Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Latter-day Saint
Travel and Religion
Nairobi: A memory, a new temple, and, yes . . . opposition

Nairobi: A memory, a new temple, and, yes . . . opposition

Last updated on: April 15, 2025 at 8:56 pm by Dan Peterson

0 Comments

Nairobi: A memory, a new temple, and, yes . . . opposition 2025-04-15T20:56:31-06:00 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.

My wife and I have visited Nairobi only once, and that was many, many years ago. But I loved the city, and I loved Kenya. I still hope to get back to it, someday. (Wikimedia Commons public domain image)

Many, many years ago — probably in 1979, or maybe in 1980 — my wife and I took a trip during Christmas vacation from Cairo, Egypt, to Nairobi, Kenya. It remains one of my favorite trips of all time. It was astoundingly cheap — as the result of some sort of special deal for American educators (for which we qualified because my wife was on the teaching faculty at Cairo American College) — and, relatively impoverished though we were back then, we felt that we almost couldn’t afford to pass up the invitation. Beyond Nairobi itself, we went out into safari country among the Maasai and we visited the very different (and very Islamicate) coastal city of Mombasa. I thought that we would get back to Kenya at some point in the not too distant future, but, thus far, we never have.

At the time, I really wanted to learn Swahili. In fact, I still sometimes think of giving it another go. (It’s a fascinating language, with an intriguing structure and a considerable amount of borrowed Arabic vocabulary. The word Swahili itself is Arabic for, roughly, “coastal.”).

Anyhow, while we were in Nairobi back then, I took the opportunity of visiting an evangelical Christian bookstore there. My plan was to buy a copy of the Bible in Swahili for future use. Which I did. While I was in the store, though, I noticed that it contained, on its back wall, two entire shelves of anti-Mormon books and pamphlets. I was amazed. This was, you may recognize, only a year or two after President Spencer W. Kimball’s 1978 revelation on priesthood. I recall thinking that it might just be possible that there were more anti-Mormon books and tracts on those two shelves than, that year, there were Latter-day Saints in all of East Africa. Honestly, I found it oddly flattering.

So, to me, it was wonderful news back in 2009 when Elder Joseph W. Sitati was called to the First Quorum of the Seventy as the first General Authority from Kenya. He was released as a General Authority in 2022 and given emeritus status and, although there are now a number of General Authorities — including a member of the Presidency of the Seventy — from Africa, I’m unaware, off the top of my head, of any currently-serving General Authorities from Kenya. But it’s very gratifying now to contemplate the fact that a Latter-day Saint temple will shortly be dedicated there in Nairobi.

Which, you may be completely surprised to learn, hasn’t entirely eliminated opposition to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Kenya: “Mormonism in Africa: Why the Church Must Be Concerned”

He ended up as a Jersey boy himself: Albert Einstein at Princeton, New Jersey, in 1947. But “Jersey Boys” isn’t actually about the faculty at Princeton’s Institute for Advanced Study.
(Wikimedia Commons public domain image)

My wife and I went out to dinner last night with our usual theater-attending group of friends and neighbors and then, afterwards, enjoyed a performance of Jersey Boys at The Ruth and Nathan Hale Theater, in Pleasant Grove. Jersey Boys was a bit of a mood-shift from Saturday night’s Chekhov, but very enjoyable; the real incongruity, though, was seeing a dual publicity poster at the Saturday-night performance that advertised The Cherry Orchard together with a forthcoming performance of High School Musical. I thought that I had seen Jersey Boys before — it was an enormous hit on Broadway and in touring companies — but I soon realized that I had been confusing it with Forever Plaid.

I’m certainly pleased with “The Ruth,” as the still-rather-new theater facility is commonly known. My wife and I are fond of live theater — readers here may have noticed that fondness, over the years — and The Ruth is a real step forward for live theater in Utah Valley.

The official movie poster for the Interpreter Foundation’s “Witnesses” theatrical film

I recorded two podcasts today with the folks at the Keystone podcast. The first of the two was devoted to the witnesses of the Book of Mormon (and to arguments against their credibility), while the second focused on Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, and, to some degree at least, on comparisons between Muhammad and Joseph Smith. I’m told that they’ll go up in a month or two, probably not directly back to back. By the way, some readers of this blog may not be aware that I wrote a relatively brief biography of the founder of Islam several years ago — Muhammad: Prophet of God — and that, in April 2018, at the request of a member of the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I published a very, very basic introductory article on the Muslim faith in the Church’s official magazine: “Understanding Islam.”

A view to the northeast across a portion of the Provo campus of Brigham Young University, from the building in which, until I retired, I had my office. It’s somewhat dated. The Harris Fine Arts Center, shown in the background to the left of center, is now gone. Its successor, right now called the Arts Building, stands on its site and will be finished later this year. (Wikimedia Commons public domain image)

All crusaders against religion are acutely aware of the damage wrought in this world by theism and theists. But it’s helpful, nonetheless, to be reminded from time to time of a few representative specimens of the horrors. Here, for instance, is a recent item from the Christopher Hitchens Memorial “How Religion Poisons Everything” File™: “BYU professional programs land high marks, engineering makes big jump in U.S. News grad ranks: BYU Law earns No. 11 for new ranking on grads in federal clerkships”

But, of course, religion poisons more than just the academic side of higher education; its toxicity extends to collegiate athletics, as well: “What BYU coach is most deserving of the ‘blue jacket’? Which Cougars coach had the biggest and brightest year? There are a few to choose from”

Travel and Religion

History and Religion

Previous Post

April 14, 2025

Brazenly lying about a nineteenth-century Church leader

Next Post

April 16, 2025 On the definition of "Woman"

Recent Comments

0 | Leave a Comment

"I have cpnsidered in my mond if the 4 volume Saints could be made into ..."

John Pack Lambert

From Serbia’s “White City,” Belgrade

"DP: “But Mr. Sutherland worries about the fact that our time, when we can communicate ..."

Theodore Brandley

Learning more about a region of ..."

"Another class of memories are of individuals who previously lived. Some of these remembered individuals ..."

PlasmaMiasma

Accounts of Premortality?

"Sutherland's lecture sounds interesting. He seems to restate the Washington consensus that trade brings peace ..."

B. Wilson

Learning more about a region of ..."

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 March 2014 August 2013 February 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What Christian tradition is famous for the musical "Gregorian chant"?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Anglican Methodist Roman Catholic Presbyterian