Author: Jonathan Neville

Kirk Magleby, Executive Director, Book of Mormon Central

http://bookofmormonresources.blogspot.com/2019/06/auditing-book-of-mormon-geography-models.html

I’m going to address that statement in a moment, but first I want to discuss the blog that made the statement.
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And before I do that, you might be interested in my post about yet another Kno-Why, here:

http://www.bookofmormoncentralamerica.com/2019/06/knowhy-519-abridgment.html
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Back on topic.

The best M2C blog is http://bookofmormonresources.blogspot.com/. If you want to see some of the rationales for M2C, go here. The list of contributors includes “Captain Kirk,” aka Kirk Magleby, who posts most of the articles.

Kirk is one of the nicest, smartest people you’ll ever meet. He’s awesome. On this blog we don’t use names because we don’t want to jeopardize academic reputations, etc., but Kirk is quite open about his views and is rightly proud of his work. I’m sure he does not mind me discussing his posts from time to time. He knows I think he has a bad case of Mesomania. You’ll see the symptoms in nearly every post on the blog.

For example, he has a recent post claiming that “many waters” refers to salt water, not large bodies of water, because he wants to exclude the Great Lakes from consideration in Book of Mormon geography.

He writes: “Many waters” is one of the few terms actually defined by the editor in the text itself. 1 Nephi 17:5 is explicit. Irreantum or many waters refers to the sea.

The logical fallacy is obvious. Of the 11 instances of the phrase in the text, 9 refer to oceans. The other 2 refer to the area around Cumorah, so Kirk infers that the phrase “many waters” requires salt water.

Every time we see the phrase “many waters” in the text it likely refers to a salt water ocean. This means we should look for hill Ramah/Cumorah seaside.

Here’s what the verse actually says:

1 Nephi 17:5 … And we beheld the sea, which we called Irreantum, which, being interpreted, is many waters.

Sea=Irreantum=many waters.

According to Strong’s Concordance, the Hebrew word for sea, yam, is used in the Bible to refer to the Mediterranean Sea, the Red Sea, The Dead Sea, the Sea of Galilee, a mighty river (the Nile) and the great basin in temple-court. The first three are bodies of salt water, but the last three are fresh water.

https://biblehub.com/hebrew/3220.htm

IOW, bodies of water designated as “sea” have one thing in common: a large quantity of water. Salt is irrelevant. The Great Lakes fit the description nicely.
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Kirk’s analysis here is the kind of logical fallacy that I have to deal with every time I read material published by the M2C citation cartel. 

But it’s also the kind of logical fallacy that explains why, as Kirk says, “many BYU professors, even on the religion faculty, do not believe the Book of Mormon is historical.”

Trust me on this: Kirk would know.

He has BYU professors working with him at Book of Mormon Central.

BYU fantasy map of the Book of Mormon

I’ve been saying for some time now that, without a course correction, members of the Church will eventually conclude that the Book of Mormon is not historical.

We’ve seen in The Next Mormons that already, 50% of Millennials in the Church don’t believe the Book of Mormon is a real history. That statistic surprises me.

I’m surprised even 1/2 of Millennials believe the Book of Mormon is a real history because they’re taught to understand the text by referring to fantasy maps developed by CES and BYU.

If I had been taught this fantasy map in Seminary and at BYU, I doubt I would believe the Book of Mormon is a real history.

If I knew my Religion professors at BYU didn’t believe it was a real history, I’m pretty confident I would adopt their opinions.

After all, I believed M2C itself when I was a BYU student (and for decades afterwards).
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Why would many BYU professors disbelieve in the historicity of the Book of Mormon?

It’s simple.

They believed M2C.

By definition M2C is based on the premise that the prophets are wrong about the New York Cumorah. Such a teaching is a sandy foundation that will, eventually, collapse.

3 Nephi 14:24 Therefore, whoso heareth these sayings of mine [and the sayings of the prophets] and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, who built his house upon a rock—

25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not, for it was founded upon a rock.

26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them not shall be likened unto a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand—

27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell, and great was the fall of it.

Being built on a foundation of sand, M2C is destined to implode. Already, for many people, M2C has imploded, and when it does, if there are no alternative explanations for the setting of the Book of Mormon, people naturally lose faith in the historicity of the Book of Mormon.
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Now, what is the solution?

It seems obvious to me that the only solution is to return to the teachings of the prophets, including the teaching of the New York Cumorah.

Those who adhere to the teachings of the prophets are more likely to retain faith in the Book of Mormon than are those who reject the teachings of the prophets.

Most readers of this blog are faithful LDS (including employees at BYU, CES, and COB) who still believe the teachings of the prophets, both about the New York Cumorah and the overall divine authenticity of the Book of Mormon.

My blogs have had about 350,000 page views directly, plus views from other sites that repost them, such as Amazon, moronisamerica.com, Facebook, etc. But that’s a small number compared with the millions of members of the Church and the billions of people on earth.

Each of us has a social circle that allows us to discuss these issues from time to time.

Now is the time to do so.
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The blog post I quoted at the outset proposes that the solution is conducting an “audit” of the various Book of Mormon geography models.

In a way, that makes sense.

But the audit tool, at least as presented in the blog, includes assumptions that drive the results toward M2C. For example, it treats “land northward” and “land southward” as proper nouns instead of relative terms.

It’s the spreadsheet equivalent to BYU’s “abstract” fantasy map that reflects the M2C interpretation of the text.

Kirk wrote, “With a robust audit procedure in place, I now predict rapid progress.”

I predict that, because of built-in assumptions,

(i) the BYU fantasy map will get a 100% score, along with Kirk’s own M2C map, and

(ii) any map based on the teachings of the prophets about the New York Cumorah will fail.

And exactly no one will change their minds as a result. 

Certainly no BYU professors who have already rejected M2C will suddenly believe M2C just because the M2C intellectuals developed a self-serving audit tool to confirm their biases.

The neurochemistry of bias confirmation

This post is one of the most important I’ve made because it addresses a fundamental issue that affects all of us throughout our lives. It’s a cross-post from another blog.

As it relates to the Book of Mormon, neurochemistry largely explains why the teachings of the prophets about the Hill Cumorah are being systematically censored and removed from the historical record.
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The most critical statement in the latest version of the Gospel Topics Essay on Book of Mormon Geography is this:

All parties should strive to avoid contention on these matters.

(Note: as if this posting, the essay’s url is invalid. We can infer it is being revised yet again, but the statement applies in general terms to every gospel discussion.)

When people are contending over something such as M2C, they usually think they are using facts and logic, but they are actually just responding to biochemistry.

When our brains detect an unpleasant conflict between data and what we want to believe, they use biochemistry and faulty reasoning to reduce distress. This is a biological description of bias confirmation.

I used to see this all the time when I practiced law. Clients are naturally emotional, convinced they are right, etc. One of the most difficult tasks for a lawyer is conveying objective (or even quasi-objective) reality to their own clients.

I’ll discuss this topic more in my updated, expanded edition of Mesomania, coming this fall, but in the meantime, let’s take a quick look at what’s going on.
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Researchers have conducted neurological experiments to understand how political partisans respond to information. The findings (excerpted below) help explain what happens when partisans on all sides of the Book of Mormon wars respond to information.

