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Criticism of Mormonism/Books/One Nation Under Gods: Difference between revisions
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* The author seems to have relied on a secondary source without verifying its claim. There is no evidence in the ''Millennial Star'' that Brigham made the statement. | * The author seems to have relied on a secondary source without verifying its claim. There is no evidence in the ''Millennial Star'' that Brigham made the statement. | ||
* See: [[Brigham Young pulling the wool over America's eyes|Brigham Young—pulling the wool over Americans' eyes?]] | * See: [[Brigham Young pulling the wool over America's eyes|Brigham Young—pulling the wool over Americans' eyes?]] | ||
Revision as of 15:54, 20 December 2008
This article is a draft. FairMormon editors are currently editing it. We welcome your suggestions on improving the content.
About this work
Author: Richard Abanes
[T]o be honest, your FAIR analysis of the hardbound is actually hurting you in some very interesting ways -- and you don't even know it. Suffice it to say, I have been enjoying the many times I've had the pleasure of point out to lots of Mormons (many of them now former Mormons) where FAIR has not been completely honest, and where FAIR has shown itself to be terrifically nit-picky and petty. I thank you.
:—Richard Abanes, commenting on FAIR's analysis of this work. Post to MADB, Nov. 21, 2008)
...what ONUG [One Nation Under Gods] did was to provide needed information to non-Momorns, evangelicals, secularists, and from what I hear, even many Mormons (many of whom, thanks to ONUG, are no longer Mormons).
:—Richard Abanes, commenting on the value of his book. Post to MADB, Dec. 7, 2008]
Well, all I can say is, I combat the errors of the ages. I solve mathematical problems of universities, with truth—diamond truth; and God is my 'right hand man.' God made Aaron to be the mouth piece for the children of Israel, and He will make me be god to you in His stead...I have more to boast of than ever any man had....I boast that no man ever did such a work as I.
Oh, wait, all of that material has been already used. Sorry. Nevermind. Sorry, my bad.
—Richard Abanes, using a compound quote that he created from multiple sources in One Nation Under Gods to ridicule Joseph Smith, Post to MADB, Dec. 4, 2008]
In early 2002 a new book entitled One Nation under Gods (ONUG) appeared on bookshelves, promising to tell the "real" history of the Mormon Church. In the words of its author,
It is beyond legitimate dispute that the Mormon church has for decades been painting for the general public a decidedly biased picture of the Latter-day Saint faith, especially with regard to the origins of the Book of Mormon. Fortunately, a more objective sketch of Mormonism's earliest years can be drawn using non-LDS witnesses, secular media articles, and private journals (Mormon and non-Mormon).
All of these sources will be used in this book to discover how Mormonism's founder—Joseph Smith—formed, controlled, and expanded his church, which today is one of the wealthiest and most influential religions in the world. [ONUG, xvi]
With his thesis stated and his purpose laid bare, the author attempts to pull disparate sources together to paint a picture that, when compared to objective reality, more closely resembles a Picasso than a Rembrandt—skewed and distorted—obscuring and maligning the actual doctrines and beliefs as understood and practiced by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for more than 150 years.
Claims made in this work
It should be noted that Richard Abanes' response to the list of problems documented by FAIR is that the editing on the hardback edition of One Nation Under Gods was incomplete and that many of the problems were corrected in the paperback edition, published a year later. (This corrected paperback edition bears no markings indicating that it is a second edition or an updated edition; it simply appears as a paperback edition of the original.) Despite the author's statements, many of the problems noted exist in both the hardback and paperback versions. FAIR members are in the process of updating the problems so they address both editions of the book.
This is an index of claims made in this work with links to corresponding responses within the FAIRwiki. An effort has been made to provide the author's original sources where possible.
Source analysis
Quote mining, selective quotation and distortion
- See extensive examples on FAIR website: Abanes distortions
Non-existent quotes
| Reference | The claim... | The rest of the story... | Use of sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| 281 | The author quotes Brigham Young as saying "We shall pull the wool over the eyes of the American people and make them swallow Mormonism, polygamy and all." |
From the author's cited source, it cannot be determined that Brigham ever actually said this. |
|
Commentary
- The author seems to have relied on a secondary source without verifying its claim. There is no evidence in the Millennial Star that Brigham made the statement.
Unattributed quotes
| Reference | The claim... | The rest of the story... | Use of sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| 582 | The author writes:
|
The Tanners write:
|
|
Commentary
- The author takes this quote out of context in the same manner as his source. See: Did early Church leaders speak of plural marriage difficulties?
