"Privatized Morality"

Warning voices
 from the ARC

If you tuned into the recent ARC (Alliance for Responsible Citizenship¹) conference in London, England, you may have heard David Brooks² use the phrase "privatized morality" which struck me as the perfect two-word summary for a major trend of the past 50-odd years — perfect for the repeating pattern of every person, group, or nation that adheres to the ideology of Korihor³ where:

every man fared in this life according to the management of the creature; therefore every man prospered according to his genius, and that every man conquered according to his strength; and whatsoever a man did was no crime (Book of Mormon | Alma 30:17; bold emphasis added).

"Privatized morality" also summarizes my post of one-year ago: Moral Orientation: Part III - Self-as-Sovereign.⁴

The moment David Brooks CHALLENGED world leaders at ARC 2025
(Alliance for Responsible Citizenship | Feb 18, 2025 | Time 14:17 min.) at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSa52TR9tCA

There were many truth-tellers at this third-annual ARC conference. They didn't all agree on current events and personalities, but they felt free to speak their minds. As it stands, the mix of good and bad is unfolding so rapidly that hindsight may prove the only true understanding of the justice and judgments of our time. Yes, (finally!) much long-standing, pervasive corruption is being rooted out, but are we seeing 360, 180, or less? Where is the Constitution headed in this rout? And if history repeats itself, undoubtedly, so will this observation:

39 We have learned by sad experience that it is the nature and disposition of almost all men, as soon as they get a little authority, as they suppose, they will immediately begin to exercise unrighteous dominion.
(Doctrine & Covenants 121:39; bold emphasis added)

Let us not be so locked into what is being made visible from the past that we do not observe the present. Let us observe all things 360 and remember the persistence of déjà vu.

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1. https://www.arcforum.com/
- https://www.youtube.com/@arc_conference/featured
The Alliance for Responsible Citizenship (ARC) is an international organisation whose aim is to unite conservative voices and propose policy based on traditional Western values. It is associated with psychologist and political commentator Jordan Peterson. It was founded in June 2023, with a London conference held in October of that year.
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alliance_for_Responsible_Citizenship
- https://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.com/2023/11/time-to-board-arc.html
2. David Brooks (born August 11, 1961)[1] is a Canadian-born American book author and political and cultural commentator. Though he describes himself as an ideologic moderate, others have characterised him as centrist, moderate conservative, or conservative, based on his record as contributor to the PBS NewsHour, and as opinion columnist for The New York Times[2][page needed][3][better source needed]. In addition to his shorter form writing, Brooks has authored six non-fiction books since 2000, two appearing from Simon and Schuster, and four from Random House, the latter including The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character, and Achievement (2011), and The Road to Character (2015). Beginning as a police reporter in Chicago and as an intern at William F. Buckley's National Review, Brooks rose to his positions at The Times, NPR, and PBS[1] after a long series of other journalistic positions (film critic for The Washington Times, reporter and op-ed editor at The Wall Street Journal,[4][full citation needed] senior editor at The Weekly Standard, and contributing editor at Newsweek and The Atlantic Monthly).[when?][citation needed]
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Brooks_(commentator)
- https://heroes-and-hydras.blogspot.com/2025/02/58-david-brooks-author-political.html
3. Book of Mormon character: "Korihor, antichrist who was successful in Zarahemla and Gideon, but was run out of Jershon. Debated Giddonah2 and Alma2, was struck dumb, then trodden down by Zoramites (c. 74 BC).[157]" [Book of Mormon | Alma 30] by
4. https://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.com/2024/02/moral-orientation-part-iii-self-as.html

Invitation to Pray for the Cardston Alberta Temple

Cardston Alberta Temple
Image source below footnotes

Last year I posted two blogs concerning the Cardston Alberta Temple here¹ and here.² Having just received notice of the planned 2027, 6-month open house for the Salt Lake Temple (now converted from a progressive pattern to single-room instruction), I was reminded of the massive de- and re-construction of the interior of that iconic building following costly seismic reinforcement despite its dedicatory prayer of preservation against seismic events.³ I cannot imagine a similar fate of single-room instruction being forced upon one of the few remaining progressive temples of the Church, if that is the plan.

Cardston, too, has its own preserving dedicatory blessing,⁴ yet the rumor is that seismic upgrade is also planned for Cardston. Who could have imagined what seismic "reason" would result in for the Salt Lake Temple? Yes, the end result for Salt Lake may be beautiful when it is finally seen, but was it done with the knowledge and required  consent of the people⁵?

Cardston is one of the few remaining temples maintaining the progressive pattern of early temple building by the restored church. Is it important to preserve that pattern? Let us  pray that if it is, it will be preserved in its present beauty.  The destruction that would be required to convert it to single-room instruction is beyond comprehension. As to seismic necessity? can we not trust in its re-dedicatory prayer of 1991?

As a side note: the structure of the Cardston Temple is unique in that its capstone can be seen from the ground, uniting the corners in a single peak; into a chief or head cornerstone as it were, symbolizing the unifying, overarching mission of Christ.

