Monday, April 30, 2012

Core Beliefs

There is a God.

He is aware of us and loves us.

We are his children.

He has a plan to let us be as hapy as we allow ourselves to be.

The Family is central to God's plan for us.

God rules in the temporal affairs of Men.

History is directed by God according to his foreknowledge.

This does not abridge our agency.

The Constitution of the United States is inspired by God.

The United States of America, (and any other nation) will prosper as long as they obey the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ.

I respect the right of others to disagree.

ANCESTORS

My Aunt Rainie had come to visit. She brought her geneaology with her. I remember the smell of old paper. I had seen four generation charts before. Quite a few members of our church seemed to have at least a partially filled four generation chart, showing at least some of their great great grandparents. But Rainie had an extended generation chart with her. It was not just the standard legal pad size piece of paper, rather it folded out like a roadmap into eight or ten generations.

I was intrigued. When I was younger our family lived in a rented house on Beck Avenue in Cody, Wyoming. The owners had left a trunk of books in the basement. The books had that same smell of old paper. It is an intoxicating scent. It speaks of ages long past, of the clash of battles so far away that they only whisper and sigh. Frederick the Great was in the books and Napoleon and others and though the words were bigger than I could easily read, the engraved pictures kept me occupied for hours. I daydreamed of long ago strife and glory.

Now some of the Germanic sounding names as I had seen in the History Books were on Rainie’s genealogical road map. I wondered about the people behind the names. Who were they? What did they do for work or for fun? Did they have to go to war? How did their children come to be in the western United States, as my ancestors?

I decided to start copying down the names. But there were at least a couple hundred names and I ran out of time. Rainie left and took the chart with her. I had been bitten by the bug.

I wanted to have all the names Rainie had. I wanted to know who they all were. I wanted to see the sights they had seen and do the things they did. I knew that I belonged to these people and I really wanted to know more about them.

Rainie had also brought a four generation chart, but it was not like the others I had seen.
Instead of names in the blank spots there were photos of my family members. Their eyes gazed out at me from another time. Did they still exist? Did they know about me? Did they care?
If I tried to honor them would they honor me?

A few years later, I took a class in geneology at BYU. One of the assignments was to go to the library and research one of our ancestors on the census records. I chose my Mother's grandfather, Anthony Meredith Sharp. The family legend was that He and his brother, Jeff, had come west to Montana looking for their Father, Abraham who went west and said he would send for the family. He never returned and they never heard from him again.

I got help from a reference librarian who situated me at a microfilm reader, and set me up with a roll of microfilm from the Kentucky 1850 Census, for Russellville, Kentucky. I began to turn the crank on the reader and the blurred negative images began to glide past my gaze. They were in a difficult scrawled hand and were at first hard to make out, but after a few minutes I began to get the drift and was able to read most of the entries. Over an hour passed. No sign of Anthony. I began to get a bit droopy and unmotivated. The movement of the film had an almost hypnotic effect.

Suddenly I was shocked awake from the stupor. The family name Sharp was before my eyes. The head of houshold was a woman of 63, named Elizabeth, there were two ten year old boys, Anthony and Jefferson.
It is hard to describe the feeling of meeting a great grandparent. I was surprised to realize that my eyes were stinging. I surrepticiously wiped at them, embarrassed by the sudden emotion.

Now Grandpa Anthony and I are old acquaintences. I have taken his line back many generations. One of his Grandfathers is Charlemagne. My addiction to Family History has only grown since then. I don't know everything about my ancestors, but I know they still exist. You don't feel love from something that no longer exists.

West Virginia Memories

I have always loved history. My Mom and Dad fed this love by buying me many good books and I still remember the thrill of opening a book on the Civil War and being transported to another place and time. I dreamed of visiting the places I read about. I knew so much about Gettysburg and other battlefields that I could be a guide.
For years I made various plans that never seemed to come to fruition to visit these places. Finally, several years ago. Luisa and I were able to make this trip of a lifetime. We flew to Philadelphia and visited Independence Hall and saw the Liberty Bell. We saw where Washington crossed the Delaware River and won the Battle of Trenton on Christmas day of 1776. We headed south and saw the "Star Spangled Banner" waving proudly in the breeze over Fort McHenry, in Baltimore. We toured Washington D.C.; the Capitol, the Snithsonian and Mount Vernon.
We headed south into Virginia. We saw the stone wall at Fredricksburg and Stonewall
Jackson’s death site. We saw the House at Appomattox Courthouse where Lee surrendered to Grant to end the Civil War.
A rainy Sunday Morning found us in Harrisonburg Virginia, in the middle of the Shenandoah Valley. We attended church in the morning and were going to stay in Charlottesville that evening. We had the afternoon to explore.
I had learned from Mom and from Loralee about our West Virginia relatives. I knew that Mary Flinn was born in Pendleton County, West Virginia. I had studied and learned that there was a Bland Hills Road somewhere in Pendleton County. I knew that Mary’s mother, Mahala Raines, was born in Bland Hills. So I had planned to drive over the mountain from the Shenandoah Valley to Pendleton County to look around a bit.
It was still raining heavily as we headed west over the Blue Ridge Mountains. The trees were beautiful, green and dense. The only respite from woodland was an occasional farm clearing. The rolling hills were suitably mysterious peeking in and out of the clouds. We felt as if we were entering another time. The rain slowed and then stopped. Sunshine warmed the fields and meadows and woodlands of Pendleton County. We arrived in Riverton, West Virginia and slowly drove through the small town. I realized that everything was closed because it was Sunday. I thought it was going to be difficult to find anyone who could point me in the right direction. We passed a funeral home. There was a man and a woman sitting on the porch of the funeral home drinking lemonade. I had driven two or three blocks before the Spirit said, "If you wanted to know where the cemeteries in Pendleton County were located who might you ask?"
I turned the car around and returned to talk to the funeral director who was very kind and directed me towards the North Fork Valley. He said, "There are literally hundreds of family Cemeteries in Pendleton County, but there is a more recent Cemetery on the North Fork that has some of the names you mentioned."
Back in the car we drove north over the next range of hills. As we reached the summit a beautiful valley lay beneath our gaze. We stopped, supposing that there were probably not may other such vistas unblocked by trees, and took some pictures. Several hundred yards down the hill a road sign pointed us to "Bland Hills Road". We turned right down a narrow 1 ½ lane road that steeply curved downward around hairpin turns. As we passed farmhouses we looked for names on mailboxes that were Flinn, Bland or Raines with no results. There was one small family cemetery with a stone marking where Arley Bland, who died in World War I, was buried.
At the bottom of the hill there was a memorial to a long forgotten battle of the Civil War where two local men died. One of those men was Eli Parry Bland. We felt like we were getting warm.
A right turn and four or five miles brought us to the North Fork Cemetery. There were Flinn’s, Bland’s and Raine’s buried here but all had died after 1960. Dark Clouds floated above us and thunder rumbled across the valley.
We were about to turn back, but a saw a sign advertising Seneca Caverns, five miles north. I thought perhaps they would be open on a Sunday and I might be able to borrow or buy a phone book from them to locate family names. I supposed the Lord might overlook my Sabbath indiscretion if I were doing family history research. We came to Seneca Caverns which was, indeed open. I went to the Gift shop and inquired about a phone book. The clerk said, "You would have to check with our manager, Steve." I asked her to call him and said I was searching for family who had lived in the valley in the 17 and 1800's, I said the names I was looking for were Flinn, Bland and Raines. The clerk looked amused, "Then you will definitely want to talk to Steve. His Mama was a Bland and his Daddy was a Raines. Steve Raines was happy and excited to talk to me. He introduced me to two of my cousins who were waitressing at the restaurant. "Who you really need to talk to is Guy Bland. Jes go back the way ya come. Jes the other side of the road from Bland Hills Road is Guy Bland Road cuz Guy lives on it. Pass the old trailer house, ain’t no one lives theah,. and the old Bland Cemetery, drop down intuh the holler. Guy lives by the red and white pick-up."
We followed Steve’s directions and came to Guy Bland’s house. It looked like it could have belonged to Jed Clampett. Guy was pleased to see us. He was in his 80's. He said, "Who ya really need ta see is Ruby Swadley. She knows all ‘bout the family. I’ll give her a ring fer ya." He picked up the phone, dialed, waited and then said, "Hey, Ruby, they’s some nice folks from Utah ‘ud like to talk to ya ‘bout the family. Kin I send ‘em over? Great, they’ll be right along." As we left Guy told us, "Y’all come back now."
Ruby Swadley lived in the second house on the right down Bland Hills Road. We had passed it an hour or so before. Ruby Swadley, born Bland is Loralee’s 3^rd Cousin. She was living in a house build by her Great Grandfather Enoch Bland, Son of Thomas Bland, Loralee and my common 4^th Great Grandfather. We had a wonderful talk. She knew about the church and worked with some LDS people on family history. She said this land was the original Bland Homestead. And that Thomas and Rachel Shoulders were buried just up the hill. She said that the overlook we stopped at and took a picture from overlooked the Germany Valley which was also called the "Old Flinn Place". The rock formation just above the overlook was called "Old Tom" because it looked like Thomas Bland reclining in profile. She said that it was probably too cloudy to see, but later, as we left and stopped at the overlook, the sun was out and we got a 2 good photo of "Old Tom".
I parked the car and walked up the hill through the tall wet grass and weeds. The sun came out and the vegetation glowed in the haze. I was wet up to my thighs and later I wondered if there were snakes or chiggers, but I was floating in a happy cloud. I was walking on land that my 4^th Great Grandfather had owned. He had walked here and chopped wood here and had children here. He lived and died here. I looked down on the graves of he and Rachel.
When I returned home, I began to search the internet. ( www.familysearch.org is a great place to start..) Based on the information I had received. Now I know that we are related to probably 80% of Pendleton County. It has become a home place. We have found well over a thousand of our West Virginia Relatives.

