Thomas Jefferson, who used to live in Charlottesville and whose beloved University of Virginia is located in the city, was, notoriously and regrettably, a slaveholder. But I have a very difficult time imagining that Mr. Jefferson would have felt much sympathy for American Nazis. On any level.
In response to the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, on Saturday, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints issued a statement expressing concern about hatred, bigotry, violence, and intolerance. On Tuesday, it enlarged that statement, calling “white supremacist attitudes” “morally wrong and sinful” and specifically denying the claims of some advocates of “white culture” — whatever that is — that the Church is neutral toward their positions or even supports them:
“Church Issues Statement on Situation in Charlottesville, Virginia”
Having already expressed my revulsion at the idea that any believing member of the Church could possibly believe that neo-Nazism is consistent with the Restored Gospel (see “Beyond repulsive. FAR beyond.”), I couldn’t be happier at the Church’s statement.
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I was also very pleased to read this:
“Mormon apostle accepts World Peace Prize at ceremony in India”
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I spent the day at the first two sessions of “Chiasmus: An Open Conference on the State of the Art,” as well as at lunch and dinner with all of the participants. Both meals were accompanied by presentations of technical/computer tools that are being generated in order to further the study of chiasmus.
I presided at the opening session. It has been a good conference thus far, with very solid presentations and good attendance. I’m happy to say that the presentations were recorded and that they will eventually be up online. (In the reasonably near future, I hope.)
Tomorrow will be another day of conference sessions, and then the two-day event will culminate in a gala dinner celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of Jack Welch’s recognition of chiastic structures in the Book of Mormon. In that connection, here’s a nice article from Book of Mormon Central:
“How Was Chiasmus Discovered in the Book of Mormon?”
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Finally, on a not quite entirely unrelated front, the estimable Robert Boylan reminds us of a very good article that was published twenty-one years ago — a really stunning number, that — by my friends and former FARMS colleagues Stephen Ricks and John Tvedtnes:
“Jewish and Other Semitic Texts Written in Egyptian Characters”
This is a topic that, as you can readily understand, has direct relevance to the claims of the Book of Mormon:
“I, Nephi, having been born of goodly parents, therefore I was taught somewhat in all the learning of my father; and having seen many afflictions in the course of my days, nevertheless, having been highly favored of the Lord in all my days; yea, having had a great knowledge of the goodness and the mysteries of God, therefore I make a record of my proceedings in my days.
“Yea, I make a record in the language of my father, which consists of the learning of the Jews and the language of the Egyptians.” (1 Nephi 1:1-2)
Brother Boylan also calls our attention to an interesting note written by Brother Tvedtnes, replying to a criticism of that article by a member of the Church who has since become a critic of Mormonism. (By the way, for whatever it’s worth, this fellow doesn’t actually hold, or claim to hold, a doctorate. Brother Tvedtnes was presumably misled on that point by nickname under which the man used to post.) Anyway, I enjoyed this short read:
“John Tvedtnes’ response to a critic on the topic of Semitic Texts Written in Egyptian Characters”
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