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A couple of weeks ago, I commented on similarities between Microsoft’s Best Buy  PowerPoint  versus Open Source Advocates flamewar  on the one hand, and the strife between Mormons and their critics on the other.  While in the this, Microsoft represented the anti-Mormon element of the non-LDS community, and Latter-day Saints paralleled the Open Source community, there are many places where the comparison utterly breaks down.

For one thing, the non-LDS community is not the monolithic body that Microsoft is.  This is even (especially?) true of the non-LDS Christians. As non-LDS Christians vary from the liberal Jim Wallis to the conservative Pat Robertson–and beyond, the Open Source community vary from the almost-Marxist Richard Stallman to the libertarian Eric Raymond.  Latter-day Saints, on the other hand, aren’t nearly as diverse, politically; they are the most conservative faith in the USA.

While the Open Source community was the target of false information this time, as I stated in my previous entry, for the most part, it is Microsoft that is falsely accused of being a monopoly by the FOSS community–with assistance from American and European authorities. This antipathy toward Microsoft by open source advocates was denounced by Linux creator, Linus Torvalds–and it perfectly mirrors anti-Mormon antipathy against the Church and its members.

Indeed, either side of one battle can easily find similarities to either side of the other. 

Just as Microsoft provides tech support for users of Linux,(and there are programmes to repair Windows in Linux!) most non-LDS Christians are willing to work with the Church in errands of mercy (and vice versa!). I am grateful for the extended support the Salvation Army gave to LDS clean-up crews (of which I was a part!) when F-5 tornadoes struck the Kissimmee, Florida area about a dozen years ago.

I think these examples of cooperation demonstrate that there need be no flamewars in either computers or religion!

Roughly six months ago, Microsoft sent a PowerPoint presentation to electronics retailer Best Buy–ostensibly to help their employees teach customers the differences between Microsoft Windows and Linux.  Linux advocates objected to what they called Microsoft’s exercise in “FUD” (“Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt“).  However, taking advantage of consumer conservatism is not a sin.  In fact, there is a very good reason for this conservatism.  Information is expensive, and, unless people are convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that the new thing/way/system is more cost-effective than the old one, people are simply not willing to spend resources (not just money!) to switch.

With this in mind, Microsoft’s choice to highlight Linux’ reputation for being “of the geeks, by the geeks, and for the geeks,” is simply fair game.  It isn’t Microsoft’s fault that traditionally, Linux’ focus on programmer and developer choice tends to leave most users–who tend to be ignorant of computer science–lost. [Read more…] about Flamewars and Polemics….

Matt Roper from the Neal A. Maxwell Institute of Religious Scholarship (formerly FARMS) has managed to track down, compile, and scan 556 publications discussing the Book of Mormon from between 1829 and 1844. The collection, called “19th-Century Publications about the Book of Mormon (1829–1844)” (also known as the “Kirkham project” after Francis W. Kirkham), is available for digging through online at the Harold B. Lee Library Digital Collections.

The collection includes facsimile copies as well as .pdf transcriptions of each publication. It seems to be an exciting resource for researching the reception and analysis of the Book of Mormon in early American print culture. The collection is described as follows:

“Since its publication in 1830, the Book of Mormon has been cast in a variety of roles by both Latter-day Saint and non–Latter-day Saint readers. Published literature relating to the book that appeared during the Prophet Joseph Smith’s lifetime is one of the best historical windows for understanding how this ancient American scripture was interpreted, used, and understood by early readers. This collection represents an effort to gather together that body of literature and make it available to those interested in the origins of the Book of Mormon.”

The cropped image above is an excerpt from The Wayne Sentinel, Palmyra, New York, 26 June 1829. It is the earliest known publication mentioning the Book of Mormon. Here’s part of the provided transcript:

Just about in this particular region, for some time past, much speculation has existed, concerning a pretended discovery, through superhuman means, of an ancient record, of a religious and a divine nature and origin, written in ancient characters, impossible to be interpreted by any to whom the special gift has not been imparted by inspiration. It is generally known and spoken of as the “Golden Bible.” Most people entertain an idea that the whole matter is the result of a gross imposition and a grosser superstition. It is pretended that it will be published as soon as the translation is completed. Meanwhile we have been furnished with the following, which is represented to us as intended for the title page of the work–we give it as a
curiosity:—
“The Book of Mormon, an account, written by the hand of Mormon upon plates, taken
from the plates of Nephi—

See the collection here: http://lib.byu.edu/dlib/bompublications/. Having these sources in one place is great. I hope it grows, too.

Some recent volleys have been fired in the on-going culture wars between the faithful Mormon community and their anti- and ex-Mormon counterparts. It is not quite fair to contrast a general authority’s polished speech and some off-hand message board remarks backed by shoddy research. Bruce C. Hafen’s remarks were summarized in this Mormon Times article, but I take responsibility for applying them to my recent experiences in researching marital ages of 19^th century wives alongside those of Joseph Smith and the Deseret era saints. Some excerpts from MT:

“Readers have no way of knowing which critical claims have already been discredited, and the anti-Mormon sponsors are certainly not going to tell them right there on the site,” he said.

The democratization of ideas sometimes confuses the reader as to what is true and what is not, as all ideas are presented horizontally and as fact, thus positioning the blogger’s flippant opinion alongside the scholar’s well-researched dissertation.

[Read more…] about 19th Century Nuptiality and Propaganda II