19 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;
20 And are built upon the foundation* of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;
21 In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord:
22 In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit (Ephesians 2:19-22).

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1. https://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.com/2024/08/saving-restored-cardston-alberta-temple.html
2. https://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.com/2024/10/a-slippery-seismic-slope.html
3. see footnotes 1 & 2
4. Paragraph from the Cardston Alberta Temple Dedicatory Prayer | June 22, 1991
“We dedicate the structure from the footings and foundation to the highest elevation of the roof that it may stand firm and immovable against any trembling of the earth and against the storms of nature that may beat upon these walls. We pray that thou wilt preserve it from desecration at the hands of any with evil intent.” (https://www.thechurchnews.com/1991/6/29/23260491/cardston-alberta-temple-touch-the-hearts-of-thy-people-with-the-spirit-of-elijah-the-prophet/)
5. Doctrine & Covenants 26:2
    2 And all things shall be done by common consent in the church, by much prayer and faith, for all things you shall receive by faith. Amen
Doctrine & Covenants 28:13
    13 For all things must be done in order, and by common consent in the church, by the prayer of faith.
(See also Doctrine & Covenants 104:21)

* Which foundation do we look to (30-34 AD? 1830-1844 AD?) if foundational things change?

Image:

Page URL: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cardston_Alberta_Temple.jpg
Attribution: Kim Siever, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Asenath (Wife of Joseph): Hebrew or Egyptian?

See footnote 3

(Since fog and overcast skies have hidden most of the sky of January 2025 I have seen the moon only 3 or 4 times, and thus have no observations to report so, in the meantime, we’ll consider Asenath.)

In the beginning of the Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob legacies, particular attention was given to marrying within the Hebrew bloodline. Here are five examples:

26 And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
27 ¶ Now these are the generations of Terah: Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begat Lot [Sarai & Milcah].
28 And Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees.
29 And Abram and Nahor took them wives: the name of Abram's wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor's wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah [Sarai/Sarah¹].
(Old Testament | Genesis 11:26-29)

1 AND Abraham was old, and well stricken in age: and the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things.
2 And Abraham said unto his eldest servant of his house, that ruled over all that he had, Put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh:
3 And I will make thee swear by the LORD, the God of heaven, and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell:
4 But thou shalt go unto my country, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son Isaac.
(Old Testament | Genesis 24:1-4)

1 AND Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and charged him, and said unto him, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan.
2 Arise, go to Padan-aram, to the house of Bethuel thy mother's father; and take thee a wife from thence of the daughters of Laban thy mother's brother.
(Old Testament | Genesis 28:1–2)

34 ¶ And Esau was forty years old when he took to wife Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Bashemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite:
35 Which were a grief of mind unto Isaac and to Rebekah.
(Old Testament | Genesis 26:34-35)

5 And Isaac sent away Jacob: and he went to Padan-aram unto Laban, son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob's and Esau's mother.
6 ¶ When Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob, and sent him away to Padan-aram, to take him a wife from thence; and that as he blessed him he gave him a charge, saying, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan;
7 And that Jacob obeyed his father and his mother, and was gone to Padan-aram;
8 And Esau seeing that the daughters of Canaan pleased not Isaac his father;
9 Then went Esau unto Ishmael, and took unto the wives which he had Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael Abraham's son, the sister of Nebajoth, to be his wife.
(Old Testament | Genesis 28:5-9)

The myths and legends that have evolved around Joseph in Egypt are numerous with some contradictory elements and probable embellishments, but nonetheless, a wonderful story of how God might have woven two tragedies effecting two people: Dinah (mother of Asenath²) and enslaved Joseph into an incredible account of how (in the words of Joseph from a verse musical³:)

Surely in these years I have seen
How oft good comes out of bad;
How always light breaks up the night
How my God sets things right
That seem impossibly wrong.

Most are unaware of the fascinating story that goes beyond Genesis where 17-year old, newly minted slave Joseph first encounters Asenath, the 6-year old “foster-daughter” of Potiphar and Zelicah, the woman who plagued Joseph so relentlessly in Memphis. After serving 12-years in prison to white-wash “the stain that might leak, Upon Zelicah’s fair name,” 30-year old Joseph (now second in command in Egypt) visits Potiphar and Zelicah, (now in Heliopolis) where he re-encounters Asenath, now 18-years old; and as they say, the rest is history. But, if you are interested in exploring more of this possible, unsung history, you can find it at:

▪ Louis Ginzberg, The Legends of the Jews, Trans. by Henrietta Szold, 1968.
     Legends—Vol. 2: 15-23; 38-77; 139; 170-174
     Legends—Vol. 5: Notes (pp. 336/n97; 338/n105; 338/n107; 340/n126; 341/n133; 341/n134; 342/n142; 361/n339; 365/n370; 369/n400
▪ The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha. Edited by James H. Charlesworth,1983.
     OTP—Vol. 1: The Testament of Joseph |. pp. 819-825
     OTP—Vol. 2: Jubilees | pp. 128-130
▪ The Book of Jasher. Pub. by J. H. Parry & Company, 1887.
     pp. 120-124, 128-134, 136-137, 140-147
▪ Old Testament—Genesis | chpts. 37, 39–41
▪ Josephus, Complete Works. Trans. by William Whiston, 1960.
     pp. 46-49 | chpts. IV–VI

