tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-71391692024-03-07T13:21:24.994-06:00Mormanity - a blog for those interested in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day SaintsDiscussions of issues related to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Book of Mormon issues and evidences, and other Latter-day Saint (LDS) topics.Jeff Lindsayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08776493593387402607noreply@blogger.comBlogger2306125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7139169.post-32260209927427530062022-08-25T09:08:00.000-05:002022-08-25T09:08:03.030-05:00Latest from the New Blog at AriseFromtheDust.com<p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.arisefromthedust.com/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="289" data-original-width="1250" height="93" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin6DAE2pLQi38ws1XJ5ZHfvTNarNYxwcOh89FccNdgNDm6RvWIA6SXgEOAh9t2sGwWrhSdmZZqaBG4kOOU_ZGdNe_vw9xp-pi7fUHG5fjfQnexR5IabXWKph1AdMX9iCNn2nml7xk_cAjkH2Dthc3Ii63CAiFbO4z0JWy492R9l0yiAK83c5k/w400-h93/cropped-Arise-from-the-dust-3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p>In late June 2022, <i>Mormanity</i> officially moved to <i>Arise From the Dust</i> at <a href="https://www.arisefromthedust.com/">AriseFromtheDust.com</a>. If you are a subscriber here, I hope you will subscribe at the new site and link there as well. Recent posts you may have missed include:</p><p><b>"<a href="https://www.arisefromthedust.com/nahom-nhm-only-a-tribe-not-a-place/" target="_blank">Nahom/NHM: Only a Tribe, Not a Place?</a>"</b> </p><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;">Here I address the latest argument against the significance of the Arabian Peninsula evidence, namely, the notion that the place which was called "Nahom" in the Book of Mormon cannot be related to the archaeological inscriptions in Yemen bearing the NHM name (corresponding to Nihm tribe) because NHM/Nihm is just a tribal name, not a place. It's an argument dressed up in a touch of scholarship but still rooted in ignorance. </p><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;"> </p><p><b>"<a href="https://www.arisefromthedust.com/the-arise-from-the-dust-theme-and-the-unity-of-isaiah/" target="_blank">The 'Arise from the Dust' Theme and the Unity of Isaiah</a>"</b></p><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;">The Book of Mormon's use of some Isaiah chapters ascribed to "Deutero-Isaiah" poses an apparent problem for Book of Mormon historicity. I discuss some of the reasons that other scholars outside our faith have for accepting the unity of Isaiah, or at least the unity of chapters ascribed to Isaiah and Deutero-Isaiah. Further, I point out how the "arise from the dust" theme found in Isaiah 49 and 52 is artfully used in the Book of Mormon in ways that strongly accord with recent scholarship unavailable to Joseph Smith, adding further evidence for the authenticity and antiquity of the Book of Mormon and, incidentally, the pre-exilic origins of Deutero-Isaiah.</p><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;"> </p><p><b>"<a href="https://www.arisefromthedust.com/the-thunder-of-chinas-quiet-second-revolution-how-a-few-starving-farmers-brought-an-economic-boom-by-abandoning-collectivism/" target="_blank">China Has More to Offer Than Fireworks When It Comes to Celebrating Liberty</a>"</b></p><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;">The story of China's economic revolution is barely known in the West, but has some vitally important lessons for all of us. Here I report on my trek to the small village in Anhui Province where that revolution began, and tell the story desperation and courage among a small group of farmers who risked their lives to defy collectivism. Instead of being punished, they inspired Deng Xiao Ping and helped bring the blessings of economic liberty and prosperity to many millions in China. It was a quiet revolution that became a thunder sweeping China. The lessons from that revolution are now needed in the West. </p><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;"> </p><p><b>"<a href="https://www.arisefromthedust.com/discussing-abortion-with-your-children-and-others-please-include-the-science-on-the-health-of-women/" target="_blank">Discussing Abortion With Your Children and Others: Please Include the Science on the Health of Women</a>"</b></p><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;">Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who understand the Church’s position on abortion or the reasons for its emphasis on the family and the sanctity of human life need to be better prepared to talk to our children and others about the issue of abortion. As we listen gently to sincere questions or concerns, we must also find the right moments to teach based on sound doctrine but also sound science.</p><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;"> </p><p><b>"<a href="https://www.arisefromthedust.com/a-terrible-time-to-be-alive-helping-our-children-resist-one-of-the-most-harmful-lies-of-the-adversary/" target="_blank">A Terrible Time to Be Alive? Helping Our Children Resist One of the Most Harmful Lies of the Adversary</a>"</b></p><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;">A faithful Young Women’s leader here in Wisconsin was recently teaching some of her young women about the importance of family and the sacred blessings that come from raising children. One girl raised her hand and said she didn’t think she should have any children because her teachers at school had explained that the earth is about to run our of air and water, making this a terrible time to bring more children into the world. </p><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;"><br /></p><p><b>"<a href="https://www.arisefromthedust.com/a-glorious-day-for-life-the-courage-of-the-supreme-court-in-rejecting-the-bad-law-and-bad-science-of-roe-v-wade/" target="_blank">A Glorious Day for Life: The Courage of the Supreme Court in Rejecting the Bad Law and Bad Science of Roe v. Wade</a>"</b></p><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;">One of the darkest chapters of American history, one that has caused the unnecessary deaths of millions of the most vulnerable and innocent among us, has just become a little brighter with a genuinely courageous Supreme Court ruling today that overturns one of the most egregious examples of bad law and bad science in recent decades. This doesn’t make abortion illegal, though. It just leaves the decision to the states. It’s not a huge change for the right to life, but an important decision nonetheless.</p><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;"><br /></p><p><b>"<a href="https://www.arisefromthedust.com/whos-watching-out-for-the-children-a-controversy-in-china-and-the-vaccination-of-infants-in-the-us/" target="_blank">Who’s Watching Out for the Children? A Controversy in China and the Vaccination of Infants in the US"</a></b></p><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;">This is a time for parents around the world to be more vigilant when it comes to protecting their children. Parents in both China and the US have recently learned that schools can’t be blindly trusted to be safe or wise. But now parents need to recognize that health officials also might not be worthy of blind trust. The tricks with data used to justify vaccines for infants in the US may be a cause for parental concern.</p><p> </p><p>I've been blogging here at Mormanity.blogspot.com since 2004, with over 2000 posts and many thousands of comments. I appreciate your readership and your participation, regardless of which side you might have taken in the debates that we had here. Those posts and comments were successfully imported over to the new site. </p><p>Content on the old site will normally redirect to the new site. I turned the redirect off for a while today to post this update, but will soon turn it back on again. Your old links will work and be redirected automatically, and if you find search results at Mormanity, they will also redirect to the new site once redirect is activated. </p><p>I hope you'll continue reading. Thanks!<br /></p><p><br /></p>Jeff Lindsayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08776493593387402607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7139169.post-8991698030433081192022-06-20T09:47:00.002-05:002022-06-20T09:54:14.456-05:00Mormanity is Moving to AriseFromTheDust.com<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijegvUMz5FNNdl15XAxrm1FLPANU2pEIj52Uq9_xPKXzd3t9NrlP85nEbajZtY59bjvjNgfkUnAt3ba4xR7SpfYESJjuPzUi0FV4WlNvIv8O_an9xW1Fz4hgXIJTNsayTGmHToJujBO7CXjorV8ByQBXppxWkab9XZA6Zb2_KpYuK21ERRV5c/s1250/Arise-from-the-dust-3.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Current Header for AriseFromTheDust.com, a photo I took of the Garden Tomb in Jerusalem in 2019." border="0" data-original-height="424" data-original-width="1250" height="136" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijegvUMz5FNNdl15XAxrm1FLPANU2pEIj52Uq9_xPKXzd3t9NrlP85nEbajZtY59bjvjNgfkUnAt3ba4xR7SpfYESJjuPzUi0FV4WlNvIv8O_an9xW1Fz4hgXIJTNsayTGmHToJujBO7CXjorV8ByQBXppxWkab9XZA6Zb2_KpYuK21ERRV5c/w400-h136/Arise-from-the-dust-3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>I've been wondering how to abandon the name "Mormanity" for a while. As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I understand how important it is to reflect the proper name of the Church, but finding a good approach was difficult. Finally, after overcoming some of the technical problems in moving from Blogger to a new domain, I'm ready to make the switch to "<a href="http://AriseFromTheDust.com" target="_blank">Arise from the Dust</a>" at <a href="http://AriseFromTheDust.com">AriseFromTheDust.com</a>. This new name for the blog reflects my passion for the Book of Mormon, where the theme of arising from the dust permeates the book, and my deep testimony of the reality and divinity of Jesus Christ, who invites all of us to arise from the dust and follow Him in a covenant relationship. </p><p>Nearly all past posts, including comments, have been transferred to my new domain at AriseFromTheDust.com. There is still work to do in adding categories and developing the design and layout of the blog, and your suggestions are welcome. Meanwhile, I'll be seeking to redirect traffic from this site to the new one Wish me luck as I'm quite an amateur in such matters. </p><p>Thank you to my readers for your support and comments over the years. This blog began in 2004 and has been a fascinating journey for me. I've enjoyed the ability to get rapid feedback, from foes and friends alike, as I pursue various issues and lines of thought. I'm grateful for your insights and guidance, and hope that will continue. <br /></p>Jeff Lindsayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08776493593387402607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7139169.post-90643175325116669272022-05-24T11:50:00.009-05:002022-05-25T13:37:01.125-05:00Preparing for Inflation and Yearning for Zion: Thoughts From My Visit to Turkey <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMcBLxYESMmFAJqxfS5ABJ2rU78paA0SUzkslmsgl269tDDcbXfwleddsh8Lc3Nf1vwOCL-cN4nPxz1q8S3akslPvI3VSxj0moVyVHQxfqgya21BzWL0u6tVlFPj2EM15ejSTP3Ot5LxQr_gPeDxdX9vUJ_iM2AmSdkifElApgZE5QEP_zCsQ/s1024/Istanbul-Eminonu_0551.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMcBLxYESMmFAJqxfS5ABJ2rU78paA0SUzkslmsgl269tDDcbXfwleddsh8Lc3Nf1vwOCL-cN4nPxz1q8S3akslPvI3VSxj0moVyVHQxfqgya21BzWL0u6tVlFPj2EM15ejSTP3Ot5LxQr_gPeDxdX9vUJ_iM2AmSdkifElApgZE5QEP_zCsQ/w400-h300/Istanbul-Eminonu_0551.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The New Mosque (Yeni Cami) in the Eminönü quarter of Istanbul, <br />on the Golden Horn at the southern end of the Galata Bridge.<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><h4 style="text-align: left;">Thoughts on Freedom in Two Grand Cities: Shanghai and Istanbul<br /></h4><p>For over a decade, I've been convinced that Shanghai was the most exciting and perhaps most glorious city I've ever seen. Now the title of "the world's most glorious city" in my mind goes to Istanbul, and I'll explain why in a moment. But Shanghai was the top contender for that title starting almost as soon as I began living there in 2011. We were there at a golden time when Shanghai was remarkably free, prosperous, bustling, and beautiful. Today it is a place of despair, with even the most basic rights now in question as armies of bureaucrats decide who is allowed to leave their apartment, who can walk their dog, who gets what goods, and who must leave their home to reside in makeshift quarantine facilities. Some people have been largely stuck in their tiny apartments for 60 days in a row. The freedoms that so many of us took for granted are now just memories for many. Freedom is tenuous when there are no constraints on what government can do. </p><p>Those seeking power may rejoice when there is a crisis, for it is a chance to expand their control. They know the basic axiom: "You never want a serious crisis to go to waste," as Rahm Emmanuel, Obama's Chief of Staff, explained in November 2008 in the midst of a massive economic crisis (see him say this on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mzcbXi1Tkk" target="_blank">a YouTube video of the Wall Street Journal broadcast</a>). He explained that a crisis "allows you [as in us] to do things you thought you never could do before." Big things, things focused on expanding the power of government to control and presumably solve all manner of problems (including the problem of political opposition), and of course, the ability to spend much more money. It's a lesson that our politicians in both of the major parties know well. Emmanuel, of course, was using a line from Winston Churchill as Churchill was working to establish the United Nations. The crisis of World War II was the justification for the United Nations, just as the crisis of World War I was used to justify the League of Nations, and as every crisis, especially the man-made ones, are used to justify various expansions of government power. <br /></p><p>The overreach of government has completely transformed Shanghai. I hope it will recover, but I worry for China and its people. Some won't recover. Many businesses have been crushed, many have been greatly set back in their education and their plans for the future, and far too many are likely to suffer from the serious physical and mental harm that prolonged lockdowns bring. The massive surge in suicides in the US that lockdowns brought, especially among the young, is surely taking place in China which already had trouble enough with suicide, though details also are not likely to be shared due to the terrible tool of censorship. The saddest stories aren't being told. <br /></p><p>The zero COVID policy of China is failing. A highly contagious disease like the Omicron variant of COVID cannot be dictated out of existence. The vaccines there (and here) are doing little to slow its spread. It's now well known that lockdowns are not very effective against COVID and may have caused harms far greater than the minor benefits. I fear that the effort to save face and prove that "zero COVID" can be achieved is backfiring tragically and delaying China's ability to return to normal. I'm very sad for China. </p><p>Turkey, on the other hand, seems fully back to normal and Istanbul is an amazing, glorious place with the excitement that I loved in Shanghai but also with the rich centuries of history that Shanghai lacks. Turkey seems to be done with COVID and ready to rebound strongly. Masks are still worn on flights, but on the streets, in the restaurants, in the mosques, in the crowded tourist attractions, masks are not required and are generally uncommon. People associate and travel about freely. No neighborhood commissar dictates who can leave their apartment. I don't need to have a dozen bureaucrats' approval to travel to another part of town or another city. I don't have to beg online for a rare chance to buy some fresh fruit. I don't have to line up at the command of a local nanny to have a daily COVID test and possibly be dragged off to a quarantine camp for two or three weeks if there's a positive test, perhaps a false positive. I can walk anywhere freely, purchase fresh pomegranate or orange juice on the street, get on a boat and travel along the Bosporus, and enter beautiful mosques and churches without having to show my passport (or vaccine passport) and have my name registered with government police that track my every move. I can choose where to eat, where to visit, what to photograph (this is a big challenge, though, for Istanbul presents endless scenes of beauty and intrigue that make it hard to stop taking pictures), and simply go where I wish at any time. These are blessings that I no longer take for granted. <br /></p><p>We just spent 10 glorious days in Turkey after our <a href="https://mormanity.blogspot.com/2022/05/lessons-from-bulgaria-dangers-of.html" target="_blank">visit to Bulgaria</a>. We began with several days in Istanbul absorbing the history of the city with the aid of Yasin Karabacak, a remarkable tour guide that was recommended to my wife by Robin Pierson, the British historian who does the fascinating <a href="https://thehistoryofbyzantium.com" target="_blank">History of Byzantium</a> podcast that my wife has been following for a long time, often with me listening in. Yasin runs the "<a href="https://www.facebook.com/thehiddenfaceofistanbul" target="_blank">Hidden Face of Istanbul</a>" social media projects on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/thehiddenfaceofistanbul" target="_blank">Facebook</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/thehiddenfaceof?lang=en" target="_blank">Twitter</a>, and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/thehiddenfaceofistanbul/" target="_blank">Instagram</a>. With his help, we saw and learned vastly more than we could have done on our own. He knew the right times to go places, developed smart routes, and in addition to seeing some of the most famous sites, also took us to hidden corners with rich history, great food or views, and fascinating experiences. He could our many questions with detailed information and interesting stories. Many miles of walking and learning from that wonderful Muslim man who gave us a new perspective on the Turkish people and their history, while also beautifully representing his faith. </p><p>We also had some adventures on our own, including a visit we both made to an outstanding intellectual property firm in downtown Istanbul to discuss some patent issues for two of my clients. More importantly, we also were able to attend The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Istanbul, where there is an English speaking branch and a Turkish branch meeting a facility that openly bears the name of the Church, though not very prominently. The branch meets in what looks like a residence, but has a lovely chapel that can seat perhaps 80 people. The gathering we attended was filled with warmth and excitement, and we also got to meet some of the local Turkish branch right after the two-hour services for the English branch ended. </p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTkcW67Vci1HtxXg-pOd77Vfiw0j9hzPhlGUlL_eqxDlsEfuysSSXFPck5mtRP7cKMZvROmTJ6Dw98H4BhYI_ysFG7WWUZ3tI27rm-QXa8daGYhKGrsJMLIAP-SNalkEv_FUY2Nv4DE3tXHsNN_SglJF7OVNItg2FEgl0r8yqU_5t5qolysr4/s1024/Elders_0083.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTkcW67Vci1HtxXg-pOd77Vfiw0j9hzPhlGUlL_eqxDlsEfuysSSXFPck5mtRP7cKMZvROmTJ6Dw98H4BhYI_ysFG7WWUZ3tI27rm-QXa8daGYhKGrsJMLIAP-SNalkEv_FUY2Nv4DE3tXHsNN_SglJF7OVNItg2FEgl0r8yqU_5t5qolysr4/w400-h300/Elders_0083.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elders Johnston and Paine (Canstin and Peyn) of the Istanbul <br />Turkey Mission, in front of the meeting place for two branches in Istanbul.<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>
While missionaries cannot yet proselyte door-to-door or on the streets in Turkey, there are missionaries assigned to the country, though for now they mostly stay in Bulgaria, very close to Istanbul, and work with people online. But they were in Istanbul the Sunday we went to Church for a mission gathering. It was a good thing we began our trip with a visit to Bulgaria, because that's where we met missionaries for Turkey and learned of this Bulgaria-Turkish connection. That connection led us to check back with a friend in Bulgaria to confirm the meeting time for the English-speaking branch in Istanbul. On Sunday morning our friend connected with the Turkish missionaries and was able to tell us that the meeting time in Istanbul for English speakers was at 10:00 AM, not the 1:00 PM time given on the Church's website. We had just enough time to dash outside, catch a taxi, and make it to the meeting place on time. In our travels, we've been disappointed several times by relying on online information for meeting times since events like Stake conference or other local issues can change the actual meeting time, so it's always wise to check. We meet some really interesting people in that meeting and really enjoyed the spirit of the services there. It was their first time meeting again in a number of weeks, so we were lucky to be there. </p><p>The missionaries we chatted with and the people we met at church spoke highly and respectfully of Turkey, and apparently have been treated very well. While Turkey has a proud history of religious tolerance -- the Turks showed remarkable religious toleration, allowing Jews, Eastern Orthodox believers, and others to return to Constantinople once they conquered the city in 1453, ending the horrible plundering, destruction of great treasures, and religious intolerance that the Crusaders had brought to the city during their decades of rule, and the Ottoman Empire in general maintained a great deal of religious toleration -- Turkey has had terrible moments of religious persecution, and there are still problems today, as <a href="https://www.hudson.org/research/13820-erdogan-s-turkey-increasingly-dangerous-for-christians" target="_blank">Lela Gilbert of the Hudson Institute reports</a>. Religious freedom is often related to freedom of the press, and sadly, Turkey is currently rated as one of the most dangerous places to be a journalist, <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2017/02/free-turkey-media/" target="_blank">according to Amnesty International</a>, with many being jailed for writing things that the government doesn't like. </p><p>As a visitor to Turkey, we didn't notice such problems. It seemed free, open, and inviting. But we did notice the effects of out-of-control government spending that have resulted in heavy inflation. <br /></p><h4 style="text-align: left;">One of Turkey's Greatest Challenges: Inflation (Plus Some Tips for Coping)<br /></h4><p>While in Turkey, we saw the value of the Turkish lira change dramatically in a few days,
going from 14.2 per dollar to 15.3. That's a gargantuan change, but one
that the people of Turkey are used to. What I found interesting is that
everyone we talked to in Turkey on the topic of inflation had no
question about what caused it: government malfeasance. They knew it
wasn't Putin's fault or something caused by the greed of local vendors
jacking up prices in a free market. They knew irresponsible politicians
were the cause with reckless spending and irresponsible monetary
policies. From cabbies to intellectuals, people knew who to blame, but
they also felt helpless against the power of their government. This is a
tragedy that will only get worse. </p><p>The people of Turkey are bracing for the ravages of inflation. They are deeply worried, as they should be. The government reports that inflation is around 60% annually right now, but everyone seems to understand that it's much worse than that, maybe around 100% or higher. They know they can't trust the numbers government gives them. Many know that they need to prepare, but it's difficult. They prefer to hold their savings in dollars or gold. They prefer to be paid in dollars or euros. They try to spend the liras they aren't saving quickly before prices go up again. But it's a dangerous crisis they are facing, one that won't be solved by the superficial remedies that are often offered by the kleptocrats who created the problem. </p><p>Here in the US, the insane spending did not just begin with the current administration. It has been going on for decades. Trump's administration spent more freely than Obama, though many Americans didn't seem to notice or care. I was deeply worried about the long-term economic consequences of cavalier spending and money creation years ago, though now it's moving much more rapidly than ever. The government, though, has done its best to help us cope by telling us the problem is just transitory and not to worry. When that disinformation became obviously ridiculous, they told us that inflation is healthy,, and not to worry, and when that became clearly absurd, they began blaming everyone but them. For decades, the inflation that has been eroding the dollar is apparently all due to recent actions of a very bad man in Russia. And greedy corporations that just suddenly became greedy in the past year or so. Fortunately, the government has the answer in a brilliant three-step program: spend more, spend even more, and spend much, much more, and generally make government bigger and more powerful than ever. It worked for Zimbabwe, right? And its doing wonders for Venezuela. Just trust the Fed and follow the economic science. <br /></p><p>The US dollar has been losing value, sometimes slowly, sometimes quickly, ever since the Federal Reserve Bank was created with its fractional reserve system and support for the easy creation of money to facilitate big spending by government. An ounce of gold cost $20 when the Fed was created with the alleged benefit of protecting the value of the dollar. Today, in spite of the amount of gold in the world having been dramatically increased with the benefits of advanced mining techniques, the same amount of gold cost $1850, suggesting that the value of the dollar has been eroded by perhaps 98%. Using other measures, maybe the erosion looks closer to 93% or 95%. But the erosion is real. With advances in technology and knowledge leading to increased efficiency and productivity, we should expect the value of the dollar to have increased steadily, but it's gone the other way. <br /></p><p>Inflation is theft, theft by the ruling elite or those running the physical or digital printing presses creating new money, stealing the value of everyone else's money with a hidden tax. (See <a href="https://fee.org/articles/inflation-in-one-page/" target="_blank">Henry Hazlitt's excellent statement on inflation</a> given in 1973.) The temptation to keep spending more and creating more money is irresistible for those who seize that power and will eventually lead to devaluation of fiat currency into nothingness. It's happened many times in many nations. It was happening in the US during the Continental Congress days, teaching painful lessons about inflation and that led our Founding Fathers to favor gold and silver as the medium of exchange. Those lessons were not forgotten, and after the inflationary heavy spending of the Civil War, Congress took the bold, brave, and honest step of keeping their promise and returning to backing the currency they had issued during the war with gold. See "<a href="https://fee.org/articles/how-the-united-states-conquered-inflation-following-the-civil-war/" target="_blank">How the United States Conquered Inflation Following the Civil War</a>" at FEE.org. A rare story of politicians acting honestly and keeping their promises. <br /></p><p>While the US has since departed from the use of precious metals to back the US dollar, allowing an unlimited supply to be conjured up for the benefit of the ruling class at the expense of all of us, those concerned about the rise of inflation may wish to consider adding some precious metals to their savings. Ways to do this include owning physical coins or bullion if you can manage the risks, or investing in funds that are backed by real precious metals (safer than funds just investing in paper certificates allegedly tied to gold). A stock that I prefer trades under the ticker CEF, which used to be the Canadian Exchange Fund but is now Sprott's Physical Gold and Silver Trust. I have part of my self-directed 401k in this fund. Do your own diligence -- I'm not your financial advisor. In my opinion, a safe way to own physical bullion, if you want it, may be to have it in a secure vault outside the borders of the US, since in the US accounts may be easily seized or frozen by officials for a variety of reasons. As our government gets further out of control, the risks of this happening may increase in some sectors. We saw versions of this happen in Canada after President Biden advised Justin Trudeau to use all means available to squelch the truckers' "Freedom Convoy." Many truckers and those who supported them found bank accounts suddenly frozen, being treated like terrorists and criminals rather than citizens protesting for freedom. Bank accounts here may not be a safe as you think. </p><p>One service that can allow US citizens too hold funds and precious metals overseas is the Singapore-based SilverBullion.com company, which has a great track record and is highly rated by some experts I trust, but do your own diligence. Gold and silver just had a sell-off as the market seems to believe that economic risks are low again, making this a good time to buy, in my opinion. But don't buy expecting it to double quickly. It may drop 20% suddenly right after you buy, but over the long run I think some precious metals may be a wise hedge against inflation as a way to store some wealth. <br /></p><p>More importantly, I think, this is a time to build a solid food storage and acquire supplies for emergency preparedness. Food prices are likely to continue rising as the dollar is further devalued, and as various man-made crises disturb the supply chain. Don't expect government to make wise steps to alleviate food shortages. Look at these issues through their eyes: "never let a good crisis go to waste...." For corrupt politicians, the incentives in government tend to favor the exacerbation of each crisis rather then preventing or solving it, just as the economic and political incentives tend to favor war over peace. So when there is a shortage, be ready for steps that will make things worse: blaming the producers and taxing or fining them, blaming capitalism and replacing it with government controls over prices and production, blaming consumers who prepared as evil "hoarders," and even nationalizing industries, ensuring that the most incompetent, clueless, and greedy are suddenly running complex businesses -- running them into the ground and creating total destruction and massive shortages, leading to new rounds of blaming and expanding government control to solve the government-caused crisis. At least Venezuela didn't start shutting down its pipelines and directly limiting oil production, but the effects of all-out socialism there in a nation with abundant natural wealth have been devastating. Vicious cycles of government greed and corruption are ravaging once prosperous Venezuela now. It is not the paradigm we should follow. <br /></p><p>In building your food storage, keep it quiet, but also understand that should disaster strike, you may be the means of helping many around you. If you can, consider storing more than you think you will need for yourself, but manage it so that you don't end up throwing away half of it in five years after sitting unused or poorly protected. <br /></p><p>What worries me most about inflation is the chaos that it causes, especially for the poor who can quickly become desperately poor, but the middle class will also feel the pain. Dreams will be shattered. People will go hungry. This has been one of the main outcomes of the tragedy of Communism in the past century, and hunger continues to threaten millions, especially where war or lawlessness prevail. We live in a world of inherent abundance, where there is and should be enough for all (Doctrine and Covenants 104:17), but the greed of government -- the one form of greed we never hear about in the media or in the speeches of popular politicians -- can create shortages and chaos where abundance would reign if people were free and if what they earned was not constantly gnawed away by the greedy demon of inflation. </p>
<p>It is corruption, whether from government or criminals, when the two can be distinguished, that creates blood and horror where there should be peace and hunger where the should be feasts. </p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Yearning for and Preparing for Zion <br /></h4><p>In a Zion society, there will be no poor among the people (Moses 7:18) not because the power of eugenics and widespread abortion will have eliminated the undesirable children of the unwanted poor, nor because the poor will riot to "eat the rich" for temporary relief, nor because we have ramped up the printing presses and handed out buckets full of increasingly worthless cash to the masses, but because we will welcome, love and lift each other, formerly rich or formerly poor, one by one, and work together to create marvelous opportunities and abundance for all of us with Christ as our guide in a truly free and liberated society. <br /></p><p>Building a food storage now and preparing for future crises in other ways can be seen as a future investment in Zion. May we be ready to move closer to a Zion society as we confront the crises we will surely face and lift each other now as much as we can. And may we do all we can to spread the message of hope that the Gospel brings and the blessings that the organization of the Church can bring into the lives and societies of our brothers and sisters all over this beautiful but troubled planet. <br /></p><p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3ihMUaGVjE4pM2XRDRqyWt5O8wJ6TVl2HqMGpc0TInoMNqWUE8bBSTUm2YShd0lSNqo2eR0S7zdu4RowJJOIqYJrcUA7hcdy0sgB9tr1OhjiD3ZQR2R0jo05zBR5HashVTJfa6eJO4KzTxuWk8qV56uQPRVBT1f71k6MYyIr2lXdecnwuFXY/s1024/balloons-capodoccia.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3ihMUaGVjE4pM2XRDRqyWt5O8wJ6TVl2HqMGpc0TInoMNqWUE8bBSTUm2YShd0lSNqo2eR0S7zdu4RowJJOIqYJrcUA7hcdy0sgB9tr1OhjiD3ZQR2R0jo05zBR5HashVTJfa6eJO4KzTxuWk8qV56uQPRVBT1f71k6MYyIr2lXdecnwuFXY/w400-h300/balloons-capodoccia.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not exactly Zion, but Cappadocia in Turkey offers some great ways to be lifted.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><h4 style="text-align: left;"><b>Related Reading:</b></h4><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>"<a href="https://fee.org/articles/napkin-math-to-explain-inflation/?utm_source=email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2020_FEEDaily" target="_blank">Napkin Math to Explain Inflation</a>," <i>Foundation for Economic Education</i>, May 14, 2022. </li><li>Frank Shostak, "<a href="https://mises.org/wire/what-inflation-really-means" target="_blank">What Inflation Really Means</a>," <i>Mises Institute</i>, Nov. 3, 2021.<br /></li></ul><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Jeff Lindsayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08776493593387402607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7139169.post-8208508254024339542022-05-09T19:37:00.002-05:002022-05-09T19:45:05.194-05:00Lessons from Bulgaria: The Dangers of Censorship<p>During the Communist era in Bulgaria, the annual May Day parade was a major spectacle that drew huge crowds to the streets of Sofia. The crowds would come to 9th September Square and see their Communist Party leaders lined up on the balcony of the massive mausoleum for Georgi Dimitrov, the first Communist leader of Bulgaria who led the nation from 1946 to 1949. The leaders would salute the soldiers and others marching in the parade and wave to the masses. But in 1986, the assembled people of Sophia were puzzled. Where did the leaders go? The balcony was empty. This only happened once during the 43 years of Communist rule. What caused their strange disappearance on May 1, 1986?</p><p>The mystery was due to two things: first, very effective government censorship and second, the nuclear reactor accident in Chernobyl, Ukraine, less than 700 miles away. The Chernobyl disaster raised legitimate concerns that some of the released radioactive material would be passing over Bulgaria and contaminating the air or rainfall. The Party officials, of course, simply skipped the May Day parade and were were safely sequestered indoors as the people were outside celebrating without being bothered by news of the Soviet Union’s embarrassing disaster. To me, it helps illustrate some of the dangers and perverseness of censorship. Government censorship, in my opinion, is not really about helping or protecting the people, but protecting the power of those in charge and manipulating their subjects.</p><p>This episode in Bulgarian history was related to me by an outstanding tour guide, Nikola, during a highlight of my recent visit to Bulgaria during the “Communist Tour” provided by the <a href="http://365association.org/" target="_blank">365Association</a> (related to <a href="https://freesofiatour.com/tours/communist-tour/" target="_blank">FreeSofiaTour.com</a> and bookable via that website, though the Communist Tour is not free but worth ever lev of its very low price). Our Bulgarian tour guide, also a musician who has performed across Europe, co-founded this tour to fill a large unmet need in Bulgaria, where surprisingly little information is available to students and tourists about the controversial history of Bulgarian Communism. He has done primary research on the way Communism affected people’s lives and how it operated. Over the course of about 3 hours in Sofia, he took us and about 20 other people to numerous sites where he shared stories to give us a feel for how Communism rose and fell, and what it meant for those who liked it and for those who hated it. As America now struggles with the tension between free speech and government’s growing desire to “protect” the masses from “disinformation,” some of Bulgaria’s lessons (as well as lessons from the Soviet Union, China, Venezuela, Cuba, etc.) might be worth considering. One of those lessons is that when government assumes the right to control information, it’s not just freedom of speech that is at risk, but also religious liberty. Bulgaria discovered this during the Communist era. After centuries of Muslims and Christians getting along in many communities in Bulgaria </p><p>When governments become so powerful and so disrespectful of the citizens they supposedly represent that they dare to censor the information they can receive or share, what follows can include preventing the spread of religious information they don’t like, or even engaging in outright harassment of religious groups they don’t like. Freedom of speech needs to be a concern for those who care about religious freedom. In my view, it’s time for Americans to speak out against government efforts to increase censorship. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0zPM_tom5NPCdL7pPb7SBDGSG1V6HYSNVuY129ZxTluX6gQh8f49zv7WuaJrTkA1oRrHv5S8LV10EcIhmCjzEPZkmP3Dwa25PE_V-DFZCq7PPG0xUTQ6RxClvRIe5YL337GZNXguM3QhphqJDayh3Qz8qqV5wNBSmJHJkMK_Hxxb-jDJ1W_0/s1024/E1327F8E-6C1C-4764-94A6-79EE8064AA31.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="680" data-original-width="1024" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0zPM_tom5NPCdL7pPb7SBDGSG1V6HYSNVuY129ZxTluX6gQh8f49zv7WuaJrTkA1oRrHv5S8LV10EcIhmCjzEPZkmP3Dwa25PE_V-DFZCq7PPG0xUTQ6RxClvRIe5YL337GZNXguM3QhphqJDayh3Qz8qqV5wNBSmJHJkMK_Hxxb-jDJ1W_0/w400-h266/E1327F8E-6C1C-4764-94A6-79EE8064AA31.jpeg" title="Nikola introducing us to the Communist Tour in Sofia, Bulgaria" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>We loved Nikola’s passion for history and the extensive research he has done, allowing him to answer difficult questions with solid information and even more stories. He has material that could make a book or documentary. Some of the information is troubling, such as discovering the sites of many dozens of locations where citizens were detained for questioning or worse. In the photo below, Nikola is showing us a map of these sites in Bulgaria as he stands in front of a door leading to an underground complex where many citizens were detained and often beaten. In the photo following that, you can see the memorial we saw toward the end of the tour that lists the names of over 20,000 victims of Communism in Bulgaria. Many lost their lives, sometimes with great cruelty, when the totalitarians of Bulgaria suspected them of opposing their rule. No trials were needed, no due process was required, to snatch people in the middle of the night or anytime for questioning and cruelty to force a confession or carry out lengthy punishment or execution. Possibly modeled after the Vietnam War Memorial in the US, the Bulgarian memorial is meant to remind us of ugly events, measured in human lives and human pain, that must not be forgotten. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3afX7Fann4fDuKWtdSVlrpk0UPV1X502ODQFwP_9oPOVqX1MItEsVl-ip9hqNicoKr0uUMJi7zdG7Y-SEqHdprc2ip7MGlhSCaVh1f6k6OMxPk8C34uce_tch37Xw46AdGp_V_5Kkg9-hIk23dUvbgI5AtcwF3wNxHdMpbd1B1SBpXFKkZX4/s1024/FA7C8A1A-CA01-4534-9E63-7D34F67845E5.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3afX7Fann4fDuKWtdSVlrpk0UPV1X502ODQFwP_9oPOVqX1MItEsVl-ip9hqNicoKr0uUMJi7zdG7Y-SEqHdprc2ip7MGlhSCaVh1f6k6OMxPk8C34uce_tch37Xw46AdGp_V_5Kkg9-hIk23dUvbgI5AtcwF3wNxHdMpbd1B1SBpXFKkZX4/s320/FA7C8A1A-CA01-4534-9E63-7D34F67845E5.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuyERK46p9SWaG9MQGeEYazo4IdtcV9Od26-s2vbj0menOxn4UpeU9LTPM2BwYNXVNl71sdy_PqsiJo64CKILyJaAwMncZYRPez4u8Qadb9X7oXODEjo3g5uG4IXgR4r0mKE7owC_YQIuOZy6tIZ2t7USt6JttbhPl76OZOesm1wyr8VdZtwo/s1024/8433A542-2AA7-46DB-9538-3B89A2773E12.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="1024" height="188" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuyERK46p9SWaG9MQGeEYazo4IdtcV9Od26-s2vbj0menOxn4UpeU9LTPM2BwYNXVNl71sdy_PqsiJo64CKILyJaAwMncZYRPez4u8Qadb9X7oXODEjo3g5uG4IXgR4r0mKE7owC_YQIuOZy6tIZ2t7USt6JttbhPl76OZOesm1wyr8VdZtwo/s320/8433A542-2AA7-46DB-9538-3B89A2773E12.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>Still, the area of Communism achieved some positive things. Improved job equality for women was one and greatly expanded literacy through focused government programs. The era that followed, still led by many of the same people leading the country during the Communist era, suffered from economic instability with hyperinflation and corruption. So simply not being Communist is not enough to make a country flourish. The nation remains somewhat divided when it comes to judging Communism. From his own family’s experience, our tour guide knows how sensitive the topic of Communism is. One grandmother was fond of Communism and the sense of security it gave her, especially in light of the chaos of hyperinflation that came after the fall of Communism. But his other grandmother could never forget the brutality of Communism, after having her own father be dragged away for unknown reasons by the regime where he was treated cruelly for 18 months. He refused to even talk about what had happened when he was finally released for it was so awful. When the two grandmothers were both present at family gatherings, there was always some tension whenever politics came up. Sensitivity to such feelings among Bulgarians is one reason why the Communism Tour seeks to present both the the positive and the negative sides of the Communist era. </p><p>Even with deference to the pro-Communist sentiment that remains in Bulgaria, it’s impossible to gloss over what happened. In addition to the thousands killed, tortured, or detained, beginning in 1984 the Bulgarian Communist dictator decided it was time to “unify” Bulgaria instead of having the diverse communities that had managed to get along relatively well for decades if not centuries in some parts of the country. Thus, it was time to crack down on the many Muslims living there. The dramatic changes beginning at that time are reported in “<a href="https://neweasterneurope.eu/2019/02/25/words-matter-bulgaria-and-the-30th-anniversary-of-the-largest-ethnic-cleansing-in-cold-war-europe%EF%BB%BF/" target="_blank">Words matter. Bulgaria and the 30th anniversary of the largest ethnic cleansing in cold war Europe</a>” by Tomasz Kamusella in <i>New Eastern Europe</i>, February 25, 2019:</p><blockquote><p>In the summer of 1989, between May 30th and August 22nd, communist Bulgaria, led by the dictator of three decades and a half, Todor Zhivkov, unilaterally expelled 360,000 Bulgarian citizens to neighbouring Turkey. The expellees belonged to this country’s Turkish minority of over one million, who officially had been declared non-existent in 1985. Bulgaria was posed as a completely homogenous nation-state, without any non-Bulgarian minorities. The ethnonym “Turks” was banned from the press or any official use. However, the code term “Bulgarian Muslims” was retained for referring to Bulgaria’s Turks. The authorities kept tabs on this minority and knew well who was a Turk, despite the country’s Constitution of 1971, which prohibited any discrimination on racial, ethnic (national) or religious grounds (Article 35.4). </p></blockquote><blockquote><p>The last act of achieving such an ethnolinguistically and ethnoreligiously homogenous Bulgaria was the forced assimilation campaign of late 1984 and early 1985. As a result of this brutal and heavily militarised action, the “Islamo-Arabic” names of 800,000 people were Bulgarianised, that is, replaced with Slavic and Christian names, seen as “Bulgarian.” Widespread protests involving some 15,000 demonstrators were summarily suppressed and the notorious Belene concentration camp on the eponymous island in the Danube reopened for the incarcerated “ringleaders”.</p></blockquote><p>Governments of all kinds can become racist and cruel, but increased power in the hands of one cruel man can be unstoppable. Freedom and limited government is more likely to lead to protection of individual rights and put limits on the harm that a few corrupt men can inflict on minorities or on everyone. As cries for creased censorship abound in our country, this might be a good time to speak out on the virtues of liberty, free speech, and, of course, it’s sister, freedom of religion. </p><p>If you are lucky enough to visit Bulgaria, please consider the Communist Tour. A highlight among many wonderful highlights in this free, beautiful, and delicious nation. I’ll share more later, but here’s a photo of one of the great religious edifices in Europe, the St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in downtown Sofia, which was just a short walk away from where we stayed with a good friend. During our visit there, we attended a portion of a religious service where the choir, singing from a small balcony, filled cathedral with the most beautiful, angelic voices I can recall. The acoustics are marvelous.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9WP0_xngiKDjh_3smykdJscvPBgNdhNRZZFJ5c7if7tCNbb-C2scxMUggoqgN_wBmSNt_EouPdvcNDD5XTZdjnENLR053tk-5_1qlJJJtvwsMEpjEWrC74x1lRORnVrIkJTh8sbMo0in9Kc1KaRpDNWK0-soRS41-11JMD74qULOW0M4EVC8/s1024/IMG_0925.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="680" data-original-width="1024" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9WP0_xngiKDjh_3smykdJscvPBgNdhNRZZFJ5c7if7tCNbb-C2scxMUggoqgN_wBmSNt_EouPdvcNDD5XTZdjnENLR053tk-5_1qlJJJtvwsMEpjEWrC74x1lRORnVrIkJTh8sbMo0in9Kc1KaRpDNWK0-soRS41-11JMD74qULOW0M4EVC8/w400-h266/IMG_0925.JPG" title="A crown of Sofia, the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>P.S. - If I’ve made any obvious blunders in reporting events in Bulgaria, blame me and my poor notes rather than the Communism Tour. I would also welcome any recollections on time spent in Bulgaria. I was truly delighted with what I encountered there, from the streets of Sophia to the mountains of Rilla and some small villages along the way. Great people, a good degree of religious freedom, beautiful views, and delicious but inexpensive food. </p><p>. </p><p> </p><p><br /></p>Jeff Lindsayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08776493593387402607noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7139169.post-85277328839469135412022-04-17T08:28:00.006-05:002022-04-26T07:11:35.238-05:00What Day Was Christ Crucified? Dr. Jeffrey Chadwick Argues That the Book of Mormon Provides Valuable Information<p>An <span>archaeologist and professor at BYU, Dr. Jeffrey R. Chadwick, published an article in that provides a great example of how the Book of Mormon can help us better understand the Bible: "<a href="https://byustudies.byu.edu/article/dating-the-death-of-jesus-christ/" target="_blank">Dating the Death of Jesus Christ</a>," </span><span><span><i>BYU Studies </i></span>54, no. 4 (2015): 135-91 (<a href="https://archive.bookofmormoncentral.org/content/dating-death-jesus-christ">PDF also at BookofMormonCentral.org</a>). In this case, he takes up the debate on which day Christ was crucified. The standard answer we've grown up with, one that is also favored by many scholars, is that Christ was crucified on Friday. But there are also a fair number of scholars who argue for Thursday, and even some who think it was Wednesday. The New Testament record does not make it crystal clear and leaves plenty of room for debate. A key challenge is that the record does not make year of either Christ's crucifixion nor His birth absolutely clear. The year of the Crucifixion is important because that affects the day of the week for the Passover, a key element in the chronology of events around the death and resurrection of Christ. Several years before taking up the debate on the day of Crucifixion, Chadwick had published a highly acclaimed article on the birth of Christ providing clear evidence for a 5 B.C. date. See </span><span>“<a href="https://byustudies.byu.edu/article/dating-the-birth-of-christ/">Dating the Birth of Jesus Christ</a>,” <i>BYU Studies</i> 49, no. 4 (2010): 5–38. </span></p><p><span>Building on the 5 B.C. most likely date of Christ's birth, Chadwick shows that a Crucifixion date of 30 A.D. is the most plausible choice, which is also the most common preference of scholars, with 33 A.D. being the second most popular choice. Part of the reason for this is information from the Book of Mormon indicating that Christ lived 33 full years. The Book of Mormon account helps rule out 33 A.D.:</span><br /><span></span></p><blockquote>Knowing from the Book of Mormon that Jesus lived thirty-three full years, but not thirty-four years or longer,<sup><span id="footnote-067-backlink"><a href="https://byustudies.byu.edu/article/dating-the-death-of-jesus-christ/#footnote-067">48</a></span></sup>
rules out AD 33 as a possible year for Jesus’s death and indeed rules
out any year later than AD 30. This is a matter of simple addition. Here
is why. It is a historical fact that the death of Herod the Great
occurred in April of 4 BC but the birth of Jesus occurred prior to
Herod’s death (see Matt. 2:1–20). And as demonstrated in the earlier
study, Jesus’s birth cannot have occurred later than eight weeks prior
to Herod’s death, meaning that the latest date Jesus can have been born
was very early February of 4 BC (although I suggest it was even several
weeks earlier, in December of 5 BC).<sup><span id="footnote-066-backlink"><a href="https://byustudies.byu.edu/article/dating-the-death-of-jesus-christ/#footnote-066">49</a></span></sup>
Calculating forward to a Passover that fell thirty-three full years
after the absolute latest birth date possibility of early 4 BC yields a
result of AD 30 as the latest possible year that Jesus can have died.
(In counting this, remember that there was no “year zero”—there was only
one year from 1 BC to AD 1). Thus, AD 31, AD 32, and AD 33 are all
ruled out as years when Jesus can have died. They were too late to
accommodate the life span reported in the Book of Mormon. Of the two
candidates to which Raymond Brown [a famous biblical scholar who had explored the issue in detail and concluded the Crucifixion had to be in either 30 or 33 A.D.] had narrowed his preferences, the New
Testament and the Book of Mormon combine to demonstrate that only AD 30
is a possibility for Jesus’s death.</blockquote><p></p><p><span>Then he examines how the details given in the New Testament regarding the day of the week for the Crucifixion. This is quite challenging, for many scholars believe the New Testament provides contradictory accounts, pointing to either the 14th or 15th of the month Nisan for the Crucifixion. </span></p><p><span>Chadwick digs into these details and departs from the traditional view of a Friday Crucifixion:</span></p><p></p><blockquote><p>A small number of New Testament scholars have suggested that the
crucifixion took place on a Thursday (Brown refers to them as “a few
dissenters”),<sup><span id="footnote-020-backlink"><a href="https://byustudies.byu.edu/article/dating-the-death-of-jesus-christ/#footnote-020">95</a></span></sup>
but the overwhelming majority of New Testament commentators are
strongly committed to the model of Byzantine origin—the traditional Good
Friday—as the day of crucifixion, perhaps more so than to any other
aspect of the accounts of Jesus’s passion. Two issues, embedded within
the texts of the four Gospels, are key to identifying the weekday of
Jesus’s death: (1) statements about the length of time from the
execution to the resurrection, and (2) statements about the crucifixion
having occurred on a preparation day prior to a Sabbath. We will examine
these in order.</p>
<p>There are twelve passages in the four Gospels that refer to the
length of time between Jesus’s death and resurrection. These are
displayed in figure 9. Eleven of these statements are predictions made
by Jesus well prior to his execution. Only one, the statement made by
Cleopas<sup><span id="footnote-019-backlink"><a href="https://byustudies.byu.edu/article/dating-the-death-of-jesus-christ/#footnote-019">96</a></span></sup>
in Luke 24, is a direct report of the time that actually passed between
the crucifixion and the Sunday of Jesus’s rising. This statement is the
single most important piece of evidence in identifying the day on which
Jesus died, since it was originally expressed only after, and directly
after, both the crucifixion and the resurrection had occurred. Speaking
on Sunday afternoon and having explained how Jesus was executed, Cleopas
reported that “today is the third day since these things were done”
(Luke 24:21). The King James Version translation of this passage very
accurately represents the tense and timing of the Greek original. And
the timing is clear: Sunday being the third day <i>since</i> the crucifixion, Saturday would have been the second day <i>since</i> the crucifixion, and Friday would have been the first day <i>since</i> the crucifixion, meaning that Cleopas was referring to the execution as having occurred on Thursday.</p></blockquote><p></p><p>An important part of the argument is that the Last Supper would have been on a Tuesday night, the Passover dinner for the Essene community, who always had the Passover on a Wednesday, independent of the phase of the moon. This provides plenty of time on Wednesday for the events between the Last Supper and the Crucifixion, solving many of the problems of the traditional Friday model. <br /></p><p>Chadwick notes that the Book of Mormon provides additional evidence confirming the Thursday date:</p><p></p><blockquote><p>In addition to the evidence already examined from the Book of Mormon
about the length of Jesus’s life and the year of his death, some very
specific details are presented in the book of 3 Nephi that relate to the
actual day of the week on which he died. The terrible storm described
in 3 Nephi 8 is universally understood to have occurred during a
three-hour period when Jesus was hanging on the cross outside the wall
of Jerusalem, with the end of the storm coinciding with the time of his
death. Centuries earlier, Nephi had specifically prophesied that three
days of darkness would be “a sign [that should be] given of his death”
(1 Ne. 19:10). Samuel the Lamanite foretold three important timing
factors concerning Jesus’s death. The first was that a storm
(“thunderings and lightnings”) would occur “at the time that he shall
yield up the ghost” (Hel. 14:21). The second was that three days of
darkness would be a sign of Jesus’s death and, specifically, that the
onset of darkness would occur on the day Jesus would die: “In that day
that he shall suffer death the sun shall darkened” (Hel. 14:20). The
third factor was that the darkness would end at Jesus’s resurrection,
lasting “for the space of three days, to the time that he shall rise
again from the dead” (Hel. 14:20). The actual occurrence of the storm is
reported in 3 Nephi 8:5–19, with the three-hour duration of that storm
specified in verse 19. That same verse notes the commencement of the
darkness, which is then described as having lasted for three days (3 Ne.
8:23; 10:9). That Jesus had died at the time of the storm seems
confirmed by the account of his voice being heard from the heavens,
during the period of darkness, by Nephite survivors (3 Ne. 9:1–10:9,
esp. 9:15 and 10:3–9).</p>
<p>An eight-hour time difference exists between Jerusalem and the
central time zone of the Americas. This means, for example, that an
event that occurs in Jerusalem at 3:00 pm is timed as occurring at
7:00 am that same day in the American central time zone. The New
Testament Gospels place Jesus’s death around the “ninth hour” (Matt.
27:46, Mark 15:34, Luke 23:44), which would be roughly around 3:00 pm in
Jerusalem. This means that his death occurred around 7:00 am in what
today is known as the American central time zone (which covers the
entirety of Mesoamerica, the likely venue of the Book of Mormon
narrative, as well as the largest part of Mexico and the central United
States). The onset of the Book of Mormon’s three days of darkness may
therefore be estimated around 7:00 am on the first day of that darkness,
the day of the crucifixion, with the three-hour storm having commenced
around 4:00 <span class="all-small-caps">am,</span> two hours prior to sunrise (which occurs close to 6:00 am around the beginning of April).</p>
<p>Two facts become obvious from the above information. The first is
that three days of darkness cannot be reconciled with a Friday
crucifixion model—darkness in America would have occurred only on Friday
and on Saturday prior to Jesus’s resurrection, which would have
occurred prior to midnight on Saturday night, American central time.<sup><span id="footnote-004-backlink"><a href="https://byustudies.byu.edu/article/dating-the-death-of-jesus-christ/#footnote-004">111</a></span></sup>
No darkness could have still been present in America during the day on
Sunday (see fig. 11 [in Chadwick's paper]). The second obvious fact is that a Thursday
crucifixion model exactly fits the timing necessary for three days of
darkness to have occurred in America prior to Jesus’s resurrection (see
fig. 12 below). The evidence is clear that Jesus passed away on Thursday
around 7:00 am American central time, that the first day of darkness in
America was Thursday, and that the second and third days of darkness
were Friday and Saturday. Jesus’s resurrection occurred prior to sunrise
in Jerusalem on Sunday, which was well prior to midnight Saturday night
in the American central time zone. At sunrise on Sunday in America,
normal daylight once again appeared, serving as the sign that Jesus had
risen more than eight hours earlier in Jerusalem.</p></blockquote><p>Interestingly, Chadwick argues that the Book of Mormon also may contain a scribal error in reporting the date of the great storm. Mormon reports in 3 Nephi 8:5 that it began in "the first month, on the fourth day of the month." But "in Jewish reckoning, as demonstrated earlier, Jesus’s death occurred on the 14th day of the biblical first month." Chadwick cautiously but reasonably explains his speculative proposal:</p><p></p><blockquote>The second factor (my supposition) is that a dating error existed in the
plates of Nephi from which Mormon was drawing data when composing his
own narrative in the book of 3 Nephi. Mormon lived centuries after the
events of 3 Nephi and had no personal experience with the Law of Moses
or its systemic lunar-solar calendar. In a disclaimer quite unique in
his account, Mormon admitted the possibility of a calendar error for the
events of 3 Nephi 8. In dating the storm to the “fourth day of the
month,” he also said, “if there was no mistake made by this man in the
reckoning of our time” (3 Ne. 8:2–5). Mormon was careful not to condemn
the ancient record keeper, pointing out that he had been a very
righteous man (3 Ne. 8:1). But that Mormon would insert his “if there
was no mistake made” caveat at this very point in his text suggests, to
me at least, that he indeed suspected a calendar error.<sup><span id="footnote-003-backlink"><a href="https://byustudies.byu.edu/article/dating-the-death-of-jesus-christ/#footnote-003">112</a></span></sup> In my opinion, such an error did exist—it was in the plates of Nephi, and it was a ten-day error in which the <i>14th</i> day of the first month was mistakenly written down as the <i>fourth</i> day of the month.<sup><span id="footnote-002-backlink"><a href="https://byustudies.byu.edu/article/dating-the-death-of-jesus-christ/#footnote-002">113</a></span></sup>
If this supposition is correct (and I emphasize again that it is my own
theory and not to be demanded), the actual Nephite Law of Moses date on
which Jesus died would have been the <i>14th</i> day of the first month, which would be the same as the 14th of Nisan in the Judean calendar, in the year we know as AD 30.</blockquote><p></p><p>I find that observation to be reasonable. It's quite interesting that Mormon raises the possibility of error in the record at this point. </p><p>Chadwick observes that the consensus on Friday as the day of the Crucifixion represents "a curious failure" among scholars:</p><p></p><blockquote><p>The notion that Jesus died on a Friday preparation for a Saturday
Sabbath is incompatible with the report of Cleopas in Luke 24, where it
is clear that Jesus was executed on a Thursday. In my opinion, John was
aware of this potential disconnect and purposefully crafted his own
report in John 19 to clarify the story presented in the synoptic
Gospels, in an attempt to assure that later readers would understand
Jesus had not died on a Friday preparation day prior to a Saturday
Sabbath, as might be inferred from the imprecise references in the
synoptics, but on a Thursday Passover preparation day prior to a Friday
Passover that was also a <i>Yom Tov</i> festival Sabbath. That gentile Christians in subsequent centuries failed to appreciate how <i>megalē hē hēmera</i> (“an high day”) meant a <i>Yom Tov</i>
festival Sabbath and also failed to consider John’s reference to the
“preparation of the Passover” (John 19:14) in its correct context is <b>a
curious failure of religious history, probably due to the general
gentile unfamiliarity with Jewish terminology.</b> <br /></p><p>John’s careful clarification of the preparation day for the <i>Yom Tov</i>
(“high day”) Passover festival Sabbath as the day of Jesus’s death,
rather than a preparation day for a Saturday Sabbath, paired with the
specific report of Luke and Cleopas that the Sunday of the resurrection
was the third day since Jesus had been executed, and added to the very
specific prophecy of Jesus that he would be in the grave for three days
and three nights as well, all combine to point to Thursday as the day of
his crucifixion, the vague and less-specific references to “sabbath” in
the synoptic Gospels notwithstanding. When all the evidence from both
the New Testament and the sources that describe Jewish practice in the
first century are considered, that Jesus was crucified on a Thursday is a
clear and logical conclusion. [<i>emphasis mine</i>]<br /></p></blockquote><p></p><p>Chadwick's conclusion reminds readers that there is a strong argument for Thursday that does not require faith in the Book of Mormon:</p><p></p><blockquote><p>The numerous avenues of inquiry explored in this study together
demonstrate that Jesus died on Thursday, April 6 (Julian), AD 30, which
was the 14th day of Nisan in the Judean calendar, the day of the
preparation of Passover. The evidences from the New Testament, the Book
of Mormon, the Mishnah, and from historical, archaeological, and
astronomical studies all combine to endorse this dating beyond any
reasonable doubt. Jesus died at the location known popularly as
Golgotha, outside the northern wall of Jerusalem, and his body was laid,
late that Thursday afternoon, in a rock-hewn tomb located in an olive
garden, probably just east of the crucifixion site.<sup><span id="footnote-001-backlink"><a href="https://byustudies.byu.edu/article/dating-the-death-of-jesus-christ/#footnote-001">114</a></span></sup></p>
<p>To readers of this study who may not be Latter-day Saints—those of
other faiths and backgrounds, Christian and otherwise, who may hesitate
to give credence to evidence from the Book of Mormon—I would suggest
that the issues presented in this study from the New Testament, the
Mishnah, and the historical and astronomical studies alone are more than
enough to definitively demonstrate the dating of Jesus’s death to the
year AD 30, to the 14th of Nisan on April 6, and to the Passover
preparation on a Thursday. It is my hope that New Testament scholarship
in general will take note of this evidence. That said, as a Latter-day
Saint, I am not only duty-bound but personally grateful to accept and
present data from the Book of Mormon, the genuine historical reliability
of which I am both spiritually and materially convinced, to corroborate
the evidence of the New Testament and the other avenues explored. To
all this I add my additional conviction that three days later, prior to
dawn on Sunday morning, the 17th of Nisan, April 9 (Julian), AD 30, that
same Jesus rose from the dead, walked away from that garden and tomb,
and was seen by witnesses to whom this study has referred.<sup><span id="footnote-000-backlink"><a href="https://byustudies.byu.edu/article/dating-the-death-of-jesus-christ/#footnote-000">115</a></span></sup></p></blockquote><p>The Book of Mormon is a remarkable witness for the reality of Jesus Christ and of His divine role as our Savior and Redeemer, with eyewitness accounts of His glorious, tangible resurrected body. It also bear witness of the Crucifixion and the infinite Atonement of the Lord. This Easter, let's ponder the profound contribution to our knowledge of the risen Lamb of God as we celebrate the Resurrection. </p><p> </p><p><i><b>Update, 4/28/2022:</b></i> James Tabor, professor of Christian origins and
ancient Judaism and Chair of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North
Carolina at Charlotte, just published an article explaining why the Crucifixion had to be on Wednesday. See James Tabor, "<a href="https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/people-cultures-in-the-bible/jesus-historical-jesus/the-last-days-of-jesus-a-final-messianic-meal/" target="_blank">The Last Days of Jesus: A Final 'Messianic' Meal,</a>" <i>Bible History Daily</i>, Biblical Archaeological Society, April 17, 2022. One subtle point he makes is the significance of the plural "Sabbaths" used in the original Greek of Matthew 28:1:<br /></p><p></p><blockquote>The confusion arose because all the gospels say that there was a rush to
get his body off the cross and buried before sundown because the
“Sabbath” was near. Everyone assumed the reference to the Sabbath had to
be Saturday—so the crucifixion must have been on a Friday. However, as
Jews know, the day of Passover itself is also a “Sabbath” or rest day—no
matter what weekday it falls on. In the year a.d. 30, Friday the 15th
of the Nisan was also a Sabbath—so two Sabbaths occurred back to
back—Friday and Saturday. Matthew seems to know this as he says that the
women who visited Jesus’ tomb came early Sunday morning “after the
Sabbaths”—the original Greek is plural (Matthew 28:1).</blockquote><p></p><p>He overlooks an important argument made by Chadwick that the Last Supper could have been on a Passover dinner after all, but for the Essene community, if held on Tuesday night. This gives adequate time for the events that followed.<br /></p><p><sup><span id="footnote-000-backlink"><a href="https://byustudies.byu.edu/article/dating-the-death-of-jesus-christ/#footnote-000"></a></span></sup></p><p></p><p><span></span></p>Jeff Lindsayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08776493593387402607noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7139169.post-35092992461705940792022-04-15T11:46:00.001-05:002022-04-15T11:47:22.264-05:00What to Make of "Plagiarism" of the Bible in a Purportedly Ancient Text? A Jewish Scholar Offers a Thoughtful Perspective<p>The Book of Mormon's frequent "plagiarism" of passages from the Bible is one of the most common criticisms raised against it's authenticity and antiquity. It's actually not very much like the way plagiarism is done in modern times, when an author uses someone else's words as if they were the author's creation. The Book of Mormon usually explicitly indicates that Isaiah or some other writer is about to be cited, or when, for example, Christ repeats the Beatitudes for His New World audience, it is clear what is being done: Christ is the author of those words, not Joseph Smith, with King James language used in the translation not as plagiarism but as appropriate language for a sacred text. </p><p>Citation of well known works <i>with attribution</i> is not plagiarism. But there are other times when passages from Isaiah or others are used without explicit acknowledgement. As John Tvedtnes noted in "<a href="https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1814&context=msr" target="_blank">Was Joseph Smith Guilty of Plagiarism?</a>," <i>FARMS Review</i> 22, no. 1 (2010): 261–75, "following the insertion of chapters 2–14 of Isaiah into his own book (2 Nephi 12–24), Nephi gave his own prophecy (in 2 Nephi 27) in which he cited snippets of Isaiah’s writings and even a paraphrase of Isaiah 29." Such plagiarism of the Bible is highly contrary to our modern sensibilities. Shame on Nephi or Joseph Smith, depending on your views on authorship. </p><p>Our modern views, though, may not be appropriate in assessing plagiarism in a potentially ancient text. In a recent post, "<a href="https://mormanity.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-words-of-gad-seer-thoughts-on-lost.html" target="_blank">The Words of Gad the Seer: Thoughts on a 'Lost Book' Preserved by the Jews at Cochin, India</a>," I discussed an apparently ancient Hebrew work, only recently translated and published, <i>The Words of Gad the Seer</i>. Professor Meir Bar-Ilan, a Jewish scholar at Meir Bar-Ilan University in Israel (named after his famous grandfather) and an expert in pseudepigrapha (the class of ancient works, often in Hebrew, often dating from 300 BC to 300 AD and generally falsely ascribed to more ancient, prominent figures) has done a great deal of work on this text. He critiques claims that the book is relatively modern (dating to the medieval era) and instead argues for its antiquity in "<a href="https://faculty.biu.ac.il/~barilm/articles/publications/publications0025.html" target="_blank">The Date of The Words of Gad the Seer</a>," <i>Journal of Biblical Literature</i>
109, no. 3 (1990): 477-493 (also <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/3267053" target="_blank">available at Jstor.org</a>). He estimates its origins to be in
late antiquity, in the first centuries of the Christian era, though it could still be older than that, as I argue in my prior post. <br /></p>His peer-reviewed publication offers nine arguments for the antiquity of <i>The Words of Gad the Seer</i>. The first argument
deals with the issue of biblical plagiarism, which makes up a large fraction of the book <i>without any attribution</i> to the actual biblical sources. Shame on "Pseudo-Gad"! -- or whoever authored <i>The Words of Gad the Seer</i>. But let's withhold the shaming for now and consider Professor Bar-Ilan's first argument for antiquity:
<blockquote>The Words of Gad the Seer incorporate three chapters
from the Bible as if they were part of the whole work. Chapter 10 here
is Psalm 145, chapter 11 is no other than Psalm 144, and chapter 7 is a
kind of compilation of 2 Sam 24:1-21 with 1 Chr 21:1-30, a chapter that
deals with the deeds of Gad the Seer. As will be demonstrated later, the
Biblical text in Gad's book is slightly different from the masoretic
text, with some 'minor' changes that might be regarded as scribal
errata, though others are extremely important. In any case, <b>this phenomenon of inserting whole chapters from the Bible into one's treatise is known only from the Bible itself</b>.
For example, David's song in 2 Sam 22:2-51 appears as well in Psalm
18:2-50, not to speak, of course, of other parallels in Biblical
literature. It does not matter where the 'original' position of this chapter was.
Only one who lived in the 'days of the Bible', or thought so of himself,
could have made such a plagiarism including a Biblical text in his own
work. [<i>emphasis mine</i>]</blockquote><p>
</p><p>Fascinating! This is not some unschooled Latter-day
Saint apologist desperately trying to argue that heavy biblical
plagiarism is not a reason to reject the antiquity of an allegedly
ancient document like the Book of Mormon. It is a prominent scholar of
Hebrew literature writing in a respected peer-reviewed journal on
biblical literature stating that the extensive "plagiarism" of biblical
material in a work is a <i>characteristic of ancient literature </i>that helps
rule out a relatively modern origin for the text. The things Nephi and
other Book of Mormon writers do with other biblical texts, widely
condemned as blatant modern plagiarism by our critics, might actually be
indicators of antiquity, not modernity. </p><p>Do any of the myriad of modern books that are claimed to be sources that Joseph drew upon likewise plagiarize large chunks of the Bible? Some pseudobiblical works like the <i>First Book of Napolean</i> or Gilbert J. Hunt's <i>The late war, between the United States and Great Britain</i> may use some biblical phrases and imitated KJV language, but I don't recall seeing plagiarism of significant passages from the Bible. It's interesting that a primary "weakness" of the Book of Mormon, it's shameless use of significant portions of biblical text, is actually an indicator of antiquity, per a scholar keenly familiar with ancient Hebrew and biblical texts. "This phenomenon of inserting whole chapters from the Bible into one's treatise is known only from the Bible itself.... Only one who lived in the 'days of the Bible', or thought so of himself,
could have made such a plagiarism including a Biblical text in his own
work." This certainly changes things relative to the plagiarism argument against the antiquity Book of Mormon. Once again, <b>an apparent weakness of the Book of Mormon may have just become a strength</b>, thanks to modern non-Latter-day Saint scholarship. </p><p>But surely there must be <i>some</i> modern examples where similar biblical plagiarism has occurred, for while Professor Bar-Ilan may not be aware of away, there are millions of texts he has never seen. If you know of some relevant counterexamples to help add nuance to his argument and the debate over biblical plagiarism in the Book of Mormon, please let me know. <br /></p>
<p>His second argument is also of interest, pointing out that the way
Bible content is merged and reworked in the document is also
uncharacteristic of modern writings but is an indicator of antiquity.
That is also a characteristic of Nephi's writings, for example, in the Book of Mormon
as he combined various passages and reworked them in elegant ways,
something Matthew Bowen and others have discussed, See, for example,
Matthew Bowen, "<a href="https://journal.interpreterfoundation.org/onomastic-wordplay-on-joseph-and-benjamin-and-gezera-shawa-in-the-book-of-mormon/" target="_blank">Onomastic Wordplay on Joseph and Benjamin and Gezera Shawa in the Book of Mormon</a>," <i>Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship</i> 18 (2016): 255-273. The unattributed plagiarism example cited by John Tvedtnes in 2 Nephi 27 is such a case of combining and reworking biblical passages. Common in antiquity, not so common in our era, adding another argument for Book of Mormon antiquity. <br /></p><p> </p>Jeff Lindsayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08776493593387402607noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7139169.post-76698081339705686182022-04-13T11:17:00.004-05:002022-04-15T12:03:13.122-05:00About That Burial Marker in Yemen for a Man Named Ishmael: Impossible That He Was a Hebrew?<p>In a November 2021 post, "<a href="https://mormanity.blogspot.com/2021/11/recent-discoveries-and-advances.html">Recent Discoveries and Advances Published by Interpreter, Part 1</a>," I discussed a recent publication by Neal Rappleye, "<a href="https://journal.interpreterfoundation.org/an-ishmael-buried-near-nahom/" target="_blank">An Ishmael Buried Near Nahom</a>," in <i>Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship.</i> He reported an intriguing find among roughly 400 burial markers in Wadi Jawf, a place very near or within ancient tribal lands for the Nihm tribe, whose influence and name in Yemen during Lehi's day is now attested in 3 ancient altars bearing the NHM name given as gifts to a temple at Marib, raising the possibility that the rare place name "Nahom" (which would have been written without vowels in the Hebrew of the days, or simply NHM) mentioned in the Book of Mormon as the place where Ishmael was buried may have been associated with the Nihm tribe. </p><p>Based on multiple inscriptions regarding Nihmites in the region, several scholars not affiliated with the Church believe that the ancient Nihm tribe was in or near the Wadi Jawf region in antiquity (see <a href="https://journal.interpreterfoundation.org/an-ishmael-buried-near-nahom/#footnote4sym" target="_blank">Rappleye's footnote 4</a>). Significantly, Wadi Jawf makes a great deal of sense as a region associated with Nahom in the Book of Mormon, for it is in just about the only place where one can turn nearly due east from the Incense Trail or any other south-southeast route from the River Laman and Shazer and still have a chance of making it to the eastern coast of Oman alive. An eastward route a few miles to the north (or along nearly all of the hundreds of miles of Lehi's Trail to the north) or a few miles to the south of Wadi Jawf would result in crossing great sand dunes in the Empty Quarter to the north or another dessert to the south that would be too difficult for Lehi's group, especially given the general lack of sources of water. But the trek due east from the Waid Jawf region avoids the great dunes and presents no serious natural obstacles, and can, with a little guidance, take one into the right wadi to find a reasonable candidate for Bountiful. That eastward route also has terrain that can capture pools of water that persist after the rainy season. Not easy, but vastly more likely to encounter water than other routes. In fact, as discussed in my "<a href="https://journal.interpreterfoundation.org/joseph-and-the-amazing-technicolor-dream-map-part-1-of-2/" target="_blank">Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Map: Part 1 of 2</a>" in <i>Interpreter</i>, turning east at the proposed Nahom site near Wadi Jawf may put one on a route with higher annual rainfall than routes slightly north or south of that path, at least based on a 2012 CIA map of rainfall, shown combined with a map from Warren Aston below (click to enlarge). <br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd2PFgg6_zZ2intlZGLEuz8dADIFLpl83lnduj063GB2ni7g_D7P_6IFO00IcrhDwnV9t8lf2t6rA7FaO0FTK6VDx0on0ANDcj_ZXlB0adJiqjDPHK1QDu-kh6gYO8GS3bi25KaFP3Lpr6oSnEw7aBWdTfXz7A2nhNTn5DCjkoSTzhaBfJS0g/s554/Yemen-map-final.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="460" data-original-width="554" height="333" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd2PFgg6_zZ2intlZGLEuz8dADIFLpl83lnduj063GB2ni7g_D7P_6IFO00IcrhDwnV9t8lf2t6rA7FaO0FTK6VDx0on0ANDcj_ZXlB0adJiqjDPHK1QDu-kh6gYO8GS3bi25KaFP3Lpr6oSnEw7aBWdTfXz7A2nhNTn5DCjkoSTzhaBfJS0g/w400-h333/Yemen-map-final.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Map of average rainfall in Yemen superimposed on Aston’s
topographical map of southern Arabia. The upper green branch (5–10
inches/year) extending from Nahom east toward Oman corresponds well with
the route proposed by Aston that provides inland access to Wadi Sayq
and Khor Kharfot, Bountiful.</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Getting back to Rappleye's article, one interesting and possibly controversial aspect of the funerary stela bearing the name "Ishmael" is that it also has a crude line drawing of man's face carved into the stone:</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOUgESPICwd0NYrcWxrnZ4swXznK-wt075A0Pzqtydfr3Y4v_vKxrCVDRGFUcxep9bQIF2mKc0RYdUTT5plXyBMvUy9paj0AhxjwFlnE2-HYp5tALpkpe9tOw5vP69GqMPwdJ1nDsvYncFemq_ZAMgldzoGgOt1V875l7drNAqX1aUeJQVnuE/s1430/48_03_Rappleye-Fig01.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1060" data-original-width="1430" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOUgESPICwd0NYrcWxrnZ4swXznK-wt075A0Pzqtydfr3Y4v_vKxrCVDRGFUcxep9bQIF2mKc0RYdUTT5plXyBMvUy9paj0AhxjwFlnE2-HYp5tALpkpe9tOw5vP69GqMPwdJ1nDsvYncFemq_ZAMgldzoGgOt1V875l7drNAqX1aUeJQVnuE/w400-h296/48_03_Rappleye-Fig01.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Funerary stela YM 27966 bearing a name in Epigraphic South Arabian<br />equivalent to the Hebrew name “Ishmael,” dated to ca. 6th century <span class="small-caps">BC</span>, <br />from Neal Rappleye, "<a href="https://journal.interpreterfoundation.org/an-ishmael-buried-near-nahom/" target="_blank">An Ishmael Buried Near Nahom</a>."<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>Scholars
examining the collection of stelae propose that they were made either
for foreigners from the north passing through the area or for the
members of the lower ranks of society. In either case, this could fit
the case of Lehi's family, traveling as nomads without the gold and
silver Lehi once had in Jerusalem. </p><p>Rappleye's conclusion is appropriately cautious:</p><blockquote><p> At the very least, it seems reasonable to suggest that <i>if </i>the Ishmael of the Book of Mormon was buried with some sort of identifying marker, it probably would have
looked something like the Yasmaʿʾil stela — a crudely carved stela
typical of foreigners traveling through the area, who lacked substantial
time or resources to afford a more extravagantly carved and engraved
burial stone.
</p><p> Although a firmer conclusion eludes us, the very fact that <i>an</i>
Ishmael was buried in close proximity to the Nihm tribal region around
the very time the Book of Mormon indicates that a man named Ishmael was
buried at Nahom is rather remarkable. Such a fact certainly does not
weaken the case for the Book of Mormon’s historicity. </p></blockquote>Rappleye also makes the case that the name on the marker most likely has Hebrew rather than Arabic origins. If so, it could also be another Semite named Ishmael, not the Book of Mormon Ishmael. We know there were Hebrews that fled to Yemen anciently, and one speculative possibility is that a Hebrew colony in Nihm tribal lands might have provided the assistance needed for a proper burial of Ishmael. But a Jewish/Hebrew man being buried in Nihm tribal lands dated to an era compatible with the time of Ishmael's burial in the Book of Mormon is definitely an intriguing tidbit that would be, as Rappleye puts it, "worth considering."<br /><p>Could this at least have some relevance to the Book of Mormon? <b>Absolutely not,</b> according to some of our critics, for everyone knows that Jews are forbidden from making graven images or images of any kind of humans, animals, etc., based on the second of the Ten Commandments, "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image" (Exodus 20:4). </p><p>In fact, David Bokovoy has made this argument, though perhaps in haste on a bad day. Apparently a Facebook comment from Bokovoy is being quoted on a Reddit page under the title, "Bokovoy smacks down Nahom and Ishmael" (accessible via tinyurl.com using "smackdownfail"). The smack down features the "no graven images" argument: <br /></p><p></p><blockquote><p> Moreover, the grave marker features an
anthropomorphic representation of the man, Yasmaʿʾīl. Hence, whoever
this man was, his family did not feel obligated to obey Exodus 20:4:
“Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any
thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that
is in the water under the earth.”</p><p class="_1qeIAgB0cPwnLhDF9XSiJM">So
there is no reason to believe that this person from Arabia was even
Israelite, let alone a worshipper of the god Yahweh from the Hebrew
Bible. And remember, Ishmael from the Book of Mormon is described as an
Ephramite from Jerusalem.</p></blockquote><p>The "common knowledge" that faithful Israelites would shun any artistic representation of an object may not be as reliable as the smack down implies. The point of the Second Commandment is to avoid idolatry. But any Bible scholar should understand that this cannot be taken to mean a universal prohibition ever since the time of Moses against any artistic depiction. When I saw this "smack down" argument, I wondered if its source had taken time to recall the lengthy descriptions in the Old Testament of the various artistic work commanded by God to decorate the Tabernacle and then the Temple. </p><p>When I first read the Bible all the way through as a teenager, one of the main questions I had was why images of pomegranates were such a big deal to the Lord? He commanded there to be pomegranates of blue on priests' clothing (Exodus 28:33-34, 39:24-26) and then when the Temple was built, Solomon was commanded to make pomegranates, pomegranates, and more pomegranates -- literally hundreds of pomegranates all over the place (1 Kings 7: 18, 20, 42; 2 Chronicles 3:16 and 4:13), apparently of brass or other metal. What was up with all these images of fruit? Certainly not fruit worship, I am relieved to report. </p><p>But the making of graven images by faithful Jews in the Bible goes beyond mere garden-variety objects such as images of fruit, the apparent <a href="https://www.jns.org/menorah-history-of-a-symbol-2/" target="_blank">image of the tree of life in the menorah</a>, or the lovely stained-glass <a href="https://www.123rf.com/photo_17554888_stained-glass-window-inside-the-great-synagogue-of-jerusalem-on-king-george-street.html" target="_blank">images of trees (as well as human hands, etc.) in the Great Synagogue in Jerusalem</a>, where I attended a beautiful service a few years ago. I'm disappointed that many people who thought Bokovoy's argument was a smack down didn't recall the art of the Tabernacle and later the art of Solomon's Temple, including the massive figures of cherubim. Here are a few verses to consider. First, from Exodus 25, the commands for the construction of the Tabernacle:</p><p></p><blockquote>18 And thou shalt make <b>two cherubims of gold,</b> of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the to ends of the mercy seat.<br /><br />19 And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end: even of the mercy seat shall ye make the cherubims on the two ends thereof.<br /><br />20 And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and t<b>heir faces shall look one to another;</b> toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be. </blockquote>What kind of face? <span class="text Ezek-10-14" id="en-KJV-20648">Using my newly downloaded Sefaria app and searching for "cherubim," I see that Rashi (</span><span class="text Ezek-10-14" id="en-KJV-20648">originally known as Shlomo ben Yitzhak, born about 1040 AD in France) commenting on Exodus 25:18, said that the cherubim "had the form of a child's face." Presumably, a human child. <br /></span><p></p><p>Cherubim are also big, if not bigger, in 1 Kings 6, as the Lord gives commands for the construction of Solomon's Temple: <br /></p><p></p><blockquote>23 And within the oracle <b>he made two cherubims of olive tree, each ten cubits high</b>....<br /><br />27 And he set the cherubims within the inner house: and they stretched forth the wings of the cherubims, so that the wing of the one touched the one wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall; and their wings touched one another in the midst of the house.<br /><br />28 And he overlaid the cherubims with gold.<br /><br />29 And he carved all the walls of the house round about with <b>carved figures of cherubims</b> and palm trees and open flowers, within and without....<br /><br />32 The two doors also were of olive tree; and <b>he carved upon them carvings of cherubims</b> and palm trees and open flowers, and overlaid them with gold, and spread gold upon the cherubims, and upon the palm trees.<br /><br />33 So also made he for the door of the temple posts of olive tree, a fourth part of the wall....<br /><br />35 And he <b>carved thereon cherubims</b> and palm trees and open flowers: and covered them with gold fitted upon the carved work.</blockquote><p></p><p>Lots of cherubim! Carved, graven images of an angelic being with wings and a face. <br /></p><p>The non-idolatrous graven image making gets even more intense in the next chapter, 1 Kings 7:<br /></p><p></p><blockquote>27 And he made ten bases of brass; four cubits was the length of one base, and four cubits the breadth thereof, and three cubits the height of it.<br /><br />28 And the work of the bases was on this manner: they had borders, and the borders were between the ledges:<br /><br />29 And on the borders that were between the ledges were <b>lions, oxen, and cherubims:</b> and upon the ledges there was a base above: and beneath the lions and oxen were certain additions made of thin work.<br /><br />30 And every base had four brasen wheels, and plates of brass: and the four corners thereof had undersetters: under the laver were undersetters molten, at the side of every addition.<br /><br />31 And the mouth of it within the chapiter and above was a cubit: but the mouth thereof was round after the work of the base, a cubit and an half: and also upon the mouth of it were <b>gravings</b> with their borders, foursquare, not round....<br /><br />36 For on the plates of the ledges thereof, and on the borders thereof, he <b>graved cherubims, lions, and palm trees</b>, according to the proportion of every one, and additions round about.<br /><br />37 After this manner he made the ten bases: all of them had one casting, one measure, and one size....<br /><br />40 And Hiram made the lavers, and the shovels, and the basons. So Hiram made an end of doing all the work that he made king Solomon for the house of the Lord:<br /><br />41 The two pillars, and the two bowls of the chapiters that were on the top of the two pillars; and the two networks, to cover the two bowls of the chapiters which were upon the top of the pillars;<br /><br />42 And <b>four hundred pomegranates</b> for the two networks, even two rows of pomegranates for one network, to cover the two bowls of the chapiters that were upon the pillars;<br /><br />43 And the ten bases, and ten lavers on the bases;<br /><br />44 And one sea, and <b>twelve oxen under the sea</b>....</blockquote><p></p><p>Oxen, lions, cherubim (with faces, no doubt), palm trees, and of course, hundreds of pomegranates, all tasteful, non-idolatrous graven images that faithful Jews put in their most sacred place. </p><p>Yes, Josiah would later destroy some of relics of the temple and leave the Holy of Holies an empty cube, and at various time other some Jews would prohibit images more generally, especially when living among opponents of Judaism, intensifying their rules to make more clear dividing lines between the good and the pagan. But there are many examples of ancient Jewish sites with artwork, including murals showing humans and animals or even figurines. And today, art of various kinds can be found in synagogues and in the homes of faithful Jews, as I saw a couple weeks ago while visiting devout Jewish friends, when a significant part of the evening involved admiring their abundant artwork. When I visited Jerusalem a few years ago, works of art were easy to find. The stained glass in the Great Synagogue was beautiful. Images of all kind were sold by Jews and Arabs alike, as far as I could tell. <br /></p><p>In recent issues of <i>Biblical Archaeology Review</i>, which I subscribe to, there have been reports of ancient Jewish sites, including a temple near but outside Jerusalem, with human figurines, raising new debates about their purpose. I'll provide some more information later in an update. But there apparently have been many discoveries in the past few decades making it clear that the "common knowledge" about Jews prohibiting all artwork or depictions of humans was not necessarily the way that Jews saw things anciently. So no, I don't think Bokovoy's argument was carefully considered. There's no reason to rule out the possibility that a Jewish man named Ishmael might have been buried with a grave marker having a crude two-dimensional drawing of a face on it. If cherubim in the Tabernacle can have faces, I guess a grave marker can, too, as long as no idolatry was intended. <br /></p><p> </p><p> </p><p><br /></p>Jeff Lindsayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08776493593387402607noreply@blogger.com48tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7139169.post-81537788629500333922022-04-06T13:04:00.002-05:002022-04-06T13:50:50.054-05:00Prayers for China<p> </p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK4XnjJOOIrN2PG6s9sl_uwfH-uQPX4pqx6P5pcWskEy_-xOfcriZx4IZS2-dC18Zpsd7XK1WpCp763YiSEMGcPR7VPAVChVZ2WmzH6QKp7ThwnV8ZkaMy4rKz0RjnvHWjXSnvaPmvaXj4SSVWXKdJkFvtjRSZFuUd3eQyNb25eObWrziBAZ4/s1512/Screen%20Shot%202022-04-06%20at%2012.19.59%20PM.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1070" data-original-width="1512" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK4XnjJOOIrN2PG6s9sl_uwfH-uQPX4pqx6P5pcWskEy_-xOfcriZx4IZS2-dC18Zpsd7XK1WpCp763YiSEMGcPR7VPAVChVZ2WmzH6QKp7ThwnV8ZkaMy4rKz0RjnvHWjXSnvaPmvaXj4SSVWXKdJkFvtjRSZFuUd3eQyNb25eObWrziBAZ4/w320-h226/Screen%20Shot%202022-04-06%20at%2012.19.59%20PM.png" title="A view from Xian, China, the beginning of the Silk Road" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A view from Xi'an, China, <br />the beginning of the Silk Road<br /></td></tr></tbody></table>China has been in my prayers daily for a long time. It's a land I love and respect with marvelous people, strong family values, great diversity, and many people of faith, including local and foreign members of the Church. It's a land of beautiful culture and traditions. And contrary to what you have probably heard, it's a land of creativity and innovation, in spite of a recent history of rampant intellectual property theft,. China actually has some of the best intellectual property laws and systems on the planet, having made incredible progress in the past few years. The IP laws and systems of China actively promote and reward invention and innovation. Yes, China is a land of many contradictions and endless enigma. Sadly, it's also a land with less religious freedom especially religious freedom, than it had when I was there. There are many problems, but also much that is praiseworthy. I pray that we might have peace with China and that the many poor of China and the many suffering in various ways might have their burdens lifted, not made worse. <br /><p></p><p>China is finding that its zero-tolerance policy for COVID has resulted in precious little natural immunity across the nation, leaving it, in my unschooled opinion, inadequately prepared for the realities of COVID. As nations all over the world are finding, the vaccines don't really stop the spread of the disease. Now as Omicron and its variants spread, China is resorting to the only tools that authoritarians anywhere can imagine: compulsion and force, locking citizens into their compounds in aggravating lockdowns or forcing individuals into government quarters for quarantine, and even separating parents from children in their fearful zeal. This headline from yesterday, for example, is much more than just sensationalistic fake news: "<a href="https://www.breitbart.com/asia/2022/04/04/china-sends-military-shanghai-separates-children-parents-coronavirus/" target="_blank">China Sends Military into Shanghai, Separates Children from Parents over Coronavirus</a>." Friends of mine in Shanghai are struggling as they are often unable to travel and visit family, unable to take critical tests needed for their career, unable to get to their job at all, unable to go shopping, unable to take their pets out of the apartment (with many practical problems as a result), unable to get medical treatment they may need, etc. Some recently watched their companies be crushed due to sudden new regulations. But the threat of having government take children away from parents is an ultimate nightmare for some of us, especially a young child. It's a time to pray for China. </p>
<p>
</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Shanghai's 25 million people under lockdown indefinitely. Chinese social media shows some breaking out of lockdown to protest, chanting: "we want freedom"; "why are you starving us?"<br />Much of the dissent is censored. Most of videos in our story were erased from the internet <a href="https://twitter.com/CNN?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@cnn</a> <a href="https://t.co/QUHrfqEhiG">pic.twitter.com/QUHrfqEhiG</a></p>— Selina Wang (@selinawangtv) <a href="https://twitter.com/selinawangtv/status/1511614912304402433?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 6, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script> <p></p>
<p>In <a href="https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/shanghai-residents-rebel-lockdown-extended-indefinitely" target="_blank">one protest</a>, citizens in Shanghai at one apartment complex argued with police, asking "Why don't you just lock us up in prison?" Be careful what you ask for. We had a maid in China who spent six months in jail after she tried to stop a fight at a mahjong parlor (avoid those places!), just waiting for the judge to rule that there was no evidence against her. It took a heavy toll on her. But she was lucky, perhaps in part due to the help of a good lawyer, for others involved who didn't have a lawyer to help received received sentences of three years or more. Being in jail can be vastly more difficult than being confined to your apartment, though both are forms of imprisonment and in both, it's possible to go hungry or suffer many other hardships when one is at the mercy of others for all services, including periodic delivery of food rations. <br /></p><p>Two of my American friends, Jacob Harlan and <a href="https://www.eastidahonews.com/2021/09/future-unclear-for-rexburg-teacher-jailed-in-china-the-past-two-years/" target="_blank">Alyssa Petersen</a>, are in jail in China. I pray that China will be merciful and say that nearly three years in jail, still waiting for a verdict from the trial, is enough. Just boot those foreigners, please, and let them return to America, never to come back to China. I do not endorse any violation of Chinese laws, urge all foreigners and nationals to respect China's laws, and understand that China views this as an internal matter based on their regulations regarding visa requirements for foreigners performing work in China. But the message has been clear and these foreigners won't repeat any mistakes
again in the business model for their educational business. Can they please come home now? They have been in my prayers every day, I think, for about two and a half years. <br /></p><p>Here's an excerpt from the story cited above: <br /></p><p class="subheading"></p><blockquote><p class="subheading">China used massive
transport planes to fly hundreds of military personnel into Shanghai on
Sunday to assist with a three-day mass coronavirus testing program for
the city’s 26 million imprisoned residents. </p>
<p>Fear and discontent are growing as
the Shanghai lockdown becomes more severe, with residents complaining
they have been locked in their homes without access to food or medicine.</p>
<p>The Shanghai lockdown was <a href="https://www.breitbart.com/asia/2022/03/28/coronavirus-panic-in-shanghai-as-china-locks-down-26-million-people/">originally pitched</a> as a carefully-implemented multi-stage refinement of China’s “dynamic zero-Covid” strategy, with <a href="https://www.breitbart.com/asia/2022/03/29/china-shanghai-is-too-wealthy-to-suffer-wuhan-style-lockdown/">due allowances</a> made for the size and economic importance of the immense city. </p>
<p>Most of that special deference to
Shanghai’s unique status dissolved over the weekend, as coronavirus case
numbers kept rising, reaching a <a href="https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202204/1257462.shtml" target="_blank">record high</a> of 13,146 reported cases on Sunday. </p>
<p>As always, coronavirus figures
provided by the Chinese Communist government should not be taken at face
value, but whatever the true number of infections and deaths might be,
local and national officials were clearly willing to admit the situation
is getting worse, and they tightened the Shanghai quarantine in
response....</p><p>The <i>Financial Times</i> (FT) on Monday <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/3e439a10-860b-4ae6-9070-ad8546da8850" target="_blank">found</a> Chinese state censors struggling to delete “cries for help” from Shanghai residents online:</p>
<blockquote><p>Residents on social media
said online grocery stores had run out of food while others complained
that they could not buy their regular medication. “Who can tell me how
to get medicine? I am so hopeless. I want to leave Shanghai,” said one
resident.</p>
<p>Some Shanghainese, who have been
unable to leave their homes for more than two weeks owing to
restrictions that predated the lockdown because of positive cases in
their buildings, have relied on government grocery deliveries.</p></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote><p></p></blockquote><p>It was the discovery of the benefits of economic freedom that led to China's great economic revolution, a revolution that we may need to bring to the West someday soon. See my story on the Xiagang revolution in "<a href="https://www.ipwatchdog.com/2021/11/11/desperate-heroism-thunder-quiet-revolution-rise-chinas-economy-ip-system/" target="_blank">Desperate Heroism and the Thunder of a Quiet Revolution: The Rise of China’s Economy and IP System</a>" at <i>IPWatchdog</i>. There are lessons from China's success that we must not forget, or must begin to recall. Now I pray that China can rediscover the blessings of more freedom for its people. The virus will do what it wants and all our mandates and lockdowns and seizing of ore power over the lives of others won't stop it. By relaxing the reigns of power and letting people shop, travel, and live their lives again, there will be spikes in cases, just as there will be with lockdowns, but in the end China and its people will be stronger, more successful, and happier. I'm praying for elevated happiness for China and its peoples, as well as its guests. </p><p>There are also people in this land who aspire to the kind of power over other people's lives that the Party has in China. There can be all sorts of noble justifications for taking such power, and some good men and women strive sincerely to make the world a better place once they have the reins of power. But usually the result is unsatisfactory, especially when that power is expanded to the point of being absolute. There are good reasons for the inspired counsel of Alma the Elder to his people in: "Trust no man to be king over you" (Mosiah 23:13). </p><p>As we pray for peace and not war in Ukraine, let's also pray that many afflicted nations might also have peace. We may wish to pray for peace in Yemen, for peace in Africa where violence remains a critical danger in many nations, for peace and not war with Russia, and for peace and relief in China where desperation is mounting in some regions. </p><p>Last night we have a group of young men from Africa in our home practicing the song, "There is Peace in Christ." All of our guests came to the US a refugees because of war and violence in Eastern Africa (DRC Congo, Burundi, and Rwanda). It was great to see their faith and to hear them learning a beautiful hymn of peace and hope. The words and music touched me long after our event was over. May the peace of Christ be brought to more and more of God's children across this troubled globe. China is one of many places that needs more of that hope. I will continue to pray for China. <br /></p><p></p>Jeff Lindsayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08776493593387402607noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7139169.post-19154725731579643202022-04-02T17:53:00.018-05:002022-04-04T12:19:24.379-05:00The Words of Gad the Seer: Thoughts on a "Lost Book" Preserved by the Jews at Cochin, India<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV7K1KtbyUK3ZhX5MLdcnp0925MkpkUKF24rRxI3DQKGk-IWVlufnEJo0w0l5O4nud0Ku1qY-JJNV_gt2h8T9bDl5WPxUxpQl3rTxASVRoohM3Nx0fYyD5MpmAL3tNlzibj0pidwoWQoMls0kYsQwJ7U3P5u8MFCM0qlLA8fPn2_QJ65EL8XQ/s1080/Screen%20Shot%202022-04-02%20at%204.39.45%20PM.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="820" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV7K1KtbyUK3ZhX5MLdcnp0925MkpkUKF24rRxI3DQKGk-IWVlufnEJo0w0l5O4nud0Ku1qY-JJNV_gt2h8T9bDl5WPxUxpQl3rTxASVRoohM3Nx0fYyD5MpmAL3tNlzibj0pidwoWQoMls0kYsQwJ7U3P5u8MFCM0qlLA8fPn2_QJ65EL8XQ/s320/Screen%20Shot%202022-04-02%20at%204.39.45%20PM.png" width="243" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The cover of the Hebrew edition of<br />Meir Bar-Ilan's <i>The Words of Gad the Seer</i></td></tr></tbody></table><p>An old Jewish manuscript said to contain writings of Gad the Seer, one of the "lost books" mentioned in the Bible was found among Jews in India and after much drama has recently been published in English. It's an intriguing story that I think should be given more attention, especially among Latter-day Saints. <br /></p><p>Gad
was a prophet living at the time of David who seemed to have special
status based on 2 Samuel 24:11, which speaks of "Gad, David's seer." But
like many prophets, Gad was not afraid to speak unpleasant things to
his King (e.g., see 2 Samuel 12:1-13). One of the very few mentions of
Gad occurs in 1 Chronicles 29:29 when it mentions that the acts of David
the king were written "in the book of Gad the seer." I have
occasionally cited that verse in discussing the scriptures with others
who accept the Bible to illustrate that the Bible we have might not
contain all the scripture that has been written in the past. A common
rejoinder is, "There may have been such a book, but if God didn't
preserve it for us in the Bible, it's not scripture." I guess there can
be no such thing as lost scripture with that definition. And if it can't
be lost, I guess it can't be found. In reply, I have asked others what
they would do if a book that ancient Jews or Christians regarded and
preserved as Biblical scripture became lost, and then was found again?
</p><p>Surprisingly, my theoretical question became a little less
theoretical with the fairly recent discovery, translation, and
publication of a long-lost manuscript that may have connections to the
ancient lost book of Gad the Seer, just published in 2016. The document
has been through many human hands and may have some of the corruption common
to non-canonical works such as the Apocrypha and pseudepigrapha, but
the scholar who has explored this text in the most detail and provided
the translation believes it has ancient roots and is worthy of our
attention. The story of this unusual text may be relevant to our own and much
more miraculous story of the finding, translation, and publication of
the ancient books of scripture from ancient Hebrews and Christians that
we have in the Book of Mormon. </p>
<h2><b>The Story Behind the Words of Gad the Seer</b></h2>
<p>The story of coming forth of The Words of Gad the Seer is a story
that involves the the scattering of Israel and a Jewish colony in India,
and may raise interesting issues about ancient Jews not only in India
but also in Yemen with possible relevance to Lehi's Trail. This story
also touches upon themes of lost and restored ancient scripture,
apocalyptic literature like the Book of Enoch and our own Book of Moses,
writing on metal plates, and other Latter-day Saint themes such as free
agency, three main categories of outcomes in final judgment, and even
Alma's discourse on the word as a seed in Alma 32. </p>
<p>There may be much food for thought as we contemplate the story
behind the text and the words themselves now published in a very short
book, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Words-Gad-Seer-Meir-Bar-Ilan-ebook/dp/B01MY387V2/ref=sr_1_2" target="_blank"><i>The Words of Gad the Seer</i></a>
translated by Professor Meir Bar-Ilan (Scotts Valley, CA: CreateSpace
Publishing, 2016), available in paperback and Kindle editions. His much
more extensive scholarly edition is available only in Hebrew at the
moment. Professor Bar-Ilan has been a professor for decades at a
prestigious university in Israel, Bar-Ilan University, named for another
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meir_Bar-Ilan" target="_blank">Meir Bar-Ilan</a>
(perhaps his grandfather?), a prominent figure in Israeli history.
Bar-Ilan University is often abbreviated as BIU, not to be confused with
BYU. At BUI, Bar-Ilan teaches in both the Talmud and Jewish History
departments and has <a href="https://faculty.biu.ac.il/~barilm/english/publications.html" target="_blank">an interesting list of publications</a>, a number of which are related to the Words of Gad the Seer. </p>
<p>Before you rush to buy Meir Bar-Ilan's English translation of the
Words of Gad the Seer, you should know that what is currently available
is a bare-bones paperback just 23 pages in length giving the 5000+ words
of the pseudepigraphal text without any explanation, background,
footnotes, etc. With the Kindle edition, you can't even figure out who
published it. The <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/words-of-gad-the-seer-meir-bar-ilan-phd/1125415137" target="_blank">Barnes and Noble page for the book</a>
indicates that the publisher is CreateSpace Publishing, something I
could not find at Amazon, and a search then revealed Scotts Valley, CA
as the likely location for the publisher. Wikipedia's entry for "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Gad_the_Seer" target="_blank">The Book of Gad the Seer</a>" indicates that one there is <a href="https://merhav.nli.org.il/primo-explore/search?query=any,contains,003844968,AND&tab=default_tab&search_scope=Local&vid=NLI&lang=iw_IL&offset=0" target="_blank">a scholarly edition in Hebrew</a>
that I presume will be more complete. But you can access a variety of
articles in English that Professor Meir Bar-Ilan has written about the
book that I'll discuss below. Meanwhile, I hope you will still buy the
book, perhaps the Kindle edition, and begin exploring this unusual
text. </p>
<p>Slightly more information and a slightly different translation is
available in Christian Israel's independently published 2020 version, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Words-Gad-Seer-Bible-Cross-Reference/dp/1655764225/ref=sr_1_4?crid=F5ZBIM7F3FYO&keywords=gad+the+seer&qid=1648900304&sprefix=gad+the+seer%2Caps%2C103&sr=8-4" target="_blank"><i>The Words of Gad the Seer: Bible Cross-Reference Edition</i></a>, available in paperback only (no Kindle edition so far). </p>
<p>The largest English volume available as far as I know, with both Kindle and paperback editions, is Ken Johnson's <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Ancient-Book-Gad-Seer-Corinthians-ebook/dp/B01M4OREDB/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=" target="_blank"><i>Ancient Book of Gad the Seer: Referenced in 1 Chronicles 29:29 and alluded to in 1 Corinthians 12:12 and Galatians 4:26</i></a>
(Ken Johnson, 2016). This has extensive and questionable commentary
from Ken Johnson, who appears to be an evangelical seeking to strongly
guide the reader toward his preferred readings, stressing Messianic
themes [some of which may be valid] and other favorite topics. For
example, he sees the condemnation of Edom as a condemnation of Rome,
even inserting "[Rome]" after Edom and stating bracketed text that the
fall of a"terrible nation" refers to the destruction of Byzantine. The
insertion of altered text in brackets that push his pet themes is
annoying. Fortunately, Johnson has provided his translation without all
the commentary and with fewer bracketed insertions in a <a href="https://pdf4pro.com/amp/view/ancient-book-of-gad-the-seer-biblefacts-org-1b16d1.html" target="_blank">free PDF</a> that you can read online or download. </p>
<p>The translation I trust the most is that of the Jewish scholar, Professor Bar-Ilan in <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Words-Gad-Seer-Meir-Bar-Ilan-ebook/dp/B01MY387V2/ref=sr_1_2" target="_blank"><i>The Words of Gad the Seer</i></a>. Any quotes from the book of Gad the Seer will be from his translation, unless otherwise indicated. </p>
<p>What follows is an overview of the book <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/words-of-gad-the-seer-meir-bar-ilan-phd/1125415137" target="_blank">taken from Barnes and Noble</a> (also provided at <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Words-Gad-Seer-Meir-Bar-Ilan-ebook/dp/B01MY387V2/ref=sr_1_2">Amazon</a>)
which I believe is just a translation from the Hebrew describing
Bar-Ilan's 2015 scholarly edition, which I hope will soon be available
in English. I say that because this overview describes a book with an
index, a vast bibliography, a description of its origins, comparisons
to others texts, and scholarly analysis of literary genre, scribalism
and scribal techniques, none of which is in the English translation, but
much of which should be fascinating for Latter-day Saint scholars. </p>
<blockquote>Gad is a prophet most associated with King David in the Holy
Bible. This book is the outcome of a prolonged study of a manuscript
that was found serendipitously 34 years ago. Actually, this was a
re-discovery of a text that for some reason had escaped the eyes of
many. It is a story of the survival of Jews remote in place and time,
and of their books, visions, angels and divine voices, combined with
their belief in God and his covenant with King David and Israel. There
is no other book that resembles this one.<br /> <br /> A book by the name
Words of Gad the Seer is mentioned at the end of I Chronicles,
presumably one of the sources of the history of King David. Ever since
the book was considered lost and it is mentioned nowhere. In the 18th
century Jews from Cochin said that their ancestors have had several
apocryphal books, including Words of Gad the Seer, and this statement
was published first by Johann Gottfried Eichhorn (1789) and translated
by Naphtali H. Wesseley who publicized these fantastic claims (1790).
Since none saw the book, it was probably considered to be an oriental
legend. So when Solomon Schechter, in 1894 (just before he became
occupied with the Genizah), checked manuscripts at the Cambridge
library, bought at Cochin around 1806, [he] not only ... described the
specific manuscript improperly but he also failed to make the right
connection to earlier knowledge of that book and thus he under-evaluated
the text. In 1927 Israel Abrahams published a paper on this manuscript,
but his analysis, once again, had several improper descriptions, and
hence the text of Words of Gad the Seer went into oblivion.<br /> <br />
This book presents the text of Words of Gad the Seer for the first time.
First comes an introduction where the history of the manuscript is
discussed. Later the characters of the text described and analyzed one
feature after the other. The text is found to be having many
similarities with the Book of Revelation and several pseudo-apocryphal
and apocalyptic books such as 2 Baruch, 4 Ezra and others.<br /> <br /> Then
comes a diplomatic edition of the manuscript where each and every
letter (by special fonts) is presented similarly to the manuscript.
Later the book is divided to 14 chapters, each is a literary unit by
itself, and each has its own introduction and a commentary. Each and
every verse is explained in a "multi-focal" commentary in a manner
similar to publishing a Biblical book: literary criticism, lexicography,
philology and alike. A special treatment is given to the scribal
practices that are reflected in the text: the only non-canonical book
with a Massorah, Qeri and Ketib, total number of verses and more.<br /> <br />
The book is 5227 words in length written in a pseudo-Biblical Hebrew
intended to be a book written by the Seer of King David in the 10th
century B.C.E. The text is an anthology and varies in style and
character: 3 chapters are apocalyptic in nature, 2 chapters are a "mere"
copy of Ps 145 and 144 (with different superscriptions and all sorts of
different readings, some of them highly important); one chapter is a
harmonization of 1 Sam 24 with 1 Chr 21 (that resembles ancient
harmonizations of texts as found in the Samaritan Pentateuch and Qumran
alike). One chapter is a kind of addendum to 2 Sam 13 (a "feminine
story"), one chapter is a sermon, one chapter is a folk story, and there
are more blessings, liturgies and other issues. Literary genre,
scribalism and scribes' technique are described and analyzed. The book
comes with an index and a vast bibliography. The appearance of the text
will add a great deal to our understanding of Jewish History and
religion.<br /> <br /> Date: The text assumed to be written either in the Land of Israel at the end of the first century or in the Middle Ages </blockquote><p>
</p><p>More information on the background is provided by Ken Johnson on pp. 8-9 of his book:</p>
<blockquote><p><i>The History of the Book</i> <br /> German Protestant
theologian Johann Gottfried Eichhorn was born in Ingelfingen, Germany,
on October 16, 1752. He was the professor of Oriental languages at Jena
University from 1775 to 1788. While there, he authored several books
including, <i>Introduction to the Study of the Old Testament</i>, and <i>Introduction to the Study of the Old Testament - Scholar's Choice Edition</i>. While studying the Aramaic New Testament, he came across a legend called the <i>Chronicle of the Jews in Cochin</i>.
A chronicle is the earliest history of how a people got to a remote
region. Chronicles frequently begin with the world-wide flood and traces
one of Noah’s sons down to the founder of that particular country.
According to the Cochin chronicle, Shalmaneser, King of Assyria
conquered Samaria in the ninth year of Hoshea. This event is also
recorded in the Bible: </p>
<p>“In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah began Hoshea the son of
Elah to reign in Samaria over Israel nine years. And he did that which
was evil in the sight of the LORD, but not as the kings of Israel that
were before him. Against him came up Shalmaneser king of Assyria; and
Hoshea became his servant, and gave him presents.” <i>2 Kings 17:1-3</i></p>
<p>The<i> Codex Judaica </i>states in the Hebrew Year 3195 AM,
Shalmaneser exiled the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali. The chronicle
describes how during Shalmaneser’s attack and resettlement of the
nation, <b>four hundred sixty of these Jews escaped and went to Yemen </b>under the leadership of Rabbi Simon. <b>They
took with them their holy books (the Old Testament) and, in addition,
they preserved the books of the prophets Gad, Nathan, Shemaiah, and
Ahijah.</b> Several hundred years later they were again exiled. They
knew of Jewish settlements living in relative peace in Poona and
Gujarat, India, so they left Yemen and migrated to India. About seven
hundred years later, forced conversions began. A group of less than
three hundred Jews moved to the Malabar region in India, where they were
welcomed and protected. Most stayed in the port city of Cochin (also
called Kochi). A Jew named Leopold Immanuel Jacob Van Dort translated
the Hebrew text from the Patriarch of the Jews in Cochin into Dutch in
1757. It was later translated into German and sent to Eichhorn. He
published that copy in 1786. Naphtali Herz Wessely republished the
Hebrew version. In the nineteenth century, another copy reportedly
emerged from Rome and is now housed in the Cambridge Library in England.
The University of Bar-Ilan in Tel Aviv, Israel, has published the
Hebrew text, and in 2015, Professor Meir Bar Ilan of Bar Ilan University
published a Hebrew version of the text with commentary (it also
includes an English translation). <br /> <br /> There is a Gnostic version
by the same name; but any real book that the Lord has seen fit to
preserve would, of course, have a Satanic counterfeit with the same
name. Anything Gnostic or Kabbalistic had to be a false work or, at
least be heavily edited by the cults of that time. <br /> <br /> The
translation of Gad the Seer in this book is a modern English translation
with commentary based on Scripture from a conservative Christian
perspective. [<i>emphasis mine</i>] <br /></p></blockquote>
<p>A similar account with more detail is provided by Prof. Meir Bar-Ilan in "<a href="https://faculty.biu.ac.il/%7Ebarilm/articles/publications/publications0048.html" target="_blank">The Discovery of The Words of Gad The Seer</a>," <i>Journal for the Study of Pseudepigrapha</i> 11 (1993): 95-107 (footnotes omitted):</p>
<blockquote>Some two centuries ago, a very puzzling testimony was
published in Germany; no one could tell what in it was true and what
was false. One of the founders of modern Biblical scholarship, J. G.
Eichhorn, published an unusual document he had received indirectly from
the Jews of the remote community in Cochin, India. This publication
struck the imagination of many people, and it was soon translated into
Hebrew by one of the eminent scholars of the time, Naphtali Herz
Wessely. Wessely not only translated the material, but wrote a
commentary on it, trying to evaluate some of the unusual statements in
that document. In his article in one of the first academic Hebrew
journals, HaMeasef, he began by discussing the geographical discoveries
that led to a new concept of the world, facts that might help to find
the lost Ten Tribes. His discussion was some kind of 'foreword' to the
main evidence he took from Eichhorn in order to discuss the history of
the Jews in Cochin.<br /> <br /> According to Wessely, the source of the
testimony was a man by the name of Marcellus Bless, a clerk in the Dutch
East India Company. This man got his information from a converted Jew,
Leopold Immanuel Jacob Van Dort. In 1757 Van Dort copied extracts from a
Hebrew book that belonged to the Patriarch of the Jews in Cochin. Van
Dort found this so interesting that he translated it into Dutch and gave
it to the above-mentioned clerk in Ceylon. Some thirty years elapsed
before the evidence was brought to the attention of a man by the name of
Ruetz who translated the extracts in Dutch to German and sent them to
be published in Eichhorn's Bibliothek. Strange as it sounds, these
people did exist and quite a bit is known about some of them.<br /> <br />
Thus, this chain of languages - Hebrew, Dutch, German, Hebrew (and now,
English) - is unusual, and is part of the unusual evidence the testimony
bears. At any event, the Jews in Cochin relate their history and
wanderings in a unique story, of which only a few lines interest us.
According to that 'Chronicle of the Jews in Cochin', their special
history began in the exile caused by Shalmaneser, King of Assyria, who
conquered Samaria in the ninth year of Hoshea the son of Elah (2 Kgs
17:1 ff.). Shalmaneser exiled 460 Jews to Yemen, and the chronicle says:<br /> <br />
These exiled people brought with them (to Yemen) a book of Moses'
Torah, book of Joshua, book of Ruth, book of Judges, first and second
books of Samuel, books of: 1 Kings, Song of Songs of Solomon, Songs of
Hallel - David, Assaf, Heiman and the sons of Korah, Proverbs,
Ecclesiastes of Solomon, as well as his Riddles, prophecies of Gad,
Nathan, Shemaiah and Ahijah, age-old Job, Jonah, and a book of Isaiah,
etc.<br /> <br /> These books were preserved under the authority of the
patriarch of the Jews, 'Shimon Rabban from the tribe of Ephrime, who was
the first (patriarch) in the period of Yemen captivity who attempted to
preserve the books'. The Chronicle of the Jews of Cochin continues with
a description of the history of those books which, according to it,
were confiscated by the king, and only after a fast and prayers were the
books returned to the Jews - 10 years later. For our purposes it should
be added that some 500 years later the Jews in Yemen were exiled by
King Prozom.<br /> <br /> Since the exiled people had known of the Jews in
Poona and Gujarat in India, they preferred to go there, and they and
their descendants lived there for some 600 or 700 years. Almost all of
those Jews were forced to convert, and less than 72 families moved from
Poona and Gujerat to Malabar. Those who moved were welcomed by the
governor, Cherman Perumal, who gave them privileges to encourage them to
stay there, as is written on copper plates, and there in Cochin, the
copper plates have remained until this day, in the days of the patriarch
of the Jews Joseph Hallegua. Bless mentioned that this Joseph was a
brother-in-law of Ezekiel Rahabi (who will be mentioned later). We can
determine that this 'Chronicle of the Jews of Cochin' is from the first
half of the 18th century.</blockquote>
<p>Bar-Ilan notes that the Jews of Cochin had other documents as well
such as the writings of Nathan, Shemaiah and Ahijah, texts that are
mentioned in the Bible, as well as the Riddles of Solomon which is not
mentioned in the Bible. There may be much more to mine from the
treasures related to the Jews of Cochin. </p>
<h2><b>Connections to Explore</b></h2>
<p>There is much more to the story as Bar-Ilan explores the various
efforts to publish information about the Words of Gad the Seer. In spite
of all that he describes, it's amazing how poorly known this text is.
Bar-Ilan in "<a href="https://faculty.biu.ac.il/%7Ebarilm/articles/publications/publications0048.html" target="_blank">The Discovery of the Words of Gad The Seer</a>" offers a reason why this has occurred:</p>
<p>This intriguing story of the lost books at Cochin is near its end. It
is hardly credible that books that were mentioned in three languages,
and especially in so many Hebrew editions were later overlooked. The
only possible reason for that, I assume, is that the fascinating stories
emerging from Cochin were considered to be legendary in character, such
as any modern scholar should ignore. When one of [these] 'legends'
became true [discovery of the manuscript for The Words of Gad the Seer],
its source was already forgotten and the whole issue was misunderstood
and misjudged. However, in future studies I hope to demonstrate the
significance of The Words of Gad the Seer, its date, its geographical
source, and much more.</p>
<p>As we see in the accounts of the background story, the Words of Gad
the Seer may have roots in scriptures brought by ancient Jews who fled
to Yemen. Perhaps this happened near the time when the Ten Tribes were
scattered, with some from the Ten Tribes seeking new homelands. Ancient
Jewish colonies in Yemen are an important aspect of the diaspora (see "<a href="https://wysinfo.com/the-jews-of-yemen-history-when-did-jews-settle-in-yemen/" target="_blank">Jews of Yemen – History – When did Jews Settle in Yemen?</a>" at Wysinfo.com, and "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yemenite_Jews#Early_history">Yemenite Jews</a>" at Wikipedia). As I discuss in my <i>Interpreter</i> article, "<a href="https://journal.interpreterfoundation.org/joseph-and-the-amazing-technicolor-dream-map-part-1-of-2/" target="_blank">Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Map: Part 1 of 2</a>,"
Warren Aston has suggested that a Jewish colony in the area of
Nahom/Nehem in Yemen may have assisted in providing a proper Hebrew
burial for Ishmael. Jewish burials in Yemen are attested no later than
300 BC, and since we know of later Jewish presence in the Nihm area, it
is possible that Jews could have been there earlier and could have been
able to assist in proper burials. See Warren Aston, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Lehi-Sariah-Arabia-Setting-Mormon-ebook/dp/B0793PL3VN" target="_blank"><i>Lehi and Sariah in Arabia</i></a>,
Kindle edition, Part 3, sections “Ishmael’s Death,” “Nahom Today,” and
“Where the Jews Once Part of the Tribe.” See also Part 1, section
“Religion in Arabia,” where Aston notes Yemeni Jewish traditions of
seven ancient Jewish migrations into Yemen. Further, there is evidence
that Jewish traders and merchants were interacting with Yemen before
Lehi’s era. It would be fascinating to know what versions of a book from
Gad the Seer might have been brought to Yemen anciently, perhaps both
by Jews who established colonies in Yemen and by Lehi on his brass
plates. </p>
<p>One aspect of the story of ancient texts among the Jews at Cochin,
India is the issue of writing on metal plates. The Jews at Cochin were
said to have kept their ancient history on copper or brass plates,
consistent with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_copper_plate_inscriptions" target="_blank">traditions of using copper plates in India</a>
for important legal documents going back at least to the 3rd century
BC. A hint about scriptures written on metal comes from one source who
visited the Cochin colony several times early in the 1700s, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Hamilton_(sailor)" target="_blank">Captain Alexander Hamilton</a>
(a British sailor, not the US statesman). He stated that they had kept
their history recorded on copper plates stored in a synagogue. This
statement is found in <i><a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_New_Account_of_the_East_Indies/-jNagGDT-PsC??hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA323&printsec=frontcover" target="_blank">A New Account of the East Indies</a></i>, vol. 1 (London: 1744), 323–24, available at <a href="https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.278509/page/n375/mode/2up" target="_blank">Archive.org</a> (https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.278509/page/n375/mode/2up) and <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_New_Account_of_the_East_Indies/-jNagGDT-PsC??hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA323&printsec=frontcover" target="_blank">Google Books</a> (https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_New_Account_of_the_East_Indies/-jNagGDT-PsC??hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA323&printsec=frontcover).
He reports: </p>
<blockquote><p>They [the Jews in Cochin, India] have a Synagogue
at Cochin, not far from the King’s Palace, about two Miles from the
City, in which are carefully kept their Records, engraven in
Copper-plates in Hebrew characters; and when any of the Characters
decay, they are new cut, so that they can shew their own History, from
the Reign of Nebuchadnezzar to the present Time.... </p>
<p>They declare themselves to be of the Tribe of Manasseh...</p></blockquote>
<p>I have <a href="https://mormanity.blogspot.com/2020/12/the-jewish-copper-plates-of-cochin.html." target="_blank">previously discussed Hamilton's statement</a> on my blog at https://mormanity.blogspot.com/2020/12/the-jewish-copper-plates-of-cochin.html. </p>
<p>Many decades after Hamilton's various visits to Cochin, Claudius
Buchanan visited the Hews there and reported on them in his 1811 volume,
<a href="https://archive.org/details/christianresear01horngoog/page/n176/mode/2up" target="_blank"><i>Christian Researches in Asia</i></a>,
but he makes no mention of their records on plates stored in a
synagogue. He does mention a plate of brass from a local king used to
grant rights to the Cochin Jews is <a href="https://archive.org/details/christianresear01horngoog/page/n170/mode/2up?view=theater&q=copper" target="_blank">on p. 172</a>. The royal charter granted to the Jews of Cochin by a king of Kerala, India engraved on copper plates is now well known. See "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_copper_plates_of_Cochin" target="_blank">Jewish copper plates of Cochin</a>"
at Wikipedia. The set of three plates associated with the charter have a
traditional date of 379 A.D. but are more likely to date to around 1000
A.D. </p>
<p>But Claudius Buchanan did far more than merely mention the brass
plate of the Cochin Jews. He had a replica made and transported to
Cambridge, but there is controversy about whether he actually kept the
original and gave the replica back to the Jews at Cochin. In fact, the
original owners of the royal charter may have been left with nothing.
It's a messy story in need of scientific testing of the plates, as
discussed by Thoufeek Zakriya of India in his blog post, "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_copper_plates_of_Cochin" target="_blank">The Copper Plate and the Big Sahib</a>," <i>Jews of Malabar</i>,
Aug. 19, 2013,
http://jewsofmalabar.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-copper-plate-and-big-sahib.html.
It's a powerful reminder of how important it is to keep precious
writing on metal plates out of sight and out of the hands of others.
Hurray for burying plates in stone boxes!</p>
<p>Did the Jews at Cochin really have more ancient records of their
history on copper or brass plates, or did the story of their one small
document become inflated when it was told to Hamilton? He gives enough
detail that it doesn't seem possible he got confused a story about one
or two plates, but was he given correct information? Did the Jews at
Cochin have much more than they did not risk discussing with Buchanan?
