Non-existent quotes/Haight: assistance of the moon

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Criticism

• Critics claim that Elder David B. Haight "reinvoked the astrological principle that people should 'do nothing without the assistance of the moon'" in a talk that he gave during General Conference in 1998.

Source(s) of the criticism

• Richard Abanes, Becoming Gods: A Closer Look at 21st-Century Mormonism (Harvest House Publishers: 2005). 352, n155. ( Index of claims )

Response

Becoming Gods makes this claim:

LDS Apostle David B. Haight "reinvoked the astrological principle that people should 'do nothing without the assistance of the moon'" (Quinn, Early Mormonism, p. 291). Haight's remark "do nothing without the assistance of the moon" was made during his lecture at the 168th Annual General Conference. But when the transcribe text of the speech was made available online through the LDS Church's offical Internet site, the phrase had been deleted." (emphasis added)

Conference talks are routinely edited before they are printed. General Authorities may make off-the-cuff remarks or inject other comments that may not make it into the final printed version. But this accusation is different: the author of this book is asserting that there was something removed in order to hide it, despite the fact that the phrase would have been heard by the entire conference, and the video of the talk recorded. These recordings are easily accessible in many LDS meeting house libraries, so it is a relatively simple task to check the validity of this claim.

So, was there a cover-up directed at removing an embarrassing "magic related" remark made by Elder Haight in front of the entire Church during a General Conference? The suspicious phrase "do nothing without the assistance of the moon" is actually singled out twice. To get to the bottom of this, we examine the published text of Elder Haight's talk and compare it of a transcript that was made from a video recording of the same talk.

And as we left that little meeting that evening and left that little farmhouse, there was a full moon shining down through the trees. And I said to Ruby, “I can imagine that on the night of April 6, 1830, after that small group had assembled, the Church had been organized, the six members had signed the necessary papers to see that it was recognized under the laws of the state of New York. And of the occasion was said what was prophesied, the future of the church, the testimony that would have been born. I said I would imagine that the night of April the 6th, 1830, the moon was shining showing that our Savior smiled upon that occasion and upon that setting. And later I said that to the little group and Brother Chamberlin who then was the director of the Hansen Planetarium in Salt Lake heard me say that. And he was thoughtful enough to get in touch with our, with our observatory, naval observatory, to find out what might have happened on April the 6th, 1830. They didn’t have records back that far and so he was thoughtful enough to contact in England the Naval Observatory and the records that might have been available over there and he later sent me some document-- documentar-- documentary indicating what was happening in the horizon in that week of April the 6th, 1830 and indicating on there that there was evidence that there was a full moon those days before and after and during April the 6th, 1830, which I have now as a prized possession that there was a full moon. The glories of the Lord had been poured out upon the occasion.

Transcription of live talk [April 1998 General Conference] from home recorded video in Rancho Cucamonga , CA Chaffey Ward church library.	Talk as printed in the Ensign: David B. Haight, “Live the Commandments,” Ensign, May 1998, 6	Comments
As we left our meeting that evening and left that little farmhouse, there was a full moon shining down through the trees. I said to Ruby,	Some minor grammar cleanup to remove the repetition of the phrase "that little."
“I can imagine the night of April 6, 1830, after that small group had assembled, the Church had been organized, and six men agreeable to its organization were present to be in harmony with the laws of the state of New York;	The phrase "agreeable to its organization" was added. The spoken phrase "recognized under the laws" was reworded to read "in harmony with the laws."
I can imagine what was said, what was prophesied about the future of the Church, and the testimonies that would have been borne.” Then I said, “I would imagine that on the night of April the 6th, 1830, there was a full moon shining, showing that our Savior was smiling upon that occasion and upon that setting.”	Grammar modifications.
Later I expressed that idea to a group where Brother Chamberlain, who then was the director of the Hansen Planetarium in Salt Lake, heard me say it. He was thoughtful enough to get in touch with the naval observatory to find out what might have happened on April the 6th, 1830.	Grammar cleanup
They didn’t have records back that far, so he was thoughtful enough to contact the Royal Observatory at Greenwich in England for records that might have been available over there. He later sent me some documents indicating what was happening in the horizon that week of April the 6th, 1830, indicating that there was a full or beautifully beaming moon those days before and after April the 6th. The glories of the Lord had been poured out upon the occasion.	Grammar again.

Conclusion

There is no question that the grammar of the talk was cleaned up. The question is: where is the phrase "do nothing without the assistance of the moon" that the author so carefully highlighted twice before claiming that it had been removed from the printed version of the talk? There is not other portion of this talk which makes any reference to the moon.

The bottom line: this is a false claim and a false accusation.

Endnotes

None

Further reading

FAIR web site

• FAIR Topical Guide: