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The Mesomania book is now on Amazon. You can find it here. This is an Amazon exclusive version, titled Mormon Mesomania.

By way of explanation, I’m not criticizing any current LDS scholars. I fully respect their efforts and deeply appreciate the good work they’ve done in many fields. Plus, they’re great people. I just think they’re making a fundamental mistake about the geography question and I’m just trying to understand the psychology behind the Mesoamerican theory. It’s a fascinating topic, and I have a much longer manuscript, but everyone wants short books, so I made the Mesomania as short as I could.

For those new to this blog, I don’t care what anyone thinks about Book of Mormon geography and historicity so long as it works for them and gets them to read the text and incorporate the teachings.

However, it seems obvious that the vast majority of the people in the world reject the Book of Mormon as a legitimate, authentic history. This includes members of the Church, too many of whom are inactive. Even among active members, many don’t think the Book of Mormon is an authentic history.

I do.

And I think the Mesoamerican theory is a distraction that deters people from accepting the Book of Mormon as an authentic history. Of course, there are some people who find great value in seeing Mesoamerican culture in the text. That’s fine. As I said, whatever works. You can apply the scriptures to yourselves by reading into the text attributes of African culture, Chilean culture, etc.

But when the scholars present only the Mesoamerican theory to their students (or, just as bad, an abstract map theory), and seek to present only that theory to the world through missionary work, in my view it’s a serious mistake because, as Joseph Fielding Smith warned, the theory causes members (and investigators) to become confused and disturbed in their faith in the Book of Mormon.

I think the Mesoamerican distraction originated with Benjamin Winchester, William Smith and others in the 1840s, but it died down until the 1920s when the limited geography setting in Mesoamerica was developed by RLDS scholars. They were the first to reject the New York Cumorah; so far as I can discover, not a single person who knew Joseph rejected the New York Cumorah.

LDS scholars at BYU gradually adopted the RLDS position over the objection of Joseph Fielding Smith, and that’s where we are today.

I’m hoping we can change course, embrace Letter VII and the other early teachings, and become united as LDS who have full faith in the historicity of the Book of Mormon.
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In Mesomannia, I explain my views on the psychology that drives the effort by modern LDS scholars to promote the Mesoamerican theory. Among other things, they are seeking to accomplish these objectives:

1. Reject Letter VII by characterizing Oliver Cowdery as a speculative, unreliable man who lacks credibility.

2. Reject David Whitmer’s accounts because he, too, was a speculative, unreliable man who lacks credibility.

3. Portray Joseph Smith as an uncertain man who 1) embraced a false tradition about the Hill Cumorah in New York and 2) changed his mind about the North American setting and embraced a Mesoamerican setting with the expectation that modern LDS scholars would answer the questions about Book of Mormon geography.
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For me, those objectives undermine faith and are the fulfillment of Joseph Fielding Smith’s warning.

And it’s all so unnecessary.

Which is why I want to understand the psychology, and why I wrote Mesomania.

Book of Mormon Central continues to double down on the volcano nonsense.

Usually, Mesoamerican advocates claim they want to stick with the text. What they really mean is, they want to stick with their interpretation (i.e., their translation) of the text.

In this case, the text never mentions volcanoes. With that in mind, look at this KnoWhy:
https://knowhy.bookofmormoncentral.org/content/what-caused-the-darkness-and-destruction-in-the-34th-year

I’ve written about the volcano theory before. It is pure confirmation bias. Here’s the logic:

1. BOMC insists the Book of Mormon took place in Central America.
2. Central America is part of the ring of fire of active volcanic activity.
3. Therefore, the destruction in 3 Nephi must have been caused by volcanoes.

The Mesoamerican advocates want you to believe that in the 1,000-year history of the Nephites in Mesoamerica, even though they never once mentioned volcanoes, they actually lived in one of the most active volcanic areas on the planet.

In that 1,000 years, there was only one volcanic eruption, and it was the one in 3 Nephi.

But even then, the Book of Mormon authors forgot to mention a volcano!

If you want to learn about a real-life natural disaster that closely matches the 3 Nephi description without the addition of volcanoes, go here: https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/states/events/1811-1812.php

I keep hearing reports that more and more people are reading and discussing Letter VII. We’re still a long way from having every member of the Church read it during 2016, but we’re getting closer all the time. Sharing these memes is one way to help.

You can share the link to Letter VII in the Joseph Smith Papers so people can read Letter VII right out of Joseph’s own history, here.

You can share the link to the original publication in the Messenger and Advocate here.

You can share the link to the Second Edition on Amazon here.

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Here’s the meme to help people remember which of Oliver Cowdery’s letters explains the Hill Cumorah is in New York:

You can also find links to Letter VII in the Times and Seasons and the Gospel Reflector.

Or, people can read the first edition of my little book at Book of Mormon Central here. (Note: if you refer people to that site, be sure to warn them that Book of Mormon Central (BOMC) promotes Central America exclusively. BOMC still refuses to remain neutral on Book of Mormon geography or to even inform members of the Church that there are alternatives to Mesoamerica. A perfect example is how they keep insisting the 3 Nephi destruction was caused by volcanoes, even though the text never once mentions a volcano.)

