View source for Criticism of Mormonism/Books/One Nation Under Gods/Chapter 8

{{FairMormon}} 
{{H1
|L=Criticism of Mormonism/Books/One Nation Under Gods/Chapter 8
|H=Response to claims made in "Chapter 8: Big Trouble In Little Missouri"
|T=[[../../|One Nation Under Gods]]
|A=Richard Abanes
|<=[[../Chapter 7|Claims made in "Chapter 7: Woe In Ohio"]]
|>=[[../Chapter 9|Claims made in "Chapter 9: March to Martyrdom"]]
}}
{{ChartOneNationUnderGodsChapter8}}
<onlyinclude>
{{H2
|L=Criticism of Mormonism/Books/One Nation Under Gods/Chapter 8
|H=Response to claims made in One Nation Under Gods, "Chapter 8: Big Trouble In Little Missouri"
|S=
|L1=Response to claim: 147 - The author claims that "Twenty-first century Mormonism" promotes the idea that Cain, Abel, Jared, Enoch, Methuselah, and Noah lived in Missouri
|L1=Response to claim: 150, 535n18 (PB) - Did Oliver Cowdery accuse Joseph of having a "dirty, nasty, filthy affair" with Fanny Alger?
|L2=Response to claim: 151, 537n29-33 (PB) - Did Joseph allow the formation of the Danites?
|L3=Response to claim: 151, 537n35-36 (PB) - Did Sidney Rigdon give public approval to the Danites during a speech he delivered on June 17, 1838?
|L4=Response to claim: 537n30 (PB) - "Such historical revisionism is typical of Mormon historians, who must at all costs, preserve the integrity of early Mormon leaders"
|L5=Response to claim: 152, 538n39 (PB) - Did Joseph write in his private journal that he was aware of the Danite's purpose?
|L6=Response to claim: 155 - "The Missourians actually seemed committed to continuing their pursuit of a peaceful co-existence with the Mormons"
|L7=Response to claim: 156 - Did Latter-day Saints plan to "take over" by voting?
|L8=Response to claim: 156-157, 539n61 (PB) - the Saints were "horse thieves, liars, counterfeiters, and dupes"
|L9=Response to claim: 159 - According to the author, after driving the Saints from their homes, Bogart started to threaten the Saints "in their own territory"
|L10=Response to claim: 167 - "the evidence clearly revealed that Joseph had directed most, if not all, of the illegal activities in which the Saints had been engaged"
}}
</onlyinclude>

<!-- ====146 - "the Mormons suddenly could not remember making an agreement to limit their settlements to one county"====
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=One Nation Under Gods
|claim=
{{AuthorQuote|"But after Smith arrived, the Mormons suddenly could not remember making an agreement to limit their settlements to one county."}}
|authorsources=<br>
#None
}}
{{propaganda|The author employs sarcasm.
}} 
*[[../../Sarcasm|Sarcasm]] -->
<!--
====146, 534n7====
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|claim=
*{{AuthorQuote|"While on a bluff overlooking the waterway, a member of his party discovered a rocky formation vaguely reminiscent of an ancient altar. Joseph gazed at the rocks, then noticed the lush prarie stretching out before him..."}}
}}
{{propaganda|The author is rewriting Fawn Brodie's prose. 

Brodie, p. 211: "On a high bluff overlooking the river someone in the party discovered the ruins of what seemed to be an altar and excitedly led the prophet to it. After examining it, Joseph stood silent, his eye sweeping over the prarie that rolled away beneath him..."
*[[../../Rewording secondary sources|Rewording secondary sources]]
|authorsources=<br>
#Endnote 7 simply states: "This event occurred c. June 1838 at Spring Hill, MO."
*Brodie is not cited as a secondary source, nor are any primary sources cited.
}}
-->

==Response to claim: 147 - The author claims that "Twenty-first century Mormonism" promotes the idea that Cain, Abel, Jared, Enoch, Methuselah, and Noah lived in Missouri==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=One Nation Under Gods
|claim=
The author claims that "Twenty-first century Mormonism" promotes the idea that Cain, Abel, Jared, Enoch, Methuselah, and Noah lived in Missouri.
|authorsources=<br>
#No source provided.
}}
{{misinformation|It would be safe to say that ''Twenty-first'' century Latter-day Saints rarely discuss this issue. ''Nineteenth century'' and early ''twentieth century'' Latter-day Saints may have speculated on this.
}}