Stendahl's Three Rules

These are three excellent rules for having a substantive and civilized dialogue about religion:

Truman Madsen, now retired as Richard L. Evans Professor of Christian Understanding at Brigham Young University, relates an instructive anecdote about a great New Testament scholar, Krister Stendahl. Stendahl, who taught at Harvard for many years and served as the dean of Harvard Divinity School, also spent a few years as the Lutheran bishop of Stockholm.
During Stendahl's tenure there, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints built a temple nearby. As commonly happens when Mormons build a temple, there was complaining, puzzlement, and some opposition among the local people. Bishop Stendahl, who has Latter-day Saint friends and had visited Brigham Young University, reacted dramatically and quite unexpectedly.
He called a press conference, and held it in an LDS stake center. There, among other things, he outlined to the Swedish press three principles that he thought should govern our discussions of the religious beliefs of other people. Prof. Madsen, who was there, summarizes them as:

(1) If you want to know what others believe, ask them. Don't ask their critics or their enemies.
(2) When looking at the religious faith of others, compare your best with their best, not their worst with your best.
(3) Always leave room for "holy envy."

Some explanation and examples will make these three principles clearer.
The first should be fairly obvious. Enemies of a religious faith are unlikely to present it as its believers would. They are, in fact, quite likely to distort it and caricature it -- unwittingly if they are honest, deliberately if (as all too often happens) they are unscrupulous and seek only a cheap and easy victory. This does not necessarily mean that there is no place for critics, or for listening to them. But if we really want to understand another religion, they should not be our first resource.
The second principle is "When looking at the religious faith of others, compare your best with their best, not their worst with your best." We commonly hear people contrast the loving ethics taught by Jesus in the New Testament with the acts of self-proclaimed Islamic terrorists. But it is not at all fair to compare our seldom-achieved moral ideal with horrid crimes that are, despite their prominence in the newspapers and on television, still relatively rare among the world's hundreds of millions of Muslims. The butchery of the "Christian" crusades would be a more appropriate comparison to Islamic terrorism. And the death decree against Salman Rushdie should not be compared to Mother Teresa of Calcutta, but to the Inquisition and the burnings of heretics that punctuated the history of the West and lack real parallel in the Islamic East.
Stendahl reminded his Swedish audience of the human element that unavoidably affects even the most pure beliefs. If a religion is revealed, it is nonetheless revealed through fallible mortals. Alluding to the explanation on the title page of the Book of Mormon that "if there are faults they are the mistakes of men," this eminent Lutheran theologian commented that such frankness increased his confidence in the book, rather than decreasing it [Italics added].
Finally, Stendahl counseled his audience to leave room for what he termed "holy envy." We can learn greatly from faithful practitioners and believers of other faiths. The loving, joyous reverence of Orthodox Jews for the Sabbath -- far from the cold, mechanical legalism of the stereotype -- challenges us whose observance of the Lord's day is often routine and perfunctory. Likewise, we can profit by reflecting upon the Jewish passion for religious learning, the simplicity and service of the Mennonites, the heroism of Protestant missionaries under terribly difficult conditions, and the social idealism of Dorothy Day and her Catholic Worker movement.
Regarding Mormons and their temples, Stendahl suggested baptism for the dead as an object of "holy envy." We do nothing for our dead, he said. It is as if we have forgotten them. In contrast, he observed, the Latter-day Saints seek to bring the blessings of Christ's atonement even to the dead.
At a minimum, observing Krister Stendahl's three principles would eliminate much of the religious strife in a world that is growing ever smaller and more interdependent and that can no longer afford such conflict.

