I received an E-mail from my son Chris who is studying Philosophy at the University of Sheffield. Utah and the Mormon's are currently a hot topic all over the world as a result of the Olympics being held here. Here is what he wrote.

"I ran into Christopher Hookway, a professor that happens to live quite close to me and is a well-known scholar of pragmatism, walking on the street. We chatted about this and that. He asked if I was sad that I was missing the Olympics, I said that I wasn't. He asked if I was raised in the Salt Lake area, and I said I was, but not as a Mormon. I told him some rumors about Utah are true and some are not. I told him that I felt like a minority there and related the story about people burning a cross on our lawn! He then made an interesting comment. He said there is no religious right in England and that I would find that agreeable. I said I did. He then said that some of this could be attributed, ironically, to having an official state religion. This is because the state religion has to be so watered down so as not to offend anybody. I thought this was an interesting remark."

Interesting indeed.