Today I’ll focus on M2C because people tell me that employees of Book of Mormon Central are still arguing about M2C stuff on their blogs and other social media. There’s a lot of anger, emotions, etc.

No one is to blame for that reaction. It’s merely a result of biochemistry.

People believe they are thinking rationally, based on facts, but their brains are simply engaged in self-defense. Their brains perceive confirmation of the M2C bias as pleasurable, while criticism of M2C is painful.

The study explained it this way: “The neural circuits charged with regulation of emotional states seemed to recruit beliefs that eliminated the distress and conflict partisans had experienced when they confronted unpleasant realities.”
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The fascinating thing is that the better educated, more motivated, and “smarter” a person is, the more their brain chemistry will “develop complex rationalizations for dismissing data they don’t want to believe.”

Every human brain does this; it’s basic biology. That’s why bias confirmation is difficult to overcome.

Having believed M2C for decades, but now realizing it’s a hoax, it’s easier for me to recognize the biochemistry involved than it is for those still within the M2C bubble. It’s also why none of this is personal or upsetting to me. I really don’t care what anyone else believes, and I’m not trying to persuade anyone. I just want people to make informed decisions, and understanding neurochemistry is part of that.
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For everyone interested in Book of Mormon historicity and geography, brain chemistry is activated by the mere term Cumorah.

M2C advocates, by definition, dismiss data regarding the New York Cumorah.

Every time an M2C follower sees a map of Mesoamerica with Cumorah in southern Mexico, his/her brain generates a positive response.

Every time an M2C follower sees a map of Cumorah in New York, his/her brain generates a negative response.

The psychological problem for M2C followers is that their brain normally generates positive responses to the teachings of the prophets. For example, they accept almost everything President Oliver Cowdery taught. Same with the other prophets who have reaffirmed the New York Cumorah.

But they can’t accept what President Cowdery and the other prophets have said about the New York Cumorah. 

Consequently, when they read Letter VII, the psychological conflict causes greater pain that requires a stronger response. This is why you see them act so aggressively in word and deed.

We see the exact opposite brain chemistry among those Church members who still believe the teachings of the prophets about the New York Cumorah. They get positive rewards when they read those teachings, just as they get positive rewards from reading all the teachings of the prophets. They get a similar positive reward from seeing proposed geographies that affirm the New York Cumorah.

They get negative rewards when they see material that repudiates the teachings of the prophets.

Neurochemistry explains the “Book of Mormon Wars.” 

It also explains why the M2C citation cartel continues to censor material that contradicts M2C. It’s not so much that they want to keep members of the Church ignorant. It’s more that they want to avoid giving their readers the psychological pain they feel whenever they see something that contradicts M2C or supports the New York Cumorah.

This also explain why the Gospel Topics Essay doesn’t want anyone talking about this at Church. Because there is such a stark difference of opinion, no matter which side is represented, someone will feel pain while someone else will feel happiness.

That’s why it is essential that the Gospel Topics Essay be actually implemented, starting by getting rid of the M2C materials in the curriculum and media.
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As astute readers, you’ve already recognized that there’s a problem with the censorship approach. We’ll discuss it another time, but basically, as Andrew Yang recently tweeted, “Trying to suppress ideas often doesn’t truly make them disappear – it just pushes them into the shadows where they sometimes gain strength and currency. Being open to ideas is itself a sign of confidence in your own.”
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Neurochemistry helps explain how biases are formed in the first place. 

Let’s say you’re a kid. Your parents give you a book such as Kelli Coughanour’s “The Book of Mormon for Young Readers.

You’re going to develop all kinds of positive emotions about this book. It’s a gift from your parents. They read it with you. They encourage you to have faith in it.

The book teaches M2C overtly. I’ve discussed this in more detail here:
http://bookofmormonwars.blogspot.com/2018/06/problems-for-parents-kelli-coughanour.html

Your brain will give you reward signals whenever you see the infamous painting of Christ at Chichen Itza, or Mayan pyramids, or maps of Mesoamerica.

You progress through Seminary, Sunday School, and the youth programs. Your parents and Church leaders encourage you to read books by M2C scholars. At every step, your M2C bias is reinforced by people you’ve been taught to believe and admire.

M2C generates positive brain chemistry.

Maybe you visit the North Visitors Center on Temple Square and see Mormon depicted in a Mexican cave, surrounded by Mayan glyphs as he abridges the records. Off in the distance, all by himself, Moroni is depositing the plates in “a hill in New York.”

Positive brain chemistry.

BYU fantasy map

Let’s say you go to BYU and walk into Brother Tyler Griffin’s awesome first-year Book of Mormon class. He explains the Book of Mormon with his fantasy map.

More positive brain chemistry.

You go on a mission and get more M2C reinforcement at the MTC because you don’t realize (and no one is going to tell you) that the Church leaders for whom the buildings are named actually taught that Cumorah is in New York.

Maybe somewhere along the line, maybe several times, you come across one of the teachings by Church leaders about the New York Cumorah, such as Letter VII or a map of a proposed geography, that supports those teachings.

You brain registers an immediate negative response. Your neurochemistry quickly responds by invoking the M2C images and arguments you are comfortable with.

You hurry to FairMormon, Book of Mormon Central, or another member of the M2C citation cartel because you know they will safely confirm your bias and give you positive feedback.

Sure enough, you read a Kno-Why and your bias is confirmed. Your neurochemistry keeps you happy.

It happens on all sides of the issue, and that’s why this issue never gets resolved.

In upcoming posts, we’ll see how and why this problem is getting more serious all the time.
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Excerpts from the article about the study:

when partisans face threatening information, not only are they likely to convince themselves (unconsciously) — or “reason” — to emotionally biased conclusions, but scientists can trace their neural footprints as they do it.

When confronted with potentially troubling political information, a network of neurons becomes active that produces distress. Whether this distress is conscious, unconscious, or some combination of the two, we don’t know.

The brain registers conflict between data and desire and begins to search for ways to turn off the spigot of unpleasant emotion. We know that the brain largely succeeded in this effort, as partisans mostly denied that they had perceived any conflict between their candidates’ words and deeds.

As Westen points out, chemicals in the brain are like drugs, positive emotions are related to dopamine (a neurotransmitter found in rewards circuits in the brain) and inhibition and avoidance are associated with norepinephrine (a close cousin of the hormone adrenalin, which can produce fear and anxiety.) The brain function of partisans sought good chemicals and avoided bad ones.

Not only did the brain manage to shut down distress through faulty reasoning, but it did so quickly – as best we could tell, usually before subjects even made it to the third slide. The neural circuits charged with regulation of emotional states seemed to recruit beliefs that eliminated the distress and conflict partisans had experienced when they confronted unpleasant realities. And this all seemed to happen with little involvement of the neural circuits normally involved in reasoning.

But the political brain also did something the researchers didn’t predict.

Once partisans had found a way to reason to false conclusions, not only did neural circuits involved in negative emotions turn off, but circuits involved in positive emotions turned on. The partisan brain didn’t seem satisfied in just feeling better. It worked overtime to feel good, activating reward circuits that give partisans a jolt of positive reinforcement for their biased “reasoning.” These reward circuits overlap substantially with those activated when drug addicts get their “fix,” giving new meaning to the term political junkie.

