Monthly Archives: June 2014

Beware the Leaven of the Dissidents

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Disputation

In response to recent disciplinary actions by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, supporters of those being disciplined have complained that the charge of apostasy is inaccurate because, they assert, the individuals and the organizations created by them have not taught any false doctrines or acted in opposition to the prophet or the Church.

They insist that all they are doing is asking questions. So, what false doctrine can they possibly be teaching?

This is my attempt to answer that important question.

At the outset, let’s immediately dispense with the notion that “asking questions” is always unambiguously innocent and unassuming.

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Should Those Who Support Limited Government Also Support Traditional Marriage?

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The answer is yes, according to the latest argument posted at Discussing Marriage. Check out the full article here: http://discussingmarriage.org/argument-from-limited-government.php#.U7GzBsbsGI4

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Here’s the video:

America the Beautiful

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landscapeKatharine Lee Bates was born August 12 1859, in Falmouth, Mass. Katie had a normal and happy childhood and was an avid writer. In 1876 the family moved to Grantville, Mass, the home of the newly formed Wellesley College for women. Katie was part of the second class which was admitted to the school. She thrived at Wellesley, and after graduating in 1880 began to teach high school English. In 1885 she was invited to join the faculty at Wellesley and taught there for the next 40 years. Katie was a favorite of students and was known for her ability to make literature “come alive.”

In the summer of 1893, Katie took a “Grand Tour of America” and headed out west to Colorado to teach summer school at the newly formed University of Colorado. Continue reading →

OT Lesson 27: Wicked and Righteous Leaders

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OT Gospel Doctrine Lesson #27 – The Influence of Righteous & Wicked Leaders
1 Kings 12-14; 2 Chronicles 17, 20High Place of Jeroboam
(Nearly all archaeologists agree that this excavated podium was the one that Jeroboam constructed to house the golden calf at Dan. Archaeologists now think the platform was roofed. Evidence of a four-horned altar has been found as well as religious objects such as three iron shovels, a small horned altar, and an iron incense holder.)
http://www.bibleplaces.com/dan.htm

Background:

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Carthage, 1844

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[This post is part of a series on Joseph Smith’s Polygamy. To read from the beginning or link to previously published posts, go to A Faithful Joseph.]

imageJoseph was killed at Carthage, Illinois on June 27, 1844, 170 years ago.

Last week I thought I knew what I was going to write in this post. Despite William Law’s Nauvoo conspiracy, I presumed the dissidents hadn’t been involved in Joseph’s actual death beyond publishing the Expositor. I supposed the mob had been composed of non-Mormons from Missouri and Illinois, whipped into a frenzy by the editor of the Warsaw Signal, Thomas Sharp. The Carthage Greys had been complicit, I supposed. And the escape of John Taylor, Willard Richards, and the handful of men who had been at Carthage Jail prior to the actual martyrdom had been a sort of miracle. I liked to say that it had been a miracle that Joseph and Hyrum hadn’t been killed by the Saints, though there had been hundreds allegedly willing to kill Joseph based on what had been written in the Expositor.

I thought today’s post would be a relatively boring recitation of the facts we all know. Then I read the original accounts from John Taylor[ref]John Taylor, affidavit of 22 September 1844, available online at http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/carthage/tayloraccount.html, retrieved 27 June 2014.[/ref] and William R. Hamilton.[ref]William R. Hamilton, 24 December 1902, available online at http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/carthage/hamiltonaccount.html, retrieved 27 June 2014.[/ref]

We haven’t had enough data before to realize what happened at Carthage, because we have not known the identities of the vast number of individuals involved in “illicit intercourse” under the influence of John C. Bennett. I submit it was these ostensibly “believing” members of the Church who were primarily responsible for the deaths of Joseph and Hyrum. Inasmuch as we have presumed the killers of the Smith brothers were primarily ‘regular’ citizens of Missouri and Illinois, I believe we have an apology to make. Continue reading →