Author: Jonathan Neville

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LDS mental health and M2C/SITH

In the pursuit of clarity, charity and understanding, let’s look at the real-world impact of M2C and SITH (see definitions of acronyms here).

[See also https://nomorecontention.blogspot.com/2023/06/no-more-contention-over-book-of-mormon.html]

An article in the Deseret News discusses mental health among Latter-day Saints.

https://www.deseret.com/2023/6/20/23759342/latter-day-saint-mental-health-research

The article doesn’t mention cognitive dissonance per se, but we all know it’s a common psychological issue.

Among Latter-day Saints, one area of cognitive dissonance involves the all/some/none approach toward the teachings of Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery. 

Those who accept all or none of what they taught avoid cognitive dissonance.

But those who accept only some of what they taught exhibit cognitive dissonance, as we see among those promoting SITH and M2C.

We’ve looked at many examples of this M2C/SITH cognitive dissonance on this blog, but the biggest “tell” is how Book of Mormon Central continues to promote M2C exclusively, based on their adamant insistence that Joseph and Oliver (and their contemporaries and successors) were all “wrong” about the New York Cumorah.

Here’s their Spanish-language website promoting M2C:

https://geografia.centralldm.es/mapa-modelo/?playlist=3db12fa&video=c33c342

They wouldn’t dare publish this in English because then all their rich American donors would realize how directly Book of Mormon Central rejects the Church’s position of neutrality about geography.

Think of the degree of cognitive dissonance BMC exhibits when they post things in Spanish that they would never post in English. 

But they did once offer a cruise in support of M2C…

 https://bookofmormoncentral.org/events/book-of-mormon-central-cruise-with-john-w-welch

Source: About Central America

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Meso in Romania

We passed a “Meso” restaurant in Oradea, Romania. 

All the M2Cers would flock to it, no doubt.

🙂

Actually, this is part of a restaurant chain named “Mesopotamia.”

Source: About Central America

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The Transcendence of Human Dignity

 “Everyone wants to be known, seen and recognized. We want our efforts to make a difference and our struggles to be acknowledged. The demand for respect is as ancient as society itself. Peace begins with respect for the uniqueness of each person…. The concept of human dignity may vary from culture to culture, but it acts as a constant in a volatile and changing world. Human rights smooth out the imbalances of privilege, wealth and opportunity. And those rights must be universally applied.”

 

— Apostle Ulisses Soares


https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/the-transcendence-of-human-dignity

Source: Book of Mormon Concensus

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SITH analysis update

Because we’ll be discussing SITH some more, I provided an updated version of my analysis of the Gospel Topics Essay on Book of Mormon Translation, now with numbered paragraphs, which you can access through this easy link.

The direct link is here:
This way, people can refer to specific paragraphs of the essay when we discuss the topic.
Enjoy!

Source: About Central America

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Glad tidings from Cumorah: then and now

I proposed a way to achieve “no more contention” about Book of Mormon geography by pursuing clarity, charity and understanding. Check it out.

https://nomorecontention.blogspot.com/2023/06/no-more-contention-over-book-of-mormon.html

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Obviously, a major factor relating to the Book of Mormon is the location of Cumorah/Ramah. Some of us think it is in western New York. Some think it is anywhere other than New York. And some people don’t care, whether because they think Cumorah is fictional, they don’t care about the geography, they don’t have time to think about it, or they don’t want to deal with the cognitive dissonance (or any other reason). And that’s all fine.

On this blog, we’re focused on clarity, charity and understanding why there are differences of opinion.

Those who reject the New York Cumorah argue that the identification of the hill in New York as Cumorah did not originate with revelation (or personal experience), but instead was an assumption with murky origins that became widely accepted.

I’ve pointed out that Lucy Mack Smith specifically stated it was Moroni who identified the hill as Cumorah when he first met Joseph Smith, that other historical records corroborate this, and that this explanation is the most parsimonious and coherent.

Plus, I think Joseph reaffirmed this when he wrote the letter that became D&C 128, including verse 20.

20 And again, what do we hear? Glad tidings from Cumorah! Moroni, an angel from heaven, declaring the fulfilment of the prophets—the book to be revealed. 

(Doctrine and Covenants 128:20)

Here we see that Moroni declared “glad tidings from Cumorah” even before the book was revealed, exactly as Lucy Mack Smith reported.

I wrote an article about D&C 128:20 that was published in the June issue of Wayne May’s magazine Land of Promise: Uncovering Ancient America (Vol. 1:2, June 2023). Those who have subscribed to his magazine can read it there, along with two of my paintings that illustrate some of the points.

I uploaded a version of it for general audiences here:

https://www.academia.edu/s/271c60de87

All that said, I’m fine with people who choose to disbelieve that Cumorah/Ramah is in New York. I’ve tried to accurately represent their views in my publications, including the table I mentioned at the outside of this post.

If anyone has suggestions for clarification and improved accuracy, email me at lostzarahemla@gmail.com and I’ll incorporate them.

Source: About Central America

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Rise above the game

 “To me, the real winners are the ones who step out of the game entirely, who don’t even play the game, who rise above it. Those are the people who have such internal mental and self-control and self-awareness, they need nothing from anybody else.”


@naval

Source: Book of Mormon Concensus

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Delmarva and multiple working hypotheses

There’s another model of Book of Mormon geography to consider: the Delmarva theory. 

Delmarva stands for Delaware, Maryland, Virginia. You can read an explanation here:
This theory recognizes Cumorah in New York, so it already makes more sense than all the models that claim Joseph and Oliver were wrong about Cumorah. 
(click to enlarge)

While there is a lot to like with the Delmarva model, I think it lacks some attributes I would like to see, but that doesn’t matter. I’m adding the Delmarva model to the list of possibilities–the multiple working hypotheses–that corroborate what Joseph and Oliver taught about the New York Cumorah.
To learn more about the Delmarva model, watch the interviews on Gospel Tangents.
_____
I like the Delmarva approach because it’s based in the real world. The creators did not resort to the foolishness of starting with an abstract map based on the text.
I’ve previously discussed the futility of creating abstract maps because the text is vague and subject to innumerable interpretations.
I’ve also pointed out that the BYU abstract map is worse than no map at all, not only because it is based on the M2C interpretations, but because it frames the Book of Mormon as fictional.

I’m glad to see more people using real-world settings to understand the Book of Mormon. 

Source: About Central America