Are there records on plates still in hiding somewhere? I have no idea,
but would be thrilled if such a thing did exist and could be brought to
light. For now, we just have Hamilton's report and the tradition of
writing on copper plates in India that might add to the plausibility of
the story. The document from the Cochin Jews bearing the Words of Gad
the Seer was not written on metal plates.</p><p><i><b>Update, 4/4/2022:</b></i> A reader with the moniker "RM Zosimus" posted a comment here pointing to what may be the earliest published mention of the copper plates of the Cochin Jews:</p><p></p><blockquote>As far as I can tell, the first western account of metal plates among
the Jewish and Christian communities of Cochin comes from Damião de Góis
in his "Three Letters of Mar Jacob". Mar Jacob, the Bishop of the
Thomas Christians between 1543 and 1545 mentioned two copper plates with
inscriptions in Pahlavi, Cushic (sic) and Hebrew script. These plates
are unrelated to the chronicles of the Cochin Jews that were said to
have been destroyed when the Portuguese burned down the synagogue in
1662 AD. This history was inexplicably called the <i>sefer ha yashar</i> or the Book of the Upright One or the Book of Jasher.</blockquote><p></p><p>The "Three Letters of Mar Jacob" are not easily found online, but were discussed by Georg Schurhammer in <a href="https://archive.org/details/malabarchurchrom00schu_0/page/22/mode/2up" target="_blank"><i>The Malabar Church and Rome during the early Portuguese period and before</i></a> (Trichinopoly [the British India name for Tiruchirappalli city in Tamil Nadu], India: F.M. Ponnuswamy 1934), pp. 14 and 22-23 (esp. footnote 69) available at https://archive.org/details/malabarchurchrom00schu_0/page/22/mode/2up. The "Three Letters of Mar Jacob" are reproduced in Portuguese early in
the volume with an English translation at the side, and the mention of a
copper plate in the second Portuguese letter has "do que temos hua [dua?] <i>lamyna</i> [lamina] <i>de cobre</i> asselada de sseu sselo," with the given translation "of which we have a <i>Copperplate</i> sealed with his seal" (p. 14). On pages 22-23 is mention of several plates, some now lost. Fascinating! <br /></p>
<p>A few more connections to explore will arise when we examine some passages from the text below. </p>
<h2><b>Assessing the Words of Gad the Seer </b></h2>
<p>So what of this strange document from Cochin, India, the Words of Gad
the Seer? Is it just pious fiction made up by some Jews in India? A
1927 article argued that it was likely written in the 13th century AD.
See I. Abrahams, "<a href="https://polona.pl/item/livre-d-hommage-a-la-memoire-du-dr-samuel-poznanski-1864-1921,MTA0NTI2OA/31/" target="_blank">The Words of Gad the Seer</a>" in <i>Livre d'hommage a la mémoire du Dr Samuel Poznański (1864-1921)</i> (Vienna: Adolphe Holzhauzen, 1927), pp, 8-12. On the other hand, Professor Bar-Ilan in "<a href="https://faculty.biu.ac.il/~barilm/articles/publications/publications0025.html" target="_blank">The Date of The Words of Gad the Seer</a>," <i>Journal of Biblical Literature</i>
109, no. 3 (1990): 477-493, has examined the text in detail and
argues that it has more ancient roots. He estimates its origins to be in
the first centuries of the Christian era. </p>
<p>Could it be earlier? Bar-Ilan says no, for the book is written as an
apocalypse, and biblical scholars generally maintain that such
literature, including First Enoch, the book of Daniel, and the book of
Revelation, is a literary genre generally limited to roughly 200 B.C. to
200 AD., characterized by similarity to the book of Revelation, with
secret divine revelation about the end of the world and the nature of
heaven. See John J. Collins, <a href="https://biblia.com/books/leb/Le19.26" target="_blank">“Introduction: Towards the Morphology of a Genre,”</a> ed. John Joseph Collins, <i>Semeia</i>
14 (1979): 1, though Collins notes a later example of Jewish
apocalyptic literature, the Sefer Hekalot (3 Enoch), which some have
dated to the 5th century AD. Being apocalyptic, the argument is that
Words of Gad the Seer cannot represent biblical literature from the time
of David or otherwise much before 200 BC. (Some of us Latter-day
Saints, however, may be open to more ancient origins for some
apocalyptic literature like the material on Enoch in our own Book of
Moses.) </p>
<p>Bar-Ilan in the above-cited <a href="https://faculty.biu.ac.il/%7Ebarilm/articles/publications/publications0025.html" target="_blank"><i>Journal of Biblical Literature</i> article</a> (also <a href="https://www.academia.edu/23718357/THE_DATE_OF_THE_WORDS_OF_GAD_THE_SEER" target="_blank">available at Academia.edu</a>)
considers the arguments made for a medieval origin and refutes them in
detail, and then argues the case for late antiquity. His first argument
will be of interest to Book of Mormon students:</p>
<blockquote>The Words of Gad the Seer incorporate three chapters
from the Bible as if they were part of the whole work. Chapter 10 here
is Psalm 145, chapter 11 is no other than Psalm 144, and chapter 7 is a
kind of compilation of 2 Sam 24:1-21 with 1 Chr 21:1-30, a chapter that
deals with the deeds of Gad the Seer. As will be demonstrated later, the
Biblical text in Gad's book is slightly different from the masoretic
text, with some 'minor' changes that might be regarded as scribal
errata, though others are extremely important. In any case, <b>this phenomenon of inserting whole chapters from the Bible into one's treatise is known only from the Bible itself</b>.
For example, David's song in 2 Sam 22:2-51 appears as well in Psalm
18:2-50, not to speak, of course, of other parallels in Biblical
literature.<a href="https://faculty.biu.ac.il/~barilm/articles/publications/publications0025.html#[f26]"><sup>26</sup></a>
It does not matter where the 'original' position of this chapter was.
Only one who lived in the 'days of the Bible', or thought so of himself,
could have made such a plagiarism including a Biblical text in his own
work. [<i>emphasis mine</i>]</blockquote><p>
</p><p>Now that's fascinating. This is not some unschooled Latter-day
Saint apologist desperately trying to argue that heavy biblical
plagiarism is not a reason to reject the antiquity of an allegedly
ancient document like the Book of Mormon. It is a prominent scholar of
Hebrew literature writing in a respected peer-reviewed journal on
biblical literature stating that the extensive "plagiarism" of biblical
material in a work is a characteristic of ancient literature that helps
rule out a relatively modern origin for the text. The things Nephi and
other Book of Mormon writers do with other biblical texts, widely
condemned as blatant plagiarism by our critics, might actually be
indicators of antiquity, not modernity. </p>
<p>His second argument is also of interest, pointing out that the way
Bible content is merged and reworked in the document is also
uncharacteristic of modern writings but is an indicator of antiquity.
That is also a characteristic of Nephi's writings in the Book of Mormon
as he combined various passages and reworks them in elegant ways,
something Matthew Bowen and others have discussed, See, for example,
Matthew Bowen, "<a href="https://journal.interpreterfoundation.org/onomastic-wordplay-on-joseph-and-benjamin-and-gezera-shawa-in-the-book-of-mormon/" target="_blank">Onomastic Wordplay on Joseph and Benjamin and Gezera Shawa in the Book of Mormon</a>," <i>Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship</i> 18 (2016): 255-273.</p>
<p>His third argument involves differences in the way the Psalms are
quoted, particularly the changes in superscriptions that seem authentic.
But another interesting and possibly authentic twist is the addition of
the missing "nun" verse in Psalm 145, a Psalm where each verse begins
with a letter from the Hebrew alphabet forming an acrostic, with an
apparent defect due to the absence of the letter "nun" that should be
between verses 13 and 14 (see the missing verse discussion in "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psalm_145#The_%22missing_verse%22" target="_blank">Psalm 145</a>,"
Wikipedia). The added verse reads "All your enemies fell down, O Lord,
and all of their might was swallowed up." Bar-Ilan feels that "the style
and content of the verse give good reason to believe that it is
authentic." But even if it were made up by a creative editor, he says
"it still would be interesting, since the sages of the Talmud did not
know it, and the invention of fictitious Biblical verses is not known in
the Middle Ages either." The added verse combines the falling of
enemies and swallowing up, a combination also seen in the Book of Mormon
in 2 Nephi 26:5, where Nephi speaks of the coming destruction of those
that kill the prophets, warning that the depths of the earth "shall
swallow them up" and "buildings shall fall upon them." Likely a random
parallel, but possibly interesting, coming from one of the Book of
Mormon writers most attuned to the Psalms (see my "<a href="https://journal.interpreterfoundation.org/too-little-or-too-much-like-the-bible-a-novel-critique-of-the-book-of-mormon-involving-david-and-the-psalms/" target="_blank">Too Little or Too Much Like the Bible? A Novel Critique of the Book of Mormon Involving David and the Psalms</a>" in <i>Interpreter</i>).</p>
<p>His fourth argument also sounds somewhat like a common defense of the
Book of Mormon as he summarizes the diverse literary styles and tools
in the text, and highly creative visions and stories that seem unlikely
to have been fabricated. </p>
<p>There are nine arguments in total for antiquity, followed by
reviewing two recent cases where a text was deemed by experts to be
relatively recent, only to have later discoveries such as a related
document from Qumran proving that the document was ancient after all. </p>
<p>Perhaps there will be something to learn as we explore relationships
between The Words of Gad the Seer with other overlooked or denigrated
texts from the Restoration, namely, the Book of Mormon, the Book of
Moses, and the Book of Abraham. For now, let's consider an overview of
the text and look at just a few interesting passages. </p>
<h2><b>Overview of the Content, and a Few Passages of Interest</b></h2>
<p>We turn again to Professor Bar-Ilan for an excellent summary of the chapters of The Words of Gad the Seer, quoting from his "<a href="https://faculty.biu.ac.il/%7Ebarilm/articles/publications/publications0025.html" target="_blank">The Date of The Words of Gad the Seer</a>," <i>Journal of Biblical Literature</i> 109, no. 3 (1990): 477-493:</p>
<blockquote>The Words of Gad the Seer contains 14 chapters
dealing with King David and his prophet Gad. The nature of each of the
chapters is different than the others, so one who has already read the
first chapter, for example, cannot predict any other chapter in the
book. The style is Biblical, in accordance with its heroes (some of whom
are not mentioned in the Bible or elsewhere). Even when the author
writes his own ideas, almost every word or phrase reflects biblical
verse. Now, let us consider each of the chapters, one by one.<br /> <br />
1. (verses 1-63) God's revelation to Gad the Seer. The Seer sees
animals, the sun and the moon, and all that happens is interpreted by
the voice of God. The lamb is sacrificed on the heavenly altar but not
before he praises the Lord. Gad is told to tell David his revelation,
and David blesses the Lord and congratulates Gad for the secret that God
has told him.<br /> <br /> 2. (verses 64-92) A second revelation to Gad
concerning the Last Days. There is a prophecy of devastation on Edom
that 'dwells in the land of Kittim' while quoting their anti-Jewish
opinions. There will be a battle between Michael, the High Prince, and
Samael, Prince of the World.<br /> <br /> 3. (verses 93-104) On Passover a
Moabite shepherd asks King David to convert him. David does not know
what to do, and he asks the Lord. Nathan the prophet answers in the name
of God: 'Moabite male, not Moabite female'. The Moabite stays among
David's shepherds and his daughter Sefira becomes a concubine to
Solomon.<br /> <br /> 4. (verses 105-120) A story that praises the nature of King David, the wise judge.<br /> <br />
5. (verses 121-130) Before a battle between the Philistines and Israel,
the Lord speaks to Gad to tell David not to be frightened. That night a
fiery vehicle descends from heaven and smites the Philistines.<br /> <br />
6. (verses 131-141) God sends Gad to tell David not to boast of his
strength. David admits that all of his strength comes from God. God is
satisfied with David's answer and for that reason He decides that He
will help the House of David forever.<br /> <br /> 7. (verses 142-177) David
counts the children of Israel. This is a recension which combines 2 Sam
24:1-25 with 1 Chr 21:1-30. Both Biblical known texts, together with
some 'additions', appear to be integral chapter in the book.<br /> <br /> 8.
(verses 178-198) God reveals himself to David, telling him he should
speak to his people. David gathers the people and preaches to them
concerning the Lord's names and titles. David urges his people not only
to listen to the Torah but to fulfill it as well.<br /> <br /> 9. (verses
199-226) Hiram, King of Tyre, asks David to send him messengers to teach
him Torah. David answers that Hiram ought to fear the Lord and to
fulfill the commandments of the children of Noah. A list of God's
attributes is given, and the children of Israel are described as sealed
with Shaddai. Hiram and his servants believe in Israel's election and
praise Israel. God hears Hiram and sends Gad to tell David that Hiram
and his people will prepare His house.<br /> <br /> 10. (verses 227-249) A
praise to the Lord. This is Psa 145 with a different superscription than
in the Masoretic text and it includes the missing Nun verse (different
from any known version).<br /> <br /> 11. (verses 250-265) A praise to the
Lord. This is Psa 144 with a different superscription than in the
Masoretic text (and other minor differences).<br /> <br /> 12. (verses 266-285) Before David dies he urges his people to adhere to God that it will be good for them forever.<br /> <br />
13. (verses 286-353) Except for the first four verses that belong to
the former chapter (King David is dead and Solomon becomes King), it is a
long story where Tamar, King David's daughter, plays the role of a
heroine. This is a kind of addition to 2 Sam 13. After Tamar was raped,
she ran to Geshur and later on one of the King's servants tried to rape
her. Tamar kills her attacker and she comes back to Jerusalem, praised
and blessed by King Solomon.<br /> <br /> 14. (verses 354-375) A revelation.
Gad sees the Lord on His throne judging His people on the first day of
the year. An angel brings forward three books in which everyone's deeds
are written. The Satan wants to prosecute Israel, but he is silenced by
one of the angels. The revelation contains all kinds of details and the
Seer does not understand all of them. The revelation and the book end
with a blessing by the Seer while an angel answers: 'Amen, Amen'.</blockquote><p>
</p><p>There's remarkable diversity in the contents of this brief
document. It is a document rich in visions and the ministry of angels,
similar to themes in the Book of Mormon. Angels or messengers of God are
often said to be dressed in linen, the material of sacred priestly
robes. </p>
<p>Here are a few passages that struck me as interesting from a
Latter-day Saint perspective, just for your consideration. The titles
are mine, suggesting themes that occur to me. The passages are given
with their verse numbers. </p>
<p><b> On Purity</b></p>
<p>16 And it came to pass when the voice of the lamb was over, and, lo, a
man dressed in linen came with three branches of vine and twelve palms
in his hand. 17 And he took the lamb from the hand of the Sun and put
the crown on its head, and the vine-branches and palms on his heart. 18
And the man, dressed in linen, cried like a ram’s horn, saying: ‘What
hast thou here, impurity, and who hast thou here, impurity, that thou
hast hewed thee a place in purity, and in my covenant 19 that I have set
with the vine-branches and palms’. 20 And I have heard the lamb’s
shepherd saying: ‘There is a place for the pure, not for the impure,
with me, for I am a holy God, and I do not want the impure, only the
pure. 21 Though both are creations of my hands, and my eyes are equally
open on both. 22 But there is an advantage to the abundance of purity
over the abundance of impurity just like the advantage of a man over a
shadow. </p>
<p><b>Israel, the Firstborn People</b></p>
<p>46 And I heard a voice crying from heaven, saying: 47 ‘You are My
son, you are My firstborn, you are My first-fruit. 48 Have I not brought
you from over Shihor to be my daily delight? 49 But you have thrown my
presents away and dressed up the impure with pure, and that is why all
these things happened to you. 50 And who is like unto Thee, among all
creatures on earth? For in your shadow lived all these and by thy wounds
they were healed! 51 For that consider well that which is before thee.
52 And because you have fulfilled the words of the shepherd all the days
you have been in the Sun and you did not leave them, therefore all this
honor shall occur to you’. 53 And I, Gad son of Ahimelech of the Jabez
family of the tribe of Judah son of Israel, was amazed by the scene and
could not control my spirit. </p>
<p><b>The Seal of Truth </b></p>
<p>54 And the one dressed in linen came down to me and touched me,
saying: ‘Write these words and seal with the seal of truth for “I am
that I am” is My name, and with My name thou shalt bless all the house
of Israel for they are a true seed. 55 Thou shalt go, for yet a little
while, before thou art gathered quietly to thy fathers, and at the end
of days thou shalt see with thy own eyes all these, not as a vision but
in fact. 56 For in those days they shall not be called Jacob but Israel
for in their remnant no iniquity is found for they belong entirely to
the Lord. </p>
<p><b>David Standing on a Pulpit to Speak to His Assembled People</b> </p>
<p>182 Then David assembled all Israel in Jerusalem, and he made to
himself a pulpit of wood and he stood upon it before all the people. And
he opened his mouth and said: 183 ‘Hear, O Israel, your God and my God
is one, the only One and unique, there is no one like His individuality,
hidden from all, He was and is and will be, He fills His place but His
place doesn’t fill Him, He sees but is not seen, He tells and knows
futures, for He is God without end and there is no end to His end,
Omnipotence, God of truth, whole worlds are full of His glory. </p>
<p><b>David Teaches the Concept of Free Agency</b> </p>
<p>184 And He gave each one free choice: if one wants to do good – he
will be helped, and if one wants to do evil – a path will be opened for
him. 185 For that we will worship our God our king our Lord our saviour
with love and awe, for your wisdom is the fear of the Lord and your
cleverness is to depart from evil. 186 Remember and obey the law of
Moses, man of God, that it may be well with thee all the days. </p>
<p><b>Comparing the Law to a Seed and Faith to a Tree</b></p>
<p>187 Ask thy fathers and they will declare unto thee; thine elders,
and they will tell thee. 188 Be strong and valiant to obey the law and
not to hear it only. 189 For a deed is like a root, hearing it is like a
seed, a belief is like a tree and the fruit is like righteousness. 190
And what shall we do to a smelly and stinky seed if a root will not come
out of it? 191 For that, hurry up! be quick and act, hear and act, for
you are true seed, for you have belief and righteousness then the Lord
will bless you all in peace. </p>
<p><b>On Love for Others</b> </p>
<p>192 Talk peacefully each with one another, and love the deed and
those created in the image of the Lord like your own souls. 193 For if
you love [man] the created, it is a sign that you love the Creator. 194
And also, thou shouldest take hold of the one; yea , also from the other
withdraw not thy hand; love the Lord and also man that it shall be well
with thee all the days’. </p>
<p><b>Three Outcomes on the Day of Judgement </b></p>
<p>360 And, lo, a man dressed in linen brought before the glory of the
Lord three books that were written about every man. 361 And he read in
the first one and it was found to have the just deeds of His people, and
the Lord said: 'These will live forever'. 362 And Satan said: 'Who are
these guilty people?' And the man dressed in linen cried to Satan like a
ram's horn, saying: 'Keep silent, for this day is holy to our master'.
363 And he read in th second book, and it was found to have inadvertent
sins of His people, and the Lord said: 'Put aside this book but save
it, until one third of the month elapses, to see what they will do'. 364
And he read in the third book, and it was found to have malicious deeds
of His people. 365 And the Lord said to Satan: 'These are your share,
take them to do with them as seemeth good to thee'. 366 And Satan took
those which acted maliciously and he went with them to a waste land to
destroy them there. 367 And the man dressed in linen cried like a ram's
horn, saying: 368 'Happy is the people that know the joyful shout; that
walk, O Lord, in the light of Thy countenance'. </p>
<h2><b>Conclusions for Now</b></h2>
<p>The Words of Gad the Seer may merit more attention in the Latter-day
Saint community, in my opinion. The text has a fascinating story and
there may be more to learn from elements that might give us new insights
into ancient Jewish thought. There may even have implications for the
Book of Mormon. The peripheral issues of writing on metal, of ancient
records in Yemen, and the ways in which sacred writings can be corrupted
or neglected are fascinating in their own right, but there may be some
gems of insight to extract from the text. More treasures from Cochin may
yet remain to be discovered. </p>
<h2><b>Related Resources:</b></h2>
<p>Barbara C.. Johnson, "<a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057/9780230603622_8" target="_blank">NewResearch, Discoveries and Paradigms: A Report on the Current Study of KeralaJews</a>," in N. Katz et al. (eds.), <i>Indo-Judaic Studies in the Twenty-First Century</i>
(New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007),
https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230603622_8 and
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057/9780230603622_8.</p><p>If you subscribe to the Biblical Archaeological Society, there are a number of articles on the issue of lost books:</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Duane Christensen, "<a href="https://www.baslibrary.org/bible-review/14/5/15" target="_blank">Lost Books of the Bible</a>," <i>Bible Review</i> 14, no. 5 (October 1998).</li><li>Tony Burke, "<a href="https://www.baslibrary.org/biblical-archaeology-review/42/5/5 " target="_blank">'Lost Gospels'—Lost No More</a>," <i>Biblical Archaeology Review</i> 42, no. 5 (Sept./Oct. 2016).</li></ul><p><br /></p>Jeff Lindsayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08776493593387402607noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7139169.post-18102091055523426412022-03-26T22:59:00.008-05:002022-04-01T06:51:13.343-05:00News from Mount Ebal: An Ancient Hebraic Inscription on Metal, a Chiasmus, Possibly Dating to the 13th Century BC or Earlier<p>An ancient Hebraic text dating to the 13th to 14th century BC has been discovered by sifting through the detritus of an archaeological dig at Mount Ebal in Israel. The text, apparently "the oldest proto-Hebrew text ever found in Israel" per the <a href="https://www.jpost.com/archaeology/article-702271" target="_blank"><i>Jerusalem Post</i></a>, is inside a small amulet, a tablet of lead, and was revealed with painstaking high-tech scanning known as tomography (this involves computational analysis of numerous x-rays at various angles to create a 3D model of an object) that showed the writing inside. The finding may result in revision to theories about the origins of written Hebrew and the Hebrew Bible. </p><p>Latter-day Saints may be intrigued that metal was the medium for one of the most ancient Hebraic inscriptions. They may also be interested to learn that the inscription bears the divine name YWH (similar to YHWH), giving potential evidence that Jehovah was worshiped by the Israelites at least as early as 1300 BC. The inscription is also clearly in the form of a chiasmus, a classic form of Hebrew poetry that also appears to be characteristic of many passages in the Book of Mormon, another ancient text with connections to writing on metal. (Chiasmus is inverted parallelism in which a series or words or concepts are presented and then repeated in reverse order, such as ABCD followed by DCBA. Some resources on chiasmus are provided as an appendix below.) The find of the amulet at an altar site is also consistent with information in Deuteronomy 27 about building an altar on Mt. Ebal and associating divine curses with that site.<br /></p><p>One account of the news comes from RNS (Religion News Service) Press Release Distribution Service, <i>ReligionNews.com</i>, "<a href="https://religionnews.com/2022/03/24/ancient-curse-inscription-deciphered-from-tablet-discovered-during-archaeological-wet-sift-on-mt-ebal/" target="_blank">Ancient curse inscription deciphered from tablet discovered during archaeological wet sift on Mt. Ebal</a>," March 24, 2022, at https://religionnews.com/2022/03/24/ancient-curse-inscription-deciphered-from-tablet-discovered-during-archaeological-wet-sift-on-mt-ebal/. An excerpt follows:<br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><b></b></i></p><blockquote><p style="text-align: center;"><i><b>High-tech scans reveal ancient Hebrew script, centuries older than any</b></i><br />
<i><b>other known tablets.</b></i></p>
<p class="p1">HOUSTON — Today, the Associates for Biblical Research
(ABR) announced the discovery of a formulaic curse recovered on a small,
folded lead tablet. The defixio [formulaic curse] came to light in December 2019 when
archaeologist Scott Stripling, Director of the Archaeological Studies
Institute at The Bible Seminary in Katy, Texas, led an ABR team to wet
sift the discarded material from Adam Zertal’s excavations (1982–1989)
on Mt. Ebal.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p>
<p class="p1"><b>The ancient Hebrew inscription consists of 40
letters and is centuries older than any known Hebrew inscription from
ancient Israel.</b> Stripling formed a collaboration with four
scientists from the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic and two
epigraphers (specialists in deciphering ancient texts): Pieter Gert van
der Veen of Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz
and Gershon Galil of the University of Haifa. The scientists employed
advanced tomographic scans to recover the hidden text. In collaboration
with Stripling, Galil and van der Veen deciphered the proto-alphabetic
inscription, which reads as follows:</p>
<p class="p3" style="text-align: center;">Cursed, cursed, cursed – cursed by the God <b>YHW</b>.</p>
<p class="p3" style="text-align: center;">You will die cursed.</p>
<p class="p4" style="text-align: center;">Cursed you will surely die.</p>
<p class="p3" style="text-align: center;">Cursed by <b>YHW</b> – cursed, cursed, cursed.</p>
<p class="p1">According to Stripling, “These types of amulets are well
known in the Hellenistic and Roman periods, but Zertal’s excavated
pottery dated to the Iron Age I and Late Bronze Age, so logically the
tablet derived from one of these earlier periods. <b>Even so, our discovery of a Late Bronze Age inscription stunned me</b>.”<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p>
<p class="p1">Almost immediately Galil recognized the formulaic literary
structure of the inscription: “From the symmetry, I could tell that it
was written as a chiastic parallelism.” Reading the concealed letters
proved tedious, according to van der Veen, “but each day we recovered
new letters and words written in a very ancient script.”<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p></blockquote><p class="p1"><span class="Apple-converted-space"></span></p><p></p><p>Another good report comes from Ruth Schuster, "<a href="https://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/.premium-early-israelite-curse-inscription-found-on-mt-ebal-1.10696926" target="_blank">Early Israelite Curse Inscription Found on Mt. Ebal</a>," <i>Haaretz</i>, March 24, 2022, at https://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/.premium-early-israelite-curse-inscription-found-on-mt-ebal-1.10696926. Here is an excerpt: <br /></p><p class="kj md ju me mf mg"><i class="mh"></i></p><blockquote><p class="kj md ju me mf mg"><i class="mh">“Behold, I set before you
this day a blessing and a curse... thou shalt set the blessing upon
Mount Gerizim, and the curse upon Mount Ebal.” (Deuteronomy 11:26, 29) </i><i class="mh"><br /></i></p><p class="kj md ju me mf mg">Now
an official curse has been found, engraved on a lead tablet that dates
to the biblical age and had sat in the detritus of an excavation of Mt.
Ebal for decades, the Associates for Biblical Research of Houston, Texas
announced on Thursday.</p><p class="kj md ju me mf mg">If
the dating of the tablet to the Late Bronze Age – the 14th to 13th
century B.C.E. – is accurate, it is the earliest such tablet by a
century or two. Inscribed in proto-alphabetic writing also known as
Sinaitic script or proto-Canaanite script, which dates to the Late
Bronze Age, the hex text is early Israelite, the team claims.</p><p class="kj md ju me mf mg">Consisting
of 40 ancient proto-Sinaitic letters on a lead sheet that was
subsequently folded, and could only to be read by tomographic scanning,
the inscription reads:</p><p class="kj md ju me mf mg"><i class="mh">“Cursed, cursed, cursed - cursed by the God YHW.</i><br /><i class="mh">You will die cursed.</i><br /><i class="mh">Cursed you will surely die.</i><br /><i class="mh">Cursed by YHW – cursed, cursed, cursed.”</i></p><p class="kj md ju me mf mg">The
inscription does not leave much room for doubt that it was a curse.
What it might mean for the interpretation of the finds at Mt. Ebal is
another matter.</p><p class="kj md ju me mf mg">According to the biblical narrative, six
tribes, Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naftali were sent to the
rocky, barren hill that is Mount Ebal, where the Lord commanded that an
altar be built of unhewn stones, and attend to the cursing. The erection
of the altar is attributed to Joshua, after his forces destroyed the
city of Ai, sparing only the cattle, and hanged its king: “<i class="mh">Then Joshua built an altar unto the Lord, the God of Israel, in mount Ebal”</i> (Joshua 8:30).</p><p class="kj md ju me mf mg">The
lead tablet containing the formulaic curse, or defixio, was discovered
in December 2019, while wet-sifting discarded material from an earlier
excavation of Mt. Ebal (today near Nablus in the West Bank) by Adam
Zertal from 1982 to 1986. Zertal believed he had found two altars at the
site, one of which may have been the actual altar of Joshua.</p></blockquote><p class="kj md ju me mf mg"></p><p class="kj md ju me mf mg">The <i>Jerusalem Post</i> also discusses several aspects of this story. See Judith Sudilovsky, "<a href="https://www.jpost.com/archaeology/article-702271" target="_blank">Researchers decipher oldest known Hebrew inscription on 'cursed' tablet: Mt. Ebal discovery aligns with biblical texts in Deuteronomy, Joshua</a>," <i>Jerusalem Post</i>, March 24, 2022, updated March 26, 2022, at https://www.jpost.com/archaeology/article-702271. <br /></p><p class="kj md ju me mf mg">A peer-reviewed publication based on this work is expected to follow later this year. There is the possibility of error in the dating and other aspects of the find, but at the moment this looks like a highly interesting find that may be of interest in studies of the Bible and perhaps even have relevance to studies of the Book of Mormon. </p><p class="kj md ju me mf mg">Many thanks to Noel B. Reynolds for kindly alerting me and others to this exciting news. I look forward to his thoughts and the thoughts of other scholars on the matter as they explore the details of this find and examine its implications. </p><h4 class="kj md ju me mf mg" style="text-align: left;">Resources on Chiasmus</h4><p class="kj md ju me mf mg">I've <a href="https://mormanity.blogspot.com/search?q=chiasmus">discussed chiasmus on <i>Mormanity</i></a> many times, and I also offer a page on <a href="https://www.jefflindsay.com/chiasmus.shtml" target="_blank">chiasmus and the Book of Mormon at JeffLindsay.com</a>. Some excellent resources on the topic include:</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li> J<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">ohn Welch and Donald Parry, editors,</span><span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><i> <a href="https://byustudies.byu.edu/journal/volume-592-supplement-chiasmus-2020/">Chiasmus:
The<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span>State of the Art</a></i> (Provo, UT:</span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"> </span><span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">BYU Studies and Book of Mormon Central, 2020), provided via <i>BYU Studies Quarterly</i> 59, no. 2 supplement (2020). This special edition includes many outstanding essays such as </span><span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Neal Rappleye, “<a href="https://byustudies.byu.edu/article/chiasmus-criteria-in-review/">Chiasmus
Criteria in Review,</a>” pp. 289-309, and </span></span>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: #0C00; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Boyd F. Edwards and W. Farrell Edwards, “<a href="https://byustudies.byu.edu/article/truth-or-cherry-picking-a-statistical-approach-to-chiastic-intentionality/" target="_blank">Truth or Cherry Picking: A Statistical Approach to Chiastic Intentionality</a>,” pp. </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">311-317. Most of the essays deal with biblical examples of chiasmus.</span>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></li><li><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: #0C00; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN;">John W. Welch, “<a href="https://archive.bookofmormoncentral.org/node/85" target="_blank"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Gothic"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;">Chiasmus
in the Book of Mormon</span></a>,” <i>BYU Studies</i> 10, no. 3
(1969): 69–83. </span>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: #0C00; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN;">John W. Welch, “<a href="https://publications.mi.byu.edu/fullscreen/?pub=1389&index=1" target="_blank"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Gothic"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;">Criteria for Identifying and Evaluating the Presence of Chiasmus</span></a>,”
<i>Journal of Book of Mormon Studies</i> 4, no. 2 (1995): 1–14; republished
for a mainstream audience as John W. Welch, “<a href="https://publications.mi.byu.edu/fullscreen/?pub=2915&index=4" target="_blank"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Gothic"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast;">Criteria for Identifying and Evaluating the Presence of Chiasmus</span></a>,”
in <i>Chiasmus Bibliography</i>, ed. John W. Welch and Daniel B. McKinley
(Provo, UT: Research Press, 1999), 157–174</span>.<style>@font-face
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{page:WordSection1;}</style> <br /></li><li>Boyd F. Edwards and W. Farrell Edwards, "<a href="https://byustudies.byu.edu/content/does-chiasmus-appear-book-mormon-chance" target="_blank">Does Chiasmus Appear in the Book of Mormon by Chance?</a>," <i>BYU Studies</i> 43, no. 2 (2004): 103-130.</li><li>"<a href="https://knowhy.bookofmormoncentral.org/content/how-much-could-joseph-smith-have-known-about-chiasmus-in-1829" target="_blank">How Much Could Joseph Smith Have Known about Chiasmus in 1829?</a>," Book of Mormon Central, 2017, https://knowhy.bookofmormoncentral.org/content/how-much-could-joseph-smith-have-known-about-chiasmus-in-1829. <br /></li><li>Carl J. Cranney, "<a href="https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1560&context=jbms" target="_blank">The Deliberate Use of Hebrew Parallelisms in the Book of Mormon</a>," <i>Journal of Book of Mormon Studies</i> 23 (2014): 140-65.</li><li>Dennis Newton, "<a href="https://journal.interpreterfoundation.org/nephis-use-of-inverted-parallels/" target="_blank">Nephi's Use of Inverted Parallels</a>," <i>Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship</i> 22 (2016): 79-106 <br /></li><li>Donald Parry, <i><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190303092642/https://publications.mi.byu.edu/pdf-control.php/publications/bookchapters/Poetic_Parallelisms_in_the_Book_of_Mormon_The_Complete_Text_/Poetic%20Parallelisms%20in%20the%20Book%20of%20Mormon.pdf" target="_blank">Poetic Parallelisms in the Book of Mormon: The Complete Text</a></i> (Provo, UT: Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, 2007). This book highlights many forms of apparent Hebraic parallelism in the text of the Book of Mormon, including many proposed chiastic structures in the Book of Mormon. </li><li>John Welch, "<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20181121194823/https://publications.mi.byu.edu/fullscreen/?pub=1099&index=11" target="_blank" title="chiasmus in the Book of Mormon">What Does Chiasmus in the Book of Mormon Prove?</a>" in <i><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20181106213604/https://publications.mi.byu.edu/book/book-of-mormon-authorship-revisited-the-evidence-for-ancient-origins/" target="_blank">Book of Mormon Authorship Revisited: The Evidence for Ancient Origins</a></i>, pp. 199-224.</li><li>Noel B. Reynolds, "<a href="https://rsc.byu.edu/archived/book-mormon-authorship-new-light-ancient-origins/3-nephi-s-outline" target="_blank">Nephi's Outline</a>," in <i><a href="https://rsc.byu.edu/out-print/book-mormon-authorship-new-light-ancient-origins" target="_blank">Book of Mormon Authorship: New Light on Ancient Origins</a></i>, ed. Noel B. Reynolds (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1982), 53-74. <br /></li></ul><p class="kj md ju me mf mg"> <br /></p>Jeff Lindsayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08776493593387402607noreply@blogger.com61tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7139169.post-64939544997907221612022-03-26T07:35:00.000-05:002022-03-26T07:35:21.428-05:00Dinner with One of Africa's Richest Women<p>My wife and I are friends with one of Africa's richest women, at least by her accounting. We were honored to have her over for dinner at our home recently, and to our surprise she reciprocated by inviting us to her home for a lovely dinner with some traditional African specialties. This intelligent and eloquent woman a few years ago was an orphan seemingly destined for poverty when another family, about to emigrate to the US as refugees, was able to bring her along. She told us why she is ow one of the wealthiest African people she knows: it's because she eats more than just one meal a day, and in fact often has three meals, a rare luxury in her homeland of Burundi. She has a job in the Fox Valley of Wisconsin that pays enough to let her always have food on hand so she is never forced to go hungry and doesn't have to wander from house to house offering to do housework for food. Even more amazing, she has her own car, a true rarity outside the politician class, making her truly one of the richest people anyone in her African community might know.</p><p>She's ambitious and diligent, holding down two jobs to not only have plenty to eat and maintain a car, but to also save for the future and to help support people from her community in Africa that don't have the great blessings she enjoys. As we learned about her regular efforts to send money back to Africa, we were really touched and recognized a great opportunity to chip in without the high overhead or corruption risk that some charities bring. We chipped in a small amount, and a couple of weeks later when she had us over for dinner, we learned how that money was transferred to her aunt in Africa and that it fed a group of people for two weeks. She showed us photos of the group and played a beautiful message of thanks from one of them acting as a spokesman, speaking in the national language of Burundi which, while a Bantu language supposedly having many similarities to Swahili, did not seem to have any obvious similarity to the Swahili we have been learning to support our calling something we are experiencing with quite a few people from East Africa. (We're striving to learn Swahili to support our calling. We have been called in our stake as "ministering specialists" for the
local African community, which seems like the best calling ever.) Fortunately, our friend translated. </p><p>It's painful to recognize that in spite of relative peace in many nations and the theoretical chance for prosperity, so many people still struggle with such basics as getting more than one simple meal a day. Many in Africa still go hungry regularly. There is a need for more to be done to overcome corruption (this seems to be the #1 problem that destroys so much for so many) and allow economies to grow. There is a need for more support for education to help young people learn how to prepare for productive jobs. There is a need for charitable efforts to help ensure that more people get basic nutrition and health care. </p><p>Reading statistics about poverty is one thing, but it's quite another to meet people who grew up in that poverty and can testify of its lingering impact on their community, and to see the faces and hear the voices of those who are now or recently have been going hungry. </p><p>I feel we may face similar challenges in the US as our own economy has become so fragile due to supply chain issues and the growing ravages of inflation and massive debt. We must never think our comfort is secure, or that three meals a day is something to take for granted because a grocery store is just down the street and we have a stack of credit cards and a nice job. This is a time to both prepare for harder times ahead, and yet to increase our efforts to help those around us, and around the world. From Ukraine to Burundi, there are those facing terrible poverty and gnawing hunger. May we find more ways to help, bypassing failed and corrupted channels, finding ways that actually work and lift others. The Church is doing much in terms of humanitarian aid and service in many nations, but there's unending need for creativity and inspiration in finding ways we as individuals can do more to help. </p><p>I'd appreciate you suggestions on ways you've encountered to help, such as trustworthy charities with low overhead. Two that we support are <a href="https://www.daysforgirls.org/" target="_blank">Days for Girls</a> and <a href="https://empowerplaygrounds.org/" target="_blank">Empower Playgrounds</a>. Days for Girls provides innovative, low-cost feminine care products to help girls keep going to school instead of missing several days every month, a widespread problem in Africa that greatly limits the ability of women to get the education they need for success. Empower Playgrounds, a charity created by a BYU engineering professor, began as a clever way to provide rechargeable electrical lamps to students in Africa so they could study at night after they complete their after-school chores at home. The power comes from innovative playground equipment such as merry-go-rounds that turn the play of children into electricity for recharging lamps. Empower Playgrounds has expanded and is now also helping to provide computers to schools so students taking courses on computer programs can finally experience how those programs actually work. </p><p>Our friend wishes to return to Burundi when the time is right and to
make a bigger difference in her community there. She was an orphan,
seemingly destined for poverty, until a kind family there brought her with
them as they obtained refuge in the United States. She can hardly
believe her good fortune in coming to the United States, where she is
laying a foundation now that she hopes will help her later do much in
Africa. I pray that this very rich woman from Africa will have increased success in making many others rich as well. </p><p>I hope that all of us won't take any meal for granted and will wisely prepare to be able to help our own families and many others in troubled times ahead. Out-of-control debt and rapid printing of currency has been tried in many places, and it never turns out well. <br /></p>Jeff Lindsayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08776493593387402607noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7139169.post-79253708758180610022022-03-17T12:39:00.011-05:002022-03-30T17:00:08.605-05:00"O Captain, My Captain": Walt Whitman's Surprising Role in the Ultimate Refutation of All Book of Mormon Evidence<h4 style="text-align: left;">Fond Memories from Before the Blast<br /></h4><p>Back before a massive nuclear logic bomb wiped out Latter-day Saint apologetics a few days ago, the story behind the map below once counted as some kind of comforting "evidence" for the plausibility of the Book of Mormon, or more specifically, evidence that important "facts" used for decades against the Book of Mormon had been completely "refuted," turning pitiful weakness into apparent strength.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhrt9-XqNk7eKLMTErNQX75PsOMp_BJHC2Sp8xK2ZtTZqYC1KOQl3jTnFDmJY2jEdBYp5EdVwFeI--T3Hmnuz9mm3fQIe8vwwlrS0mlGmOlwfBvvx5hbQmvoaS761SmFIx4yrK7Po7LNGQiIQCyWjAJjE2xwjXwqV2qqVwtYw_BcEUTqw1nkUA=s2124" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1480" data-original-width="2124" height="279" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhrt9-XqNk7eKLMTErNQX75PsOMp_BJHC2Sp8xK2ZtTZqYC1KOQl3jTnFDmJY2jEdBYp5EdVwFeI--T3Hmnuz9mm3fQIe8vwwlrS0mlGmOlwfBvvx5hbQmvoaS761SmFIx4yrK7Po7LNGQiIQCyWjAJjE2xwjXwqV2qqVwtYw_BcEUTqw1nkUA=w400-h279" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Proposed route of Lehi's Trail through the Arabian Peninsula, from Warren Aston,<br /> "<a href="https://journal.interpreterfoundation.org/nephis-shazer-the-fourth-arabian-pillar-of-the-book-of-mormon/" target="_blank">Nephi's 'Shazer': The Fourth Arabian Pillar of the Book of Mormon</a>," (Click to enlarge.)<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>Before all hope for Book of Mormon apologetics was extinguished with a massive WMD (Weapon of Mass Disbelief) launched from an underground silo by an elite team of anti-Book of Mormon scholars, we used to talk about how cool this map was. We talked about "testable hypotheses" that had long been used by critics to mock the Book of Mormon's account of Lehi's Trail, which once seemed to describe impossible, illogical places like the River Laman and the fertile place Bountiful. Then people like George Potter and Warren Aston went there and did field work to see if such places possibly could exist, only to find impressive evidence that good candidates existed. Against all odds, there was a stunning candidate for the River Laman and the Valley of Lemuel in just the right place, about three days south of the northern "borders" of the Red Sea, per Nephi's account. And south-southeast of that, a four-days' journey away as Nephi describes, is an impressive candidate for Shazer, nicely matching details of the Book of Mormon account, as Warren Aston describes in "<a href="https://journal.interpreterfoundation.org/nephis-shazer-the-fourth-arabian-pillar-of-the-book-of-mormon/" target="_blank">Nephi's 'Shazer': The Fourth Arabian Pillar of the Book of Mormon</a>," <i><i>Interpreter: </i>A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship </i>39 (2020): 53-72<i>.</i> (<a href="https://byustudies.byu.edu/article/into-arabia-lehi-and-sariahs-escape-from-jerusalem-perspectives-suggested-by-new-fieldwork/" target="_blank">Field work continues to be the key</a> to unlocking many insights of the trek into and through Arabia.) And there were two good candidates for Bountiful, both nearby in southern Oman, <a href="https://knowhy.bookofmormoncentral.org/knowhy/has-the-location-of-nephis-bountiful-been-discovered" target="_blank">Khor Kharfot</a> with Wadi Sayq and <a href="https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/jbms/vol15/iss2/5" target="_blank">Khor Rori</a> with Wadi Darbat. I've generally preferred Khor Kharfot, but both have their merits. <br /></p><p>For a place like Bountiful that so many claimed was ridiculous, the surprising discovery of such candidates is noteworthy (some of the most important information about Khor Rori, namely, the very fertile nature of Wadi Darbat, is not well known but will be published shortly). The finds of Warren Aston at Khor Kharfot and Wadi Sayq, for example, were not based upon looking for any scattered random parallel that could be proclaimed a victory for the Book of Mormon, but used a rigorous methodology of identifying 12 characteristics for Bountiful from Nephi's text that would need to be physically present in a plausible candidate. These criteria are explain in his 2015 book, <i>Lehi and Sariah in Arabia</i>, and in <a href="http://www.lehiinarabia.com/" target="_blank">his video that you can see at LehiinArabia.com</a>. With that challenging set of 12 criteria, he considered each of several sites in Oman that had been proposed by others and showed that each were deficient in one or more significant ways. He visited many sites, ruling them out, and finally, late in the afternoon on his last day of a trip of exploration by boat along the coast of Oman, he yielded to the request of his daughter to go on shore and look at one particular region that she felt might be promising. He was reluctant and tired, ready to go home, but yielded. As they got past the sandbar that obstructed their view, they encountered Arabia's largest freshwater lagoon and an abundance of life and greenery. His daughter was jubilant, feeling they had found Bountiful, but he insisted that they had to study this further and check all of the criteria. But it would turn out that all 12 criteria were fulfilled, and the site remains to this day to be a prime candidate for Bountiful, with further research only strengthening the case. This is not the stuff of random parallels, but discoveries based on sound methodology and thorough field work that add explanatory power to the Book of Mormon. <br /></p><p>But are the candidates for Bountiful in the right place? That depends on Nahom, which determines the location, for Bountiful must be "nearly eastward" of Nahom. The problem, one of the biggest problems the Book of Mormon has faced for so long, is that you can't just travel on foot or by camel from the west side of Arabia to the east side and have any hope of reaching the east coast alive, for most of the peninsula is dominated by the great Empty Quarter with impassible sand dunes and hopeless aridity. So the whole idea of crossing nearly eastward from pretty much anywhere seemed rather hopeless and was often ridiculed. </p><p>So what of Nahom? Or perhaps we should say NHM, as an important Yemeni tribal name was written anciently on <a href="https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/jbms/vol10/iss2/9/" target="_blank">three stone altars from Lehi's day</a> that a German team of archaeologists found at a temple site in Marib, Yemen, testifying to the regional prominence of the ancient NHM tribe whose lands today (the name is now transliterated Nihm) and anciently were just to the north of modern Sana'a. If any crossing to the east did occur, it began near the site Nahom where
Ishmael was buried. Nahom was not named by Nephi but obviously by the
locals there since it "was
called Nahom" (1 Nephi 16:34). It needs to have been populated anciently
and needs to be approximately south-southeast
of the River Laman and Shazer, and nearly due west of Bountiful, with
Bountiful being accessible by simply traveling nearly eastward (there's no hint of any major barriers they had to bypass). That's a
pretty tall order and seemed rather hopeless, until a couple of decades
ago. Incredibly,