I keep hearing reports that more and more people are reading and discussing Letter VII. We’re still a long way from having every member of the Church read it during 2016, but we’re getting closer all the time. Sharing these memes is one way to help.

You can share the link to Letter VII in the Joseph Smith Papers so people can read Letter VII right out of Joseph’s own history, here.

You can share the link to the original publication in the Messenger and Advocate here.

You can share the link to the Second Edition on Amazon here.

__________________________

Here’s the meme to help people remember which of Oliver Cowdery’s letters explains the Hill Cumorah is in New York:

You can also find links to Letter VII in the Times and Seasons and the Gospel Reflector.

Or, people can read the first edition of my little book at Book of Mormon Central here. (Note: if you refer people to that site, be sure to warn them that Book of Mormon Central (BOMC) promotes Central America exclusively. BOMC still refuses to remain neutral on Book of Mormon geography or to even inform members of the Church that there are alternatives to Mesoamerica. A perfect example is how they keep insisting the 3 Nephi destruction was caused by volcanoes, even though the text never once mentions a volcano.)

Lucy Woodruff Smith standing on top of the Hill Cumorah with Pliny T. Sexton

The LDS scholars who continue to promote the Mesoamerican setting like to say Joseph Fielding Smith didn’t know what he was talking about when he denounced the two-Cumorah theory. They say the same about two other Presidents of the Church: Joseph F. Smith and George Albert Smith. See my comments at the end of this post.

At the April 1906 conference, George Albert Smith related events that took place during his visit to New York with President Joseph F. Smith. You can read his comments here:

https://archive.org/stream/conferencereport1906a#page/n57/mode/2up/search/cumorah

The photo shows his wife, Lucy, standing on top of the Hill Cumorah with Pliny t. Sexton, who owned the hill at the time. This photo is in the manual Teachings of the Presidents of the Church: George Albert Smith. Here is the entire caption: “George Albert Smith was among the General Authorities assigned to purchase and preserve important Church history sites. In this photograph is Lucy Woodruff Smith standing on top of the Hill Cumorah with Pliny T. Sexton, who was the owner of most of the hill. By 1928 the Church acquired the Hill Cumorah and all of the property around it.”
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Here are the comments by George Albert Smith:

“We visited the Hill Cumorah and were accorded the courtesy of going thereon by the wife of Mr. George Sampson, a brother of Admiral Wm. Sampson, who before his death owned the property. When we went up there and looked around, we felt that we were standing on holy ground. The
brethren located, as near as they thought was possible, the place from which the plates of the Book of Mormon were taken by the Prophet. We were delighted to be there. Looking over the surrounding country we remembered that two great races of people had wound up their existence in the vicinity, had fought their last fight, and that hundreds of thousands had been slain within sight of that hill.
Evidence of the great battles that have been fought there in days gone by are manifest in the numerous spear and arrow-heads that have been found by farmers while plowing in that neighborhood. We were fortunate enough to obtain a few of the arrowheads. Upon the hill, near a
little grove of timber, the party stood and sang that glorious hymn:

An angel from on high
The long, long silence broke;

Descending from the sky,
These gracious words he spoke:

Lo! in Cumorah’s lonely hill,
A sacred record lies concealed.

“And then, under the inspiration of the Lord, President Smith offered one of the most profound and beautiful prayers I have ever listened to. Everyone present was melted to tears. We felt the presence of the Spirit of our Father; and all who were there can testify that it was one of the most supremely happy moments of their lives.”
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Over a hundred years later, some prominent LDS scholars still insist Parley P. Pratt, who wrote the words to that hymn (which is still in our hymnal), was merely repeating a false tradition started by unknown early Church members, because the “real” Hill Cumorah is somewhere in Mexico.

These scholars insist Joseph F. Smith, George Albert Smith, and Joseph Fielding Smith didn’t know what they were talking about. They insist these men, like Joseph Smith himself, adopted and embraced the false tradition that Cumorah is in New York.

These scholars insist the hill in New York is “clean” with no artifacts.

These scholars, including the contributors to FairMormon, Book of Mormon Central, the Interpreter, and the rest of the scholarly publications, insist the hill Cumorah is actually somewhere in Mexico, although they’re not sure where. Other scholars insist the hill Cumorah is in Baja, or Panama, or elsewhere–just so long as it is not in New York.

Again, regarding the Hill Cumorah in New York, it’s a clear choice: Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, Joseph F. Smith, George Albert Smith, and Joseph Fielding Smith vs. modern LDS scholars.
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Another report of the trip explained that President Smith’s prayer was not recorded:

“They visited the Hill Cumorah, from which place a most excellent view of the country round is afforded. The party of course was reminded of the great and final battle of the Jaredites which took place around this hill, and later between the Lamanites and Nephites, and as souvenirs some of them brought flint arrow heads, which are continually being gathered now and sold as souvenirs. Prayer was offered on the hill and the site was pointed out as near as possible where the plates from which the Book of Mormon was translated were concealed. President Smith offered the prayer, but much to the regret of all it was not reported.”

http://lds-church-history.blogspot.com/2012/01/george-albert-smith-january-4-1906.html

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For more history about Cumorah, go here:
http://publications.mi.byu.edu/publications/jbms/13/1/5101b46407de713-1-2.pdf