How Brigham Young (and John Taylor) remembered Joseph

A new column of mine appeared this morning in Meridian Magazine: “He was everything he claimed to be”: How Brigham Young remembered Joseph

In 1854, to mark the tenth anniversary of the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith, part of the annual general conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was postponed from April to June 27. This fact alone was intended to demonstrate the level of respect that Church leaders had for the Prophet Joseph.

I refer to Rob Gardner’s partial setting of John Taylor’s 1845 poem “O Give Me Back My Prophet Dear” at the end of the column. Here is a video of a performance of that piece with soloist, orchestra and choir. If I have my way, some form of Brother Gardner’s setting will be included at the end. Six days in Augustwhich runs after the credits. We shall see. Overall, the film music is composed and recorded by the well-known Latter-day Saint composer Sam Cardon, who also wrote the music for Witnesses.

By the way, we are still trying to raise money for the post-production of Six days in Augustfor advertising and distribution and for the planned docudrama that will hopefully follow. We are really far along, but some extra money wouldn’t hurt.

The Interpreter Foundation has started publishing a series of short video clips – usually about a minute long, I think – taken from our docudrama Undaunted: Witnesses of the Book of Mormon. Here’s one with Terryl Givens called “An Alternative Way of Establishing Truth and Authority.”

We invite you to watch these short videos and share them with friends, neighbors, relatives, community members, and anyone else you can think of. We want these to be shared as widely as possible. may That’s why we do it. That’s why we made the docudrama.

Please support us in this endeavor. Help us spread the word.

By the way, since I am asking for your help and further donations, I have to clarify something again. You have a right to know that I am not enriching myself with your donations.

A few days ago, on a message board where false accusations are commonplace, it was casually stated (and anonymously, of course): “Donors to interpreting services and the More Good Foundation spend a lot of money to send (Peterson) on his adventures around the world, and only a fraction of that comes from tithes and Lenten offerings.”

This is, of course, completely false. And since I have already denied such allegations on several occasions, I think it is appropriate to say that this is not just a mistake. It is a lie. A public and blatant lie.

As I ask for donations and support, I want this to be clearly understood. No donations to Interpreters were ever used to fund my trip. No More Good Foundation funds were ever used to fund my trip. No tithes were ever used to fund my trip. No fast offerings were ever used to fund my trip.

I hope this is clear enough for reasonable and decent people. (I realize it will not be enough for others.)

And to be clear in this case: neither my wife nor I nor any member of my family earned any money from the Witnesses Film. None of us made money with Undaunted. None of us will earn anything by Six days in August. There was never any provision in any of the legal documents or contracts associated with these films that would have allowed me, my wife, my family, my pets, or any of my heirs or assigns to profit from the films. On the contrary, my wife and I were donors and volunteers ourselves.

I sometimes wonder why some people seem to take so much pleasure in baseless slander.

Newly published on the Interpreter Foundation website:

Nibley Lectures: Come and follow me Book of Mormon, Lesson 30 “Plant this word in your heart” Alma 32–35

This week for Come and follow me Lesson 30 covers Alma 32–35, we have lecture 55 from Hugh Nibley’s Book of Mormon courses at Brigham Young University, which covers Alma 32–35.

During 1988, 1989, and 1990, Hugh Nibley taught Honors Book of Mormon courses at Brigham Young University for four semesters. The lectures were videotaped, and audiotapes and printed transcripts of the lectures were made. We believe these recordings will be of interest to listen to and valuable for your Come and follow me study program this year. Each week we will include lectures on the Book of Mormon chapters being covered that week.

The Book of Mormon in Context Lesson 30: “Plant This Word in Your Hearts”: Alma 32–35

On 30 June 2024 Come and follow me In the Interpreter Radio Show segment, Martin Tanner and Terry Hutchinson discuss Book of Mormon lesson 30, “Plant This Word in Your Hearts,” and discuss Alma 32-35.

Their discussion has been archived, without any commercial interruptions, and made available to you free of charge. The other segments of the June 30, 2024 radio show can be accessed at https://interpreterfoundation.org/interpreter-radio-show-june-30-2024.

The Interpreter Radio Show can be heard every weekday Sunday evening from 7-9 p.m. (MDT) on K-TALK, AM 1640. You can also listen live on the Internet at ktalkmedia.com.

Come and follow me — Study and Teaching Aids (2024): Lesson 30, July 22-28: Alma 32-35 “Plant this word in your heart”

Editor’s Note: Four years ago, Jonn Claybaugh began writing the Interpreter Learning and Teaching Aids series of articles. We now have these wonderful and useful posts for all four years of Come Follow Me lessons. Starting this year, we will republish these articles, updating the dates, lesson numbers, and titles for the current year’s lessons. Jonn has kindly agreed to write new learning aids for the lessons that do not directly correspond to the 2020 lessons.

I think that this event is worth mentioning. It contains material that could rightly be included in the Hitchens file (see below):

“Notre Dame Religious Liberty Summit: The key to depolarizing religious freedom is restoring ‘faith in faith’: ‘We must prove to the secular world that the world is a better place with freedom of religion and belief – even for those who don’t believe,’ pleads the dean of Notre Dame Law School”

“Elder Alexander Dushku to speak at Notre Dame Religious Liberty Summit 2024 on building respect and friendship: General Authority Seventy shares lessons learned on peacemaking under California’s Prop. 8 bill”

Finally, as so often, I would like to end with a wonderfully terrible piece of news from the Christopher Hitchens memorial ceremony “How religion poisons everything”™ that should help you maintain your gratifying indignation toward theism and theists:

“Church of Jesus Christ flourishes despite hardship in refugee camp in Ghana: Faithful saints blessed in Liberian camp in Buduburam, Ghana”

“Arizona Service Club uses JustServe to collect over 5,000 donated items: St. John’s Legacy Leadership Clubs to assemble more than 300 hygiene kits for those in need by the end of 2023”

“Latter-day Saints Around the World: July 2024: The Church participates in relief efforts in Ecuador and Mexico, opens the first heart clinic in American Samoa, and provides medical examinations to young children in the Philippines”

How long, oh deaf and indifferent cosmos, must we endure such provocations?