Prayer, politics and scripture Have you ever been to the Old North Church in Boston? I climbed its narrow, confined, steep staircase a few days ago and learned a story I’d never known before. It has to do with Paul Revere’s ride and faith.
The tale actually begins in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692. Yes, the time of the Salem witch trials. The Rev. George Burroughs was the minister to Salem Village. Remarkably, he was accused of being a wizard. |
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He knew that if he pleaded guilty to the false charge of confederacy with the devil, his life would be spared, but he refused to perjure himself before God and country. He quoted the Lord’s prayer verbatim, something it was thought witches couldn’t do, directly before he was hanged on Gallows Hill.
Two decades later, the court cleared his name and provided financial restitution to his children.
In April 1775, it was his great grandson who climbed the wooden, constricted stairwells to the steeple of the Old North Church with two lanterns to signal the march of British troops on Lexington and Concord.
A plaque outside the church states, “From Gallows Hill to the Old North Church, the torch had been passed to Robert Newman and another generation to create a new republic under a Constitution founded on the same principles that had been denied Burroughs and 19 other martyrs during the Salem witch trials.”
I thought of that story of a man who was alleged to be a devil or in league with Satan a few days ago when I read a tweet posted on the account of Donald Trump Jr. He wrote, “Likelihood of Nancy Pelosi praying for (President) Trump is about the same as the likelihood of Satan running around quoting the scriptures.”
Twitter regularly amplifies divisions, so it is no surprise the reaction was strong and often ugly, both in support and derision. The more modest, straightforward responses were the most helpful:
“Satan quotes scripture in scripture,” one person replied. “Read Matthew 4:6. Satan quoting scripture is not only likely, it happened.”
Another person noted that words Shakespeare wrote about Satan citing scripture have become a proverb.
“The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose,” the Bard wrote in “The Merchant of Venice.” “An evil soul producing holy witness is like a villain with a smiling cheek, a goodly apple rotten at the heart. O, what a goodly outside falsehood hath.”
Hopefully, some of the hue and cry over the recent National Prayer Breakfast, which prompted the original tweet the day after the impeachment verdict, will die down and cooler heads will prevail. |
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What I’m Reading ... More than 1 million. That’s how many people have read Volume 1 of “Saints,” so far. More than 500,000 copies of the book were sold, and it has been through multiple reprintings, surpassing the expectations of church leaders and historians. Volume 2, “Saints: No Unhallowed Hand” is out today. It can be read free here. It doesn’t shy away from difficult issues, our Trent Toone reported. It also includes women’s perspectives and native voices.
My sister lives in Fargo, North Dakota. It’s either as cold as you think, or colder. In fact, she’ll be here in Utah visiting us this weekend to get a break from the Fargo winter. She’s long told us tales about Mount Fargo, the gargantuan pile of snow that plows pile up each year. Now The Wall Street Journal has made Mount Fargo famous. Great photos and even graphics. (Paywall)
The Journal (paywall again) also wrote last weekend about the church investment fund that now is valued, reportedly, at $100 billion.
It feels like ranking season: - BYU-Idaho is ranked No. 1, and BYU is No. 4 in a listing of the most conservative colleges in the United States.
- BYU is also ranked No. 1 in the country in 3-point shooting in men’s basketball! Our Jeff Call has the story.
Also, a BYU basketball player who will play pro ball next year joined the church a couple of years ago and recently said, “Basketball is my passion — and I want to play it for a really long time. But nothing compares to how much I love my wife. Being sealed to her was so special.” Jason Swensen of the Church News has that story.
That piece led to to this one, by our Doug Robinson, about that player’s mother, whom Doug calls the real hero.
BYU-Pathway Worldwide is featured in this online Forbes piece by the former president of Missouri State University. I’d never seen this quote from former U.S. President Woodrow Wilson, who also once led Princeton University: “Changing a college curriculum is like moving a graveyard — you never know how many friends the dead have until you try to move them.”
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 | | I snapped some extra pictures when I was at the Utah Bishops’ Central Storehouse in western Salt Lake City. I have images of boxes and boxes of hygiene kits, pallets piled high with bags of sugar and cans of pumpkin, and shrink-wrapped handfuls of shovels and rakes. There also were pallets of Heavenly Soft bathroom tissue. Not a bad name for a product being provided by a church-owned charity, right? |
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