The Reliability of Mormon History Produced by the LDS Church

FAIR ^ | Aug, 6, 2009 | Ron Barney

[Colofornian]

I want to talk...about the reliability of Mormon history produced by the Church. I think there has been in years past the sentiment that the Church hedged on the way that it did business; that it was not forthright in what was published; that it was afraid of its past and unwilling to hold our heritage and our historical past up to the kind of scrutiny that other disciplines were subjected to. [SNIP]

(Q:1) A major recurring criticism we see is that the church doesn't discuss difficult or controversial historical events in classroom manuals and even, for example, discourages the discussion of plural marriage in the Sunday School lesson on Doctrine and Covenants 132. Do you think this is going to change any time soon? [SNIP]

(Q:7) If we are so open with our history, then why are most members shocked and/or shaken to find out that Joseph had many wives, Joseph translated with his head in a hat, Joseph was a treasure hunter. (A:7) ...I don't understand why we can't be as forthright and truthful with teenagers as we are with adults. I see no reason why we can't do that. We have to do it right and it's going to take a lot more energy and care in what we publish. But I think we can groom people to understand the complexities of our past. Our people are smart enough, they're faithful enough. I think we can trust people...

(Q:8) Why does the church still publish paintings of Joseph translating the Book of Mormon with the plates open...and he is attempting to write the same in English when we know this is not how the translation occurred? A:8) ...I think it's a good question, and I don't have the answer to that.

[Colofornian]

Barney claims a "change" occurred @ church headquarters in 1972 in the way the Lds church handles the history "business." But you can see by the tenor of the questions that although some limited improvements were made, the Lds church still ducks "difficult or controversial historical events in classroom manuals" and even "discourages the discussion of plural marriage in the Sunday School lesson on Doctrine and Covenants 132" (Question 1 above) -- and still publishes paintings "translating" the Book of Mormon with phantom gold plates open when the Lds people "in the know" know Smith put a rock in his hat & buried his head there (Question 8 above).

[devane617]

Believe what gives you comfort. It is NONE of my business what that may be.

[edcoil]

As long as it hurts no one - I agree with you.

[delacoert]

Believe what gives you comfort. It is NONE of my business what that may be.

It's always nice to here from the uninvolved and disinterested.

[aimhigh]

Believe what gives you comfort. It is NONE of my business what that may be.

Marxist gives Reverend Wright comfort.

[delacoert]

But I think we can groom people to understand the complexities of our past. Our people are smart enough, they're faithful enough. I think we can trust people...

The way that people are "groomed" is a real problem.  Much of the grooming has been and very likely will continue to be nothing short of brainwashing.  At times Ron Barney appears to be committed to a change in approach, however, in his discussion he introduces Jan Shipps' Prophet Puzzle in a way that belies his true meaning.

However, it just may be that if we are brave enough and careful enough that we may have a chance to make great headway into our understanding of the irretrievable past, even though we recognize the impossibility to replicate exactly what has gone before. We must give it our best shot. And who knows but that through our best work we might end up with something that gets closer to the truth and at the same time is both attractive and compelling. I think it's worth any kind of effort to ensure that we do this up right. I think this man Joseph Smith is worth all that is required for us to understand him and what he did. As I said, he's won me over in every way. I say that in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Barney's repeated hope is that a laborious contemplation of the impossibly contradictory truths of LDS history will still leave room to "groom people to understand".

 Jan Shipps' Prophet Puzzle is certainly worth discussion in the context of Barney thesis in this article, and perhaps it is worth a thread of it's own.

[SkyPilot]

(Q:7) If we are so open with our history, then why are most members shocked and/or shaken to find out that Joseph had many wives, Joseph translated with his head in a hat

Because the truth is much too hard to face. The tragic thing is, that the real Jesus Christ is right before all of humanity right now, holding the door open.

2 Thessalonians talks about God sending a strong delusion upon those who have rejected the Truth.

2 Thessalonians 2: The Great Delusion

Mormons are definitely in this category, and in that, they are no different from Muslims, Hindus, Atheists, Wiccans, and even the Heaven's Gate Cult as a group of unbelievers who have rejected God's Truth. In their unbelief, they are already perishing.

[greyfoxx39]

It's always nice to here from the uninvolved and disinterested.

[Tennessee Nana]

Joseph had many wives, Joseph translated with his head in a hat
__________________________________________

The answer to the little Grasshopper is this...

Both events are related...

Joey Smith cheated on his wife Emma,

which lead to Emma giving Joey a black eye with her rolling pin...

She a;so smacked him one in his lying mouth...

and almost broken the fingers of his right hand, yelling “I’ll teach you to touch another woman”

Which led to embarrassing questions from his homies...

which lead to Joey hiding his black eye and his broken teeth from the inquiring eyes of his homies and others by covering his face with his hat...(his crushed and bleeding hand was inb a glove of course)

He was writing a cheap novel at the time so he dictated to a friend with his head covered...

and mumbled painfully one word at a time through his jagged teeth...

Why did he constantly wear a hat on his face ???

Because if Emma wasnt blackening one eye, it was the other...

Why did Emma constant blackening either of Joey’s eyes ???

Because Joey was constantly cheating on Emma...

Which led to Joey’s friend writing D&C 132 for him...

Which led to Emma laughing at them both and ripping up the stupid document...and giving both of them two black eyes and a knot on the head with her rolling pin for tgheir impudence....

Which led to Joeys friend saying to Joey when they were safely away from Emma’s rolling pin “Never mind Joey, I can write you another excuse to run around on Emma, and instead of just one virgin, I’ll write in ten the next time...”...

You see little Grasshopper, Emma should have damaged another part of Joey’s anatomy...

So the many one night stands was Emma’s fault...

And so was the head in a hat...

[Elsie]

You guys will have to make do without my WONDERFUL stuff for 2 weeks, as I have a laptop without my many, juicy, MORMONism tidbits...