Shakey was a dog

(A Re-blog from 2007)

Posted by Mike Bennion on Tuesday, August 07, 2007 1:32:59 AM

     When my kids were small we got a dog named Rusty. He was too rough for them and we gave him away.
    After this fiasco, every time the kids asked for a dog Mom said, "No". This went on for about ten years.
One day I got a phone call at work. It was Luisa, my wife. there was tenderness in her voice, "There are puppies here! The principal of the school where she worked had a dog who had puppies.
    That evening, just over fifteen years ago, a small cream and yellow bundle of joy wormed his way into our hearts. He was wiggly and had sharp little puppy teeth, and had that wonderful puppy smell. He was part Golden Lab and part Cocker Spaniel. He had Lab ears with a semi-pug spaniel nose and a docked tail. the Movie, "Beethoven" had been out for a few years. We opted to go literary instead of musical, and he was named "Shakespeare". This worked well because when we came home he would meet us at the door with great enthusiasm and his docked tail would go a ile a minute. He shook all over with excitement, so we called him "Shakey" for short.
    When Shakey came to live with us we already had tow cats, Tigger and Tasha. Tigger whipped the young pup into shape and they soon all became great friends. They all slept together in a contented heap.
    We were living in California when Shakey came to be part of our family, but soon moved to Southern Utah.
We had no fence at the new house so Shakey lived in the Garage for a few weeks while I was at work and the family hadn't come to Utah yet. I would walk Shakey everyday when I came home form work and this became a habit.
    There was a pasture near the house. the first time Shakey smelled a horse he came to attention and looked at me as if th say, "What in the heck is that?" We went down the street everyday to a wash. and Shakey would explore. One day we met a skunk in the dark. Shakey wanted to be friends. the skunk was not sure. We got Shakey out just in time.
    Shakey soon learned that he loved cheese. His nickname became "cheesedog". The slightest crackle of plastic wrap at the fridge would bring him running. He learned to do tricks for cheese. He would give paws, Sit, lay down, speak and dance. Liesel was a great drill sargeant, putting Shakey, through his paces.
    Kal-Erik teased the dog unmercifully and they would chase each other around the room. Shawn was our trumpet player and Shakey would "sing along" with him, or with the TV. Especially if he heard the Tabernacle Organ. When the door bell rang on TV he would run barking to the door.
    The kids grew up and left hime one at a time. Karl-Erik went for two years to serve a mission for our Church in the Philippines, where he was fed dog. Shakey must have known because he bit Karl-Erik when he came home. Shawn went to Argentina on a mission and Shakey bit him when he came home to be an "equal opportunity" biter. He never bit Liesel.
    The cats left us one at a time. Tasha first. Then Tigger, got cancer, shrank to skin and bones, and jsut went away one day. Shakey was devestated and confused. He looked around the house for days. He took to going in and out of the house every half hour or so.   When we moved to Nevada we bought a doggy door.
    Several years ago Shakey was run over. He suffered a collapsed lung and a broken pelvis and went deaf.
We thought we were going to lose him, but he bouced back and became hale and hearty again. He never recovered his hearing, however, and the singing stopped. He only barked in his sleep now.
    Shakey loved our walks in Henderson. We had one dog down the street who jumped as high as the block wall and we always tried to sneak past. He loved to greet all the other dogs, tail doing a little dance as he got acquainted.
    A few months ago Shakey got a tumor. He was operated on and began to recover. Then he came down with pancreatitis, and wouldn't eat. The vet treated him and he became our "1,500 dollar dog". At first he seemed to be getting better, but then started refusing dog food, His weight dropped drastically and we started seeing his ribs underneath the fur. We tried to give him chicken and pedialite. He despise the pedialite, and tolerated the chicken, but then wouldn't eat that. Luisa had to go north to look after Liesel and Blake, (our daughter and son-in-law) as Blake gets ready for open heart surgery this Thursday.
    I fed Shakey beef and he ate it at first but started refusing it two days ago. this morning he was wobbly on his feet. He had been breathing shallow and rapidly for same weeks. He was moaning today when I came home.
     I took him out for a last walk. He sniffed at the scents that the breeze gave him, but he walked so slowly with a limp, dragging his hind feet. I put him in the car and drove to the vet's. I picked him up and hugged him tightly, then handed him to the Vet, and he was gone.
    But he will live agian, and in the mean time, he is no longer old and tired. I expect to see him again some day.
    Karl-Erik wrote a song about Shakey. I called him tonight and asked him to sing it to his kids .

                                                                "Shakey was a dog
                                                                   a very good dog
                                                                   a very good dog
                                                                        Shakey".

Miracles

(Note: I am migrating some old posts from a previous blog to this site note the dates published below. As you can see, Blake is doing very well. Finishing Law School this next week.)