Westen shows that the brain “gravitates toward solutions designed to match not only data but desire,” by firing up activation to networks that lead to conclusions associated with positive emotions and inhibiting networks that would lead to negative emotions. This neurological-level process is so powerful that positive and negative feelings influence which arguments even reach our consciousness in the first place, as well as the amount of time we might spend thinking about different arguments, and the extent to which we either readily accept or critically search for “holes” in arguments or evidence that is emotionally reinforcing or threatening. On an unconscious level, the chemicals in our brains help us decide which news outlets we seek out and the company we keep. In short, as suggested by the neuroimaging study with which Westen begins his book, “our brains have a remarkable capacity to find their way toward convenient truths—even if they’re not all that true.”

This is especially true for those of us who are politically-engaged and informed. Political junkies, that’s you! Westen shows that partisans are most affected by chemically-altered reinforcement of our own worldviews:

For years, political scientists tended (or perhaps wanted) to believe that emotion-driven thinking is more characteristic of less sophisticated or less knowledgeable voters. However, the more sophisticated people are politically (e.g., the more they know about an issue), the more able they are to develop complex rationalizations for dismissing data they don’t want to believe. Politically knowledgeable citizens also tend to be partisans, which gives them the strongest reasons for distorted reasoning.

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Here’s a trigger warning for any M2C readers.

Don’t read the next paragraphs.

The arguments M2C intellectuals put forth through the cartel (FairMormon, Book of Mormon Central, the Interpreter, BYU Studies, etc.) rely on sophistry and logical fallacies that appeal only to those who share the biases they are confirming. To the rest of us, the fallacies are transparent.

This is a recent comment by Attorney General Barr that has obvious comparisons with the way the M2C intellectuals operate.

Mr. Barr: “In my mind, they are, sure. I mean, republics have fallen because of Praetorian Guard mentality where government officials get very arrogant, they identify the national interest with their own political preferences and they feel that anyone who has a different opinion, you know, is somehow an enemy of the state. And, you know, there is that tendency that they know better and that, you know, they’re there to protect as guardians of the people. That can easily translate into essentially supervening the will of the majority and getting your own way as a government official.”

https://www.wsj.com/articles/william-barrs-fresh-air-11559510133

It’s the approach Korihor exemplified:

The Mayan Corihor, as depicted by BMC

14 Behold, these things which ye call prophecies, which ye say are handed down by holy prophets [such as Letter VII], behold, they are foolish traditions of your fathers.

15 How do ye know of their surety? Behold, ye cannot know of things which ye do not see; therefore ye cannot know that there shall be a Christ. [and ye cannot know that Cumorah is in New York]

16 Ye look forward and say that ye see a remission of your sins. But behold, it is the effect of a frenzied mind; and this derangement of your minds comes because of the traditions of your fathers, which lead you away into a belief of things which are not so.

(Alma 30:14–16)

Then the M2C intellectuals hire fine young scholars to promote this message to their peers. They want the youth of the Church to trust them, the intellectuals, more than the prophets.

Whether these employees actually believe that message or not doesn’t matter. They’re doing their job, spreading the dogma of their employers because too many members of the Church (i) trust the intellectuals over the prophets and/or (ii) don’t even know what the prophets have taught.

They are clever.

These intellectuals have successfully confused members of the Church by conflating two separate teachings of the prophets.

1. The Hill Cumorah is in New York.
2. We don’t know for sure where the rest of the events took place.
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People often ask me for examples of what’s going on with M2C. All anyone has to do is read the material published by the M2C citation cartel to see plenty of examples, but here’s a recent example that was brought to my attention.

It’s a social media comment by an employee of Book of Mormon Central (BMC) whom I won’t name here because he/she is a wonderful individual who could still change his/her mind. The comment is not directed at this blog, but BMC employees have long made these same arguments, including in comments on this blog. (These employees make these same old arguments everywhere they can.)

The comment was directed at someone who still believes the prophets’ teaching that the Hill Cumorah is in New York. Notice how the argument entirely avoids that issue. Instead, it conflates two unrelated issues. Original in blue, my comments in red.


However, the problem is you are teaching people that some things are doctrine, when it’s not, and other prophets have said otherwise. Prophets have said the Promised Land is the entire Americas. Prophets have said the Land of Liberty is the entire Americas. Prophets have said there are Lamanites in Latin America. It’s not healthy to tell your followers selective quotes as if they are doctrine. Your followers only get one perspective.

Readers of this blog recognize this straw-man tactic and the irony it contains. It’s a straw man because it creates a false target to attack; i.e., it creates someone who does not acknowledge the teachings of the prophets about the land of liberty.

On this blog, we recognize and embrace all the persistent and consistent teachings of the prophets, including the ones alluded to in this paragraph. 

We often refer people to the citation cartel to see what they teach. We’re happy for people to see all perspectives because we want people to make informed decisions.

The irony comes because this employee fully realizes his bosses resort to censorship to keep M2C on life support; everyone who reads Book of Mormon Central understands why so many people refer to it as Book of Mormon Central America. It’s all M2C, all the time. 

But yes, we have opinions. I have the opinion it happened in Central America. You have the opinion that it happened in the Heartland. President Howard W. Hunter had the opinion that it happened in Mesoamerica. Other prophets had opinion about Hill Cumorah. Joseph Smith had opinions about it happening in both North and Central America.

Here is the core M2C obfuscation. No prophet (or apostle, whom I consider prophets) has ever repudiated the New York Cumorah. Those who have addressed non-Cumorah locations have observed that we don’t know for sure where the other events took place. Even Orson Pratt, the most outspoken advocate of a hemispheric model, admitted that he was speculating about everything except Cumorah.

M2C intellectuals conflate these two issues because of their own theories; i.e., they insist that Cumorah cannot be in New York because it is “too far” from Mesoamerica. Of course, that’s merely circular reasoning, but these employees have heard it so often they don’t even recognize the logical fallacy. Those who recognize the fallacy (the management of the M2C citation cartel) nevertheless embrace the fallacy for various reasons, including their own sunk costs, reputations, etc.

The M2C intellectuals always like to claim Joseph Smith “had opinions” about Central America, which is purely their mind-reading because the only specific evidence of what Joseph thought about the topic is Letter VII and the Wentworth letter, which repudiated Orson Pratt’s Central American theory. Instead, the intellectuals rely on anonymous articles in the Times and Seasons and the phony claim that Joseph wrote the 1841 Bernhisel letter.  


The Church’s recognizes these are all opinions. The Church’s official geography statement says it’s not revealed where it happened. The only thing that is revealed is that it happened somewhere in the Americas. The First Presidency specifically asked us to not say that our opinions are supported by prophets, yet FIRM keeps saying their opinions are supported by prophets. And you say that if scholars don’t agree with them, then they are essentially denying what the prophets have said. This idea is simply untrue. Prophets have supported Mesoamerica. Prophets have supported South America. Prophets have supported North America.

