Utah War 150 year anniversary

The Utah State Historical society has noted that the Years 2007 and 2008 Mark the Seminal Event in Utah History Known as the UTAH WAR.  This short article by Richard D. Poll is a great introduction to the Utah War (1857-1858).

Mormonism, anarchism and pacifism.

Latter Day nod to anarchy
New publication echoes 'radical elements' in effort to promote justice


William Van Wagenen is too modest to compare himself to the famed activist and journalist Dorothy Day, who launched the Catholic worker movement in the 1930s. But his ambitions are no less audacious.

Just as Day did for Catholics, Van Wagenen would like to awaken Mormons to the "virtually forgotten radical elements" of their doctrine and history - namely, the mandate to "have no poor among you."

To that end, the 29-year-old Salt Lake City stockbroker and several friends have just published the first edition of The Mormon Worker, a bimonthly newspaper devoted to "promoting Mormonism, anarchism and pacifism."

The editors, all active members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, will not criticize the LDS hierarchy or institution but plan to provide "radical religious commentary on current political and economic events."

Those behind The Mormon Worker are among a small, but growing number of Latter-day Saints bucking the stereotype of church members as Republican, hawkish on the war and devoted to capitalism.


The rest of the Salt Lake Tribune article by Peggy Fletcher Stack can be read  here.

J. Golden Kimball lecture

"The William A. Wilson Folklore Archive at Brigham Young University's Harold B. Lee Library on Nov. 28 will hold its fifth annual Founder's Lecture, "J. Golden Kimball in Mormon Folklore," at 7 p.m. in the library auditorium.

"The speaker will be Eric A. Eliason, an associate professor of English who teaches folklore and Mormon literature. He recently published a book of rare stories, anecdotes and jokes by or about Kimball titled "The J. Golden Kimball Stories." Renowned for being outspoken and somewhat irreverent, Kimball was one of the most colorful leaders in the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The Deseret news article continues here.

What Women Know

Excerpt from http://whatwomenknow.org:

"In October 2007, Julie B. Beck, president of the Latter-day Saint women's organization, the Relief Society, gave a speech in the semiannual worldwide General Conference titled "Mothers Who Know." Beck's focus on LDS families, and more particularly on the role and influence of mothers, is a subject close to our hearts.

"Who are we? We are women who differ in age, income, race/ethnicity, and marital status. Many of us are mothers, some with exceptionally large families. Some of us are grandmothers and great-grandmothers many times over. Some are young mothers, with infants and elementary-age children. Others of us—for reasons of biology, opportunity, or choice—do not have children. Some of us have never married. Some of us are single because of divorce or widowhood. A few of us have been with the same partner more than 50 years. We all work—paid or unpaid, both inside and outside our homes. We share many decades of church service among us. In fact, our LDS background is our common denominator.

"Several ideas within the body of President Beck's talk conflict with our inspiration and experience. We are authors of our own lives, and this is the story we know to be true:

Anti-Mormon "push poll" attack against Romney

Jill Zuckman at the Chicago Tribune reports That a negative "push poll" points out uncomfortable aspects of Mormonism to those polled.  It appears that it is also designed to implicate John McCain's campaign as the originator of the poll.  Excerpts of the article follow:

The GOP presidential campaigns of Mitt Romney and John McCain -- rocked
in different ways by a highly negative "push poll" targeting Romney's
Mormon faith -- demanded Friday that the New Hampshire attorney general
investigate who is behind the tactic.

As part of the poll, which began Sunday, callers have been asking voters
in Iowa and New Hampshire whether they know that Romney is a Mormon,
that his five sons did not serve in the military and that Mormons
believe the Book of Mormon is superior to the Bible.

The callers also inquire whether voters are aware that Romney, the
former Massachusetts governor, accepted deferments to avoid military
service in Vietnam while he was on a mission with other young Mormons in
France.

At the beginning of the 20-minute survey, voters are asked whether they
are aware of McCain's decorated military service during Vietnam. That
has led many voters to assume the poll was sponsored by the Arizona
senator's campaign. But McCain's campaign immediately denounced the
effort and insisted it had nothing to do with it.

"Whoever did this wanted to hurt us by implication," said Mark Salter, a
senior aide to McCain. "That's why we were very forceful."

Romney's supporters have long feared that a shadowy whispering campaign
would arise at some point targeting his Mormon faith. The new push poll
may be the most explicit anti-Mormon message to emerge in the campaign so far.

Journal of Mormon History: Fall 2007

Journal of Mormon History
Fall 2007 (Vol. 33, No. 3)

"The Mormon Hierarchy and the MX" (Jacob W. Olmstead)
"Wht E'er Thou Art, Act Well Thy Part: John Allan's Albany Crescent Stone" (Matthew W. Richardson)
"A Mormon Bigfoot: David Patten's Cain and the Concept of Evil in LDS Folklore" (Matthew Bowman)
"'Howard and Moartha Coray: Chroniclers of the Words and Life of the Prophet Joseph Smith" (Elizabeth Ann Anderson)
"'The Spirit of the Place': The Clifford Family and the Joseph Smith Memorial Farm" (Susan L. Fales)

Church statement regarding the modification of introduction to the Book of Mormon

From  an article in the Deseret News:

"The current Introduction page in the Book of Mormon was not part of the original text translated by Joseph Smith, Jr. The Introduction was written and published at the same time additional materials including footnotes and cross references were added in 1981. A one-word change was made to the Introduction in the latest edition of the Book of Mormon published by Doubleday. That change takes into account details of Book of Mormon demography which are not known. The change will be included in the next edition of the Book of Mormon printed by the Church."

Publicizing Good Works

Excerpts from a church editorial, "Publicizing Good Works "

...

Faced with the dilemma between publicizing the good works and results of its worldwide humanitarian efforts on the one hand and appearing self-promotional on the other, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints attempts to find a balance and walk that fine line.

While the many humanitarian workers around the world go about their business humbly and modestly, they inescapably attract media attention. Though this is not the intention of the efforts, it raises the awareness of people across the globe to real problems facing God's children.

If publicity contributes to this result, then that is an unqualified good thing. Nevertheless, drawing media attention to these efforts for its own sake is not the intention and works against the spirit of the effort itself. Therefore, the Church lets media attention come as a natural byproduct of the efforts themselves and does not try to force this awareness as some kind of missionary push or as an effort to seek public validation.

This humanitarian aid is supported by generous donations from individuals, corporations and foundations, many of which are associated with the Church, but not necessarily so. Thus, in the interest of showing how these donations are put to use, the Church sometimes considers it appropriate to provide a full picture of the progress and success of its various humanitarian projects. Furthermore, publicizing the logistics of emergency response projects that provide help during high-profile national and local emergencies allows people to respond to imminent crises, puts them in a better position to help those around them and motivates others to prepare for future disasters.

Publicizing of these efforts helps create a culture and environment that place value on Christian service. It also fosters valuable partnerships between the Church and various other humanitarian organizations that have a mutual interest in sharing best practices, methods and strategies.

Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, Winter 2007

Volume 40 No. 4 / Winter 2007
Levi S. Peterson, editor

A Defense of the Authority of Church Doctrine
by Nathan Oman, pg. 1

The Gospel in Communication: A Conversation with Communication Theorist John Durham Peters
by Ethan Yorgason, pg. 29

"The Other" in the Limelight: One Perspective on the Publicity Surrounding the New LDS Temple in Finland
by Kim B. Östman, pg. 71

Complete Table of Contents

Papers of Brigham Young's personal clerk come to light

The papers of John Varah Long have been obtained by rare book dealer Ken Sanders.  Because Long was Brigham Young's personal clerk, the documents are being called "one of the most important discoveries of LDS documents in recent times."  It will take some time to to decipher the documents because they are written in a rare 19th century short hand. The most recent discovery in the papers are some previously unknown poems from Eliza R. Snow, former general relief society president and "Zion's Poetess."  Historians eagerly await more information as the papers are slowly decyphered.

Long fell out of favor with Brigham and was excommunicated.  Some speculate that Long's drowning in a ditch with just a few inches of water is suspicious. He was last seen with Wild Bill Hickman, Brigham's destroying angel.

Another change identified

At JuvenileInstructor, David Grua noticed that there is another change in the intro to the Book of Mormon, and Christopher put a  history of changes together.  Apparently thinking regarding what the Book of Mormon is, has been evolving over time, as these changes seem to suggest.  Recall other recent changes;  the title added "Another Testament of Jesus Christ" and another modification softened a statement regarding skin color and righteousness.

Here are David Grua's notes with the modified or missing words in bold.

The Book of Mormon is a volume of holy scripture comparable to the Bible.  It is a record of God's dealings with the ancient inhabitants of the Americas and contains, as does the Bible, the fulness of the everlasting gospel.

The book was written by many ancient prophets by the spirit of prophecy and revelation. Their words, written on gold plates, were quoted and abridged by a prophet-historian named Mormon.  The record gives an account of two great civilizations.  One came from Jerusalem in 600 B.C., and afterward separated into two nations, known as the Nephites and the Lamanites.  The other came much earlier when the Lord confounded the tongues at the Tower of Babel.  This group is known as the Jaredites.  After thousands of years, all were destroyed except the Lamanites, and they are the principal ancestors of the American Indians.

