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
Happy Birthday, Brother Brigham!

Happy Birthday, Brother Brigham!

Last updated on: June 1, 2026 at 11:57 pm by Dan Peterson

0 Comments

Happy Birthday, Brother Brigham! 2026-06-01T23:57:50-06:00 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 “key art” poster for our ongoing “Becoming Brigham” mini-documentary series

Today was (and, for at least a little while in some time zones, still is) the 225th anniversary of the birth of President Brigham Young. To mark it, the Interpreter Foundation and Redbrick Filmworks have released Episode 19 of our Becoming Brigham mini-documentary series. It’s slightly more than twenty-one minutes long: Becoming Brigham Episode 19 — Another Birthday! 225 Years! I hope that you’ll enjoy it.

I also wrote an article for Meridian Magazine: “Brigham Young’s 225th Birthday: Remembering When He Outwitted Mark Twain”

A Wikimedia Commons public domain view of President Holland’s beloved St. George Utah Temple, in the shadow of which he grew up, near which he is buried, and which he was privileged to rededicate near the end of his earthly ministry. It was originally dedicated by President Brigham Young in 1877, and we discuss it briefly in Episode 19 of Becoming Brigham, which was released early this morning.

I remind you of the little competition that I announced at the conclusion of yesterday’s blog entry (“A Follow-Up on How I Met President Jeffrey R. Holland.”). Be creative! Unleash your inner malicious loon! See what craziness you can come up with! (I’ll reveal accurate answers to the four questions later this week.)

Incidentally, did you have any difficulty when reading yesterday’s blog entry in recognizing that Elder Matthew S. Holland’s supposed anecdote about his father’s deathbed instruction regarding me was a joke? I doubt it. But my poor Malevolent Stalker takes it seriously. Or, at least, he pretends to take it seriously. He affects to believe that President Holland really made the comment and that he meant it as earnest counsel to his son. Why? Well, pretty obviously because believes that he can weaponize it as a black mark against me. And he’s being backed up in this by one of his unfortunate fellow-travelers.

Which reminds me of the title of an article by David French in the New York Times that I really liked, although it’s on a different subject: “The Fire of Stupidity Cannot Be Contained.” I commend it to your attention.

Raphael, “The School of Athens” (1505). In this painting, a personal favorite of mine that is located in the Vatican Apartments, Plato (the older bearded man, shown gesturing upwards) walks with his younger student, Aristotle (who motions downward, suggesting how his philosophical approach would come to differ from his master’s). In the foreground, Michelangelo sits, looking downward, resting his head on his fist. Over toward the right border of the painting, the very young Raphael himself, wearing a black beret-like hat, looks directly at the viewer. (Wikimedia Commons public domain image)

From the Deseret News: “Faith leaders feel behind on setting AI policies, admire what Latter-day Saints have in place: In Athens, Greece, Elder Gerrit W. Gong shared with other faith leaders the principles that now guide the Church of Jesus Christ’s AI use”

“Elder Gong to Share How to Hear God’s Voice in an Age of AI in New Video: The Apostle will provide gospel-centered guideposts to help govern the use of artificial intelligence in individuals’ personal lives”

“Do AI Models Omit Religion? Here’s What New BYU-Led Research Says: BYU leads multiuniversity research group to evaluate faith and ethics in AI”

Where we went walking today in Fort Worden State Historical Park (Wikimedia Commons public domain image)

We took a Third-Generation Unit***** to the seashore today at Fort Worden State Historical Park, where, for a long time, we watched what I believe were a pair of double-crested cormorants diving for food — mainly fish, I suppose, but perhaps amphibians, crustaceans and/or insects. They stuck together the whole time, moving up and down before us, almost alway diving and resurfacing within a few seconds of each other. We also saw a river otter, lots of jellyfish (from a pier), a seal, a bald eagle (as close as I’ve ever seen one outside of a zoo or aviary), and, separately on land, at least three deer. Later, we strolled in Fort Townsend where — yes, I admit it (with understandable shame) — I surrendered to temptation and, alas, ate dinner with the others. And, in the spirit of complete transparency, I also confess that I rather enjoyed it.

Last night, by the way, we watched Incredibles 2. Tonight, we screened Toy Story 4. I had never seen either of the two movies before and probably never would have in the absence of the Third-Generation Unit, but I enjoyed them — and I especially enjoyed watching them in the company of a 3GU.

* The identity of the 3GU, including the 3GU’s gender, has been concealed in order to shield this completely innocent person from scrutiny and exploitation by the zealots of the Peterson Obsession Board. (In the past, at least one person who is still active on the Obsession Board has, in fact, sought to use a Second-Generation Unit as a weapon against Y’r obdt servant, and, although POB types can be impressively cunning, I want to make a repetition of that kind of thing more difficult than it was in the days of my naïvité.)

On the campus at Harvard Business School (Wikimedia Commons public domain image)

Finally, I dip into the effectively inexhaustible Christopher Hitchens Memorial “How Religion Poisons Everything” File™. In this specimen from the Hitchens File, a shameless theist tries to insinuate his harmful religious nonsense into one of America’s elite institutions: “Mitt Romney quotes former Latter-day Saint prophet in his advice to Harvard Business School graduates, points to ‘true measure of wealth’: ‘The true measure of wealth in life is the people you love,’ Mitt Romney told Harvard Business School graduates.”

And — I know it’s horrifying, but we need to stare firmly and fearlessly into the abyss of religious depravity and to try not to deceive ourselves or to lull ourselves into a false state of comfortable complacency — here’s a compendium of some of the recent crimes and abominations committed by wannabe theocrats: “Latter-day Saints Around the World: May 2026: Donations strengthen education in Rwanda and help support children and the elderly in South Korea.”

Posted from Discovery Bay, Washington

Travel and Religion

History and Religion

Uncategorized

artificial intelligence

Previous Post

May 31, 2026

A Follow-Up on How I Met President Jeffrey R. Holland

Next Post

June 2, 2026 God's Grandeur

Recent Comments

0 | Leave a Comment

"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 ..."

"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

What did God create on the second day?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Trees Sun Fish Sky