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
History and Religion
My day began in Logan, Utah

My day began in Logan, Utah

Last updated on: August 7, 2025 at 12:08 am by Dan Peterson

0 Comments

My day began in Logan, Utah 2025-08-07T00:08:28-06:00 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.

The Logan Utah Temple was dedicated in 1884. Its fortress-like exterior — much like that of the temples in Manti and in Salt Lake City — is probably not without significance. (Photo from LDS.org)

I spoke this morning to a gathering of Seminary and Institute teachers in Logan, Utah, adjacent to the campus of Utah State University. My basic subject — it was a somewhat informal presentation — was the Qur’an’s view of the patriarch Abraham, who is the common father of all of the “Abrahamic faiths” (or of what Arabic-speaking Muslims often refer to as al-adyan al-samawiyya, “the heavenly religions,” which are Judaism, Christianity, and Islam).

But I also prefaced my presentation by showing, for the first time publicly, a newly-prepared trailer for the Interpreter Foundation’s forthcoming Becoming Brigham series of short video documentaries. As it happens, the trailer focused on Camrey Bagley Fox’s interview with LaJean Purcell Carruth, who works for the Church History Department but lives within a few blocks of the venue where I was speaking, In the video selection that I used this morning, LaJean spoke of her experience in recovering the genuine words of Brigham Young from George D. Watt’s Pitman shorthand.

Before heading back down to Utah Valley, I had a good conversation over a good lunch at The Beehive Pub & Grill with Dallen Craven and my host in Logan, Wade Ardern, whom I first met back in the late 1990s in his native New Zealand. I had dinner at the home of his parents in Temple View.

The view from where I was sitting, in the Show Barn at Thanksgiving Point, at the Interpreter Foundation’s display tables. Aaron Shirinian is speaking. (A photograph with my iPhone.)

In the evening, I attended the opening session of the 2025 FAIR Conference. First of all, I have to say that this year’s conference location, the Show Barn at Thanksgiving Point (in Lehi, Utah) is, at first and subsequent glance, magnificent. I really like it. There may be problems with it of which I’m unaware — if there are, they’ll inevitably reveal themselves in due course — but I love it. It seems the best that FAIR has ever had.

As one of the sponsors of this year’s conference, the Interpreter Foundation has a couple of tables in the rear of the hall. I’ll spend most of my time during the conference at one or the other of the tables; already, they’ve been a wonderful place to chat with friends who’ve come by. One of the nice things is that the latest Interpreter book — Abraham and His Family in Scripture, History, and Tradition: Proceedings of the Conference held May 3 & 10, 2025 (Jeffrey M. Bradshaw, John S. Thompson, Matthew L. Bowen, and David R. Seely, eds.) is on display at our tables and possibly (I didn’t have a chance to look) for sale in the FAIR bookstore. (The “book” is actually in two volumes.) It was the first time that I’ve seen Abraham and His Family in Scripture, History, and Tradition in its final published form.

The first speaker for the conference was Scott Gordon, FAIR’s longtime president, who welcomed attendees, offered a brief overview of the organization’s founding and history, and encouraged members in the audience to contribute financially to its support.

The keynote speaker for the evening was Aaron Sherinian, who is the still relatively new Managing Director of the Church Communication Department for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He delivered, very well, an engaging and encouraging address under the title “Fluent in Our Faith: Identifying and Communicating Evidence of the Glad Tidings of the Gospel in Our Life.“ I won’t attempt to summarize what he said — although a major point that he made was that this is an exceptionally exciting time to be trying to communicate with others about our faith — but I encourage you (if you haven’t already heard it) to watch the video of his speech when it eventually goes up on the website of FAIR.

The audience tonight seemed to be pretty large. I was pleased with the turnout, and it’s always good to many friends among the FAIR regulars

The three Tellys won by “Six Days in August” — two silver and a bronze — on display on the Interpreter Foundation’s table at the 2025 FAIR Conference. Photo by Steve Densley.

I was told this evening at the opening session of this week’s 2025 FAIR Conference that the Interpreter Foundation’s 2024 theatrical film, Six Days in August, is currently available for free on Amazon Prime Video. This was a surprise to me. Evidently, though, it’s good news. Apparently, our movie is being used as a come-on to attract subscribers to the streaming service. You can watch it with a free Prime trial.

But there’s other news from the world of movies, television and entertainment. This comes from The Onion, one of my major sources for current events: “Study: More Americans Converting To Mormonism In Hopes Of Getting Hulu Series”

A church from the 1830s in Newfane, Vermont (Wikimedia Commons public domain image)

And here are a quartet of recent news and opinion items that caught my attention:

“Insights From a Law Professor on Why Religious Freedom Matters: Scholar and a lawyer of religious freedom Steven T. Collis speaks on the importance of understanding religious liberty”

“Americans’ trust in the church rebounding after seeing record lows: Poll” (Not referring to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.)

“How the Elite Changed Its Mind on Christianity: Bush-era New Atheism couldn’t last forever.”

“Forget what you think you know about marriage and divorce in the U.S. Here’s what’s up: New report finds shifts in family behavior, but most children now raised in 2-parent homes”

Yes, this year’s iteration of the annual FAIR conference has been relegated to a barn.

But I close, as I am wont to do, with disturbing reports that have been drawn from the Christopher Hitchens Memorial “How Religion Poisons Everything” File™:

History and Religion

Travel and Religion

Previous Post

August 5, 2025

A Practical Guide to Extrasensory Perception?

Next Post

August 7, 2025 A report from the floor

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

"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 ..."

"In a meeting today, I learned another important reason why accurate (or at least as ..."

the PROBLEM

From Serbia’s “White City,” Belgrade

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

In Philemon, what does Paul call Onesimus?

Select your answer to see how you score.

My friend My helper My very heart My brother