2004 (New York: Doubleday First Edition)

The Book of Mormon is a volume of holy scripture comparable to the Bible.  It is a record of God's dealings with the ancient inhabitants of the Americas and contains the fulness of the everlasting gospel.

The book was written by many ancient prophets by the spirit of prophecy and revelation. Their words, written on gold plates, were quoted and abridged by a prophet-historian named Mormon.  The record gives an account of two great civilizations.  One came from Jerusalem in 600 B.C., and afterward separated into two nations, known as the Nephites and the Lamanites.  The other came much earlier when the Lord confounded the tongues at the Tower of Babel.  This group is known as the Jaredites.  After thousands of years, all were destroyed except the Lamanites, and they are the principal ancestors of the American Indians.

2006 (New York: New Doubleday Edition)

The Book of Mormon is a volume of holy scripture comparable to the Bible.  It is a record of God's dealings with the ancient inhabitants of the Americas and contains the fulness of the everlasting gospel.

The book was written by many ancient prophets by the spirit of prophecy and revelation. Their words, written on gold plates, were quoted and abridged by a prophet-historian named Mormon.  The record gives an account of two great civilizations.  One came from Jerusalem in 600 B.C., and afterward separated into two nations, known as the Nephites and the Lamanites.  The other came much earlier when the Lord confounded the tongues at the Tower of Babel.  This group is known as the Jaredites.  After thousands of years, all were destroyed except the Lamanites, and they are among the ancestors of the American Indians.

Single word change in Book of Mormon speaks volumes

Single word change in Book of Mormon speaks volumes
By Peggy Fletcher Stack

Salt Lake Tribune

The LDS Church has changed a single word in its introduction to the Book of Mormon, a change observers say has serious implications for commonly held LDS beliefs about the ancestry of American Indians.
...    The book's current introduction, added by the late LDS apostle, Bruce R. McConkie in 1981, includes this statement: "After thousands of years, all were destroyed except the Lamanites, and they are the principal ancestors of the American Indians."
    The new version, seen first in Doubleday's revised edition, reads, "After thousands of years, all were destroyed except the Lamanites, and they are among the ancestors of the American Indians."
    LDS leaders instructed Doubleday to make the change, said senior editor Andrew Corbin, so it "would be in accordance with future editions the church is printing."
    The change "takes into account details of Book of Mormon demography which are not known," LDS spokesman Mark Tuttle said Wednesday.
      It also steps into the middle of a raging debate about the book's historical claims.
    Many Mormons, including several church presidents, have taught that the Americas were largely inhabited by Book of Mormon peoples. In 1971, Church President Spencer W. Kimball said that Lehi, the family patriarch, was "the ancestor of all of the Indian and Mestizo tribes in North and South and Central America and in the islands of the sea."
    After testing the DNA of more than 12,000 Indians, though, most researchers have concluded that the continent's early inhabitants came from Asia across the Bering Strait.
    With this change, the LDS Church is "conceding that mainstream scientific theories about the colonization of the Americas have significant elements of truth in them," said Simon Southerton, a former Mormon and author of Losing a Lost Tribe: Native Americans, DNA and the Mormon Church.
    "DNA has revealed very clearly how closely related American Indians are to their Siberian ancestors, " Southerton said in an e-mail from his home in Canberra, Australia. "The Lamanites are invisible, not principal ancestors."
    LDS scholars, however, dispute the notion that DNA evidence eliminates the possibility of Lamanites. They call it "oversimplification" of the research.
    On the church's official Web site, lds.org, it says, "Nothing in the Book of Mormon precludes migration into the Americas by peoples of Asiatic origin. The scientific issues relating to DNA, however, are numerous and complex."
    Mormon researcher John M. Butler and DNA expert further argues that "careful examination and demographic analysis of the Book of Mormon record in terms of population growth and the number of people described implies that other groups were likely present in the promised land when Lehi's family arrived, and these groups may have genetically mixed with the Nephites, Lamanites, and other groups. Events related in the Book of Mormon likely took place in a limited region, leaving plenty of room for other Native American peoples to have existed."
    In recent years, many LDS scholars have come to share Butler's belief in what is known as the "limited geography" theory. By this view, the Nephites and Lamanites restricted their activities to portions of Central America, which would explain their absence from the general American Indian genetics.
      Kevin Barney, a Mormon lawyer and independent researcher in Chicago, welcomes the introduction's word change.
    "I have always felt free to disavow the language of the [Book of Mormon's] introduction, footnotes and dictionary, which are not part of the canonical scripture," said Barney, on the board of FAIR, a Mormon apologist group. "These things can change as the scholarship progresses and our understanding enlarges. This suggests to me that someone on the church's scripture committee is paying attention to the discussion."

