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An opportunity in Germany and an opportunity online

An opportunity in Germany and an opportunity online

Last updated on: February 26, 2025 at 11:45 am by Dan Peterson

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An opportunity in Germany and an opportunity online 2025-02-26T11:45:41-07:00 Dan Peterson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

This statue of Brigham Young stands in front of the Provo (Utah) City Library, formerly Brigham Young Academy (the precursor of Brigham Young University).

I’m very excited about the planned medical school at Brigham Young University. I have high hopes for it: “Interest, support surge for BYU medical school: ‘It’s as if we have 40 first-round draft picks’: Intermountain Health collaboration with new school begins to take shape amid doctor shortage crisis.”

This is a cause, if I had anything of value to offer, that I could happily get behind.

I have no insider information whatever, but I’ve always assumed that the medical school will be built on the plot of ground formerly occupied by Provo High School, which was purchased a few years ago by the University and which sits right between the University campus and Intermountain Health Utah Valley Hospital. Time will tell if I’m right. I’ll be quite surprised if I’m not. I also hope and expect that the school will be named after President Russell M. Nelson.

A view of the Albrechtsburg Castle, with the Elbe River in the foreground and the towers of the city’s Gothic cathedral in the background (Wikimedia Commons public domain photo)

Here’s a cause, though, that I do intend to back. And, for once, it has nothing to do with the Interpreter Foundation. The former home of Dr. Karl G. Maeser (1828-1901), effectively the father of the BYUs, Ensign College, BYU Pathway, and the entire Church Educational System, still stands in Meissen (or Meißen), Germany, about sixteen miles to the northwest of Dresden. (You’ve maybe heard of Meissen porcelain?) It’s evidently still in very good shape, but its current owner wants to sell it, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has the right of first refusal. However, the Church is not interested in acquiring more historical properties at this time, so it is (evidently) encouraging private members to consider buying it.

I’ve become peripherally involved, so I’m asking here whether there are any people out there who might be interested in donating to an effort to acquire Brother Maeser’s home. The asking price of approximately $150,000 seems to me astoundingly low, and I’m thinking that the house could be used very well to tell not only the story of the Church but of its far-flung educational institutions, not just in Utah but in Idaho and Hawaii and elsewhere in the Pacific, in Jerusalem and Washington DC and, through Pathways, around the world. Educational achievement is a story that plays very well in German-speaking Europe. It could also serve as a gathering place for Latter-day Saint youth in eastern Germany and beyond.

My thought is that fans of the BYUs, former German and German-speaking missionaries, local German members, and others might have particular interest in this effort. If you do, whether your means are great or small, could you please contact me privately at [email protected]? Thus far, we’re exploring options; we have a window of about two months in which to make an offer, and I”m trying to gauge interest and capacity. Can we pull this off? A friend, a very experienced former U.S. Attorney with exceptionally strong historical and preservationist interests of his own, is looking into the legal and organizational issues.

One of the collateral benefits of the work that we did on the Interpreter Foundation’s “Witnesses” film project was a relatively brief terrestrial reunion of the Joseph Smith Sr. family, shown here in a still photograph taken on the movie set by James Jordan.

Have you watched any of the short-video features about the witnesses of the Book of Mormon that the Interpreter Foundation has made available? If you haven’t, you’re missing out. And they’re free. Here’s a link to Episode 29: Women Witnesses—Why and Why Not?

Witnesses of the Book of Mormon—Insights Episode 29: There are a number of unofficial witnesses of the Book of Mormon who were women—however, of the official witnesses of the Book of Mormon, there are none. Why would this be? This is Episode 29 of a series compiled from the many interviews conducted during the course of the Witnesses film project. . . . These additional resources are hosted by Camrey Bagley Fox, who played Emma Smith in Witnesses, as she introduces and visits with a variety of experts. These individuals answer questions or address accusations against the witnesses, also helping viewers understand the context of the times in which the witnesses lived. This week we feature Daniel C. Peterson, President of the Interpreter Foundation and Executive Producer of Witnesses. For more information, go to https://witnessesofthebookofmormon.org/. Learn about the documentary movie Undaunted—Witnesses of the Book of Mormon at https://witnessesundaunted.com/.

Incidentally, the window for free streaming of Witnesses is about to close. Your month-long opportunity to watch it at no charge will end very shortly. Undaunted, of course, will continue to be available at no charge. But Witnesses will not. So, if you’re at all interested, don’t delay. (If you’re not interested, look closely at yourself in the mirror and ask yourself “Why not? What’s wrong with me?”)

And this offer extends to critics of the Church, as well. A surprising number of them have labored under the burden of needing to mock and criticize the two films without having seen them. They’ve ridiculed the movies, for example, for our failure to mention sensitive topics in Church history that the movies do, in fact, mention. Think how liberating it would be for such critics to mock and criticize the films after having actually watched them!

The links to Witnesses and Undaunted are available at The Witnesses Initiative. Macht schnell!

Director Mark Goodman preparing a group of actors for a scene in the 2021 “Witnesses” film.
(Photograph by James Jordan)

What a couple of my monitors at the Obsession Board like to describe as my whiny obsession with the hit Netflix miniseries American Primeval continues, which is illustrated by a just-released episode of Religion in the American Experience, a podcast of the National Museum of American Religion. In this episode, entitled “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Responds to “American Primeval,”” John Turner interviews Matthew Godfrey.

The Gordon B. Hinckley Alumni and Visitors Center on the campus of Brigham Young University (Brigham Young University photo)

I understand that the continual recitation here of crimes committed against humanity by theists and theism can wear decent people down — just imagine the damage that will be done when BYU’s medical school is up and running! — but it’s my solemn duty to share with you my findings in the Christopher Hitchens Memorial “How Religion Poisons Everything” File™. So here’s one: “Religion Bolsters the Ability to Thrive Through a ‘Spiritual Health Crisis,’ Says Psychologist: Psychology professor Pamela Ebstyne King shared ways religion and spirituality impact human well-being during Marjorie Pay Hinckley lecture”

Posted from Kāʻanapali, Maui, Hawaiʻi

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