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In praise of a former Dutch politician

In praise of a former Dutch politician

Last updated on: October 24, 2026 at 12:56 pm by Dan Peterson

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In praise of a former Dutch politician 2026-10-24T12:56:42-06:00 Dan Peterson

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A 2015 Wikimedia Commons public domain image of the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam. Our hotel is within walking distance of the museum, and we spent much of the day there. I’ll write about it mañana, maybe. Right now, I’m tired.

A new article went up today on the Interpreter Foundation’s website and in its journal. It’s C. Robb Smith, “Framing Judgment and Deliverance: Structure and Meaning in 1 Nephi 1,” and it appears at Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 70 (2026): 129-164:

Abstract: This study argues that Nephi deliberately arranges his prologue (1 Nephi 1:1–20) so that its structure conveys meaning, using composition not merely to organize events but to guide interpretation. He divides the material into three editorial units, marked by “I Nephi” declarations, and three narrative units recounting his father’s experience. These form two distinct triads—editorial and narrative—each with its own internal progression. Nephi then interweaves these triads into a coordinated parallel structure that preserves their independent sequences while generating additional meaning through correspondence. In this way, the logic enacted in Lehi’s experience is formalized at the editorial level, ultimately establishing covenant deliverance as a governing principle. By aligning editorial framing with narrative enactment, Nephi uses structure not only to organize material but to interpret it, so that meaning emerges through arrangement as well as sequence. Form thus serves persuasion: the composition directs readers to discern divine justice and mercy through an ordered structure culminating in deliverance.

The article is accompanied online by “Interpreting Interpreter: Nephi’s Parallel Triads,” written by Kyler Rasmussen:

This post is a summary of the article “Framing Judgment and Deliverance: Structure and Meaning in 1 Nephi 1” by C. Robb Smith in Volume 70 of Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship. All of the Interpreting Interpreter articles may be seen at https://interpreterfoundation.org/category/summaries/. An introduction to the Interpreting Interpreter series is available at https:/interpreterfoundation.org/interpreting-interpreter-on-abstracting-thought/.

A video introduction to this Interpreter article is now available on all of our social media channels, including on YouTube at https://youtube.com/shorts/AQ1wQFkp5x8.

The Takeaway: Smith argues that Nephi weaves three editorial and three narrative units into the opening verses of 1 Nephi, with these units forming parallel triads emphasizing covenant deliverance through revelation.

On the Amstel River in Amsterdam, which is named after it.
(Wikimedia Commons public domain image)

And, while we’re on the subject of news from the Interpreter Foundation, did you know that you can actually subscribe to the Becoming Brigham series on YouTube? And that you can do so at no charge? (See here.) Don’t be the last person in your stake — let alone the last person in your state — to subscribe to Becoming Brigham. Please don’t bring that shame upon your children, your grandchildren, and your innocent house pets. They’ve done nothing to deserve such dishonor.

In the meantime, the current installment of the series is up for your viewing pleasure: “Mud! Down Payment on an Exodus?— Becoming Brigham Episode 39″ And the teaser for the following installment, which will come out on Monday, is also available for you to watch. It lasts only thirty-eight seconds, so I think that it’s within your wheelhouse. In other words, you’ve got this: “Trailer for Episode 40–The Price of Faith? The Fire of Covenant!”

The “Anne Frank House” at Prinsengracht 263, in Amsterdam
(Wikimedia Commons public domain image)

These two items were just brought to my attention. I have no idea whether or not the survey data behind them is accurate or representative. If so, however, I find it troubling:

Ayaan Hirsi Ali, from her website

Many of you will be at least somewhat familiar with the remarkable Ayaan Hirsi Ali and perhaps with at least some of her remarkable story — which became even more remarkable some time ago when, after having been a vocal atheist, she announced that she had become a Christian.

I think of her right now because, astoundingly, although having been born in the Somali Democratic Republic, she was elected in 2003 to the lower house of the States General of the Netherlands. She eventually moved to the United States and became an American citizen in 2013.

I’ve had only one direct encounter with Ms. Ali besides reading her books — most notable among them probably her 2008 bestseller, Infidel. That encounter occurred in Rapid City, South Dakota, of all places, when the massive annual libertarian gathering known as FreedomFest was held there in August 2021. I chaired a lecture session at FreedomFest 2021, moderated a debate between a Catholic theist and a former-Catholic atheist, and chaired a session of the Anthem Film Festival, which is always a component part of the gathering. But the high point for me in 2021’s FreedomFest was another panel that I moderated. I take the following from an August 2021 blog post reporting on my involvement there:

On Friday, I moderated a panel with Ayaan Hirsi Ali and a pair of libertarians. The topic was whether the American war on “Islamic fundamentalism” can be justified. The two libertarians, of course, argued that American imperialism provoked 9-11 and other attacks against Americans and American interests, and that we should essentially exit the Islamic world and leave Muslims alone. Ms. Ali contended, by contrast, that America is inescapably and irreplaceably the unique world power, and that the world would be a much worse place if we were to relinquish that role to, say, the People’s Republic of China.

Here, let me pause to say a word about Ms. Ali herself. Born in Somalia, she became not only a self-proclaimed “infidel” atheist but, amazingly, a member of the parliament of the Netherlands. And now (after the assassination of the Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn and of her Dutch filmmaker associate Theo van Gogh), she is a citizen of the United States as well as a quite visible activist. I had never met her before, but, candidly, I expected something of a firebrand. Bright and articulate, yes, but fierce and perhaps a bit unpleasant. Instead, to my surprise, I found her in our conversation before the session and in the panel itself to be soft-spoken, humorous, kindly, even – if I dare say it – cute. She was also distinctly pro-American, which I had not anticipated. She came across, really, as a political conservative. (Which shouldn’t actually have surprised me so much: She is, after all, affiliated with Stanford University’s magnificent Hoover Institution — where I myself spent two memorable weeks as a late teenager, not too long before my mission — and is married to Niall Ferguson.)

I tried to maintain my position as a moderator of the panel, rather than as a mere participant. But I think I made it pretty clear that I could not fully accept the libertarian critique of American foreign policy. That is, in fact, one of the major reasons (though not the only one) that I can’t simply describe myself as a libertarian pur sang or sign on with the Libertarian Party. (Everybody in attendance was, so far as I could tell, opposed to COVID lockdowns. Nobody wore a mask and there were continual expressions of indignation against vaccination. Which left me wondering just exactly what these folks thought ought to be done to protect public health during a pandemic. If they had their way, would those of us who survived small pox have all died of polio? And when, occasionally, I heard enthusiastic paeans to the free market for “sex workers” and even a denunciation of the statist interventionist Abraham Lincoln, I thought to myself “No, these aren’t entirely my people.”

I liked Ayaan Hirsi Ali a lot, and I was absolutely delighted at the news that she has become a Christian.

Posted from Amsterdam, The Netherlands

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