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Getting the Word Out

Getting the Word Out

Last updated on: February 4, 2026 at 6:09 pm by Dan Peterson

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Getting the Word Out 2026-02-04T18:09:03-07:00 Dan Peterson

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Brigham Young (John Donovan Wilson), Thomas Sharp (David Martinez), and Joseph Smith (Paul Wuthrich) enjoy a shaded moment between takes on the set of “Six Days in August.”

Just a couple of hours ago, this interview with Greg Matsen, which runs almost exactly fifty minutes, was posted on the Cwic Show: “The Great Brigham Debate: Brigham Young Was NOT the Villain You’ve Been Told – feat. Daniel Peterson”

Also: This interview, in which I spoke with Nathan Lenaghen of BYU-Idaho Radio, was posted earlier today: “New documentary series focuses on Brigham Young.” It runs not quite twenty-two minutes. And, if you’re up to it, you can find the full thing here.

By putting Becoming Brigham up online, we make it available to an audience that might potentially be absolutely anywhere in the world. (Wikimedia Commons public domain image)

As you might have guessed, both of the interviews that are mentioned here above focus on the Interpreter Foundation’s new series of the Becoming Brigham documentaries. Two episodes of Becoming Brigham have already gone up online: “Who Killed Joseph Smith?” and “Shorthand & Bloodstains, Part One.” A third episode will launch on Monday next, and new installments will appear every Monday thereafter for probably about a year and a half. This is an ambitious undertaking.

Please watch what we post. Please subscribe. (There’s no charge!) And, if you feel that you can do so, please call the attention of others to them. We have no real promotional budget for Becoming Brigham. If it’s going to reach a good audience, if the project is going to succeed, we’ll need to rely on word of mouth. Yours. Please help us to get the series out there for people who might find it interesting or helpful.

Benjamin West (1738-1820)
“Isaiah’s Lips Anointed with Fire” (Wikimedia Commons public domain image)

This essay appeared today on the never-changing website of the Interpreter Foundation: Steadfast in Defense of Faith: “Unlocking Isaiah’s Closed Book: Figures of Speech, Literary Devices, and Writing Techniques,” written by Donald W. Parry:

Part of our book chapter reprint series, this article originally appeared in Steadfast in Defense of Faith: Essays in Honor of Daniel C. Peterson, edited by Shirley Ricks, Stephen D. Ricks, and Louis Midgley. For more information, go to https://interpreterfoundation.org/books/steadfast-in-defense-of-faith/.

“As God’s prophet and seer, Isaiah sets forth a multitude of skillfully articulated expressions in his book that exist in various forms, structures, and configurations. Isaiah is creative and artistic when he delivers his message and prophecies to his audiences. He uses a variety of literary devices and techniques to add vibrancy, depth, and meaning to his words. In this paper I will briefly examine forty-four literary devices found in Isaiah’s text.”

The first-century Roman emperor Nero commissioned a hundred-foot-tall statue of himself as the sun god. (Wikimedia Commons public domain image)

Just in case you’re able to access this National Review article, it’s an entertaining recital: “The Most Erratic President in the World”

And here’s something to look forward to: “‘Don Colossus’ — a 22-foot tall Golden statue of Trump — is set to rise where US will host world leaders for G20: The bronze likeness of the 45th and 47th president was commissioned by a group of cryptocurrency investors” Unfortunately, in comparison to one of its notable predecessors, it’s much too small. But the gold is nice. And subtle!

Albert Sidney Johnston, shown sometime in 1861. In 1857, during the so-called “Mormon War,” he commanded the U.S. Army invasion force that had been sent to put down a supposed Mormon rebellion against the United States. On 6 April 1862, while serving as a Confederate general in rebellion against the United States, he was killed at the Battle of Shiloh. (Wikimedia Commons public domain photograph)

Whatever your political views, you might find this article worthy of reflection. And especially so if you’re a Latter-day Saint: “When Mormons say to comply with ICE incursions, we’re forgetting our own history — In 1857, when Latter-day Saints deemed actions emanating from Washington, DC, to be significant breaches of constitutional norms, they didn’t comply, they resisted.”

And here’s something else that’s worth a look, because one article of passionately-held faith among certain critics of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is that the Church is in free fall, collapsing rapidly: “A remarkable time to serve’: At MTC, Elder Rasband testifies the Lord is hastening His work: ‘We are only scratching the surface of what the Lord has in store for us as He prepares the world for His Second Coming,’ says Apostle to training missionaries”

Happily, there seems to be no religion in North Korea, which is surely one of the factors making that place the terrestrial paradise that it is today. These statues of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-Il, respectively the grandfather and father of the current Dear Leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea), stand on Mansu Hill (Wikimedia Commons public domain photo by J. A. de Roo). They ruled in succession from the establishment of the DPRK in 1948 until 1994, and from 1994 until 2011, when the current Dear Leader assumed the role.

Sigh. I realize that the abominations imposed upon suffering humanity by theism and theists, and particularly by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, are too numerous to count. Still, I think that there’s benefit in attempts to formally catalog them. Here are five specimens that I’ve recently located in the Christopher Hitchens Memorial “How Religion Poisons Everything” File™:

“Latter-day Saints Help Restore 30 Smiles in Peru: The Church has supported Operation Smile for more than three decades”

“25 years later, 130,000 students have benefited from the Church’s Perpetual Education Fund loans: President Hinckley’s ‘bold initiative’ has expanded to 76 countries, tens of thousands of students”

“The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Announces Support for 2034 Utah Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games”

“How the Church and its members are providing relief after wildfires in Chile: Hundreds of volunteers are working to collect and distribute needed goods in Church buildings in hard-hit areas”

“UN World Food Programme Leader Tours Church Humanitarian Facilities: “We look forward to continuing this vital work, side by side,” says WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain”

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