhaps they should sell their computers and give the money to the poor?

***

On the Interpreter Radio Show for 21 October 2018, Kris Frederickson and Bruce Webster discussed the upcoming changes in the Sunday meeting schedule as reflecting a narrowing focus on Christ. They also discussed Volume 1 of Saints, historical literacy, and the worldwide Church.

Their conversation can now be heard online, at your convenience and without commercial interruptions:

Also available through the website of the Interpreter Foundation, a recording that runs about thirty-five (35) minutes:

“The Apocrypha,” with Jared Ludlow

***

You can also, if you would like to do so, listen to the remarks that I gave at a fireside in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada, this past Sunday:

https://secure-hwcdn.libsyn.com/p/b/9/4/b94e691d8749b844/DanPetersonFireside-Lethbridge-10-21-2018.mp3?c_id=24555104&cs_id=24555104&expiration=1540516735&hwt=2fdef2f1479175d96f64570bdcbd38c0

The recording is about two hours long — I’m longwinded! — and of fairly low quality. I’m guessing that it was done via a smart phone from somewhere near the back of the cultural hall.

It was, I’m told, originally posted by the excommunicated former Latter-day Saint John Dehlin. It was made, and it was posted, without any permission from me. (Nobody asked my permission.)

I’m not sure about the ethics of recording and posting a speaker’s remarks without his or her permission. Certainly, doing so seems (at a minimum) rather unmannerly; it’s customary to ask whether or not such recording would be alright with the speaker.

But there it is. And although, given his attitude toward me and his general attitude toward the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I doubt very much that Mr. Dehlin hoped to do me a favor by posting this recording of my comments, I can’t, offhand, recall anything that I said on Sunday night that I regret. So, if you’re at all interested, feel free to listen.

***

I’m delighted that Igor Gruppman and his wife, Vesna Stefanovich-Gruppman, found their way into the Church, and for the contributions that they have made and continue to make to the music and culture of the Latter-day Saints:

“‘It takes stamina’: The life and legacy of Orchestra at Temple Square conductor Igor Gruppman”

***

Meanwhile, here’s some additional religion news:

“Russia’s Journey from Orthodoxy to Atheism, and Back Again”

“Faith struggles of young D.C. Catholic women? Washington Post says it’s all ‘politics'”