View source for Criticism of Mormonism/Books/One Nation Under Gods/Introduction

{{FairMormon}} 
{{H1
|L=Criticism of Mormonism/Books/One Nation Under Gods/Introduction
|H=Response to claims made in "Introduction: A Thread of Prophecy"
|T=[[../../|One Nation Under Gods]]
|A=Richard Abanes
|<=
|>=[[../Chapter 1|Claims made in "Chapter 1: Vagabond Visionaries"]]
}}
{{ChartOneNationUnderGodsIntroduction}}
<onlyinclude>
{{H2
|L=Criticism of Mormonism/Books/One Nation Under Gods/Introduction
|H=Response to claims made in One Nation Under Gods, "Introduction: A Thread of Prophecy"
|S=
|L1=Response to claim: xv, 477n2 (HB) ix, 475n2 (PB) - The author asserts that histories produced by the LDS church the "least reliable" of all
|L2=Response to claim: xvii (HB) - The "White Horse" prophecy predicts that the U.S. government will become a "Mormon-ruled theocracy"
|L3=Response to claim: xviii, 475n5 (HB) - The "White Horse" prophecy is a "dominant element" of Latter-day Saint belief
|L4=Response to claim: xix (HB) - The author claims that various Church leaders have reiterated the "White Horse" prophecy over the years
|L5=Response to claim: xx, 479n10 (HB) xiv, 477n10 (PB) - Mormonism was perceived as a "radical, immoral, and un-American band of religious zealots"
|L6=Response to claim: xx, 479n17 (HB) - Everyone in the world will be forced to recognize "Mormonism" as "the one true" religion
|L7=Response to claim: xxi (HB); xiv (PB) - Did Joseph claim in History of the Church that other governments and religions "must eventually be destroyed from the earth"?
|L8=Response to claim: xxiv (HB) - The Church refuses to divulge "routine" financial data that other religions are "happy to provide over the phone"
|L9=Response to claim: xxiv (HB) xviii (PB) - Latter-day Saints believe that they are "morally, ethically, and spiritually superior" to non-members
}}
</onlyinclude>

==Response to claim: xv, 477n2 (HB) ix, 475n2 (PB) - The author asserts that histories produced by the LDS church the "least reliable" of all==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=One Nation Under Gods
|claim=
The author asserts that histories produced by the LDS church the "least reliable" of all.
|authorsources=<br>
#*Boyd K. Packer, interview with D. Michael Quinn, 1976. Quoted in Smith, 105, endnote #22. (PB)
*{{BYUS1|author=Boyd K. Packer|article=The Mantle is Far, Far Greater Than the Intellect|date=Summer 1981|vol=21|num=[3]|start=264-265}} {{link|url=http://byustudies.byu.edu/Products/MoreInfoPage/MoreInfo.aspx?Type=7&ProdID=1145}} (HB,PB)
}}
{{propaganda|The assertion by the author that "some of the least reliable reports on Mormon history" are those "produced by the LDS church" is very interesting in light of the fact that some of the source documents used by the author in his book include the ''Journal of Discourses'', the ''Messenger and Advocate'', the ''Millennial Star'', the ''Evening and the Morning Star'', the ''Ensign'', ''Conference Reports'', and the ''Encyclopedia of Mormonism'', to name a few.
}}
{{:Question: Are histories written by Mormon historians not reliable?}}
<!-- ====xv, 477n5 (HB) ix, 475n5 (PB)====
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title={{check}}
|claim=Do LDS leaders attempt to "control depictions" of Church history?
}}
*[[../../Use of sources/Calling All Mormon Scholars|Use of sources: Calling All Mormon Scholars]]
|authorsources=<br>
#*Allen Roberts, ''Private Eye Weekly'', October 20, 1993, 12. Quoted in Jerald Tanner and Sandra Tanner, "Legacy: A Distorted View of Mormon History," ''Salt Lake City Messenger'' (#88), May 1995, 4 <nowiki>online at http://www.utlm.org/newsletters/no88.htm.</nowiki>
}} -->
<!-- ====xv-xvi, 477n6 (HB)====
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=One Nation Under Gods
|claim=
*Must LDS historian write histories which always defend the faith?
|response=
*[[../../Use of sources/An Example of Biased Histories|Use of sources: An Example of Biased Histories]]
|authorsources=<br>
#*John E. Hallwas and Roger D. Launius, ''Cultures in Conflict: A Documentary History of the Mormon War in Illinois'' (Logan, UT: Utah State University Press, 1995), 2-3.
*The balance of endnote is a laundry list of additional sources critical of the way history is treated by faithful LDS. It is deleted here, as it is not directly related to the use of the quote in question.
}} -->