Posted by Mike Bennion on Tuesday, August 14, 2007 2:22:10 AM

     Six weeks ago I was on a hike in Zion canyon with my daughter Liesel and son-in-law Blake. We were climbing a steep, sand covered ridge, into a box canyon. I wanted to show them the incredible echo. A shout there bounces off the red sandstone cliffs and echoes 11 or 12 times. One shouted song becomes a choir of angels.
    My slightly over middle aged lungs were protesting fiercely as we climbed two steps forward, only to slide back one, in the sand. But I was determined to reach the top.  Liesel finally said: "Dad, we're tired,   we'll wait here."
I pushed on, reveling in my superior strength. I had just walked two 20 somethings into the ground!
    Two weeks later Blake was in the doctors office, having a cinder removed form his eye after a 4th of July fireworks show. He and Liesel mentioned to the doctor that Blake was short of breath alot. Everyone thought he had asthma. The doctor thought maybe that was the problem too, but at their insistence , he listened carefully to Blake's heart for ten minutes and finally said, "I think I hear a murmur, we'd better get an EKG."
The EKG confirmed that there were indeed serious problems with Blake's heart. Further tests confirmed that
Blake's had mitral valve stenosis, a blockage of the mitral valve, probably caused by an undiagnosed case of rheumatic fever, as well as an aortic valve that was regugitating 50 percent of the blood that should flow through it. Blake and Liesel's lives changed abruptly that day.
    My smugness about our hike turned into deep concern at the news. My wife left to go to them to help prepare for the surgery that needed to follow. I was left home to care for a dying dog (see "Shakey was a dog")
and finish up some projects at work, and to worry. Friends of many religious persuasions prayed for our kids.
    I left last wednesday, to go north. Blake was to have surgery on thursday morning. Upon arriving in Provo, Utah where the kids are attending school, at BYU, Luisa and I went to two softball games that Blake and Liesel participated in. Blake played like there was no tomorrow. He would come in from running the bases, white-faced and gasping like an octogenarian. I hoped he wouldn't have a heart attack on the spot. He left the game with abrasions on his shins from sliding into base, and the team ready to play in the finals the next day.
But Blake would have a final of his own the next morning.
    A worried dream-shattered sleep ended at 4:30 a.m. on Thursday morning. We drove to the Hospital by 6:00 a.m. and met Liesel and Blake's mom and grandma. Liesel had just bid goodbye to Blake as he was wheeled through the doors of the surgical section and out of her sight. She looked pale and drawn.
    We were shown to a waiting room. We went and found some breakfast and soon a kind nurse in scrubs came to take us to a private waiting room and to explain that she would be our information source. She said that she would come hourly or as circumstances required to give us updates on the progress of the surgery.
With that she left and we began the long wait.
    Perhaps an hour later I left the waiting room to stretch my legs. I walked through the revolving doors out into the bright sunshine of an August morning. I stood by the sculpture of a father playing with his two sons. Suddenly I was warmed by an inner sunshine. I felt a profound sense of peace descend on my mind and my heart. I knew as surely as I have known anything that we had nothing to fear. The surgery was going to be successful. I returned to the waiting room, now accompanied by the continued warmth of this knowledge.
    I hadn't been back more than a few minutes when the nurse, returned with an update: "They have opened, and they have him on the Heart/Lung machine" she said, "and they have started to work on his heart."
Tears sprang to Liesel's eyes. She told me later, that the whole absract concept of Blake's surgery had suddenly become horribly real. In her mind's eye, she saw her husband, of less than eight months, senseless, on the operating table, with his chest pried open and his heart stopped.
    A quiet voice inside my heart said, "You have a gift to share with your daughter, you have peace. Give her some. I laid my hands on her head and gave her a blessing. I told her that God had told me that everything was going to be "wonderful"; that Blake would come through this trial and live and recover.
    Good friends provided company, empathy and food throughout the day. The kind nurse came hour after hour with increasingly good news. Then the Surgeon came and spoke with Liesel. He was tired but very pleased. Things had gone as well as they could have possibly gone. They were able to repair, rather than replace the scarred mitral valve, and the aortic valve was replaced with a cadaver vlave, rather than a mechanical valve. This meant the Blake would not have to take Cumidin (sp), the blood thinner that would have limited his physical activities. The Doctor said that the aortic valve was "a perfect fit--like it was custom made for Blake."
    A nineteen year old boy died in a car accident this week. His parent's brave decision to allow their son to become an organ donor, gave Liesel and Blake a second chance at life. There aren't words enough in my language and warm thoughts of thanks enough in my heart to tell those good people, who are grieving while we rejoice, what it means to us that they made such a courageous choice at a devastating time.
    Later in the afternoon Blake's family gathered around his bedside in the ICU. He looked like he had been run over by a truck, and the nurse said he was probably in more pain than he had ever felt. But the nurses said that in comparison to most of the patients they saw in ICU, Blake looked very good. They said it was a pleasure to take care of someone so young and otherwise healthy. Blake's Uncle Evan and I placed out hands on Blake's head and gave him a blessing. God told Blake that he would only have the pain required for him to learn what he needed to know, that he would "run and not be weary and walk and not faint" and that he would live to see his grandchildren and great=grandchildren.
    Twenty-four hours later he was out of ICU. Today, four days after open-heart surgery, that his doctors described as a "once in a career surgery", Blake was released form the hospital. Yesterday, I watched with joy as he and Liesel looked adoringly in each other's eyes and kissed. Their soft ball team won the intramural championship on the evening of Blake's surgery, and brought Championship Tee-shirts to the hospital. The shirts were hard won, but represent a far greater victory.
    We had friends who spontaneously dropped everything, to give us a place to stay, food to eat, and words to comfort us. they cried with us, laughed with us, prayed for us, and rejoice with us. And they are just one wonderful part of the miracles, that point us to the greatest miracle of all: Eternal life, the greatest of all the gifts of God.

Monday, February 27, 2012

Mike Bennion's Reply to: "Romney’s Religion: The Most Scrutinized Doctrines of Mormonism"

by Kelly OConnell Monday, February 20, 2012

Regarding the 2012 presidential election, it is extremely important for Conservatives to prepare pro-actively for attacks. For instance, if Mitt Romney truly is the presumptive GOP nominee, well then we must familiarize ourselves with the most frequently criticized elements of Mormonism. Even if this enquiry into an honorable man’s religion is against our instincts. This is so because most Americans simply don’t know LDS theology, and the element of surprise can be used against the GOP.

While Kelly correctly claims that Conservatives should prepare pre-actively for attacks on the Republican front-runner concerning his religion, his article provides little in the way of Mormon defense of the specific items he addresses as the most scrutinized documents of Mormonism. A wise eminent Lutheran Bishop, Krister Stendahl, suggested that if we want to know about someone else’s religion, we should ask a member of the religion in question rather than their critics. (See Lutheran Bishop Krister Stendahl’s three rules for discussing religion.) http://summatheologica.wordpress.com/2008/01/23/the-mormon-worldview-part-1/

For if history has taught Conservatives anything, it is that the perceived weaknesses of our candidates, fairly portrayed or not, will become fodder for the mainstream media. An example being the late Christopher Hitchen’s dyspeptic article, Romney’s Mormon Problem; Mitt Romney and the weird and sinister beliefs of Mormonism.

Since Kelly states the modus operandi of the mainstream media with fair accuracy, we would do well to have the best defense ready and this should involve accurate answers about Mormonism from those who live Mormonism, rather than from their critics. Certainly there is nothing wrong with knowing the accusations, but we should also be acquainted with the defense.

Undoubtedly the good works of the Mormon faith are remarkable, but Mitt will be at the mercy of the reaction of the ignorant to the more controversial parts of his beliefs. This is not to suggest that Romney could never become a great president because of his beliefs, but simply that his religion might cost him the opportunity. For this reason, this brief outline of LDS belief, especially of the more controversial elements is presented.

The singular phenomenon about even those who attack the Mormons as a non-Christian cult revolves around the fact that the Mormons are almost universally held to be an honest, upright, people characterized by good works. Attackers then proceed to talk about how twisted and wrong they perceive Mormon teachings to be. Does this strike anyone else as curious? Does not Christ himself, in the New Testament Sermon on the Mount proclaim that we will know goodness by its fruit? “By their fruits ye shall know them. Dr. David Campbell, Notre Dame Professor and author of American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us , notes that surveys show that the more people are acquainted with Latter-day Saints (Mormons) the more positive is their perception of Mormons. http://www.deseretnews.com/article/765554089/Mormons-Methodists-meet-to-consider-similarities-compare-cultures-theology-music.html

I. Brief Introduction to Mormon History

In 1820, Joseph Smith, a young man of 14 years old living in Manchester, New York, was visited by God and Jesus. who informed him every Christian denomination was an abomination in their eyes. Here writes Smith in his autobiographical Pearl of Great Price, a portion of the Book of Mormon.

The reference for the narrative of Joseph Smith’s First Vision may be found in Joseph Smith—History verses 1-20, Here: http://www.lds.org/scriptures/pgp/js-h/1?lang=eng

I asked the Personages who stood above me in the light, which of all the sects was right (for at this time it had never entered into my heart that all were wrong)—and which I should join. I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all wrong; and the Personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in His sight; that those professors were all corrupt…

This is from verse 19 of the above citation, it continues “ … that: “they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, they teach for doctrines the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof.”