Notice also how this BMC employee continues to avoid the issue of Cumorah. To date, the Church has never once said the New York Cumorah is a matter of opinion. Presumably, this employee is referring to the anonymous Gospel Topics Essay on Book of Mormon Geography that was written with materials from the M2C citation cartel and has already been revised once because of obvious errors (at least one of which was still in the essay as of a few days ago, although today the url to the essay no longer works). 

The original version used a poorly edited General Conference quotation from President Ivins that was taken from the citation cartel. When I pointed out that President Ivins, just a year before, gave an entire address in General Conference about the New York Cumorah, did the anonymous authors correct the essay? 

Of course not. Instead, they just removed the Ivins quotation altogether. 

IOW, rather than correct the essay to include President Ivins’ specific teachings about the New York Cumorah, which put the original essay’s quotation in context, the authors censored President Ivins altogether so members of the Church would not learn what President Ivins actually taught about Cumorah. 

This is exactly the type of censorship we see from the citation cartel every day. 

You can see the before/after versions of the essay here:
https://presidentnelsonspeaks.blogspot.com/2019/02/revisions-to-gospel-topics-essay-on.html

To make things even worse, the BMC employee gets the point of the essay backwards. The essay asks people to avoid claiming their views are supported by the Church or the prophets. That’s exactly what the M2C citation cartel does! They claim Church support on most of their web pages, at their conferences, etc. 

By contrast, FIRM never claims Church support, but instead seeks to support the prophets.  

[Note: FIRM is an organization that educates people about the New York Cumorah and other topics. I’m not involved with managing FIRM, but when BMC and others attack them, I sometimes point out the BMC tactics.]


If FIRM quite saying their opinions were doctrine, then things would be better. But the fact that you make your opinions doctrine, despite even the Church suggesting otherwise, creates a divide, where anyone who doesn’t agree with your opinion/doctrine, is the bad guy. In my experience, the scholars I work with recognize it’s all opinion.

The last line is an all-time classic, right up there with the claim of another BMC employee that the BMC scholars have been hired by the prophets to guide the Church. 

“The scholars I work with recognize it’s all opinion.” 

IOW, my bosses tell me what to say.

This is the classic rationale for rejecting the teachings of the prophets. Intellectuals have been making that argument in every age, as we see throughout the scriptures. Whenever they disagree with the prophets, they always say the prophets are wrong. 

E.g., Korihor.

The tragic thing is, the M2C intellectuals and their employees are teaching the youth of the Church, using the New York Cumorah as an example, that everything the prophets teach is opinion.

Remember: The M2C intellectuals who run Book of Mormon Central (and the rest of the M2C citation cartel) know the New York Cumorah is the only specific site identified by the prophets, but they teach the youth that the prophets are wrong.

Here’s one that is timely, though. It was part of a series about “clarity vs confusion” that illustrates this table:

By now, readers here know that the M2C intellectuals and their employees and followers conflate (or mix together) the two clarity teachings so they can create the three confusion teachings.

The M2C intellectuals want people to be confused about these two teachings because they have repudiated the teachings of the prophets about the Hill Cumorah, and they want people to believe that the prophets have never taught where the Hill Cumorah is.

Well, they have to admit that every prophet and apostle who has ever formally addressed the issue has confirmed that Cumorah is in New York, but they say all these prophets and apostles were wrong.

When they confuse members of the Church by conflating (or mixing up) teachings #1 and #2, the M2C intellectuals and their employees and followers can evade accountability for repudiating the teachings of the prophets.

Their treatment of President George Q. Cannon is a good example.
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FairMormon, a member of the M2C citation cartel, provides a list of statements about Book of Mormon geography from the 19th Century.

https://www.fairmormon.org/answers/Book_of_Mormon/Geography/Statements/Nineteenth_century

They just omit statements they don’t want people to know about.

For President Cannon, FairMormon provides an editorial attributed to him that focuses on point 2 above. You can see it at this link. Below in this post I inserted the entire statement, including the parts FairMormon censored.

What FairMormon doesn’t tell readers is that President Cannon made a very specific statement about Cumorah in a book he wrote about the Prophet Joseph Smith.

https://archive.org/details/lifeofjosephsmit00cann/page/44

During his description of Joseph’s visit to the hill Cumorah in New York, President Cannon explained what Moroni taught Joseph:

Many precious truths the angel now imparted to him: telling him that he, Moroni, while yet living, had hidden up the plates in the hill, four centuries after Christ, to await their coming forth in the destined hour of God’s mercy to man; that he, Moroni, was the son of Mormon, a prophet of the ancient Nephites, who had once dwelt on this land; that to the Nephites this sacred hill was known as Cumorah, and to the Jaredites (who had still more anciently inhabited this continent), as Ramah; and much more did he impart to Joseph concerning the mysteries of the past, and the future purposes of Almighty God in the redemption of fallen mankind.

Add this to the long list of teachings of the prophets that the M2C intellectuals reject.

For everyone except M2C believers, this language is as clear as word can be. Moroni told Joseph Smith that the hill in which he, Moroni, buried the plates was the same hill that the Jaredites called Cumorah and the Jaredites called Ramah.

But M2C believers don’t want to understand what President Canon said because they’ve been trained to believe the prophets are wrong. 

(Sadly, the missionaries currently serving in Palmyra also don’t know what President Canon said, a topic of an upcoming post.)

When M2C believers do actually read these words and realize their significance, they see the phrase “it is my opinion that” written in otherwise invisible ink throughout. That invisible ink entitles them to disbelieve President Canon.
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Look at another teaching of President Cannon’s that FairlyMormon omits:

George Q. Cannon recognized the power of early impressions:  “If our children be permitted to conceive incorrect ideas concerning the location of the lands inhabited by the Nephites and the sites of their cities, it will be difficult to eradicate them.” “Editorial,” Juvenile Instructor, 22/4 (1887): p. 221

Here’s an excerpt from a post on this topic that I made a year ago:

http://bookofmormonwars.blogspot.com/2018/02/getting-real-about-cumorah-part-5c.html

Way back in 1890, President George Q. Cannon observed in the Juvenile Instructor that the First Presidency has never published or approved of a map of Book of Mormon geography because there are so many uncertainties.

From 1880 to his death in 1901, President Cannon served as First Counselor to Presidents John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, Lorenzo Snow, so he was well qualified to express the views of the First Presidency. He served with Joseph F. Smith, who was Second Counselor from 1880 until he became President of the Church in 1901. Joseph F. Smith was editor of the Improvement Era during this time.

In 1899, nine years after President Cannon published his comment about Book of Mormon geography, President Joseph F. Smith published Letter VII in the Improvement Era. This demonstrates that, from the perspective of the First Presidency, teaching that Cumorah is in New York is consistent with neutrality on the rest of Book of Mormon geography. That position has also been explained by other prophets.

You can read Letter VII in the 1899 Improvement Era here:

https://archive.org/stream/improvementera29unse#page/656/mode/2up

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You can read President Cannon’s complete quotation here:

https://archive.org/details/juvenileinstruct251geor/page/18

Below I provide it with the parts FairlyMormon omitted in red.

Consider some of the real-world ramifications of the neurochemistry behind M2C.

Our M2C intellectuals, including the employees of Book of Mormon Central, portray Joseph Smith and the other prophets as confused speculators who misled the Church by teaching that the Hill Cumorah of Mormon 6:6 is in New York.

They say Joseph changed his mind about the Hill Cumorah when he read a popular Mesoamerican travel book in 1841, even though he specifically linked it to New York in 1842 (D&C 128:20).

They say Joseph made errors in the Wentworth letter that were so serious (because they contradicted M2C), that they had to censor that part of the letter in the chapter on the Wentworth letter in the Joseph Smith manual.

And that’s all fine. Their brains generate positive neurochemistry every time they repeat these beliefs. Nothing wrong with that.

But not everyone gets positive biochemical feedback when they read the M2C material.
_____

Here’s what Joseph himself wrote:

I combat the errors of ages; I meet the violence of mobs; I cope with illegal proceedings from executive authority; I cut the Gordian knot of powers; and I solve mathematical problems of universities; with truth, diamond truth, and God is my right hand man.’

https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/history-1838-1856-volume-e-1-1-july-1843-30-april-1844/150
_____

I much prefer what Joseph taught over what our modern M2C intellectuals and revisionist Church historians are teaching.

But we’re all entitled to believe whatever we want, so there’s no need to argue or contend about any of this.

Just ask yourself, is my brain generating positive neurochemicals because of truth, or error?

As it relates to the Book of Mormon, this issue explains why the teachings of the prophets about the Hill Cumorah are being systematically censored and removed from the historical record.
_____

The most critical statement in the Gospel Topics Essay on Book of Mormon Geography is this:

All parties should strive to avoid contention on these matters.

When people are contending over something such as M2C, they usually think they are using facts and logic, but they are actually just responding to biochemistry.

When our brains detect an unpleasant conflict between data and what we want to believe, they use biochemistry and faulty reasoning to reduce distress. This is a biological description of bias confirmation.

I used to see this all the time when I practiced law. Clients are naturally emotional, convinced they are right, etc. One of the most difficult tasks for a lawyer is conveying objective (or even quasi-objective) reality to their own clients.

I’ll discuss this topic more in my updated, expanded edition of Mesomania, coming this fall, but in the meantime, let’s take a quick look at what’s going on.
_____

Researchers have conducted neurological experiments to understand how political partisans respond to information. The findings (excerpted below) help explain what happens when partisans on all sides of the Book of Mormon wars respond to information.

Today I’ll focus on M2C because people tell me that employees of Book of Mormon Central are still arguing about M2C stuff on their blogs and other social media. There’s a lot of anger, emotions, etc.

No one is to blame for that reaction. It’s merely a result of biochemistry.

People believe they are thinking rationally, based on facts, but their brains are simply engaged in self-defense. Their brains perceive confirmation of the M2C bias as pleasurable, while criticism of M2C is painful.

The study explained it this way: “The neural circuits charged with regulation of emotional states seemed to recruit beliefs that eliminated the distress and conflict partisans had experienced when they confronted unpleasant realities.”
_____

The fascinating thing is that the better educated, more motivated, and “smarter” a person is, the more their brain chemistry will “develop complex rationalizations for dismissing data they don’t want to believe.”

Every human brain does this; it’s basic biology. That’s why bias confirmation is difficult to overcome.

Having believed M2C for decades, but now realizing it’s a hoax, it’s easier for me to recognize the biochemistry involved than it is for those still within the M2C bubble. It’s also why none of this is personal or upsetting to me. I really don’t care what anyone else believes, and I’m not trying to persuade anyone. I just want people to make informed decisions, and understanding neurochemistry is part of that.
_____

For everyone interested in Book of Mormon historicity and geography, brain chemistry is activated by the mere term Cumorah.

M2C advocates, by definition, dismiss data regarding the New York Cumorah.

Every time an M2C follower sees a map of Mesoamerica with Cumorah in southern Mexico, his/her brain generates a positive response.

Every time an M2C follower sees a map of Cumorah in New York, his/her brain generates a negative response.

The psychological problem for M2C followers is that their brain normally generates positive responses to the teachings of the prophets. For example, they accept almost everything President Oliver Cowdery taught. Same with the other prophets who have reaffirmed the New York Cumorah.

But they can’t accept what President Cowdery and the other prophets have said about the New York Cumorah. 

Consequently, when they read Letter VII, the psychological conflict causes greater pain that requires a stronger response. This is why you see them act so aggressively in word and deed.

We see the exact opposite brain chemistry among those Church members who still believe the teachings of the prophets about the New York Cumorah. They get positive rewards when they read those teachings, just as they get positive rewards from reading all the teachings of the prophets. They get a similar positive reward from seeing proposed geographies that affirm the New York Cumorah.

They get negative rewards when they see material that repudiates the teachings of the prophets.

Neurochemistry explains the “Book of Mormon Wars.” 

It also explains why the M2C citation cartel continues to censor material that contradicts M2C. It’s not so much that they want to keep members of the Church ignorant. It’s more that they want to avoid giving their readers the psychological pain they feel whenever they see something that contradicts M2C or supports the New York Cumorah.

This also explain why the Gospel Topics Essay doesn’t want anyone talking about this at Church. Because there is such a stark difference of opinion, no matter which side is represented, someone will feel pain while someone else will feel happiness.

That’s why it is essential that the Gospel Topics Essay be actually implemented, starting by getting rid of the M2C materials in the curriculum and media.
_____

As astute readers, you’ve already recognized that there’s a problem with the censorship approach. We’ll discuss it another time, but basically, as Andrew Yang recently tweeted, “Trying to suppress ideas often doesn’t truly make them disappear – it just pushes them into the shadows where they sometimes gain strength and currency. Being open to ideas is itself a sign of confidence in your own.”
_____

Neurochemistry helps explain how biases are formed in the first place. 

Let’s say you’re a kid. Your parents give you a book such as Kelli Coughanour’s “The Book of Mormon for Young Readers.

You’re going to develop all kinds of positive emotions about this book. It’s a gift from your parents. They read it with you. They encourage you to have faith in it.

The book teaches M2C overtly. I’ve discussed this in more detail here:
http://bookofmormonwars.blogspot.com/2018/06/problems-for-parents-kelli-coughanour.html

Your brain will give you reward signals whenever you see the infamous painting of Christ at Chichen Itza, or Mayan pyramids, or maps of Mesoamerica.

You progress through Seminary, Sunday School, and the youth programs. Your parents and Church leaders encourage you to read books by M2C scholars. At every step, your M2C bias is reinforced by people you’ve been taught to believe and admire.

M2C generates positive brain chemistry.

Maybe you visit the North Visitors Center on Temple Square and see Mormon depicted in a Mexican cave, surrounded by Mayan glyphs as he abridges the records. Off in the distance, all by himself, Moroni is depositing the plates in “a hill in New York.”

Positive brain chemistry.

BYU fantasy map

Let’s say you go to BYU and walk into Brother Tyler Griffin’s awesome first-year Book of Mormon class. He explains the Book of Mormon with his fantasy map.

More positive brain chemistry.

You go on a mission and get more M2C reinforcement at the MTC because you don’t realize (and no one is going to tell you) that the Church leaders for whom the buildings are named actually taught that Cumorah is in New York.