==Response to claim: 150, 535n18 (PB) - Did Oliver Cowdery accuse Joseph of having a "dirty, nasty, filthy affair" with Fanny Alger?==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=One Nation Under Gods
|claim=
Did Oliver Cowdery accuse Joseph of having a "dirty, nasty, filthy affair" with Fanny Alger?
|authorsources=<br>
#Oliver Cowdery, letter to Warren Cowdery, January 21, 1838.
}}
{{information|Oliver did accuse Joseph of such activities.
}}
{{:Question: Did some of Joseph Smith's associates believe that Joseph Smith had an affair with Fanny Alger?}}

==Response to claim: 151, 537n29-33 (PB) - Did Joseph allow the formation of the Danites?==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=One Nation Under Gods
|claim=
Did Joseph allow the formation of the Danites?
|authorsources=<br>
#Hill 75.
*William Edwin Berrett, ''The Restored Church'', 198.
*Sampson Avard, ''Correspondence, Orders'', 97-98.
*Winn, 123.
*David Whitmer, ''An Address to All Believers in Christ'', 27-28.
}}
{{information|Joseph was aware of the Danites when they opposed dissenters in the Church. Joseph rejected the Danite band and their activities once he learned that they were plundering.
}}
*Leland Gentry, [http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/byustudies&CISOPTR=460&REC=6 The Danite Band of 1838], ''BYU Studies'' 14/4 (1974): 421—50.
{{:Question: Did Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon support the formation of a vigilante band called the Danites?}}

==Response to claim: 151, 537n35-36 (PB) - Did Sidney Rigdon give public approval to the Danites during a speech he delivered on June 17, 1838?==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=One Nation Under Gods
|claim=
Did Sidney Rigdon give public approval to the Danites during a speech he delivered on June 17, 1838?
|authorsources=<br>
*Winn, 124.
*Reed Peck, ''Reed Peck Manuscript'', 3.
}}
{{misinformation|Rigdon did not mention the Danite band in his speech, although it may have inspired them to act.
}}
*Leland Gentry, [http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/byustudies&CISOPTR=460&REC=6 The Danite Band of 1838], ''BYU Studies'' 14/4 (1974): 421—50.
{{:Question: When was the Danite band formed and why?}}

==Response to claim: 537n30 (PB) - "Such historical revisionism is typical of Mormon historians, who must at all costs, preserve the integrity of early Mormon leaders"==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=One Nation Under Gods
|claim=
{{AuthorQuote|"Such historical revisionism is typical of Mormon historians, who must at all costs, preserve the integrity of early Mormon leaders."}}
|authorsources=<br>
#Author's opinion.
}}
*[[../Loaded and prejudicial language|Loaded and prejudicial language]]
{{Disinformation}} The author is expressing his negative opinion as if it were fact.

==Response to claim: 152, 538n39 (PB) - Did Joseph write in his private journal that he was aware of the Danite's purpose?==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=One Nation Under Gods
|claim=
Did Joseph write in his private journal that he was aware of the Danite's purpose? Were these words then crossed out so that they wouldn't appear in the history of the Church?
}}
{{information|Joseph Smith's journal entry for 27 July 1838 shows that he was familiar with the Danites and that he believed that their objective was to "put to rights physically that which is not right" and to "cleanse the Church of very great evils." This likely refers to the encouragement of dissenters to leave the county. The entry in the journal is definitely crossed out, although the reason for this is not stated.
|authorsources=<br>
#Joseph Smith, ''Missouri Journal, 1838, March to September'', under July 27, 1838. Reprinted in Jessee, ''The Papers of Joseph Smith'', vol. 2, 262.
}}
<blockquote>
27 July 1838  Friday

July 27th some time past the bretheren or saints have come up day after day to consecrate, and to bring their offerings into the store house of the lord, to prove him now herewith and se[e] if he will not pour us out a blessings that there will not be room enough to contain it,167 They have come up hither Thus far, according to the ord[e]r of the Dan-Ites, we have a company of Danites in these times, to put to rights physically that which is not righ[t], and to clense the Church of verry great evils which hath hitherto existed among us, inasmuch as they cannot be put  to rights by teachings & persuaysons,168  This company or a part of them exibited on  the fourth day of July
They come up to consecrate, by companies of tens, commanded by their Captain over ten.<ref>[http://josephsmithpapers.org/paperSummary/journal-march-september-1838 "Journal, March–September 1838,"] ''The Joseph Smith Papers''</ref>
</blockquote>
[[File:Missouri journal 27 July 1838 crossed out section.jpg|frame|center|600px|Joseph Smith's "Missouri Journal," 27 July 1838 with the crossed out section that discusses the Danites]]
See also Leland Gentry, [http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/byustudies&CISOPTR=460&REC=6 The Danite Band of 1838], ''BYU Studies'' 14/4 (1974): 421—50.

<!-- ====154, 538n49 (PB)====
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title={{check}}
|claim=D. Michael Quinn claimed that the Danites numbered between 800 and 1000 people.
}}
*[[Danites]]
*Leland Gentry, [http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/byustudies&CISOPTR=460&REC=6 The Danite Band of 1838], ''BYU Studies'' 14/4 (1974): 421—50.
|authorsources=<br>
#{{CriticalWork:Quinn:Mormon Hierarchy|pages=479-485}}
}} -->

==Response to claim: 155 - "The Missourians actually seemed committed to continuing their pursuit of a peaceful co-existence with the Mormons"==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=One Nation Under Gods
|claim=
{{AuthorQuote|"The Missourians actually seemed committed to continuing their pursuit of a peaceful co-existence with the Mormons."}}
|authorsources=<br>
#Author's opinion.
}}
*[[../Absurd claims#155|Absurd claims]]
{{disinformation|The claim is absurd. The Missourians had drawn up a manifesto calling for the Mormons to be driven out.
}}

<!-- ====156====
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title={{check}}
|claim=After Sidney Rigdon's July 4th sermon in Far West, the author claims that "long-buried suspicions were raised and old prejudices renewed."
}}
*[[../Absurd claims#156|Absurd claims]]
|authorsources=<br>
#Author's opinion
}} -->

==Response to claim: 156 - Did Latter-day Saints plan to "take over" by voting?==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=One Nation Under Gods
|claim=
Did Latter-day Saints plan to "take over" by voting?
|authorsources=<br>
#Author's opinion.
}}
{{propaganda|This is an absurd claim. Does anyone plan to "take over" when they exercise their right to vote? Isn't the entire point of voting to be able to participate in the process of selecting those who will govern us?
}}
*[[../Loaded and prejudicial language|Loaded and prejudicial language]]

==Response to claim: 156-157, 539n61 (PB) - the Saints were "horse thieves, liars, counterfeiters, and dupes"==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=One Nation Under Gods
|claim=
{{AuthorQuote|"...calling their attention to the fact that the Saints were 'horse thieves, liars, counterfeiters, and dupes.'"}}
|authorsources=<br>
#LeSueur, 61.
}}
{{disinformation| This is not a "fact" as implied by the author.
}}
*[[../Loaded and prejudicial language|Loaded and prejudicial language]]

==Response to claim: 159 - According to the author, after driving the Saints from their homes, Bogart started to threaten the Saints "in their own territory"==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=One Nation Under Gods
|claim=
According to the author, after driving the Saints from their homes, Bogart started to threaten the Saints "in their own territory."
|authorsources=<br>
#Author's statement.
}}
{{propaganda|The author implies that those "Mormons" who were driven "from their homes" were ''not'' living "in their own territory."
}}
*[[../Absurd claims|Absurd claims]]

<!-- ====166====
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title={{check}}
|claim=The book fails to mention how General Lucas ordered Alexander Doniphan to execute Joseph Smith and other Church leaders at Far West, and how Doniphan refused to do so because he considered it "cold blooded murder."
}}
*[[../../Notable omissions|Notable omissions]]
|authorsources=<br>
#N/A
}} -->

==Response to claim: 167 - "the evidence clearly revealed that Joseph had directed most, if not all, of the illegal activities in which the Saints had been engaged"==
{{IndexClaimItemShort
|title=One Nation Under Gods
|claim=
{{AuthorQuote|"...the evidence clearly revealed that Joseph had directed most, if not all, of the illegal activities in which the Saints had been engaged."}}
|authorsources=<br>
#Author's opinion.
}}
{{disinformation|This is the author's opinion, with no evidence to support it.
}}
*[[../Loaded and prejudicial language|Loaded and prejudicial language]]
{{endnotes sources}}



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