Other governments and religions to be destroyed from the earth?
| Reference | The claim... | The rest of the story... | Use of sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| xxi | "As for other governments and religions, according to Joseph Smith, they 'must eventually be destroyed from the earth'" (Footnote references History of the Church 5:212) | "Christ and the resurrected Saints will reign over the earth during the thousand years. They will not probably dwell upon the earth, but will visit it when they please or when it is necessary to govern it. There will be wicked men on the earth during the thousand years. The heathen nations who will not come up to worship will be visited with the judgments of God, and must eventually be destroyed from the earth." (emphasis added) |
|
Commentary
- The quote has been removed from context. Notice that the author has left out the reference to Christ reigning over the earth and inserted instead a reference to "other governments and religions" being destroyed.
- For further analysis of the misuse of this quote by the author, see Allen L. Wyatt, Author's Preface, About Mormon History Destroying Governments and Religions
Joseph was a "natural speaker," yet "afraid of the people"
| Reference | The claim... | The rest of the story... | Use of sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6-7 |
|
Here is additional material from Lewis' statement in Mormonism Unvailed, p. 267:
"From my standing in the Methodist Episcopal Church, I suppose he was careful how he conducted or expressed himself before me. At one time, however, he came to my house, and asked my advice, whether he should proceed to translate the Book of Plates (referred to by Mr. Hale) or not. He said that God had commanded him to translate it, but he was afraid of the people. (emphasis added) |
|
Commentary
- So, was Joseph "afraid of the people," or did he have "public speaking talent?" Lewis' testimony is suspect on a number of issues, and the author excluded the portion of the testimony that conflicted with Turner's statement.
- Lewis is the only person that ever claimed that Joseph asked his advice regarding whether he should translate the Book of Mormon—a ridiculous assertion that is contrary to numerous other published testimonies of the event.
- See The Hurlbut affidavits—Nathaniel Lewis
Absurd claims
| Reference | The claim... | The rest of the story... | Use of sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| 23 | "LDS documents are strangely silent about their prophet's activities during the three years immediately following his 1820 First Vision." | Why would there be any "LDS documents" dealing with Joseph's life between 1820 to 1823? The Church didn't even exist until 1830, and Joseph wrote the stories of his First Vision and Moroni's visit well after 1823. The author simply wants to dramatically set the stage to talk about Joseph's money digging activities. | None |
| 51 | "Until well into the late 1800s it was widely understood that Smith found the golden plates not by a dream, or a ghost, or a vision—but by looking into his peep-stone and seeing where they had been deposited. (emphasis added) |
|
Sarcasm
The author uses sarcasm to belittle LDS beliefs.
| Reference | The claim... | The rest of the story... | Use of sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| 23 | "This messenger from the great beyond declared himself to be Moroni, a resurrected and glorified servant of the Lord (i.e. an angel)." | How about Luke 1:30, which says, "And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God." Would the author refer to this angel as coming from the "great beyond?" Not likely. | None |
Lack of research
The following claims show a lack of research of the subject being discussed.
| Reference | The claim... | The rest of the story... | Use of sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| 25 | "But Moroni's most urgent message, which he repeated during each visit, involved the golden plates buried in the hill called Cumorah, just outside the village of Manchester. (emphasis added) | The hill near Joseph's home was not called Cumorah by the angel Moroni, nor was it named Cumorah at the time that Joseph received the plates. The name Cumorah was applied later, as a result of Joseph finding the plates there. | None |
| 25 | "Obviously, if the angel in Smith's room spoke about Moroni, then he certainly could not have been Moroni. | The author is referring to Joseph's 1832 account, in which he states: "an angel of the Lord came and stood before me and it was by night and he called me by name and he said the Lord had forgiven me my sins and he revealed unto me that in the Town of Manchester Ontario County N.Y. there was plates of gold upon which there was engravings which was engraven by Maroni & his fathers the servants of the living God in ancient days and deposited by the commandments of God and kept by the power thereof and that I should go and get them." | Note that Joseph is not citing Moroni's words—he is describing a summary of the event that happened. In other words, this passage does not indicate that Moroni referred to himself in the third person. |
Reversing the meaning of sources
The following claims show how the author took a source quote and completely reversed its meaning.
| Reference | The claim... | The rest of the story... | Use of sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| 289 | The author said, "According to the late BYU scholar Eugene England, Mormon women literally are to become "birth machines" so Mormon males can continue creating and populating various worlds without end." | Eugene England said, "If humans can already produce test-tube babies and clones, God has certainly found more efficient ways to produce spirit children than by turning celestial partners into mere birth machines. To anticipate such a limited, unequal role for women in eternity insults and devalues them. |
|
Further reading
FAIR wiki articles
| Template code | Inserts this reference | Click to edit |
|---|---|---|
| {{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 |
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