Note that according to Smith’s account, it was not the Bible that was “wrong” or “corrupt” but the “creeds.” These creeds constituted the extra-Biblical statements about the nature of God, the Trinity and man’s relationships to God that were formulated in the third century or later after Christ. Note that the word “Trinity” is found nowhere in the Bible, nor is the term “of one substance.” Those who profess (or speak) these creeds are proclaimed wrong in claiming them as binding as Biblical truth.

In 1823, an angel named Moroni revealed to Joseph the existence of certain golden plates of ancient language, and where they were buried in a hill. The angel came in a vision, explaining many things about the true nature of God. In 1827, the plates were translated from Reformed Egyptian, becoming the basis for the Book of Mormon, a history of the North American continent. This included the exploits of a lost tribe of Jews, sent here by God to create a remnant for the Second Coming of Christ, becoming known as the “Latter Day Saints” as a continuation of earlier biblical saints.

Note that a total of twelve men saw the plates from which Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon, including Smith himself. Three men saw the angel who delivered the plates and heard the voice of God testify from Heaven that the record was true. Eight Men held the plates in their hands, turned the leaves one by one, hefted the record and felt of its weight and touched the engraved language upon the plates. Their witness of these two events follow are found here: http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/introduction.p49?lang=eng&query=joseph+smith+history

The texts of their testimony are listed below:

The Testimony of Three Witnesses

Be it known unto all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people, unto whom this work shall come: That we, through the grace of God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, have seen the plates which contain this record, which is a record of the people of Nephi, and also of the Lamanites, their brethren, and also of the people of Jared, who came from the tower of which hath been spoken. And we also know that they have been translated by the gift and power of God, for his voice hath declared it unto us; wherefore we know of a surety that the work is true. And we also testify that we have seen the engravings which are upon the plates; and they have been shown unto us by the power of God, and not of man. And we declare with words of soberness, that an angel of God came down from heaven, and he brought and laid before our eyes, that we beheld and saw the plates, and the engravings thereon; and we know that it is by the grace of God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, that we beheld and bear record that these things are true. And it is marvelous in our eyes. Nevertheless, the voice of the Lord commanded us that we should bear record of it; wherefore, to be obedient unto the commandments of God, we bear testimony of these things. And we know that if we are faithful in Christ, we shall rid our garments of the blood of all men, and be found spotless before the judgment-seat of Christ, and shall dwell with him eternally in the heavens. And the honor be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, which is one God. Amen.

Oliver Cowdery

David Whitmer

Martin Harris

The Testimony of Eight Witnesses

Be it known unto all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people, unto whom this work shall come: That Joseph Smith, Jun., the translator of this work, has shown unto us the plates of which hath been spoken, which have the appearance of gold; and as many of the leaves as the said Smith has translated we did handle with our hands; and we also saw the engravings thereon, all of which has the appearance of ancient work, and of curious workmanship. And this we bear record with words of soberness, that the said Smith has shown unto us, for we have seen and hefted, and know of a surety that the said Smith has got the plates of which we have spoken. And we give our names unto the world, to witness unto the world that which we have seen. And we lie not, God bearing witness of it.

Christian Whitmer

Jacob Whitmer

Peter Whitmer, Jun.

John Whitmer

Hiram Page

Joseph Smith, Sen.

Hyrum Smith

Samuel H. Smith

Smith attracted a group of followers who mimicked his polygamous lifestyle, and were driven from town to town, deeper and deeper West as their practices made them anathema to everyday Americans. Finally, Joseph Smith was arrested for destroying printing press used to defame the Mormons in Carthage, IL. Here Smith was jailed, yet when an angry mob stormed the jail Smith used a smuggled gun to fight back, but was shot dead. He died a religious martyr, according to his followers. Brigham Young then brought the group to Utah where they established world headquarters of the LDS empire.

The link referenced here by Kelly is a good Mormon account of the death of Joseph Smith and his brother, Hyrum. A few comments are in order about those who “mimicked” Joseph’s polygamy. A good link to an overview of why some members practiced polygamy is found here: http://mormon-polygamy.org/origins_mormon_polygamy The persecutions of the Church were not a result of polygamy until the mid 1840’s as the practice was not well enough known until that time. The Saints (members of the Church) were driven from New York, to Ohio, to Missouri, then back east to Illinois before leaving for the West and Utah. An account of some of those killed in the drivings from Missouri are found here: http://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Haun%27s_Mill_Massacre Events leading to the deaths of the Smiths including the destruction of the press are found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Joseph_Smith#Incidents_leading_to_the_event

II. Most Common Criticisms Leveled at the Latter Day Saints Church

A. Continuing Revelation

The most persistent criticism of the Mormon church is their belief that the works of Joseph Smith represent a continuation of the canon of scripture. Christians point to the work of the early church in establishing this position by way of the condemnation of Montanus, whose ideas were officially censured in the 2nd century AD. The Heresy of Montanism is described by Schaff’s History of the Christian Church, in part, as being “It asserted, above all, the continuance of prophecy, and hence it went generally under the name of the nova prophetia.”

Smith’s output of scripture included the Book of Mormon and Pearl of Great Price. His followers claim the power of the works, as well as the LDS Church’s remarkable vitality and growth prove the accuracy of Smith’s vision.

Smith’s output of scripture included the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine & Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price, which may all be found online here: http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm?lang=eng http://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament?lang=eng http://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament?lang=eng Remember that when Joseph Smith brought forth these hundreds of pages of scripture he was a young man who had the equivalent of three or four years of schooling. For a recent scholarly work about American religions and the canon of scripture see: David F. Holland, Sacred Borders, (NY: Oxford University Press, 2011). For a defense of the open canon of LDS scripture, see http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=dfc3558fcc599110VgnVCM100000176f620a____&hideNav=1

B. Joseph’s Smith’s Character

Joseph Smith’s critics complain that he was a dishonest character. Is this correct? His naysayers say he was prosecuted and convicted of running a confidence game, according to NY state court records. Claims one source,

NORWICH—County historians have rediscovered historical records proving the founder of the Mormon Church was arrested on several occasions while living in Chenango County. These include legal bills from separate charges filed against Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormon Church, now the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS). The religious founder, the bills show, was arrested three times in the county between 1826 and 1830 for cases involved Smith’s involvement in “glass looking,” or searching for treasure, and “being a disorderly person.”

Mormons respond that such criticism is based upon biased history motivated by prejudice or jealousy.

As a graduate student of history, I have learned to follow the evidence and how it was obtained, what it claimed, and the context we find in the events denoted by the evidence. An article that goes into much greater detail than Kelly’s links is found here: http://www.fairlds.org/fair-conferences/2002-fair-conference/2002-the-1826-trial-of-joseph-smith This will take more time to read because it is more involved, but will offer a much clearer picture of what actually happened.

