"You mean I don't have to trade in my headress for a yarmulke?"
Posted on 03/18/2006 9:48:03 AM PST by Cato1
From the time he was a child in Peru, the Mormon Church instilled in Jose Loayza the conviction that he and millions of other Native Americans were descended from a lost tribe of Israel that reached the New World more than 2,000 years ago. "We were taught all the blessings of that Hebrew lineage belonged to us and that we were special people," said Loayza, now a Salt Lake City attorney. ... Loayza said, his faith was shaken and his identity stripped away by DNA evidence showing that the ancestors of American natives came from Asia, not the Middle East.
For Mormons, the lack of discernible Hebrew blood in Native Americans is no minor collision between faith and science. It burrows into the historical foundations of the Book of Mormon, a 175-year-old transcription that the church regards as literal and without error.
According to the LDS, an angel named Moroni led Joseph Smith in 1827 to a divine set of golden plates buried in a hillside near his New York home. God provided the 22-year-old Smith with a pair of glasses and seer stones that allowed him to translate the "Reformed Egyptian"writings on the golden plates into the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ. Mormons believe these scriptures restored the church to God's original vision and left the rest of Christianity in a state of apostasy.
The book's narrative focuses on a tribe of Jews who sailed from Jerusalem to the New World in 600 B.C. and split into two main warring factions. The God-fearing Nephites were "pure" (the word was officially changed from "white" in 1981) and "delightsome." The idol-worshiping Lamanites received the "curse of blackness," turning their skin dark. According to the Book of Mormon, by 385 A.D. the dark-skinned Lamanites had wiped out other Hebrews.
(Excerpt) Read more at concordmonitor.com ...
Elizabeth Smith ... smart smart smart!
Joseph Smith ... dum.
DNA testing telling us what we already know
And of course the Indians never harmed a soul. Give me a freaking break. They joined forces with the French to attack English settlements and ended up getting their ass kicked. Sure there was tragedy on every side, but to claim the Indians as some innocent victim is just rubbish.
This thread's for you!
How long till someone makes a movie of "Live from Golgotha" by Gore Vidal?
So9
"I think he must be shedding tears today, tears of love and gratitude. . . . This is but the beginning of the work in Peru."
Uh, and don't forget to remind them to pledge lots of money to the church.
The book of Mormon is a lie. It has been proven so many times.
That aside I love Mormons and they have impressed me as some of the most devout and moral religious people I know but I believe they are devoutly wrong in hanging onto a book written by a con man.
The mythology of Mormonism is vast and starting with the seer stones that Smith managed to translate letter by letter into King James style English from Egyptian tablets really leaves the core of Smith's account empty as an obvious half-plagiarized fantasy. One could easily go on and talk about demon protecting underwear, baptizing the dead, and Quakers on the moon.
Joseph Smith crafted what could be best described as "historical" fiction with a scifi twist. Here is a good link for those who are interested.
http://sidneyrigdon.com/dbroadhu/OH/miscoh07.htm
One of my relatives wrote an equally fictional "bible" called Oahspe.
http://archives.nmsu.edu/exhibits/shalam2/shalam1.html
The Book of Mormon belongs in the same catagory as Moby Dick, Walden Pond or the Legend of Sleepy Hollow among the great books of American fiction.
A good article on the DNA stuff I'd heard about.
The Mormon faith has many more problems that discredit it beyond this controversy. At least its members are generally decent people.
Without a doubt, the best neighbors we ever had.
Job changes forced them to move to a state away.
We still miss 'em.
Other Books to add to the American Fiction section is THEIR:
Doctrines & Covenants- a "how to" book on Eternal Progression, Polygamy, How to become a GOD of your own planet, etc.
Pearl of Great Price- translated from "found"( ??? ) egyptian artifacts, the ONLY true & CORRECT translations of the Book of Moses, the Gospel of Matthew, and others...
The "Inspired" Version of the Bible- supposed to be a "Non Corrupt" version. PROBLEM. It was Smith's version. A lunatic who knew neither Greek or Hebrew. His is a chopped up King James Version...
I will give you that Mormons are basically decent people even if their religion is heretical from my Byzantine Catholic perspective.
How many religions have been started by delusional narcissistic egomaniacs? I guess it's best not to start a list...
Agreed. Every Mormon I've ever worked with or known have been terrific people.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.