Maybe somewhere along the line, maybe several times, you come across one of the teachings by Church leaders about the New York Cumorah, such as Letter VII or a map of a proposed geography, that supports those teachings.

You brain registers an immediate negative response. Your neurochemistry quickly responds by invoking the M2C images and arguments you are comfortable with.

You hurry to FairMormon, Book of Mormon Central, or another member of the M2C citation cartel because you know they will safely confirm your bias and give you positive feedback.

Sure enough, you read a Kno-Why and your bias is confirmed. Your neurochemistry keeps you happy.

It happens on all sides of the issue, and that’s why this issue never gets resolved.

In upcoming posts, we’ll see how and why this problem is getting more serious all the time.
_____

Excerpts from the article about the study:

When confronted with potentially troubling political information, a network of neurons becomes active that produces distress. Whether this distress is conscious, unconscious, or some combination of the two, we don’t know.

The brain registers conflict between data and desire and begins to search for ways to turn off the spigot of unpleasant emotion. We know that the brain largely succeeded in this effort, as partisans mostly denied that they had perceived any conflict between their candidates’ words and deeds.

Not only did the brain manage to shut down distress through faulty reasoning, but it did so quickly – as best we could tell, usually before subjects even made it to the third slide. The neural circuits charged with regulation of emotional states seemed to recruit beliefs that eliminated the distress and conflict partisans had experienced when they confronted unpleasant realities. And this all seemed to happen with little involvement of the neural circuits normally involved in reasoning.

Once partisans had found a way to reason to false conclusions, not only did neural circuits involved in negative emotions turn off, but circuits involved in positive emotions turned on. The partisan brain didn’t seem satisfied in just feeling better. It worked overtime to feel good, activating reward circuits that give partisans a jolt of positive reinforcement for their biased “reasoning.” These reward circuits overlap substantially with those activated when drug addicts get their “fix,” giving new meaning to the term political junkie.

For years, political scientists tended (or perhaps wanted) to believe that emotion-driven thinking is more characteristic of less sophisticated or less knowledgeable voters. However, the more sophisticated people are politically (e.g., the more they know about an issue), the more able they are to develop complex rationalizations for dismissing data they don’t want to believe. Politically knowledgeable citizens also tend to be partisans, which gives them the strongest reasons for distorted reasoning.

_____
Here’s a trigger warning for any M2C readers.

Don’t read the next paragraphs.

The arguments M2C intellectuals put forth through the cartel (FairMormon, Book of Mormon Central, the Interpreter, BYU Studies, etc.) rely on sophistry and logical fallacies that appeal only to those who share the biases they are confirming. To the rest of us, the fallacies are transparent.

This is a recent comment by Attorney General Barr that has obvious comparisons with the way the M2C intellectuals operate.

Mr. Barr: “In my mind, they are, sure. I mean, republics have fallen because of Praetorian Guard mentality where government officials get very arrogant, they identify the national interest with their own political preferences and they feel that anyone who has a different opinion, you know, is somehow an enemy of the state. And, you know, there is that tendency that they know better and that, you know, they’re there to protect as guardians of the people. That can easily translate into essentially supervening the will of the majority and getting your own way as a government official.”

https://www.wsj.com/articles/william-barrs-fresh-air-11559510133

And this question involves whether we accept or reject the clear, consistent teachings of the prophets.

This is a perennial issue, one that President Benson addressed years ago at BYU, as I discussed here:

https://bookofmormonwars.blogspot.com/2018/06/president-benson-tried-to-fix-byu.html
_____

The current version (2 June 2019) of the anonymous Gospel Topics Essay on Book of Mormon Geography states the following:

the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles urge leaders and members not to advocate those personal theories in any setting or manner that would imply either prophetic or Church support for those theories. 

When this essay was released, many Church members welcomed it as a step toward correcting course; i.e., for too long, intellectuals in the Church have been teaching that the prophets are wrong, leaving members “confused and disturbed in their faith in the Book of Mormon” as President Joseph Fielding Smith warned.

This essay, we thought, “leveled the playing field” so that every member of the Church could study the issue according to their own interests, enabling them to make informed decisions without feeling as though the Church was endorsing the theories of the intellectuals.

However, we still see Church leaders advocating and supporting the Mesoamerican/two-Cumorahs theory (M2C), thereby implying Church support for that theory.

This is troubling to members of the Church who still believe what the prophets have taught about Cumorah.

One example is a recent essay published by Book of Mormon Central that explicitly teaches M2C. https://knowhy.bookofmormoncentral.org/knowhy/why-does-the-book-of-mormon-warn-against-seeking-after-riches

At the conclusion of the essay, we see this statement:

This KnoWhy was made possible by the generous contributions of Elder Lynn G. Robbins.

Whether Elder Robbins believes in M2C is irrelevant because he, like every member of the Church, is entitled to his own opinions. However, Book of Mormon Central uses this statement to convey Church endorsement of their theory.

Is that not a direct violation of the Gospel Topics Essay?

Another example is the web page of BMAF, the corporate owner of Book of Mormon Central. For years, they’ve featured General Authorities on their Advisory Board to imply Church endorsement of their M2C theory.

You can see it here: http://bmaf.org/about/who_are_we

Elder Ted E. Brewerton, Emeritus General Authority
Elder Robert E. Wells, Emeritus General Authority
Elder Merrill C. Oaks, Former General Authority
Elder Clate W. Mask, Former General Authority

I have other specific examples I won’t take the time to mention here, and so long as the Church’s Visitors Centers, CES and BYU curriculum, and Church media continue to promote M2C, I suppose the Gospel Topics Essay is not being enforced anyway.

Well, actually, I know of specific cases in which it is being enforced–but only to suppress the teachings of the prophets to accommodate the M2C intellectuals.

Which, I suspect and hope, is the opposite of what was intended by whomever wrote the essay.
_____

To understand the essay in context, we should look at a little history.

Until the 1980s, when intellectuals in the Church managed to insert their ideas of Book of Mormon geography into the curriculum at BYU and CES, Church leaders consistently taught two things:

1. The Hill Cumorah of Mormon 6:6 is in western New York, the same hill from which Joseph obtained the plates; and

2. We don’t know for sure where the rest of the events of the Book of Mormon took place.

(I’ve documented many of these statements here:
http://www.lettervii.com/p/byu-packet-on-cumorah.html)
_____

In the 1980s, the illustrations in the missionary edition of the Book of Mormon were changed to accommodate the new ideas of the intellectuals; i.e., that the “real” Hill Cumorah is in Mexico and that the hill in New York was named Cumorah as the result of a false tradition that Joseph passively adopted. This is the Mesoamerican/two-Cumorahs theory.

I discussed these changes here:

http://bookofmormonconsensus.blogspot.com/2016/08/expectations-and-art-missionary-work.html

CES and BYU developed curriculum that set the Book of Mormon squarely in Central America, with the Hill Cumorah featured in southern Mexico.

The teachings of the prophets were censored completely from Church curriculum. Even Joseph Smith’s Wentworth letter was edited to remove statements that contradicted M2C, as I discussed here.
_____

Fortunately, the Church keeps good records.

The teachings of the prophets cannot be completely erased. 