C. Jesus of Mormonism

The Christ of Mormonism is superficially at odds with the Biblical personality, admits the head of the church:

“In bearing testimony of Jesus Christ, President Hinckley spoke of those outside the Church who say Latter-day Saints ‘do not believe in the traditional Christ.’ ‘No, I don’t. The traditional Christ of whom they speak is not the Christ of whom I speak’” (LDS Church News, week ending June 20, 1998, p.7).

Here is the full quote for context: In bearing testimony of Jesus Christ, President Hinckley spoke of those outside the Church who say Latter-day Saints "do not believe in the traditional Christ. No, I don't. The traditional Christ of whom they speak is not the Christ of whom I speak. For the Christ of whom I speak has been revealed in this the Dispensation of the Fulness of Times. He, together with His Father, appeared to the boy Joseph Smith in the year 1820, and when Joseph left the grove that day, he knew more of the nature of God than all the learned ministers of the gospel of the ages.

"Am I Christian? Of course I am. I believe in Christ. I talk of Christ. I pray through Christ. I'm trying to follow Him and live His gospel in my life."

Obviously, Mormons believe in Christ, In his life, sacrifice, redemption and grace and his power to save. Though Traditional Christians claim that the Bible alone is scripture, their doctrines of the Trinity and Christ’s relationship to God is based upon those same extra-Biblical creeds that were devised in the third and fourth centuries after Christ. If you ask me, are Mormon’s creedal or Trinitarian Christians my answer would be “no.” I f you ask whether the Restored Christianity of the Mormons more closely resembles First-century Christianity, I would answer, “yes.”

The Jesus of Mormonism is the brother of Satan. Ensign, the official magazine of the LDS church says:

On first hearing, the doctrine that Lucifer and our Lord, Jesus Christ, are brothers may seem surprising to some—especially to those unacquainted with latter-day revelations. But both the scriptures and the prophets affirm that Jesus Christ and Lucifer are indeed offspring of our Heavenly Father and, therefore, spirit brothers… But as the Firstborn of the Father, Jesus was Lucifer’s older brother.

Further, the Mormon God is neither a Trinity, nor monotheistic, as the next section explains. But Mormons respond that one cannot expect a previous revelation to agree exactly with subsequent ones, or there would be no point to further revelations.

LDS beliefs also detail a pre-existence in which we were all spirit children of our Father in Heaven. Jesus, as the only-begotten Son of the Father, was the only one of all Father’s spirit children who also had The Father as his physical father. Note the scripture in Matthew:

Luke 1: 34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?

35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

Mormons believe that the Holy Ghost came upon Mary to sancify and prepare her to abide the presence of the Father (The Highest) who caused Jesus to be placed into her by an unspecified but real process that made Christ literally the Son of God the Father.

D. Polytheism & Human Godhood Evolution

Critics say Mormonism is technically a polytheistic religion, as Smith reveals in his Book of Abraham translation, part of LDS scripture, in chapter 4:3-4:

And they (the Gods) said: Let there be light; and there was light. And they (the Gods) comprehended the light, for it was bright; and they divided the light, or caused it to be divided, from the darkness.

Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints understand the Bible to describe three members of a Godhead in a complete unity of thought, harmony, love, power and will, but not of one body. John 17 is instructive as Jesus prays that his disciples may be one as he and the Father are one. Mormons do not believe that Jesus here was praying that the disciples should rush together and inhabit one physical body, but that they should be untied in love, will and purpose, to achieve mighty faith.

Another source describes LDS beliefs on the gods:

The Mormon Church teaches a plurality of Gods. They believe God the Father (Elohim) was once a man on a separate world who attained godhood. He then had many spirit children with his wives, the oldest one being Jesus. According to LDS beliefs, we were all Elohim’s spirit children before our carnal existence. Therefore, Jesus is our eldest brother. As former LDS Prophet Brigham Young taught: “How many Gods there are, I do not know. But there never was a time when there were not Gods and worlds, and when men were not passing through the same ordeals that we are passing through. That course has been from all eternity, and it is and will be to all eternity.” Therefore, the number of gods is practically limitless.

Latter-day Saints teach that the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost are one in purpose, power, love and will. But as the Bible makes plain the Son does the will of the Father and the Holy Ghost bears witness of the Father and the Son. To use a metaphor, I have an earthly father, my Dad, here on earth. He was once a baby, who became a child and then grew to be a man. He is happy as the head of a family and wants his children to share the same joy. If I follow his example I may grow to become like him. But I will never take his place as my father. I may have children of my own and teach them the same things and I will always be their father. So becoming like my Dad, does not replace my Dad in my love, or loyalty to him. So likewise, Mormons believe that become like God, (the first-century Biblical doctrine of Theosis) does not replace the God we worship as our Father. Rather by becoming like God we honor him and increase his power and glory. (Just as a happy grandfather delights in his worthy children and grandchildren.)

Deeper teachings in Mormonism also promote the idea that obedient Mormons can evolve into gods as McKeever describes:

“Although it is not found in any of Mormonism’s Standard Works, an expression which precisely defines the LDS teaching that men can become Gods was coined by fifth LDS President Lorenzo Snow. In June of 1840, Snow declared, “As man is, God once was; as God is, man may become.” Besides correctly illustrating the Latter-day Saint teaching that God was once a mere mortal man, this couplet also declares that man has the potential to become God! According to LDS theology, eternal life is synonymous with godhood. In the words of LDS Apostle Bruce McConkie, “Thus those who gain eternal life receive exaltation ... They are gods.” (Mormon Doctrine, pg. 237).”

Mormons dislike discussing this issue, and refuse the term “polytheist” for their religion. Instead they point out that there is only one God in this world, which is all we need to acknowledge. But we can be sure the topic will be raised repeatedly during a Romney election.

On the contrary, Mormons delight in the concept that we will inherit all that God has, for as the Bible teaches:

Romans 8:16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: 17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

See also:

· let them have dominion, Gen. 1:26 (Moses 2:26).

· man is become as one of us, Gen. 3:22 (Moses 4:28).

· be holy: for I … am holy, Lev. 19:2 (1 Pet. 1:16).

· thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, Ps. 8:5

· madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands, Ps. 8:6

· Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High, Ps. 82:6

· Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father, Matt. 5:48 (3 Ne. 12:48).

· spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have, Luke 24:39

· Is it not written in your law … Ye are gods, John 10:34 (Ps. 82:1–8; D&C 76:58).