==Response to claim: xvii (HB) - The "White Horse" prophecy predicts that the U.S. government will become a "Mormon-ruled theocracy"==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=One Nation Under Gods
|claim=
The "White Horse" prophecy predicts that the U.S. government will become a "Mormon-ruled theocracy"
|authorsources=<br>
#<br>
*John J. Roberts, Journal of John J. Roberts <nowiki>http://www.helpingmormons.org/white_horse.htm http://www.2eternity.com/mormon/whitehorse.html</nowiki>
*Orson Hyde, [http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Journal_of_Discourses/Volume_6/Self-Government,_etc. ''Journal of Discourses'' 6:152].
*James Burgess, James Burgess Notebook, LDSCA, vol. 1 cited in Andrew F. Ehat and Lyndon W. Cook, ''The Words of Joseph Smith: The Contemporary Accounts of the Nauvoo Discourses of the Prophet Joseph'', p. 279.
*Sandra Tanner, "Joseph Smith's 'White Horse' Prophecy," <nowiki> http://wtlm.org/onlineresources/whitehorseprophecy.htm </nowiki>
}}
{{propaganda|This claim is nonsense. 
}}
{{:Question: Are the "Mormons" secretly planning to eventually take over the U.S. Government?}}

==Response to claim: xviii, 475n5 (HB) - The "White Horse" prophecy is a "dominant element" of Latter-day Saint belief==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=One Nation Under Gods
|claim=
The author claims that the "White Horse" prophecy is a "dominant element" of Latter-day Saint belief because LDS believe they will be "officers and administrators" during the period of Christ's millennial reign.
|authorsources=<br>
#Fred Esplin, "Mormon journalist and University of Utah spokesperson", "The Saints Go Marching On," ''Utah Holliday'', June 1981, 34.
}}
{{propaganda|The "White Horse" prophecy is not a "dominant element of the faith"...it isn't even discussed in Church!
}}
*[[../Use of sources/The Mormon Quest for Power|Use of sources: The Mormon Quest for Power]]
{{:Question: What is the "White Horse Prophecy?"}}

==Response to claim: xix (HB) - The author claims that various Church leaders have reiterated the "White Horse" prophecy over the years==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=One Nation Under Gods
|claim=
The author claims that various Church leaders have reiterated the "White Horse" prophecy over the years.
|authorsources=<br>
#<br>
*Brigham Young, [http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Journal_of_Discourses/Volume_2/The_Priesthood_and_Satan,_etc. ''Journal of Discourses'' 2:182].
*George Q. Cannon, [http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Journal_of_Discourses/Volume_23/Modern_Fulfillment_of_Ancient_Prophecy,_etc. ''Journal of Discourses'' 23:123; 23:104].
*Preston Nibley, ''Deseret News'', December 15, 1948 quoted in Ogden Kraut, ''The White Horse Prophecy'', 65 <nowiki>http:/www/kingdomofzion.org/doctrines/gospellibrary/kraut/kraut.html</nowiki>
}}
{{disinformation|The "White Horse prophecy" isn't discussed at church, nor is it even common knowledge.
}}
{{:Question: What do critics of the Church say about the "White Horse Prophecy"?}}
{{:Question: Will the U.S. Constitution eventually "hang by a thread"?}}
{{:Question: How have Church leaders reacted to the stories of the White Horse prophecy?}}
{{:Question: Does the "White Horse Prophecy" imply Church support for some candidates over others?}}