Anyone can read the General Conference reports to see that members of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve have consistently and persistently taught that the Hill Cumorah of Mormon 6:6 is in New York.

President Oliver Cowdery’s Letter VII, which declares it is a fact that the final battles of the Jaredites and Nephites took place at the Hill Cumorah in New York, is included in Joseph Smith’s personal history, which everyone can read in the Joseph Smith Papers. It was originally published in the Messenger and Advocate and republished in the Gospel Reflector, the Times and Seasons, the Prophet, the Millennial Star, and the Improvement Era. 

It’s easy for intellectuals to use sophistry to persuade members of the Church to ignore or reject the teachings of the prophets. Recall what President Benson said in the link above:

“The learned may feel the prophet is only inspired when he agrees with them, otherwise the prophet is just giving his opinion—speaking as a man.” 

https://www.lds.org/manual/teachings-of-presidents-of-the-church-ezra-taft-benson/chapter-11-follow-the-living-prophet?lang=eng

Those of us who still believe the teachings of the prophets should remain optimistic that eventually the Gospel Topics Essay will be implemented.

I recognize that many people are frustrated that the M2C intellectuals control CES and BYU, that they continue to censor, belittle, and repudiate the teachings of the prophets, and that so many members of the Church have formed their opinions about Book of Mormon geography in ignorance.

We look forward to the day when all the relevant information is readily available to every member of the Church so that we can each make informed decisions. 

I don’t usually post on weekends, but I’m making an exception because long-time readers will find this quite interesting. Today we’re going to see how Book of Mormon Central (BMC) is doubling down on M2C, using the Internet to spread its message that the prophets are wrong.

And they’re enlisting General Authorities to cooperate, contrary to official Church policy.

(Go to the end of the post to see that point explained.)
_____

There are a lot of exciting, positive developments throughout the world, but if we’re realistic, we also recognize serious problems, especially in areas where the Church is well established. Many factors contribute to declining attendance, activity, conversions, etc., but the historicity of the Book of Mormon is among the most significant. The Book of Mormon is the keystone of our religion, but intellectuals in the Church are undermining its message daily.

Relatively few English-speaking investigators who search the Internet join the Church because they quickly learn from sites such as CES Letter and UTLM that our own CES and BYU scholars claim the prophets are wrong about Cumorah. Combine that with the framework the intellectuals have constructed to support M2C and the claims of revisionist Church historians, and people face a nearly insurmountable obstacle to even giving the restored gospel a chance.

I’ve shown before how the intellectual tipping point in the 1980s (when M2C replaced the prophets’ teachings about Cumorah) led directly to decreases in conversion rates (baptisms per 1,000 members).

These results are inevitable and will probably accelerate. Already, 50% of Millennials in the Church do not believe the Book of Mormon is an authentic history, and that number is sure to decline in the future among students of CES and BYU who are taught to understand the Book of Mormon by referring to the fantasy maps. I discussed this here.
_____

My twitter feed led me to Jana Reiss’ latest article. It was accompanied by two ads from Book of Mormon Central (BMC).

https://janariess.religionnews.com/2019/05/31/retreats-offer-a-safe-space-to-be-both-mormon-and-real/

If you go to that page, you probably won’t see the BMC ads because Google rotates ads based on what web pages you visit. But at the left is a screen capture of the page I saw when I went there.

I realize that’s a small image so I’ll provide close-ups below.

In her thoughtful article, Reiss described the need for safe spaces. But she also made this observation about her home ward. (The screen capture is small so I copied the text below, in blue.)

Because I study religion and disaffiliation, I get asked sometimes what the Church can do to stem the tide of people leaving. And while there are many, many factors that contribute to disaffiliation—not least of which is that our little Church is swept up in what’s going on in American religion more generally, in which the fastest-growing religion is to not have a religion at all—I know something that would help. And that is the concept of church as a safe space.

Maybe my ward is good at creating safety because we are small and, frankly, struggling. We had 43 people in sacrament meeting last Sunday. That’s low even for us—it was a holiday weekend—but the truth is that most of our trend lines are heading down. If someone walks in the door who has a less than perfect testimony or who smells like cigarette smoke, I think our response would be Oh my gosh there is a breathing person, a new person, and did we mention they have a pulse? We are so excited!

Recently I have visited several areas of the United States that report declining attendance. One location now has 80 people attending compared with 120 less than a year ago. Another location combined wards of about 80 each and put one of the chapels up for sale. I mentioned recently that last year (2018), 10 states (plus D.C.) lost LDS membership.

I reiterate that M2C is not the only reason for these developments. But it is a major factor because repudiating the teachings of the prophets in one area undermines faith in the teachings of the prophets in all areas.
_____

Here is a close-up of the BMC ads.

First, we have the M2C logo that uses a Mayan glyph to teach viewers that the Book of Mormon is a Mayan codex. (The logo shows Hebrew, Greek, Egyptian and Mayan characters.)

Next, we have two ads that both state “The Book of Mormon evidences are clear and convincing.”

I assume the ad has been A/B tested, and I like this effort at persuasion. Stating something as a fact when it is really just an opinion can be effective. But I doubt anyone actually believes this claim.

For example, I’m a long-term, committed believer in the Book of Mormon, but I recognize the evidence is anything but “clear and convincing” except to those who already want to believe.

And for sure, once we get into the BMC web page and discover there are hundreds of articles attempting to offer evidences, most of which rely on semantics and bias confirmation, we see that the evidences are neither clear nor convincing–especially because so much of the material is designed to persuade readers that the prophets are wrong.

Maybe I’m viewing it from a legal perspective because “clear and convincing” is a standard of proof in court that is more strict than “preponderance of the evidence” (but less strict than “beyond a reasonable doubt.”) Nevertheless, it is obvious that the vast majority of the 1 billion people who have heard the gospel do not think the evidence satisfies even the “preponderance of the evidence” standard, let alone the “clear and convincing” standard.

Still, let’s say the ad is provocative enough to arouse curiosity. Let’s see what happens when we click on the ad.

We come to the home page of BMC.

Today, it features an article titled “Why Does the Book of Mormon Warn Against Seeking after Riches?”

That’s not exactly what we expect, based on the ad. On its face, this is not “clear and convincing” evidence of the Book of Mormon.

But the article asks a question, which is good persuasion. Naturally, we click on the link.

That takes us to this page.

Here, we have a video/article combination.

We have a Soundcloud file.

We have a link to youtube.

We have a video download link.

We have share buttons.

All of this suggests a great social media presence. BMC has the potential to do tremendous good this way. It spends millions of dollars to create content, hire smart young scholars, and disseminate its message throughout the world.

Here is the problem: BMC is teaching people to disbelieve the prophets.

Start with the video.

The first frame is a depiction of Mayans paying tribute to their king.

The message is not even subtle. It is overt. Explicit. Unmistakable.

The “evidence” we are about to learn is that the Book of Mormon is a Mayan Codex (or, as John Sorenson framed it, Mormon’s Codex).

The Nephites were Mayans.

And the prophets are wrong about the New York Cumorah.

Mayan Jacob teaching in a Mayan/Nephite temple

As if the video image isn’t enough, the text reaffirms M2C.

