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Revision as of 21:02, 15 May 2010
- REDIRECTTemplate:Test3
| Claims made in "Chapter 14: The Politics of Compromise" | A FAIR Analysis of: Criticism of Mormonism/Books A work by author: Richard Abanes
|
Claims made in "Chapter 16: Mormon Racism: Black Is Not Beautiful" |
Claims made in "Chapter 15: Making the Transition"
Exactly how many of today's Saints continue to harbor within their hearts this vow to take vengeance on the U.S. remains unclear, since it would be a secret not to be shared with outsiders. At the very least it may mean that when push comes to shove, every Mormon acquainted with the oath and taught to follow it will choose loyalty to the church (whatever form that may take) over loyalty to the United States.
—One Nation Under Gods, p. 335-336
331, 591n2 (PB)
Claim
- Did the number of plural marriages jumped "nearly five-fold" immediately after Utah gained statehood?
Author's source(s) - Kenneth L. Cannon II, "After the Manifesto: Mormon Polygamy 1890-1906," in D. Michael Quinn, ed., The New Mormon History, 203-204.
- A "five-fold" increase sounds like a lot. But, the number of marriages was small, so it doesn't take much to increase "five-fold." The author doesn't disclose that this increase was outside Utah. For figures and details, see Approved marriages 1890-1904.
- Misrepresentation of source: The author's source should alert him to this, since Cannon mentions "two marriages" being performed per year. These two marriages were not in the United States.
332
Claim
- Did Reed Smoot take an oath of vengeance against the United States because of their failure to come to the aid of the Saints when they were being persecuted?
Author's source(s) - No source provided. This is inferred by the book since Smoot had been through the temple.
- Temples/Endowment/Oath of vengeance
- The oath asked God to take vengeance for wicked acts, it did not bind Senator Smoot to do so.
334
Claim
- Did the concept of revenge play a "very prominent role" in early Latter-day Saints' beliefs?
- Doesn't the Bible condemn revenge?
Author's source(s) Response
- Temples/Endowment/Oath of vengeance
- The oath asked God to take vengeance for wicked acts—this is hardly unbiblical, since the Bible repeatedly promises that he will "avenge the blood of his servants" (Deuteronomy 32:43; see also Psalms 58:10, Psalms 94:, Isaiah 1:24, Jeremiah 46:10, Luke 18:17-18, Revelation 6:10). The Bible also has numerous examples of the righteous pleading for or declaring God's vengeance upon their enemies (e.g., 1 Samuel 24:12, Isaiah 35:4, Jeremiah 11:20, Jeremiah 50:15, Jeremiah 15:, Ezekiel 25:, 2 Thessalonians 1:8).
334, 592n10 (PB)
Claim
- In the 1800s, did Latter-day Saints "glorify vengeance" through the singing of hymns?
Author's source(s) - Sacred Hymns and Spiritual Songs (1871) off-site. Quoted in D. Michael Quinn, The Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power (Signature Books, 1997), 250 ( Index of claims )
- Misrepresentation of source: Use of sources: Vengeance hymns
335
Claim
- Where Latter-day Saints who served in positions in the U.S. government hindered by having taken an "oath of vengeance?"
- Author's quote: "One can only wonder how these persons have reconciled their sacred oath with their pledge of allegiance to America."
Author's source(s) - Main text mentions Ezra Taft Benson and Daken K. Broadhead.
- Temples/Endowment/Oath of vengeance
- Since many members of the Church have had distinguished service in government and apparently felt no conflict between their Church covenants and government service, this should perhaps alert the author (and his readers) the fact that he has misunderstood or misrepresented LDS doctrine and belief on this point.
- See and p. 332 and p. 334
335-336
Author's source(s)
- No sources provided. This is pure speculation on the part of the author.
336
Claim
- Do LDS church authorities believe that "non-Mormons are unfit to rule" and that Latter-day Saints are the only ones fit to rule the world?
Author's source(s) - No source provided.
- This claim is contradicted by LDS scripture: DC 98꞉10-11, DC 101꞉80, DC 134꞉1-12.
336, 593n17
Claim
- Did Church president Joseph F. Smith defend his "illegal cohabitation with five wives" during Senate testimony.
Author's source(s) - Proceedings, vol. 1, 129.
- President Smith was quite frank that to cohabitate violated the "rule" of the Church and the "law of the land," but refused to say that doing so violated the "law of the Church" (p. 128-129) He then explained:
- ...I was placed in this position. I had a plural family, if you please; that is, my first wife was married to me over thirty-eight years ago, my last wife was married to me over twenty years ago, and with these wives I had children, and I simply took my chances, preferring to meet the consequences of the law rather than to abandon my children and their mothers; and I have cohabited with my wives—not openly, that is, not in a manner that I thought would be offensive to my neighbors—but I have acknowledged them; I have visited them....I would have been willing to submit to the penalty of the law, whatever it might have been. (p. 129-130)
- Illegality and civil disobedience (non-wiki)
- Internal contradiction: Despite quoting this material, the author then claims (p. 339 that 200 pages later in the testimony that Pres. Smith "finally admits" he has broken the law. Yet, he frankly admitted it right up front.
337, 593n20
Claim
- Did Joseph F. Smith authorize polygamous marriages in Mexico and request that the records stay there so that they wouldn't be found during a search by U.S. officials?
Author's source(s) - Cannon II, 207.
- U.S. law does not apply to Mexico. Federal marshals have no jurisdiction over events which happened abroad.
339, 593n32
Claim
- Did Joseph F. Smith admit that he had broken the laws of the land and the laws of God?
Author's source(s) - Multiple preceding citations regarding Joseph F. Smith either sanctioning or denying plural marriage. [needs work]
- Proceedings, vol. 1, 334-335
- Internal contradiction: The author has already cited material (p. 336) more than 200 pages earlier in the testimony that had Pres. Smith admitting that by cohabitation he violated the "law of the land" and the "rule of the Church."
340, 594n42
Claim
- Were many polygamous marriages back-dated in church records so that it would look like they were performed before the Manifesto was issued?
Author's source(s) - Matthias Cowley, testimony before Quorum of the Twelve, 1911. Quoted in Samuel W. Taylor, Rocky Mountain Empire, 131.
- Note that this claims from the excommunication hearing of former apostle Matthias Cowley.
- Lying about polygamy? (non-wiki) (entire article)
341, 594n48-50
Claim
- Did Reed Smoot lie that he had never heard a discussion of plural marriage in his meetings with the apostles and that he had never "advised the promulgation of the practice of polygamy?"
Author's source(s) - Proceedings, vol. 3, 204.
- D. Michael Quinn, "Plural Marriages After The 1890 Manifesto," lecture delivered August 1991 at Bluffdale, Utah.
- "More than one student has suggested that the [Smoot hearings] constituted the most searching, and perhaps bigoted, congressional investigation of any religious body in American history."[1]
342, 594n53
Claim
- Did Joseph F. Smith face a "power struggle" within in the church hierarchy as a result of different opinions on polygamy?
Author's source(s) - Reed Smoot, letter to E.H. Callister, March 22, 1904. Quoted in Richard S. Van Wagoner, Mormon Polygamy: A History (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1989), 167.
- Joseph F. Smith's administration (non-wiki)
343, 594n54
Claim
- What was the "Second Manifesto" issued by Joseph F. Smith?
Author's source(s) - Joseph F. Smith, Conference Report, April 6, 1904, 74-75.
- Joseph F. Smith's administration (non-wiki)
- After the Second Manifesto (non-wiki)
351, n91
Claim
- Does the Church teach the the current practice of monogamy is only temporary and that polygamy will be reinstated when Christ returns?
Author's source(s) - The author quotes Bruce R. McConkie in Mormon Doctrine: "[T]he holy practice will commence again after the Second Coming of the Son of Man and the ushering in of the millennium." Citation given is McConkie, Mormon Doctrine (Salt Lake City:Bookcraft, 1958; second edition, 1966), 578.
- The author's claim is false: The Church has no position on whether polygamy will be reinstated. Some, like Elder McConkie believed that it would. Others believe not. In any case, Mormon Doctrine is not an official publication of the Church.
- The Church official website responded to the question, "Is polygamy gone forever from the Church?" by saying:
- We only know what the Lord has revealed through His prophets, that plural marriage has been stopped in the Church. Anything else is speculative and unwarranted.[2]
353
Claim
- Do Latter-day Saints have "underlying white supremacist beliefs?"
Author's source(s) - No source provided. Author's opinion.
- The author is claiming that the Church is white supremacist?
- Internal contradiction: p. 370 tells us that 'Mormons, by and large, were pleased that God had changed his mind at such a convenient time in history.' So, why were the Mormons happy about the revelation if their faith was composed of "underlying white supremacist beliefs"?
- Absurd claims
- Loaded and prejudicial language
- See Chapter 16 for much more of the same.
- [note] B. Carmon Hardy, Solemn Covenant: The Mormon Polygamous Passage (Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1992), 252–253.
- [note] "Polygamy: Questions and Answers With the Los Angeles Times," (31 May 2006) off-site (last accessed 15 January 2009).
Further reading
| Template code | Inserts this reference | Click to edit |
|---|---|---|
| {{To learn more box:responses to: 8: The Mormon Proposition}} | To learn more box:responses to: 8: The Mormon Proposition | edit |
| {{To learn more box:''Under the Banner of Heaven''}} | To learn more about responses to: Under the Banner of Heaven | edit |
| {{To learn more box:responses to: Robert Price}} | To learn more about responses to: Robert Price | edit |
| {{To learn more box:responses to: Ankerberg and Weldon}} | To learn more about responses to: Ankerberg and Weldon | edit |
| {{To learn more box:responses to: Ashamed of Joseph}} | To learn more about responses to: Ashamed of Joseph | edit |
| {{To learn more box:responses to: Beckwith and Moser}} | To learn more about responses to: Beckwith and Moser | edit |
| {{To learn more box:responses to: Beckwith and Parrish}} | To learn more about responses to: Beckwith and Parrish | edit |
| {{To learn more box:responses to: Benjamin Park}} | To learn more about responses to: Benjamin Park | edit |
| {{To learn more box:responses to: Bible versus Joseph Smith}} | To learn more about responses to: Bible versus Joseph Smith | edit |
| {{To learn more box:responses to: Bible versus Book of Mormon}} | To learn more about responses to: Bible versus Book of Mormon | edit |
| {{To learn more box:responses to: ''Big Love''}} | To learn more about responses to: Big Love | edit |
| {{To learn more box:responses to: Brett Metcalfe}} | To learn more about responses to: Brett Metcalfe | edit |
| {{To learn more box:responses to: Bill Maher}} | To learn more about responses to: Bill Maher | edit |
| {{To learn more box:responses to: Bruce H. Porter}} | To learn more about responses to: Bruce H. Porter | edit |
| {{To learn more box:responses to: Carol Wang Shutter}} | To learn more about responses to: Carol Wang Shutter | edit |
| {{To learn more box:responses to: CES Letter}} | To learn more about responses to: CES Letter | edit |
| {{To learn more box:responses to: Charles Larson}} | To learn more about responses to: Charles Larson | edit |
| {{To learn more box:responses to: Christopher Nemelka}} | To learn more about responses to: Christopher Nemelka | edit |
| {{To learn more box:responses to: Colby Townshed}} | To learn more about responses to: Colby Townshed | edit |
| {{To learn more box:responses to: Contender Ministries}} | To learn more about responses to: Contender Ministries | edit |
| {{To learn more box:responses to: Crane and Crane}} | To learn more about responses to: Crane and Crane | edit |
| {{To learn more box:responses to: D. Michael Quinn}} | To learn more about responses to: D. Michael Quinn | edit |
| {{To learn more box:responses to: Dan Vogel}} | To learn more about responses to: Dan Vogel | edit |
| {{To learn more box:responses to: David John Buerger}} | To learn more about responses to: David John Buerger | edit |
| {{To learn more box:responses to: David Persuitte}} | To learn more about responses to: David Persuitte | edit |
| {{To learn more box:responses to: Denver Snuffer}} | To learn more about responses to: Denver Snuffer | edit |
| {{To learn more box:responses to: Dick Bauer}} | To learn more about responses to: Dick Bauer | edit |
| {{To learn more box:responses to: Duwayne R Anderson}} | To learn more about responses to: Duwayne R Anderson | edit |
| {{To learn more box:responses to: Earl Wunderli}} | To learn more about responses to: Earl Wunderli | edit |
| {{To learn more box:responses to: Ed Decker}} | To learn more about responses to: Ed Decker | edit |
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| {{To learn more box:responses to: Ernest Taves}} | To learn more about responses to: Ernest Taves | edit |
| {{To learn more box:responses to: Fawn Brodie}} | To learn more about responses to: Fawn Brodie | edit |
| {{To learn more box:responses to: George D Smith}} | To learn more about responses to: George D Smith | edit |
| {{To learn more box:responses to: Grant Palmer}} | To learn more about responses to: Grant Palmer | edit |
| {{To learn more box:responses to: Hank Hanegraaff}} | To learn more about responses to: Hank Hanegraaff | edit |
| {{To learn more box:responses to: Hurlbut-Howe}} | To learn more about responses to: Hurlbut-Howe | edit |
| {{To learn more box:responses to: James Brooke}} | To learn more about responses to: James Brooke | edit |
| {{To learn more box:responses to: James Spencer}} | To learn more about responses to: James Spencer | edit |
| {{To learn more box:responses to: James White}} | To learn more about responses to: James White | edit |
| {{To learn more box:responses to: Jerald and Sandra Tanner}} | To learn more about responses to: Jerald and Sandra Tanner | edit |
| {{To learn more box:responses to: Jesus Christ-Joseph Smith or Search for the Truth DVD}} | To learn more about responses to: Jesus Christ-Joseph Smith or Search for the Truth DVD | edit |
| {{To learn more box:responses to: John Dehlin}} | To learn more about responses to: John Dehlin | edit |
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| {{To learn more box:responses to: Loftes Tryk aka Lofte Payne}} | To learn more about responses to: Loftes Tryk aka Lofte Payne | edit |
| {{To learn more box:responses to: Luke WIlson}} | To learn more about responses to: Luke WIlson | edit |
| {{To learn more box:responses to: Marquardt and Walters}} | To learn more about responses to: Marquardt and Walters | edit |
| {{To learn more box:responses to: Martha Beck}} | To learn more about responses to: Martha Beck | edit |
| {{To learn more box:responses to: Mcgregor Ministries}} | To learn more about responses to: Mcgregor Ministries | edit |
| {{To learn more box:responses to: McKeever and Johnson}} | To learn more about responses to: McKeever and Johnson | edit |
| {{To learn more box:responses to: New Approaches}} | To learn more about responses to: New Approaches to the Book of Mormon | edit |
| {{To learn more box:responses to: Richard Abanes}} | To learn more about responses to: Richard Abanes | edit |
| {{To learn more box:responses to: Richard Van Wagoner}} | To learn more about responses to: Richard Van Wagoner | edit |
| {{To learn more box:responses to: Richard and Joan Ostling}} | To learn more about responses to: Richard and Joan Ostling | edit |
| {{To learn more box:responses to: Rick Grunger}} | To learn more about responses to: Rick Grunger | edit |
| {{To learn more box:responses to: Robert Ritner}} | To learn more about responses to: Robert Ritner | edit |
| {{To learn more box:responses to: Rod Meldrum}} | To learn more about responses to: Rod Meldrum | edit |
| {{To learn more box:responses to: Roger I Anderson}} | To learn more about responses to: Roger I Anderson | edit |
| {{To learn more box:responses to: Ronald V. Huggins}} | To learn more about responses to: Ronald V. Huggins | edit |
| {{To learn more box:responses to: Sally Denton}} | To learn more about responses to: Sally Denton | edit |
| {{To learn more box:responses to: Simon Southerton}} | To learn more about responses to: Simon Southerton | edit |
| {{To learn more box:responses to: Thomas Murphy}} | To learn more about responses to: Thomas Murphy | edit |
| {{To learn more box:responses to: Todd Compton}} | To learn more about responses to: Todd Compton | edit |
| {{To learn more box:responses to: Vernal Holley}} | To learn more about responses to: Vernal Holley | edit |
| {{To learn more box:responses to: Walter Martin}} | To learn more about responses to: Walter Martin | edit |
| {{To learn more box:responses to: Wesley Walters}} | To learn more about responses to: Wesley Walters | edit |
| {{To learn more box:responses to: Will Bagley}} | To learn more about responses to: Will Bagley | edit |