· we are the offspring of God, Acts 17:29

· changed into the same image from glory to glory, 2 Cor. 3:18

· if a son, then an heir of God through Christ, Gal. 4:7

· Till we all come … unto a perfect man, Eph. 4:13

· be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live, Heb. 12:9

· when he shall appear, we shall be like him, 1 Jn. 3:2

· him that overcometh will … sit with me in my throne, Rev. 3:21

E. Polygamy

Famously, Mormons historically practiced polygamy, a notion championed by founder Joseph Smith, despite his first wife deserting him for the activity, according to Todd Compton’s In Sacred Loneliness, The Plural Wives of Joseph Smith. The practice made Mormons notorious to their “gentile” neighbors, one reason the sect repeatedly relocated in its early years. In fact, Abraham Lincoln ran with a “Defense of Marriage” plank in his platform for president, and later encouraged the Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act, meant to shut down LDS plural marriage in the Utah Territory.

The LDS Church teaches that obedient Mormons will evolve into godhood in the afterlife where they may take multiple wives for heavenly marriages. Says the introduction to LDS scripture Doctrine & Covenants Section 132:

“Revelation given through Joseph Smith the Prophet, at Nauvoo, Illinois, recorded 12 July 1843, relating to the new and everlasting covenant, including the eternity of the marriage covenant, and also the plurality of wives “

While the LDS no longer officially practice plural marriage, many offshoot sects still engage in this lifestyle, as notoriously reported in places like Colorado City, Utah. More importantly, Mormons teach that polygamy will again be allowed for Mormons in the afterlife. But defenders claim that all the prophets of the Old Testament were polygamists. Further, that since the LDS have changed their official stance on polygamy, the criticism no longer applies.

Already covered.

F. Pre-existence & Spirit Babies

Mormon doctrine teaches that humans lived in a pre-existant state, being produced in celestial marital relations as “spirit babies.” The official Mormon scholarly publication Journal of Discourse, stated in Vol. 4, p. 218: ”We were first begotten as spirit babies in heaven and then born naturally on earth.” This teaching also indicates that Mormons believe intercourse will continue in the next life.

Mormon apologists claim teachings such as these nowhere directly contradict any Scripture.

Already covered. Except that it has not been revealed how Spirit Children are created and if it is by an analogous process to physical birth.

I. Racism & Children of Cain

Mormonism historically taught dark skin is the “Mark of Cain,” being a curse put upon Blacks for the rebellion of their forefathers in the pre-existence. Joseph Smith did not have a high view of Blacks, stating “Had I anything to do with the negro , I would confine them by strict law to their own species and put them on a national equalization.’” Brigham Young especially had an extreme bias against Blacks. He stated ““But let them apostatize, and they will become gray-haired, wrinkled, and black, just like the Devil.” (Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, vol. 5, p. 332)” Young also claimed,

This people that are commonly called negroes are the children of old Cain. I know they are…You see some classes of the human family that are black, uncouth, uncomely, disagreeable, sad, low in their habits, wild, and seemingly without the blessings of the intelligence that is generally bestowed upon mankind…Shall I tell you the law of God in regard to the African race? If the white man who belongs to the chosen seed mixes his blood with the seed of Cain, the penalty, under the law of God, is death on the spot. This will always be so.

The LDS Church stood to lose their IRS tax exempt status in the 1970s for discrimination, but before this could happen, the Mormon Prophet had a revelation in 1978 that Blacks could attain the highest heaven, and not just as servants but ordained priests. Yet, the teaching has deep roots, as LDS Apostle Bruce R. McConkie further explains:

Those who were less valiant in pre-existence and who thereby had certain spiritual restrictions impose(d) on them during mortality are known to us as the negroes. Such spirits are sent to earth through the lineage of Cain, the mark put upon him for his rebellion against God, and his murder of Able being a black skin…Noah’s son married Egyptus, a descendant of Cain, thus preserving the negro lineage through the flood…the negro are not equal with other races where the receipt of certain spiritual blessings are concern(ed)...” (Mormon Doctrine, 527-28; 1966 orig. ed).

The LDS Church can fight back and claim that all of America used to be racist slave-holders and obnoxious bigots, so why pile on the Mormons? Especially, since they have come so far so quickly on race relations. But does this open the door for Obama’s very race-oriented supporters to claim Romney’s church has a despicably racist history?

An article about Black members of the Church

http://www.heraldextra.com/news/national/searching-for-faith-some-blacks-find-mormonism/article_840eecf0-5b10-11e1-9578-0019bb2963f4.html

An account of President Kimball and the Revelation of the Priesthood: Lengthy but definitely worth the read.

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B7P1x3NXLrqkMjE5NzEwZDAtNjZkOS00YmM0LTk0NjYtZDcyYTQ2ZDQ2ZTIz&hl=en&authkey=CLm4-fMN&pli=1

J. Book of Abraham

The Book of Abraham, along with DNA studies of American Natives, have become the bête noire of the modern LDS church. This is because the language code of the famed Rosetta Stone was cracked, allowing ancient Egyptian to be properly translated. This then made possible Joseph Smith’s own translation to be tested.

And what did Joseph Smith claim his Egyptian papyrus named the Book of Abraham said? He stated the Egyptian words and figures depicted Abraham and Joseph of the Bible. Yet when trained Egyptologists studied the documents, this was not verified. Instead, it turned out the papyri were very ordinary Egyptian funerary documents, fragments of the Book of the Dead. This flew in the face of the LDS teaching that the Mormon Prophet can translate accurately any language, living or dead.

According to one Egyptologist, a typical comparison between Young’s work and theirs went something like this:

Joseph Smith said that Facsimile No. 1 was of a bird as the “Angel of the Lord” with “Abraham fastened upon an altar,” “being offered up as a sacrifice by a false priest. The pots under the altar were various gods “Elkenah, Libnah, Mahmackrah, Korash, Pharaoh,” etc.

In reality, this is “an embalming scene showing the deceased lying on a lion-couch.”

These facts are passed off as the debate between philologists over the definitions of obscure foreign word definitions. It is hard to know how the public at large, many of them hearing details on this for the first time, will react.

1. The records that Joseph used to translate the Book of Abraham are not the same as those that remain after the great Chicago fire presumably destroyed many of the records, because the papyri were described as a) in perfect preservation, b) containing red ink rubrics, and c) being over 10 feet long. The current fragments match none of this description.

2. Many portions of the Book of the Dead, which the remaining fragments represent, contain references to practices that resemble some LDS rites and practices.

For a great deal of specific information on this topic, see: http://www.boap.org/LDS/BOAP/ and Hugh W. Nibley, The Message of the Joseph Smith Papyri: An Egyptian Endowment, Second Edition, (Provo, UT: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 2005).

K. Lost Tribe & DNA

The Book of Mormon describes voyages to the Americas by ancient Israelites in 2 Nephi 1:9:

Wherefore, I, Lehi, have obtained a promise, that inasmuch as those whom the Lord God shall bring out of the land of Jerusalem shall keep his commandments, they shall prosper upon the face of this land; ; [The Americas] and they shall be kept from all other nations, that they may possess this land unto themselves.

In other words, Joseph Smith taught native Americans are descended from the Twelve Tribes of Israel. But does science back up this claim? Unfortunately not, according to geneticist Simon G. Southerton in his Losing a Lost Tribe: Native Americans, DNA, and the Mormon Church. Southerton states studies of mitochondrial DNA of Native Americans conclusively prove the Mormon claim of descent from Israeli immigrants is unsupported by DNA evidence. The LDS lost many adherents as a result.

This debate can be claimed just an argument between scientists. But what will an increasingly sceptical public think after hearing these points pounded over and over?

Two comments here: 1. Kelley’s link which claims that the Church lost many adherents as a result of the DNA controversy, does not say any such thing. Kelly needs to drop this assertion or back it up with a better source.

2. The DNA claims rest on a false concept of what the Book of Mormon claims for the people of the Book. Both Mormons and non-Mormons alike have postulated that the Book of Mormon peoples were the primary ancestors of all the Native Americans in North and Central America. A careful reading of the Book reveals no such claim.

3. The types of Mitochondrial DNA tests used could not determine the necessary results because they measure the Mother’s DNA rather than the Father’s and the Book of Mormon is silent about the race of the women who came with Lehi and the Mulekites to the America’s in the Book of Mormon account.

For more on these topics see: http://en.fairmormon.org/Topical_Guide/Book_of_Mormon/Archaeology_and_the_Book_of_Mormon/DNA_and_the_Book_of_Mormon

Conclusion

Mitt Romney could be the best candidate in the entire 2012 race. And yet, if his backers do not understand Mormon doctrines, or are not prepared to defend these to a skeptical mainstream media and American electorate, the race might be lost before it’s even begun.

So if Mitt Romney is the eventual Republican nominee, his backers should understand both the accuser’s assertions and the Mormon defense against those accusations.

A Reading List of Mormon Historical and Doctrinal Sources

The lds.org LDS Newsroom topical website. Here you may find articles that treat most of the current issues you will read or hear about in the Media.

http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/topics-and-background/

A webpage the gives links to most of the important Mormon apologetics websites.

http://www.jefflindsay.com/ldslinks.shtml

Terryl Givens, a serious scholar of LDS thought and history, makes an important argument about where questions about the church should be addressed. http://divinity.uchicago.edu/martycenter/publications/sightings/archive_2012/0216.shtml

“I Don’t have a Testimony of the History of the Church,” by Davis Bitton

(This article explains the difference between a testimony of the gospel and the mistaken belief that everything every Mormon does is somehow, good, true and faith promoting.) http://maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/publications/review/?vol=16&num=2&id=560

A Non-Mormon pastor asserts that Mormons are not Christians. I include this article because it includes most of the objections to the Church by those who brand it non-Christian. The comments to the article are also instructive as they run the gamut from well, thought out, courteous response to rather ignorant attack mode sorts of reply.

http://www.times-herald.com/religion/Are-Mormons-Christians---2083515

A fair-minded non-Mormon response:

http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/guestvoices/2007/12/are_mormons_christians.html

Jeffry R. Holland, of the Quorum of the Twelve gave this great talk in Conference

http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2007/10/the-only-true-god-and-jesus-christ-whom-he-hath-sent?lang=eng

A Bibliography of Books on Mormon History

PUBLISHED PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SOURCES

Austin, Emily, Mormonism; or, Life Among the Mormons (Madison, WI: M.J. Cantwell, 1882).

Allen, James B. and Leonard, Glen M. The Story of the Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book Co., 1976.

Arrington, Leonard. & Bitton, Davis. The Mormon Experience: a History of the Latter-day Saints, Second Edition, New York City, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1992.

Beecher, Maureen U. and Anderson, Lavinia F. eds. Sisters in Spirit: Mormon Women in Historical and Cultural Perspective, (Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1987).

Bennett, John C. The History of the Saints; or, an Exposé of Joe Smith and Mormonism, (Boston. 1842).

Book of Mormon, Salt Lake City, Utah: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1981.

Bradford, M. Gerald. and Coutts, Alison V.P. "Uncovering the Original Text of the Book of Mormon,” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, 11/0 (2002): 1–57.

Brooks, Juanita. “Memories of a Mormon Girlhood”, The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 77, No. 305 (Jul-Sep., 1964): 195-219

Brooks, Juanita. Mountain Meadows Massacre, Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, 1962.

Brown, James S. Life of a Pioneer: Being the Autobiography of James S. Brown, Salt Lake City, UT: George Q. Cannon and Sons, 1900).

Bushman, Claudia L. ed. Mormon Sisters: Women in Early Utah, (Cambridge, MA: Emmeline, 1976).

Campbell, Eugene E. Establishing Zion: The Mormon Church in the American West, 1847-1869, by Eugene E. Campbell. Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1988.

Campbell, Mary, “Mr. Peay's Horses: The Federal Response to Mormon Polygamy, 1854-1887,” K. 13 Yale Journal of Law & Feminism 29 (2001).

Cowley, Mathias F. Wilford Woodruff: Fourth President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: History of His Life and Labors as Recorded in His Daily Journals, Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret News Press, 1909.

Cresswell, Stephen. Mormons and Cowboys, Moonshiners and Klansmen: Federal Law Enforcement in the South & West, 1870-1893, (Tuscaloosa, AL: The University of Alabama Press, 1991).

Doctrine & Covenants, Salt Lake City, Utah: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1981.

Gordon, Sarah B. The Mormon Question: Polygamy and Constitutional Conflict in Nineteenth-Century America, (Chapel Hill, NC: The University of North Carolina Press, 2002).

Jensen, Andrew. Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 4 vols. (Salt Lake City, UT: Andrew Jenson History Co., 1901-36).

Jenson, Robin S. Woodford, Robert J. and Harper, Steven C. Eds. The Joseph Smith Papers: Revelations and Translations, Manuscript Revelation Books, (Salt Lake City, UT: The Church Historian’s Press, Facsimile Edition, 2009).

Johnson, Clark V. Ed. Mormon Redress Petitions: Documents of the 1833-1838 Missouri Conflict, (Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University, 1992).

Journal History of the Church, May 12, 1851, Archives Division, Historical Department, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah.

Keller, (artist). Editorial Cartoon, “The Three Troublesome Children,” The Wasp, (San Francisco, CA: V. 7 No. 281, December, 16, 1881).

Kenney, Scott G. ed., Wilford Woodruff’s Journal, 1833-1898, 9 vols. Midvale, Utah: Signature Books, 1983-84.

Kitchen, Richard D. Mormon-Indian Relations in Deseret: Intermarriage and Indenture, 1847-1877, Mesa, Arizona: Arizona State University Ph.D. diss., 2002.

Knecht, William L. and Crawley, Peter L. eds., History of Brigham Young: 1847-1867, Berkeley, CA: MassCal Associates, 1964.

Larson, Gustive O. The“Americanization” of Utah for Statehood, San Marino, CA: The Huntington Library, Publisher’s Press, 1971).

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