John Whitmer Historical Association searchable index

The John Whitmer Historical Association has provided a searchable index of all articles and book reviews published in the JWHA Journal since its first issue in 1981. You can use this search page to find articles by title keyword, author or volume number.

Wilford Woodruff Conference at Yale

TT at faithpromitingrumor reports that seven BYU professors and one other close associate will be presenting all the sessions at an upcoming Wilford Woodruff conference at Yale University.
---

Wilford Woodruff: Mormon Missionary, Apostle, Church President
November 9-10, 2007
Sponsored by
Yale Divinity School
Mormon Historic Sites Foundation
BYU Religious Studies Center

Keynote Address (November 9)–8:00 p.m.
Thomas G. Alexander
"The Odyssey of a Mormon Prophet: Wilford Woodruff and the
Manifesto"

Yale Presenters (November 10)–9:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.
9:00-9:50 a.m.
Alexander L. Baugh
"Images of Wilford Woodruff's Life: A Photographic Journey"

Fred E. Woods
"Wilford Woodruff and the Gathering of Modern Day Israel, 1834-
1850"

10:00-10:50 a.m.

Cynthia Doxey
"Wilford Woodruff: Missionary in Herefordshire"

Scott C. Esplin
"Wilford Woodruff: A Founding Father of the Mormon Academies"

11:00-11:50 a.m.

Reid L. Neilson
"Wilford Woodruff on the PolygamyUnderground in Southern Utah"

Richard E. Bennett
"Wilford Woodruff and the Rise of Temple Consciousness, 1877-
1884"

LDS Fireside (November 10)–7:30 p.m.
Richard Lambert
Wilford Bruce Woodruff
"The Spiritual Legacy of Wilford Woodruff"

Counterpoint Conference

Changing role of LDS feminists explored

By Nicole Warburton
Deseret Morning News

Some 30 women and a few men discussed the ideas of service, activism and the changing role of Mormon feminists during the annual Mormon Women's Forum at the University of Utah on Saturday.

"Artemis," a contributor to the blog: feministmormonhousewives.org, told attendees Saturday she believed the Internet has created a new forum for women who are current or former members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to debate concerns with some teachings of that faith.

"Most people who stick around usually find some measure of peace," Artemis said of the blog, which hosts discussions about issues such as modesty, homemaking, the idea of a Heavenly Mother and equality between men and women.

After the recent general conference of the LDS Church in October, bloggers on feministmormonhousewives.org debated a talk by Sister Julie B. Beck, general president of the Relief Society. Sister Beck discussed the role of women as homemakers, wives and mothers

More can be read here.

The Joseph Smith Papers Project: A Television Foreword

A documentary on the long awaited Joseph Smith papers project will air tonight.  This project has had several false starts when controversial volumes were prevented from going to press.  Supposedly the project is fully underway with assurances that it will not be terminated.

"The Joseph Smith Papers Project: A Television Foreword," 7 p.m. Monday and 10 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 11.

http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/1%2C1249%2C695224615%2C00.html

Book of Mormon introduction modified

I've heard rumor that the introduction to the Book of Mormon has undergone a change recently.  The recent Doubleday Edition of the Book of Mormon used to include the same text that has been used for quite some in all other Book of Mormon editions.  However more recent printings have supposedly been slightly modified:

OLDER: "After thousands of years, all were destroyed except the Lamanites, and they are the principal ancestors of the American Indians."
NEWER: "After thousands of years, all were destroyed except the Lamanites, and they are among the ancestors of the American Indians."

I suspect this is due to evidence from DNA studies that the American Indians seem to be principally of Asiatic decent with no conclusive evidence of Hebrew decent ( http://mormon-chronicles.blogspot.com/2006/10/fwd-la-times-article-on-dna-and-book.html).

If anyone can confirm this, I'd appreciate hearing about it.

Genetic rewiring alters sexual preference of worms

Using genetic manipulation, U.S. scientists altered the brains of nematode worms, causing them to become attracted to wrigglers of the same sex.

While the scientists can't say what this means for sexual orientation in humans, it does raise the possibility that sexual preference is wired in an organism's brain.

Biologist Erik Jorgensen and his research team at the University of Utah took female nematodes with normal reproductive organs and activated genes that determine "maleness," thereby converting female brains to male brains.

"So we did that and now the females are attracted to other females," Jorgensen said from Salt Lake City. "That told us that the brain was sufficient for all of the sex-specific behaviours, for sexual attraction."

More can be read here