A Great Opportunity Is On The Way

Trump's Revolutionary War — Some have thought that it was American capitalism or the current rightwing Supreme Court (or something of that sort, anyway) that destroyed the civilizations of Mars, which are represented here by this old black and white archival photo. But this seems to be untrue. (Wikimedia Commons public domain image)

Now here’s something to think about, taken from the Jerusalem Post: “Expert claims NASA may have accidentally discovered, killed life on Mars in the 1970s: Astrobiology professor suggests 1970’s NASA mission might have detected and unintentionally extinguished life on Mars.”

Red, white, and blue — I really like the new Utah state flag.

It seems very likely that my adopted home state of Utah will be chosen to host the 2034 Winter Olympics. The announcement will come, by coincidence, on 24 July 2024, which is Pioneer Day. It will, I’m confident launch serious celebrations, augmenting those that are already lined up for the state holiday.

I’m pleased at the prospect of the Olympics coming here. It’s true that I will be approximately 187 years old by that time, a decade from now. But I’m feeling pretty healthy at the moment — really, I don’t feel a day over 132 — so my confidence that I’ll still be around come 2034 is fairly robust.

I’m happy that Utah will have a chance to show off. For many Americans and for most people worldwide, Utah might almost as well be part of the Arabian Peninsula’s “Empty Quarter.” Things are better than they used to be — there is far greater awareness of Utah’s red rock country, its national parks, its ski areas, its athletic teams, its universities, and so forth — than there was when I first came to the state as a student at Brigham Young University or even when I joined BYU’s faculty.

It will scarcely surprise readers of this blog, though, that I’m especially excited about the spotlight that will inevitably shine, if Utah is chosen, upon the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints during the 2034 Winter Olympics and during the weeks and months leading up to the games. I hope that we will be ready and that we will put our best foot forward. We have very nearly a solid decade to prepare.

It seems that the Lord has always sought to encourage visitors to come and to contemplate Zion, in both glorious abstraction and in detail, as a means of attracting attention to the message of the Gospel. It’s one of the reasons that we make temples so beautiful and that we often put them in prominent locations. It’s one of the reasons that we build visitors centers adjacent to them and adjacent to historic sites. It was among the reasons for opening the Hotel Utah directly to the east of Temple Square in 1911 and for launching the Polynesian Cultural Center adjacent to the campus of BYU-Hawaii and the Laie Hawaii Temple back in 1963. It reflects the basic principle that undergirds Isaiah’s prophecy:

The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.

And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord‘s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.

And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. (Isaiah 2:1-3)

The line between vainglorious boasting and allowing people to see the value of a lifestyle oriented toward God the Gospel is a very fine one. The tension is undeniable. But Jesus certainly endorsed displaying the fruits of living by his teachings:

Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. (Matthew 5:14-16; but see also Matthew 6:1-6)

Of the Nauvoo House in Joseph Smith’s city by the Mississippi River, the Doctrine and Covenants reads:

Let it be a delightful habitation for man, and a resting-place for the weary traveler, that he may contemplate the glory of Zion, and the glory of this, the cornerstone thereof. (Doctrine and Covenants 124:60)

May we prepare to make Utah and its founding and still predominant faith shine. The eyes of many around the world will be upon us. It’s a chance to let the message of the Gospel be more widely known. It’s high time.

A granary at Salt Lake City's Welfare Square — The grain silo at Salt Lake City’s Church-owned “Welfare Square”
(Wikimedia Commons public domain image)

Theists and theism continue to wage unremitting war against all that is good and decent in America and around the planet. Don’t believe me? See these shocking examples of their infuriating misbehavior that have been drawn for your viewing displeasure from the Christopher Hitchens Memorial “How Religion Poisons Everything” File™:

And, last of all, these items were located directly adjacent to the Hitchens File: