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Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Nauvoo Polygamy/Use of sources
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Index of claims | A FAIR Analysis of: Criticism of Mormonism/Books/Nauvoo Polygamy A work by author: George D. Smith
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Loaded and prejudicial language |
Contents
- 1 Misrepresentation of sources
- 1.1 Sarah Ann Whitney and the letter to the Whitneys
- 1.2 Items "briefly" and "obliquely" mentioned?
- 1.3 Missouri Saints' "redemption draweth near" reinterpreted to refer to the "end of the world"
- 1.4 "Without objection from Smith..."?
- 1.5 Latter-day Saint plural wives were "communal property"?
- 1.6 "Some kind of messenger..."
- 1.7 The "power of enchantment" and "hidden treasures of the earth"
- 1.8 "Skin color important in other LDS scriptures"
- 1.9 Joseph and Emma eloped in an atmosphere of "imaginative lore and mix of theology and magic"?
- 1.10 "she felt ashamed..."
- 1.11 "temtations" and Fanny Alger
- 1.12 "wonderful lustful spirit"
- 1.13 PP Pratt's murder "the proximate cause of MMM"
- 1.14 Second coming-Walker diary
- 1.15 "separate its troubles from their apparent causes"
- 2 Further reading
Misrepresentation of sources
Sarah Ann Whitney and the letter to the Whitneys
Items "briefly" and "obliquely" mentioned?
Reference | The claim... | The rest of the story... | Use of sources |
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5 | Danel Bachman and Ron Esplin's Encyclopedia of Mormonism entry on plural marriage briefly mention[s] the "rumors" of plural marriage in the 1830s and 1840s but only obliquely refer[s] to the teaching [of] new marriage and family arrangements | The Encyclopedia of Mormonism entry on Plural Marriage states:
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Comments
- The Encyclopedia of Mormonism entry is four pages long, and discusses the "rumors" and "new marriage and family arrangements" extensively, contrary to the author's assertion that they are only "briefly" and "obliquely" mentioned. It even mentions Joseph Smith's first plural wife: Fanny Alger.
Missouri Saints' "redemption draweth near" reinterpreted to refer to the "end of the world"
Reference | The claim... | The rest of the story... | Use of sources |
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9 | "…understandably hesitant to specify a precise date for the end of the world, Smith knew that 'our redemption draweth near.' " (emphasis added) | Appended to the Cowdery letter were a few lines by Joseph Smith. This postscript and a lengthy epistle dated August 18 contain Joseph Smith's initial reaction to news of the Missouri violence.
Kirtland Mills Ohio Aug 10th 1833. Dear Brethren, W, J, E, I, J, and S, and all others who are willing to lay down their lives for the cause of our Lord Jesus Christ: P.S. Brethren if I were with you I should take an active part in your sufferings, and although nature shrinks, yet my spirit would not let me forsake you unto death, God helping me. Oh be of good cheer, for our redemption draweth near. Oh, God save my brethren in Zion. Oh brethren give up all to God, forsake all for Christ's sake. J[oseph] S[mith] (emphasis added) |
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Comments
- Joseph's note is referring to the redemption of the Saints in Missouri and their deliverance from persecution. The quote has nothing to do with the "end of the world." This is a complete misreading of the source material.
"Without objection from Smith..."?
Reference | The claim... | The rest of the story... | Use of sources |
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10 | "Smith found him credible enough to converse with from 11:00 a.m. until evening when Smith invited him to stay for dinner." "Without objection from Smith, Matthias asserted: 'The silence spoken of by John the Revelator…is between 1830 & 1851…." (emphasis added) | The citation in context:
I then withdrew to transact some business with a gentleman who had called to see me, when Joshua informed my scribe that he was born in Cambridge, Washington County, New York. He says that all the railroads, canals, and other improvements are projected by the spirits of the resurrection. The silence spoken of by John the Revelator, which is to be in heaven for the space of half an hour, is between 1830 and 1851, during which time the judgments of God will be poured out, after that time there will be peace. Curiosity to see a man that was reputed to be a Jew, caused many to call during the day, and more particularly in the evening.... [After listening to what Matthias said] I told him that his doctrine was of the devil, that he was in reality in possession of a wicked and depraved spirit, although he professed to be the Spirit of truth itself; and he said also that he possessed the soul of Christ. He tarried until Wednesday, 11th, when, after breakfast, I told him, that my God told me, that his god was the devil, and I could not keep him any longer, and he must depart. And so I, for once, cast out the devil in bodily shape, and I believe a murderer."
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Comments
- Joseph was simply relating what "Matthias" said to him—he wasn't offering an opinion on whether or not he believed it was true. This states absolutely nothing about what Joseph Smith believed about the "end of the world."
- As an example of how the author distorts this, suppose we take the sentence immediately preceding the one that the author chose and apply the same logic. We would have: "Without objection from Smith, Matthias asserted: 'that all the railroads, canals, and other improvements are projected by the spirits of the resurrection.'"
- The author completely ignores the fact that Joseph said that Matthias' "doctrine was of the devil" and that Joseph sent him on his way, instead implying that Matthias was "credible enough"—A complete reversal of meaning!
Latter-day Saint plural wives were "communal property"?
Reference | The claim... | The rest of the story... | Use of sources |
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11 | According to the author:
Robert Matthews "advocated what he called a 'community of property and of wives,' in a more 'spiritual generation.' Mormons avoided the idiom but not the practice." "…Mormon communal practices extended to property as well as to marriage." |
From the source, Van Wagoner:
Another practicioner of spiritual wifery was Robert Matthews, alias "Matthias the Prophet." Matthews announced that "all marriages not made by himself, and according to his doctrine, were of the devil, and that he had come to establish a community of property, and of wives...After a brief prison sentence, Matthews turned up on Joseph Smith's doorstep in Kirtland as "Joshua, the Jewish Minister." Smith's account of the two day meeting is sketchy, but apparently Matthews was sent on his way after a disagreement on the "transmigration of the soul." |
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Comments
- Where, exactly, does one use this statement from the source to draw the conclusion that Latter-day Saints treated wives as "community property?" The source describes Matthews' views of communal marriage—not Joseph Smith's.
"Some kind of messenger..."
Reference | The claim... | The rest of the story... | Use of sources |
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13 | Oliver Cowdery said Joseph wanted to "commune with some kind of messenger." |
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Comments
- One wonders, then, why this text was misquoted in this manner. It turns out that the same misquote exists in D. Michael Quinn's, Early Mormonism and the Magic World View, 125, 134. The author appears to be using Quinn's quotes and attributing to his sources without checking the primary source in order to make sure that Quinn got it right. And, since Quinn's intent was to portray Moroni in the idiom of "magic," it suited his purpose to call him "some kind of messenger," which makes it sound as if Joseph didn't know quite what to expect, or even the nature of the forces he was dealing with. In fact, Joseph was praying to God—a messenger from God to a sinful man would be kind, or merciful.
Reference | The claim... | The rest of the story... | Use of sources |
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13 | Oliver Cowdery said Joseph "had heard of the power of enchantment, and a thousand like stories, which held the hidden treasures of the earth." | Full text: "On attempting to take possession of the record a shock was produced upon his system, by an invisible power [page 197] which deprived him, in a measure, of his natural strength. He desisted for an instant, and then made another attempt, but was more sensibly shocked than before. What was the occasion of this he knew not-there was the pure unsullied record, as had been described-he had heard of the power of enchantment, and a thousand like stories, which held the hidden treasures of the earth, and supposed that physical exertion and personal strength was only necessary to enable him to yet obtain the object of his wish. He therefore made the third attempt with an increased exertion, when his strength failed him more than at either of the former times, and without premeditating he exclaimed, "Why can I not obtain this book?" "Because you have not kept the commandments of the Lord," answered a voice, within a seeming short distance." (emphasis added) |
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Comments
- Note that the phrase is removed from context in order to emphasize the words "enchantment" and "treasures of the earth." This is actually part of the story of Joseph's first attempt to remove the plates from the box, and any Latter-day Saint that sees it in context will recognize this.
- Once again, it is evident that the author does not check the primary sources. Instead, he quotes secondary sources and copies their sometimes erroneous citations without verifying whether or not they are correct.
"Skin color important in other LDS scriptures"
Reference | The claim... | The rest of the story... | Use of sources |
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14n34 | "Skin color was important in other LDS scriptures as well, and blacks of African ancestry were denied full participation in the church until 1978. Interestingly, the rhetoric underlying the theology may have resulted from 1830s Mormons trying to convince their neighbors in the slave state of Missouri that they were not abolitionists." | The author quotes Campbell, but does not represent his argument fairly. Campbell's argument is that LDS scripture is not about race (however some may have misconstrued it):
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Comments
- Thus, for Campbell, skin color is not important in LDS scripture—to read it that way is to misread it. The author has used Campbell as a reference for exactly the opposite point of view!
- It would be more accurate to say that skin color was important in pre-Civil War America, and so members sometimes read those ideas into the Book of Mormon text.
- The author's presumption that the Book of Mormon represents Joseph Smith's mind causes this misrepresentation—if the book is an authentic ancient text, it is unsurprising that it contains ideas which are foreign to the preoccupation with race in Joseph's day, as Campbell demonstrates. But, the author probably does not want his readers to come to that conclusion. They will never know about it, unless they check the source.
Joseph and Emma eloped in an atmosphere of "imaginative lore and mix of theology and magic"?
Reference | The claim... | The rest of the story... | Use of sources |
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22 | "Emma did not leave a diary, and her letters do not mention anything about Joseph's adolescence or later experiences with women...It was in a mysterious atmosphere of imaginative lore and a mix of theology and magic that Joseph and Emma eloped." | So what did Emma herself say about this? We have the following from an interview with her son, Joseph Smith III, February 1879:
"I was visiting <at> Mr [Josiah] Stowell's who lived in Bainbridge and saw your father there. I had no intention of marying when I left home; but during my visit at Mr Stowell's, your Father visited me there. My folks were bitterly opposed to him; and being importuned by your father, aided by Mr Stowell, and preferring to marry him than any one I Knew, I consented, we went to Squire Tarbeill's and were married. Afterwards when father found I was married he sent for us. The statement in mother [Lucy] S[mith]'[s] history is substantially correct as to date and place." (Vogel, "Emma Smith Bidamon Interview with Joseph Smith III, February 1879", Early Mormon Documents, 538. |
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Comments
- How does the author know this? Just prior to making this assumption, the author states that Emma left no diary and that she didn't mention anything about this period in their lives. This is all supposition—invented out of thin air.
- In the documented interview with Emma years later, there is no mention of any sort of "mysterious atmosphere of imaginative lore" and "magic."
"she felt ashamed..."
Reference | The claim... | The rest of the story... | Use of sources |
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31 | "Another future wife, Marinda Johnson, was fifteen when she met Smith in Ohio. She said when he looked into her eyes, she felt ashamed. At the time, the Smiths were living with Marinda's family…." | "When [Marinda and her sister] reached the family farm, they found, to their chagrin, that their parents had invited none other than Joseph Smith himself to a cottage worship meeting in their house, and that they had converted to Mormonism. Marinda remembers that she felt only 'indignation and shame' at her parents' belief in such a 'ridiculous fake.'
She did not want to attend the meeting, but her parents prevailed upon her, and she agreed reluctantly. That night, as she walked into the meeting room, 'The Prophet, raising his head, looked her full in the eye. With the greatest feeling of shame ever experienced, she felt her very soul laid bare before this man as she realized her thoughts concerning him. He smiled and her anger melted as snow before the sunshine. She knew he was what he claimed to be and never doubted him thereafter." (Compton, In Sacred Loneliness, 228). |
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Comments
- What is the author trying to imply...that Joseph made her ashamed? According to the source, Marinda felt "indignation and shame" that her parents had converted to Mormonism! When she met the Prophet, she felt ashamed for having had bad thoughts about him. The real question here is: What does this have at all to do with plural marriage simply because Marinda was "a future wife?"
- Note that the author does not tell story of Marinda's mother being healed of a palsied arm by Joseph (See Compton, In Sacred Loneliness, 230).
"temtations" and Fanny Alger
Reference | The claim... | The rest of the story... | Use of sources |
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"Joseph wrote in his journal on December 4, 1832, 'Oh, Lord, deliver thy servant out of temtations [sic] and fill his heart with wisdom and understanding.' If this was not in reference to Fanny Alger, it coincided with the report of two of Joseph's scribes, Warren Parrish and Oliver Cowdery, that Joseph had been 'found' in the hay with his housekeeper." |
Jessee notes that "The cause of McLellin's 1832 excommunication is not known...."[2] D. Michael Quinn, however, notes that McLellin was excommunicated in December 1832 for spending time with "a certain harlot" while on a mission.[3] This event, then, may have weighed on Joseph. And, the very next day, Joseph wrote that:
Joseph is by now less troubled than he has been over the last few days. In context, he may have been burdened by the necessity of disciplining McLellin and the other press of church business which his entry of December 3 describes. |
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Comments
- Note that the author tries to make Cowdery and Parrish witnesses of details reported only second- or third-hand by William McLellin. The author likewise says nothing about McLellin's checkered past.
"wonderful lustful spirit"
Reference | The claim... | The rest of the story... | Use of sources |
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327 | "Orson Hyde reported seeing a 'wonderful lustful spirit' on his visit to the polygamous Cochranite community….In 1834 he acquired his own lustful spirit in Marinda Johnson…." | The author is apparently trying to be cute. What he does not tell us is that Hyde’s attitude to the Cochranites’ free love was wholly negative, as his source for the journal indicates.[1] Wonderful is here not being used in the sense of “excit[ing] . . . admiration” but, rather, “strange; astonishing.” Elsewhere anxious that we not misunderstand Victorian idiom, G. D. Smith here provides the reader no help (pp. 41–42).[2] It is not clear that Hyde would have agreed that his marriage partook of the same “lustful spirit.” |
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Comments
- None
PP Pratt's murder "the proximate cause of MMM"
Reference | The claim... | The rest of the story... | Use of sources |
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333 | The murder of Parley P. Pratt was "the proximate cause of the Mountain Meadows Massacre." |
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Comments
- Far from being the proximate cause, Pratt's murder was a minor factor which played little role in the tragedy of Mountain Meadows. The author's attempt to make a murder related to polygamy into the proximate cause of the Mountain Meadows Massacre is ahistorical.
Second coming-Walker diary
Reference | The claim... | The rest of the story... | Use of sources |
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535 | "Joseph Smith had offered a time frame for Jesus' return, deciding that 'fifty-six years should wind up the scene and the Saviour should come to his people.' He made this assessment in February 1835." |
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Comments
- The author fails to tell us that 1890 was the year in which Joseph would be eighty-five years old. Joseph was clear elsewhere that he knew by revelation only that Christ would not come before that time, and frankly admitted that he didn't know whether this meant he would come then, or if he (Joseph) would die before that date.
"separate its troubles from their apparent causes"
Reference | The claim... | The rest of the story... | Use of sources |
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442 | "Instead of evaluating a difficult past in order not to repeat it, the church leadership tried to separate its troubles from their apparent causes." |
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Comments There is no basis to the claim that LDS leaders ignored the role which plural marriage caused in their difficulties. They could hardly forget it.
Further reading
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{{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 |
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{{To learn more box:responses to: Colby Townshed}} | To learn more about responses to: Colby Townshed | edit |
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{{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 |
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{{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: 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 |
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{{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 |
{{To learn more box:responses to: Jonathan Neville}} | To learn more about responses to: Jonathan Neville | edit |
{{To learn more box:responses to: Kurt Van Gorden}} | To learn more about responses to: Kurt Van Gorden | edit |
{{To learn more box:responses to: Laura King Newell and Valeen Tippetts Avery}} | To learn more about responses to: Laura King Newell and Valeen Tippetts Avery | edit |
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{{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 |
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{{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 |