==Response to claim: xx, 479n10 (HB) xiv, 477n10 (PB) - Mormonism was ''perceived'' as a "radical, immoral, and un-American band of religious zealots"==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=One Nation Under Gods
|claim=
*Did Fred Esplin say that Mormonism ''existed'' as a "radical, immoral, and un-American band of religious zealots" as the hardback edition claims? (HB)
*Or, did Esplin say that Mormonism was ''perceived'' as a "radical, immoral, and un-American band of religious zealots" as the paperback edition claims? (PB)
|authorsources=<br>
#Fred Esplin, "Mormon journalist and University of Utah spokesperson", "The Saints Go Marching On," ''Utah Holliday'', June 1981, 33.
}}
{{propaganda|This is simply propaganda on the part of the author and his source.
}}
{{:Question: Was 19th century Mormonism perceived as a group of "radical, immoral, and un-American band of religious zealots"?}}
<!-- ====xx, 479n15 (HB) xiv, 477n15 (PB)====
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title={{check}}
|claim=Will Jesus Christ be setting up a theocracy in Missouri?
}}
*[[../../Use of Source/Christ Setting up a Theocracy in Missouri|Use of sources: Christ Setting up a Theocracy in Missouri]]
|authorsources=<br>
#*Bruce McConkie, Mormon Doctrine (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1958; second edition, 1966), 855. During a December 23, 1866 sermon, Brigham Young declared that at Christ's second coming, he would first appear in "the land of America" (Brigham Young, December 23, 1866, [http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Journal_of_Discourses/Volume_11/Union,_etc. ''Journal of Discourses'', vol. 11, 279].)
*Note: The hardback has the page number incorrectly specified as page 249, which was corrected to page 279 in the paperback.
}} -->

==Response to claim: xx, 479n17 (HB) - Everyone in the world will be forced to recognize "Mormonism" as "the one true" religion==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=One Nation Under Gods
|claim=
Everyone in the world will be forced to recognize "Mormonism" as "the one true" religion.
|authorsources=<br>
#{{JDfairwiki|author=Orson Hyde|vol=7|disc=7|start=53}}
}}
{{propaganda|That isn't what Orson Hyde said. Orson Hyde was using a bit of rhetoric when he said, "What the world calls "Mormonism" will rule every nation. Joseph Smith and Brigham Young will be the head. God has decreed it, and his own right arm will accomplish it."
}}

==Response to claim: xxi (HB); xiv (PB) - Did Joseph claim in History of the Church that other governments and religions "must eventually be destroyed from the earth"?==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=One Nation Under Gods
|claim=<br>
*Did Joseph claim in ''History of the Church'' that other governments and religions "must eventually be destroyed from the earth" as the hardback edition  claims? (HB) 
*Or, did Joseph claim that all non-Mormon nations "must eventually be destroyed from the earth" as the paperback edition claims? (PB) 
|authorsources=<br>
#''History of the Church'' 5:212
}}
{{misinformation|The quote from ''History of the Church'' says nothing about destroying "governments and religions."
}}
{{:Question: Did Joseph Smith claim that all governments and religions other than Mormonism would eventually be destroyed form the earth?}}

==Response to claim: xxiv (HB) - The Church refuses to divulge "routine" financial data that other religions are "happy to provide over the phone"==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=One Nation Under Gods
|claim=
The Church refuses to divulge "routine" financial data that other religions are "happy to provide over the phone."
|authorsources=<br>
#{{CriticalWork:Ostling:Mormon America|pages=115}}
}}
{{propaganda|This is simply a repeat of the Ostling's claim. The Church has no obligation to publicly disclose their finances.
}}

==Response to claim: xxiv (HB) xviii (PB) - Latter-day Saints believe that they are "morally, ethically, and spiritually superior" to non-members==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=One Nation Under Gods
|claim=
Latter-day Saints believe that they are "morally, ethically, and spiritually superior" to non-members.
|authorsources=<br>
#<br>
*Brigham Young, [http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Journal_of_Discourses/Volume_4/Necessity_for_Reformation_a_Disgrace,_etc. ''Journal of Discourses'', 4:269].
*Joseph Fielding Smith, ''Doctrines of Salvation'' 1:236
}}
{{misinformation|Brigham Young praises the people not for being morally, ethically, or spiritually superior, but for being more obedient to the word of the Lord through prophets.
}}
* [[../Use of sources/Morally, ethically, spiritually superior|Use of sources: Morally, ethically, spiritually superior?]]
{{:Question: Do Mormons actually believe that they are morally, ethically, spiritually superior to others?}}

{{endnotes sources}}



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