The message has little to do with the purported title of the article, and everything to do with imprinting M2C on the minds of the readers. Here are excerpts from the text in blue, with my comments in red.

Brant Gardner has identified a plausible social context for Jacob’s teachings in pre-Columbian America.2 

Brother Gardner is a member of BMC’s research and writing team, hence a member of the M2C citation cartel, so we naturally expect him to be cited by BMC. He is a long-time M2C advocate who also works with The Interpreter, another member of the M2C citation cartel.

(BTW, it’s fascinating how the M2C citation cartel has multiple organizations to give the appearance that there are diverse groups who all agree. In reality, it’s the same people in all these groups, and they coordinate. They don’t only dominate CES and BYU. A couple of years ago, representatives of Book of Mormon Central, the Interpreter Foundation, and FairMormon spent a day with the Quorum of the Twelve, persuading the Brethren that they could provide faithful answers. That’s why you see these M2C advocates everywhere in Church materials, including the Gospel Topics Essays, the notes in the Joseph Smith Papers, the Saints book, etc. It’s all M2C, all the time. But despite the efforts of the M2C intellectuals, none of the Brethren have ever repudiated their predecessors’ teachings about the New York Cumorah.)

As in most ancient economies, Mesoamerica used a barter economy where “various commodities served as currencies to ‘even out’ a bartered transaction.” 

This points out the illusory nature of the M2C “evidence” and why such evidence is both unpersuasive to outsiders and insufficient justification for repudiating the teachings of the prophets. Barter economies are ubiquitous in human societies. Even today, people in advanced western societies trade commodities outside the formal monetary system. Any purported link between the Book of Mormon barter economy, and the Mesoamerican barter economy, is evidence of exactly nothing.

These commodities included precious stones and ore, carved jewelry, cloth, salt, and even cacao beans.3 

Already we have a disconnect. The Book of Mormon says nothing of salt or cacao beans.

In this context, it is interesting that Jacob didn’t just mention gold and silver but the accumulation of “all manner of precious ores” and costly apparel as being a sign of wealth for the early Nephites. Elsewhere the Book of Mormon speaks of the Nephites becoming rich from “precious things, and in fine workmanship of wood” (Jarom 1:8), 

Notice what BMC omits from Jarom 1:8. “… in precious things, and in fine workmanship of wood, in buildings, and in machinery, and also in iron and copper, and brass and steel, making all manner of tools of every kind to till the ground, and weapons of war—yea, the sharp pointed arrow, and the quiver, and the dart, and the javelin, and all preparations for war.” This is a problem for M2C because there is no evidence from this period (399-362 B.C.) that Mayans used iron, copper, brass or steel. Of course, there is evidence of metalworking in Ohio during this period.

and from an “abundance of flocks and herds . . . and also abundance of grain . . . and abundance of silk and fine-twined linen, and all manner of goodly cloth” (Alma 1:29).4

Same problem. Here’s what Alma 1:29 says in full. “an abundance of flocks and herds, and fatlings of every kind, and also abundance of grain, and of gold, and of silver, and of precious things, and abundance of silk and fine-twined linen, and all manner of good homely cloth.” We have all of these, including silkworms and cloth, in ancient Ohio, Tennessee, etc.

The kind of wealth the men in Jacob’s small settlement were seeking would likely have been not just gold and silver ore, but also jade and semi-precious stones, the feathers of exotic birds, and other material goods that could be used to justify social segregation. 

The citation cartel uses this tactic throughout M2C literature. The Book of Mormon somehow omits the three J’s (jade, jaguars and jungles) one expects in a Mayan Codex, so the M2C intellectuals supply the missing terms with their own interpretation; i.e., they supply the terms Joseph somehow forgot to dictate. 

In ancient America, “one displayed wealth by wearing it–––precisely Jacob’s complaint about some of his people,” observed Gardner. “This visual display of wealth highlighted differences among individual access to the exotic trade goods and led to the social inequality that lies behind Jacob’s condemnation.”7

This is another example of illusory evidence. Wearing wealth is as ubiquitous as barter economies. It is as much evidence that the Nephites were Mayans as it is evidence that the Nephites were Chinese, or Africans. 
_____

All of this is just normal M2C citation cartel material. I have documented this for several years now. We don’t expect it to change because the M2C intellectuals and their followers live in a bubble, engage in bias confirmation, and don’t realize how obvious the fallacies of M2C are to

(i) those of us who still believe what the prophets have taught about the New York Cumorah and

(ii) those who are investigating the claims of the Book of Mormon.
_____

There are two differences from ordinary M2C material here that caused me to comment on this article.

First, the aggressive BMC effort to take M2C to the world through social media and the Internet.

Second, the explicit endorsement of M2C by a General Authority, contrary to the Church’s policy of neutrality as expressed in the Gospel Topics Essay on Book of Mormon geography.
_____

At the end of the article we see this:

In case you can’t read it, it says:

This KnoWhy was made possible by the generous contributions of Elder Lynn G. Robbins.

The Gospel Topics Essay expressly states:

the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles urge leaders and members not to advocate those personal theories in any setting or manner that would imply either prophetic or Church support for those theories.

BMC published this article that explicitly promotes the Mesoamerican/two-Cumorahs theory of geography and added the endorsement of a current General Authority.

Whether or not Elder Robbins believes M2C, and/or intended to promote M2C, doesn’t matter. He’s entitled to his personal opinions like everyone else.

The point is, if we accept the anonymous Gospel Topics Essay as official Church policy, no leaders or members should be advocating their personal theories in a matter that implies Church support for those theories.

Public financial support for M2C by a General Authority does more than merely imply Church support. 
_____

Again, this is nothing new.

The M2C citation cartel has long claimed prophetic and Church support for M2C. 

BMAF, the corporate owner of BMC, lists General Authorities on their Advisory Board. 

FairMormon, another adamant promoter of M2C, touts its close affiliation with General Authorities, some of whom speak at FairMormon events and encourage members of the Church to donate.

We all know that, through the academic cycle, M2C employees at BYU, CES, and COB have effectively persuaded members throughout the Church to accept M2C. M2C has become the default position of the Church, as we see in curriculum, Visitors Centers, the Joseph Smith Papers, etc.

But at least as of now, M2C is still not the official position of the Church.

And the teachings of the prophets about Cumorah, itemized here, have not yet been repudiated.

The Gospel Topics Essay was apparently intended to undo the damage caused by the M2C academic cycle. It is supposed to level the playing field so that members of the Church do not feel institutional pressure to accept M2C.

Pursuant to the Gospel Topics Essay, Church members can study the teachings of the prophets, as well as the scriptures themselves, and form their own opinions about Book of Mormon geography.

No member of the Church is obligated to, or even expected to, accept the teachings of intellectuals, especially when those intellectuals directly repudiate the teachings of Church leaders.

I hope this is the last time that a Church leader explicitly and publicly endorses M2C. 

It would be even better if M2C were replaced throughout the Church with the teachings of the prophets about the New York Cumorah.

That would eliminate one of the major obstacles that confront members (both active and less-active) and investigators.

If, some day, members of the Church unite behind the teachings of the prophets about the New York Hill Cumorah, we could see a revitalization of faith in both those prophets and the Book of Mormon itself.