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The Challenge of Correcting Anti-Mormon Myths

February 13, 2008 by Mike Ash

Heretic that I am, I regularly read the Skeptic and the Skeptical Inquirer (2 magazines that regularly attempt to debunk anything that seems to be unscientific). Although I don’t agree with everything in their magazines (much of it is atheistic), I do like a lot of what they print.

The other day I picked up the latest copy of the Skeptical Inquirer and found that the first article I read tied neatly into LDS apologetic efforts. The article is entitled “Difficulty in Debunking Myths Rooted in the Way the Mind Works,” by Shankar Vedantam. Here are some quotes, paraphrases, and summaries of the article.

The “Two Cumorah Theory”

February 12, 2008 by Larry Poulsen

There has been much talk both in publications and on the internet about the existence of two Cumorahs with relation to the location of the Book of Mormon culture.

Cultural Context of the Book of Mormon

February 12, 2008 by Larry Poulsen

It never ceases to amaze me that critics insist that the Book of Mormon read like a doctoral dissertation with an extensive introduction and massive references explaining all of the details relative to the culture and environment in which the history takes place.

Brant Gardner explains something about this in his introductory chapter to volume one of “Second Witness” He references Bible scholars who point out that our modern culture is what is called a “low context environment” culture. This means that we expect the writer to explain every detail of the environment in which the story takes place. An example is the need for an extensive introduction to a doctoral dissertation with massive amounts of references and extensive explanations of what has already been done in the field. The Bible and other ancient writings, however, are written in what is classified as a “High context” environment. In this environment the reader is expected to have a broad and concrete knowledge of the common cultural context of the culture that the writer is talking about.

If, indeed, the Book of Mormon is an ancient document then one should not expect it to explain every detail of the culture and environment related to the recorded history. In fact, the lack of detail is a hallmark of an ancient document and gives further support to the historicity of the book.

Who are “anti-Mormons”–and who aren’t?

February 9, 2008 by Steven Danderson

One thing many anti-Mormons have managed to convince the general public is that Latter-day Saints allegedly think that all non-members are “anti-Mormon.” Why is this?

When we point out bad deeds from SOME non-Mormons, do we leave an impression that we condemn EVERY non-Mormon, even those who commit no such bad acts? Could this impression be why non-Mormons think we refer to them, too as “anti-Mormon,” when we are not? If so, then, of course, we must be more clear.

Hell has frozen over…

February 9, 2008 by Greg Kearney

Those of us who have followed the history of Masonry in Utah will take note that Grand Master Cook, the first Latter-day Saint ever elected to that office, quotes President Gordon Hinckley in his inaugural address.

Hell hath indeed frozen over. 🙂

Plural marriage ponderings: The People vs. Chauncey L. Higbee

February 5, 2008 by Gregory Smith

In my last blog post, I mentioned RLDS Conservatives Richard and Pamela Price, and their book Joseph Smith Fought Plural Marriage.

One interesting matter which they raise is their reported discovery of a court case brought by Chauncey Higbee against Joseph Smith (chapter 13 in their book). They reportedly found these in Nov 1962.

Arguing past each other….

February 5, 2008 by Steven Danderson

My friend and colleague, Greg Kearney, stated that he is a Democrat because that party is the best way to fulfill Deity’s mandate to care for the less fortunate and to work justice [See James 1:27 and other Scriptures]. Greg is right; too many of us tend to not want to “get involved”–the Kitty Genovese murder is eloquent illustration of the need to help others. The Democrats, of course, have rather detailed plans to achieve what Thomas Sowell calls, “cosmic justice.”

Plural marriage ponderings: An RLDS/CoC apologetic for Jacob 2:30

February 4, 2008 by Gregory Smith

Introduction

Since Mike Parker’s blog post on plural marriage has garnered more comments than all our other threads combined, my keen market research skills have told me that polygamy posts are traffic gold.

One of my research interests at FAIR is plural marriage, and I’ve been reading as much of the primary and secondary literature as I can get my hands on.

I thought our readers might be interested in a periodic look at a few of the things that I’ve found interesting, weird, or different from the common portrayals of plural marriage. In particular, primary sources that may have been misread or misrepresented, are also worth looking at. I hope that readers will spot things that I haven’t, or correct some of my own blind spots.

I’ll try to post at least once or twice a week, until people get bored, I run out of material, or FAIR tells me to stop so this doesn’t become the All Plural Marriage, All the Time blog.

Asia Times: Mormons’ religious views “crazy”

February 4, 2008 by Mike Parker

Here’s a wonderful example of the sort of unbiased media attention coming our way due to Mitt Romney’s White House bid:

In a front-page article the Asia Times, a fairly significant voice in Far East news, their reporter reviews the history and doctrines of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The primary source material appears to be an article on the Catholic.com apologetic web site entitled “The Wacky World of Joseph Smith,” and the infamous South Park episode “All About Mormons.”

Yes, someone has clearly done their homework.

Do unto others….

February 1, 2008 by Steven Danderson

In my Scripture study the other day, Jesus’ statement, “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets” [Matthew 7:12], brought the bygone incident I describe below to mind with incredible intensity. It is a shame that so many critics of the Church seem to have purged this verse in the Sermon on the Mount from their Bibles–and this is a very sad thing. Dates and other information are obscured here, to protect the guilty and the innocent.

[Read more…] about Do unto others….