Here are two samples to whet your appetite:

Ginzberg, Louis. The Legends of the Jews — Volume 2 (p. 37). Kindle Edition.
“Asenath was the daughter of Dinah and Hamor [Shechem], but she was abandoned at the borders of Egypt, only, that people might know who she was, Jacob engraved the story of her parentage and her birth upon a gold plate fastened around her neck. The day on which Asenath was exposed, Potiphar went walking with his servants near the city wall, and they heard the voice of a child. At the captain's bidding they brought the baby to him, and when he read her history from the gold plate, he determined to adopt her. He took her home with him, and raised her as his daughter.”
(Pseudo-Philo–314) reference to rape of Dinah by Shechem, the Hurrite.

OTP—Vol. 2: Joseph and Aseneth | pp. 177, 202-238, 245
(202) Pentephres [aka Potiphar] (P) is a wise counselor to Pharaoh and priest of Heliopolis, the place known as Sun City [Heliopolis]; an important centre of the Sun god Rê (footnote e);
(203) Aseneth (A) is very tall and beautiful "beyond all virgins" whose fame of beauty had spread far and wide; in appearance A was like the Hebrews; there was much wrangling amongst her suitors and attempts to fight one another; she lived in seclusion (footnote 2a) and no man had ever seen her; her arrogance was against suitors, not others (footnote 2a);
(204) her rooms contained many gods that she worshipped;
(205) Joseph (J) (while touring the lands to store up corn) sends a message to P of his intention to arrive for "lunch"; P speeds servants ahead to prepare while he and Zelicah (Z) hurry home from their inheritance field / estate (footnote 3i); P is thrilled with the possibilities of a match between A & J; Z is afraid of possible revenge;
(206) P makes his proposal to A that she marry J;
(207) A (who does not know that Zaphnath-paaneah is J replies in shock and rejection just as a servant enters to say J is at the gate;
(208-209) A flees to her room; J offers a heavy-laden olive branch to P & Z [a gesture of “forgive and forget”?]; A sees J from her window [recognizes and remembers him as Joseph of her childhood] and is stricken with remorse for her words and judgments;
(210-213) A & J meet;
(214) J agrees to return in 8 days;
(215-216) A fasts seven days and nights and weeps; she puts on the somber black tunic of mourning that she wore when her brother died; she casts away her idols, goodly clothes, jewelry, and statues out the back window to the poor;
(217-224) A's soliloquies of remorse, fear, grief, repentance; [“Have I been too foolish? Too strangely believing? Giving to the image What the Living deserved?”]; the eighth day, A feels hope, and sees the morning star; an angel appears in her locked room;
(225-231) the angel directs A to put off her mourning tunic and to dress in a new linen robe; he blesses and comforts her and pronounces her betrothal to J if they both accept the plan; he tells her he will visit J and tell him about A’s acceptance of his God;
(235) Pharaoh performs the marriage;
(245) A's prayer: "Lord my God, who make me alive again / and rescued me from the idols and the corruption of death, / who said to me, 'Your soul will live for ever,'" ...

Scholars and readers may differ on who Asenath really is, but the Legends tell an incredible story of human follies and unfathomable futures.

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1. Ginzberg, Louis. The Legends of the Jews — Volume 1 (p. 89). Kindle Edition.
“For a period of two years Abraham could devote himself undisturbed to his chosen task of turning the hearts of men to God and His teachings.[41] In his pious undertaking he was aided by his wife Sarah, whom he had married in the meantime. While he exhorted the men and sought to convert them, Sarah addressed herself to the women.[42] She was a helpmeet worthy of Abraham. Indeed, in prophetical powers she ranked higher than her husband.[43] She was sometimes called Iscah, "the seer," on that account.[44]” (Bold emphasis added.)
2. Ginzberg, Louis. The Legends of the Jews — Volume 2 (p. 63). Kindle Edition.
[As Jacob was dying in Goshen Egypt] “Joseph received two gifts from his father. The first was Shechem, the city that Jacob had defended, with sword and bow, against the depredations of the Amorite kings when they tried to take revenge upon his sons for the outrage committed there. And the second gift was the garments made by God for Adam and passed from hand to hand, until they came into the possession of Jacob. Shechem was his reward, because, with his chastity, he stemmed the tide of immorality that burst loose in Shechem first of all.[377] Besides, he had a prior claim upon the city. Shechem, son of Hamor, the master of the city, had given it to Dinah as a present, and the wife of Joseph, Asenath, being the daughter of Dinah, the city belonged to him by right.[378]” (Bold emphasis added.)
3. The verse musical was published online in 2019 but has been recently slightly revised and will be republished soon.