as Warren Aston demonstrates in his book, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Lehi-Sariah-Arabia-Setting-Mormon-ebook/dp/B0793PL3VN/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1647576840&sr=8-1" target="_blank"><i>Lehi and Sariah in Arabia</i></a>, this actually all works out. </p><p>NHM tribal lands happen to be in or bordering just about the only region where one can turn nearly due east from the generally south-southeast direction of the Incense Trails and continue all the way to the coast, bypassing the great Empty Quarter just to the north and also another equally impassible dessert just to the south. There's a very narrow widow of just a few miles where one actually can turn nearly due east and not only survive, but without any major barriers, and with the availability of some water, not only reach the coast, but reach a place that very nicely fits the requirements for Bountiful. Here's a close-up of Nihm tribal lands showing the Wadi Jawf where an eastward turn can be made, taken from "<a href="https://evidencecentral.org/recency/evidence/eastward-turn" target="_blank">Book of Mormon Evidence: Travel Eastward from Nahom</a>," <i>Evidence Central</i>, https://evidencecentral.org/recency/evidence/eastward-turn:<br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh1mDtnPxNE4SG-FixsojVpyaJ7wbtjWEXPxYcE5YUtTrs3SDhbPjrwFItKlbk25TDU3ztKWtSIfWpzah-V9zWsJnwr8-gJ-s5mlucIBYeUQBDrz6qyCfAfng60kbksbfjaLz08tqc23FzPw5vScAsbGQGdKZq4WTmi0zY--yz71IyLrp_yzEQ=s1504" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1252" data-original-width="1504" height="333" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh1mDtnPxNE4SG-FixsojVpyaJ7wbtjWEXPxYcE5YUtTrs3SDhbPjrwFItKlbk25TDU3ztKWtSIfWpzah-V9zWsJnwr8-gJ-s5mlucIBYeUQBDrz6qyCfAfng60kbksbfjaLz08tqc23FzPw5vScAsbGQGdKZq4WTmi0zY--yz71IyLrp_yzEQ=w400-h333" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nihm tribal lands northeast of Sana'a.<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>The two "impossible" places, the River Laman and Bountiful, are linked by the directions in Nephi's account where the south-southeast journey along the western side of Arabia suddenly turns nearly due east and reaches Bountiful. The intersection of the south-south leg and the eastward leg are at Nahom, and amazingly, there is now hard archaeological evidence for such a name in the right time (Lehi's day) and the right place, with Nihm tribal lands today and anciently comprising or being very near to the ONLY place where a sudden eastward turn is not only possible without certain death, but can lead you to another impossible place that now seems to be verified with at least one solid candidate. </p><p>Warren Aston put it this way in <i>Lehi and Saiah in Arabia</i>, pp. 177-78:</p><p></p><blockquote><p>Nephi’s simple statement that they traveled “nearly eastward” from Nahom becomes a stunning vindication of the Book of Mormon’s historicity. None of the classical or contemporary references to the incense trade mention this major change in direction, so it follows that Joseph Smith could not have known from them that there was such a turn, nor where it occurred.</p><p>And there is a further dimension to the matter of direction after Nahom. It comes from the specification, written well after the fact, that they traveled nearly eastward <i>from that time forth</i>. This seems to stipulate that this direction continued to be followed all the way to the coast. Indeed, the account mentions no detours, breaks in the travel, or any reason requiring a change of direction. Exploration and satellite imagery has shown that maintaining an easterly course was actually the only feasible way to reach the coast where Bountiful awaited. </p><p>Had Lehi’s group traveled even east-northeast or east-southeast from Nahom, they would have encountered the shifting sand dune deserts of the feared “Empty Quarter” to the north, or the equally-difficult Ramlat Saba’tayn desert to the south. Many of the constantly shifting dunes tower hundreds of feet high; they are simply too steep to be crossed by loaded camels. Instead, surely led by the Liahona, traveling almost true east from Nahom placed them on a narrow band of stony plateaus and valleys leading between the two deserts to the coast. A sequence of arid plateaus and valleys averaging 3,000 feet/900 meters altitude leads from the Wadi Jauf or Nahom area to low ranges north of the Hadhramaut Valley. From here, the Mahra plateau leads into the Qamar ranges on the coast of southern Oman.</p><p>Thus, not only is travel from Nahom in a direct easterly direction possible, but it is actually the most direct and only accessible route that one would take to reach the tiny area of fertile coast. No physical obstacles, whether sand dunes, mountains, steep ravines, or lava fields, prevent travel between the Nahom area and Dhofar. <b>That a completely accessible and feasible “nearly eastward” pathway, with no intervening obstacles, from Nahom to the only fertile coast in Arabia can now be shown is one of the most significant findings in recent years concerning the Lehite journey. </b>Surprisingly, the implications of this fact have yet to be fully assimilated by many writers on the subject. [emphasis original]</p></blockquote><p>Nahom is not just a random name with 3 consonants that can be explained by finding any NHM-related name anywhere in the world, like Anaheim, California. It involves a specific location and a specific time, and we have solid "evidence" (or so we used to think!) that Nahom in the Book of Mormon is plausible both in terms of a precise location and a rare name prominent in the right era. Nahom involves a time, a precise location, a relationship to other places, and even involves <a href="https://evidencecentral.org/recency/evidence/wordplay-on-nahom" target="_blank">a subtle Hebrew word play</a>. The evidence around Nahom, including archaeological finds, coupled with evidence related to Bountiful, Shazer, and the River Laman in the Valley of Lemuel collectively overturned what once looked like strong evidence against the Book of Mormon, becoming instead apparent "evidence" for its authenticity and plausibility, making the theories of critics about its origins seem implausible. But again, that was before we got nuked. <br /></p><h4 style="text-align: left;">And Now, the Extinction of All Book of Mormon Evidence<br /></h4><p>When long-standing arguments and evidence against the Book of Mormon are overturned by surprising new discoveries, what do you call the new evidence? Why, it's the same word you use when once failed testable hypotheses from the Book of Mormon suddenly and strangely test positive. The power word to handle all this is <b>COINCIDENCE</b>. This word, when used with the proper nuance and sophistication, pretty much trumps any so-called evidence from the defeated Latter-day Saint side. </p><p>OK, you may be skeptical since this looks a little too easy at first, but this cool logical tactic is much more impressive than it seems at first glance. I must now reveal the irresistible power of the nuclear logic assault on the Book of Mormon, though I'm afraid whatever testimony you may have of the Book of Mormon is about to be obliterated. Reader discretion advised. <br /></p><p>First, my apology to my fellow apologists for the Book of Mormon. <i>Our cause is over.</i> It's time to just abandon hope and forget about all the evidences in support of the Book of Mormon, evidences that only recently seemed to be growing steadily and adding increasing depth to the intellectual aspects of our faith. The recent discovery of evidence-rich, plausible, unexpected candidates for places long ridiculed by our critics such the River Laman, the Valley Lemuel, the place Bountiful, and the intersection point that joins those evidences from two opposing coasts in truly surprising ways, Nahom -- none of that matters now. <br /></p><p>A nuclear-grade argument has finally been devised after decades of research, pulling together the most powerful anonymous thinkers of the world who proudly display their anonymous thinking skills at <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210710042206/http://www.mormonthink.com/coincidence.htm" target="_blank">MormonThink, where I link to an archived but still lethal version of their page for security reasons</a>. This new Ultimate Argument against the Book of Mormon, offered specifically in response to <a href="https://www.jefflindsay.com/BMEvidences.shtml" target="_blank">my Book of Mormon Evidences page at JeffLindsay.com</a> (the existence of my page was vaguely mentioned but no link was given to protect vulnerable readers), is vaporizing faith as I write. The argument about eerie coincidences was totally convincing to some of the leading Ph.D.-level minds who have been trying to lead me back to rationality on my blog. It's been weaponized against all Book of Mormon evidences in general, but its most recent known detonation was against my discussion of evidences related to the Arabian Peninsula (see the discussion of the unanswerable "coincidences" argument in comments on my Feb. 19 blog post, "<a href="https://mormanity.blogspot.com/2022/02/an-update-on-maps-of-arabian-peninsula.html" target="_blank">An Update on Maps of the Arabian Peninsula Showing Nahom-related Names</a>"). While I was far from the epicenter of the blast when it occurred on my Mormanity blog, I've still been hit by what may be a lethal dose of anti-matter radiation. My passing is only a matter of time now -- the doc says I may only have a few decades left. But before I go, I need to warn others. Nothing you have learned in your self-defense from anti-Mormons workshops will have prepared you for this deadly new tactical logical weapon. </p><p>The Ultimate Argument goes sort of like this: President John F. Kennedy has SEVEN LETTERS in his last name. See where this is going? Neither did I. Hold on. So did President Abraham Lincoln. SEVEN! And they both were assassinated by people with THREE NAMES (Lee Harvey Oswald and John Wilkes Booth). Now are you catching on? But it gets much more powerful, because BOTH killers had exactly FIFTEEN LETTERS in their name. After I regained consciousness, I counted the letters five times in disbelief. Yep, FIFTEEN! But it keeps getting more impressive: Both assassins were shot to death before they could be put on trial. Both Kennedy and Lincoln were shot in the back of the head while seated with their wives. Both Kennedy and Lincoln were shot on a Friday. And if you've still got a whimper of a testimony left, consider this: Lincoln was shot while at FORD'S theater. Kennedy was shot while riding in a FORD automobile. (There may be an parallel universe of bizarre coincidences where Kennedy was shot while riding in a YUGO, and Lincoln was shot shortly after saying, "YOU GO, GIRL!")</p><p>My testimony was pretty much annihilated at this point. After all, if such bizarre coincidences can happen, then surely mere coincidence can account for all Book of Mormon evidence, right? And maybe all evidence of any kind! How can there be such a thing as truth or facts or evidence at all in such a weird world of endless, random coincidence? </p><p>But there were still more detonations to come -- but somehow, the next blast gave me just a touch of hope. "Both Kennedy and Lincoln had been ship's captains." And then, somehow, the assault seemed to let up for a moment. I'm no historian, but have read some history and never heard about Lincoln pursuing sailing or going into the Navy. In fact, one of the less impressive parallels offered by MormonThink is that both Kennedy and Lincoln studied law (not sailing) -- but didn't most Presidents? <a href="https://historyofyesterday.com/president-qualification-d8688881b56c" target="_blank">Well over half</a> of our presidents worked in law, so that's not so bizarre. But being a captain of a ship, even of a PT boat like President Kennedy, is something quite unusual. Why hadn't I head about this important aspect of Lincoln's career? Historians, help me out. Was Lincoln quietly involved in the secret Indiana Marine Brigade or, say, the Springfield Naval Reserves, Landlocked Division, perhaps bravely serving as a Canoe Commander in a local swamp? As far as I can tell, the answer is no. Whence, then, this most interesting parallel that makes Lincoln a captain of a ship?</p><p>Ah, yes, here's where Walt Whitman comes to the rescue, at least that's my theory. Whitman has already played an important role in anti-Mormon theory by serving as the most impressive source of parallels to the Book of Mormon, for <a href="https://www.jefflindsay.com/bomsource.shtml" target="_blank">his <i>Leaves of Grass</i> serves as the state of the art for Book of Mormon plagiarism evidence</a>, giving us a text with far more relevance and explanatory power for the Book of Mormon than any other modern text so far that critics have touted as sources that explain anything about Book of Mormon origins. Whitman's <i>Leaves of Grass</i> is the now the Gold Standard against the Gold Plates when it comes to plagiarism arguments, in spite of the minor weakness of having been written 25 years after the Book of Mormon was published. That little factoid can be overlooked in light of the mountain of impressive evidence showing Joseph simply must have had access to Whitman's work, perhaps as boyhood friends, long before Whitman published it. Compare for yourself and see if any other argument for plagiarism makes more sense. Whitman account for so much of the Book of Mormon, including unusual specific terms like the Lamanites (derived from "lemonade") and so much more. <br /></p><p>But now, in yet another strange coincidence, Whitman provides us with yet another powerful parallel to buttress anti-Mormon arguments, and once again from the <i>Leaves of Grass</i>, but starting with the 1867 edition. Shortly after Lincoln's death, Whitman wrote a moving poem about his beloved President Lincoln, "O Captain! My Captain!" (Of course, this could well have been inspiration for the whole Captain Moroni story, but that's for another post.) You can <a href="https://www.loc.gov/item/today-in-history/february-09/" target="_blank">read about the poem on the Library of Congress website.</a> As far as I can tell, that poem is the apparent source of MormonThink's claim about Lincoln serving as the <i>captain of a boat</i>. Whitman sees Lincoln as the figurative captain of the ship of our the nation. So the parallel is still completely solid, but to be more precise MormonThink might wish to say that Kennedy was the captain of a real boat and Lincoln was a figurative captain of a figurative boat in somebody's poem since he was a President of the United States. Or you could reduce confusion here and simply say that the coincidence is that both Presidents served as Presidents (and at least one of them had been in a boat). Still completely eerie, though it does seem to reduce the momentum of the argument. But it was definitely cool at first. </p><p>The ship's captain coincidence on MormonThink's list isn't on other versions of this list I've seen elsewhere such as at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln–Kennedy_coincidences_urban_legen" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a>, so it may have been part of a special extra-mile research effort from MormonThink's Deep Think Tank. If so, kudos for the anonymous creative work, which ironically <a href="https://www.jefflindsay.com/bomsource.shtml" target="_blank">may have been inspired by my own work calling attention to Whitman's preeminent role in anti-Book of Mormon theory</a>. That would be a very cool coincidence as well, eh?<br /></p><p>I also got a touch of relief when I read what might be the coolest single parallel in MormonThink's assault: "Kennedy had a secretary named 'Lincoln.' Lincoln had a secretary named 'Kennedy.'" Feel that shiver? I sure did. This one is really impressive because it seems so unlikely, not rather mundane like having 7 letters in a surname (hey, me too!) or 3 names (me too, again!) or coming from the south (I used to live in Atlanta!) or studying law (patent law for me!) or being elected president (yes, I was Deacon's President!) in one of the elections that occur only every four years. It's unusual because the name Kennedy was not a big name in the US in Lincoln's day. The mass migration of impoverished Irish families was underway, and the famous Kennedy family that would eventually give us a Kennedy in the White House had just landed in the US in 1854. Immigrants new to the US aren't likely to be serving as trusted staff to the President just a few years later, so that would be remarkable -- if it were true. Unfortunately, there's no record of any Kennedy serving President Lincoln as a secretary. (<a href="https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/linkin-kennedy/" target="_blank">Snopes.com takes on this claim </a>and several others on the list.) Somebody slipped here, but that's OK -- it still seems <i>truthy</i>, even if not exactly accurate. Only a slight loss of momentum. But never mind. There are still MANY stunning coincidences. Even if some are fake and some are stretches and some are pretty mundane, what are the odds of finding so many coincidences like FORD's theater and a car named FORD?? In my opinion, you just don't expect coincidences like that (unless you look really hard and apply some serious creativity). <br /></p><p>And now can you see what that means for the Book of Mormon and why all our evidences, especially our previous Arabian Peninsula evidences, don't mean anything and aren't actually evidence at all, just as MormonThink claims?</p><p>Not yet? Wow, you're so hesitant. Let me help. </p><p>First, I may know what you're thinking. You may be thinking something like this:</p><p></p><blockquote><p>Hey, the whole issue of the Arabian Peninsula began as anti-Mormon evidence AGAINST the Book of Mormon. For years, the elite critics laughed and said there could be no such place as the River Laman because there are no rivers in the entire peninsula, and there could be no such place as Bountiful because it's a big dessert without the lush green described for Bountiful, and if it did exist, it would be a major population center because water is the big attraction there, but the Book of Mormon implies there was nobody there but Lehi's family. All impossible. And the whole idea of crossing the Peninsula is impossible. All ridiculous.</p><p>But then came evidence from Warren Aston, George Potter, and others, that completely overturned the "evidence" against the Book of Mormon. We now have remarkable and plausible candidates for each of the specific places mentioned in Lehi's journey through Arabia, refuting what were one some of the most powerful arguments against the Book of Mormon. Surely that counts for something, right?</p></blockquote><p></p><p>Here's the painful answer, my friend: <i>it counts for nothing</i>. It all means nothing. The original evidence <i>against</i> the Book of Mormon meant a lot, but now that it's apparently all "refuted" and "overturned" by new "evidence," we need to realize that all this evidence -- archaeological, geographical, whatever -- isn't evidence at all. It's just <i>coincidence</i>, and because it's coincidence, it doesn't count. Evidence only counts when it supports the consensus of the majority, namely, that the Book of Mormon is a fraud. All other "evidence" is COINCIDENCE, or maybe better, COINCIDEVIDENCE, no matter how cool you think it is. <br /></p><p>Remember, evidence from anti-Mormons is very serious. No rivers in Arabia, no unpopulated freshwater lagoons with abundant fruit, no place Shazer, no place Nahom, no eastward path to reach Bountiful from the nonexistent Nahom, it's all impossible and ridiculous, and so we should abandon the Book of Mormon as a fraud and quit paying tithing to the wrong church. But when that old evidence is completely overturned with unexpected new "evidence," it's really nothing at all -- because FORD was a car and a theater, and Lincoln and Kennedy were both captains or at least Presidents that might remind poets of a captain, and on and on .... because wild coincidences can be found when you look for them, even if you have to make a few up every now and then. So all Book of Mormon evidence, <i>usually found by people looking for it</i>, can be disregarded, meaning the old evidence against the Book of Mormon still stands! The logic is powerful, irresistible, and so easy!<br /></p><p>Now the slower to disbelieve among you may be saying, "Hold on! In Arabia, none of the evidence is related to random parallels like those dug up between Lincoln and Kennedy. The evidence comes from taking up the challenge of critics who said there was no such place as Bountiful or the River Laman, and then doing field work based in specific criteria or looking at discoveries of archaeologists, etc., to see if there was something plausible in the right place. The Lincoln-Kennedy parallels don't answer any questions or give us any predictive theory to test. There's no reason to consider counting letters or scanning the hundreds or thousands of factoids that someone to come up with the purported parallels. For the Book of Mormon, we have meaningful methodology and much more specific issues...." Cognitive dissonance, eh? <br /></p><p>Please, you're only making things worse. Let go. If you deny the irresistible logical force from MormonThink, you're denying science and truth itself. The ultimate weapon has been unleashed and the end of everything we once held dear has come. All because someone finally figured out the truth: Kennedy's name has seven letters, and so did Lincoln's, and so does mine, etc. It's all over. O Captain Moroni, my Captain, farewell! </p><p> </p><p><b>Update, March 30, 2022: </b><i> </i>Also see "<a href="https://historyofyesterday.com/debunking-the-lincoln-kennedy-similarities-myth-68d515e4fa54" target="_blank">Debunking the 'Lincoln — Kennedy Similarities Myth</a>," <i>History of Yesterday</i>, April 7, 2021, https://historyofyesterday.com/debunking-the-lincoln-kennedy-similarities-myth-68d515e4fa54. <br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Jeff Lindsayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08776493593387402607noreply@blogger.com39tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7139169.post-38802875364941907522022-03-06T19:03:00.015-06:002022-03-08T01:21:22.526-06:00Preparing for War: The Folly of Trust<h4 style="text-align: left;">The Folly of Trust: A Medical Perspective <br /></h4><p>Some of my more painful experiences in life have come from trusting people in authority, ranging from the promises of a business to the assurances of a medical authority or other persons I respected. While I continue to be an optimistic and trusting person, I increasingly recognize the reality that people often cannot be trusted, especially when there is an opportunity for personal gain at the expense of their personal integrity. I've also learned that there are red flags I should have heeded more in my life, such as the words "you'll just have to trust me" when claiming that an agreement could not yet be put in writing. Other red flags of misguided trust I've encountered include the existence of obvious conflicts of interest, an unwillingness to answer questions openly, or signs of concealing or covering up information that ought to be available, asking others to rely on someone's authority rather than evidence and objective information. <br /></p><p>The consequences of my misplaced trust sometimes have affected me for decades. Misplaced trust in medical authority, for example, can lead to lifelong issues. Though my experiences have been minor compared to what many have suffered, they are still instructive. As a teenager, for example, I had severe acne. At about age 15 my mother took me to a dermatologist. I asked if I should change my diet. I ate a lot of dairy products in those days and wondered if milkfat might contribute to acne. "Absolutely not," said the dermatologist. He explained there's no evidence that milkfat or diet in general plays any role. It was all about bacteria in my skin, and thus I needed antibiotics. Lots of antibiotics for several years. And so I began a long-lasting routine of taking tetracylcine. One doctor told me that today, this would be the basis for a malpractice suit. Today it is well known that tetracycline can cause permanent staining of teeth, and thus it is rarely prescribed for young people. But that recognition <a href="https://www.uspharmacist.com/article/pediatric-antibiotic-use-a-focused-review-of-fluoroquinolones-and-tetracyclines" target="_blank">began in 1956</a>, before I was born. The dermatologist probably should have known better. Nobody warned me about the impact on teeth until it was too late, years later. </p><p>Today it is also known that the bovine growth hormones that used to be common in the milk I drank can contribute to acne. Further, even without the growth hormones, the American Academy of Dermatology Association notes that <a href="https://www.aad.org/public/diseases/acne/causes/diet" target="_blank">cow's milk can lead to acne breakouts</a>, But I didn't need studies to show the correlation. For me personally, I gradually observed a connection between what I ate and acne breakouts. In fact, to this day, if I eat too much fat over a couple of days, I will often break out somewhere on my face. I've learned to be more careful about my diet, and have also learned that the dermatologist I trusted was wrong on multiple counts. I'd have better skin and better teeth today if I had not trusted him and instead worried more about the risks of antibiotics and prolonged medication as well as the importance of diet. In many conversations I've had with medical authorities over the years, it seems that they have very little training on the impact of diet and rarely say anything on diet apart from discouraging high cholesterol and sodium. </p><p>Around the same time I was starting to figure out that my dermatologist had not been reliable, I had another experience with misplaced trust in a medical professional. Shortly after I was married, I went to a new dentist in Provo for a checkup. I had just had a checkup in Salt Lake City a few months after my mission and was told my teeth were in good shape (apart from some tetracycline stains). No cavities after two years in Switzerland -- wonderful. But in that next checkup in Provo, about six months after the previous one, the dentist had shocking news. He explained that typically after a two-year mission, missionaries come back with a lot of cavities, and I had a mouthful. Twenty-one! I asked how that could be because just a few months ago I had no sign of cavities. The dentist explained that other dentists sometimes miss the early signs of cavities, but now I definitely had 21. Ouch! I was a young married student without a lot of cash, and this was a real setback financially, but quite a boon for the dentist, I'm sure. Here I made the terrible mistakes of not getting a second opinion and of simply trusting a likeable authority, and over several expensive sessions, had 21 fillings installed. Today all those likely nonexistent cavities continue to cause problems as the fillings need to be replaced from time to time or lead to cracks or new decay and require expensive crowns. A minor problem, really, but annoying and costly, with many thousands of dollars having been squandered on the aftermath of those 21 fillings. </p><p>The need to doubt medical authorities finally kicked in and rescued me while I was in China. After a very positive experience with minor surgery that I needed after getting banged up on a wet, slippery Shanghai crosswalk, I had developed high respect for a the Shanghai East International Medical Center in Pudong near the heart of Shanghai. It was a public hospital, not one of the overly expensive foreign hospitals that most Americans favor (especially those with the luxury of high-end insurance from Western employers), but their relatively inexpensive VIP clinic was extremely good and much more affordable than the private international hospitals. With that respect in place, I went there again when I had some severe knee pain after twisting my leg. A surgeon took an MRI of my knee (costing only about $80!) and showed me that I had a damaged meniscus, and explained that it needed surgery to repair it. I looked forward to getting that meniscus repaired and signed up for surgery, even though it was still costly and much of it would come out of my pocket with my poor insurance at the time. </p><p>When I came in and was admitted and being prepared for surgery, a medical crew came in to look me over. They explained that they would put me under and then go in and remove the meniscus. Wait, remove? Remove? The surgeon said he would repair it! "Don't worry, it will be OK. It's actually much easier to just remove it." I asked to speak to the surgeon but he was not available. I finally realized that this was no time to trust. I got off the bed and walked out, with my MRI in hand. I needed a second opinion and needed to understand if repair was possible and if removal of the meniscus would be a problem (yes, it would be: serious arthritis and limited mobility). </p><p>I got in a taxi and I immediately called a physical therapist I had met at some event, Dr. Jae from Korea, and asked him what he thought. He explained that surgeons in China can have a conflict of interest since, of course, they make more money the more surgery they do, so they often recommend surgery even when it's not needed (this helps explain why so many births in China are through C-section -- <a href="https://www.cfr.org/blog/china-should-be-concerned-overuse-cesarean-sections" target="_blank">as high as 70% in some regions</a> and maybe around 50% overall). He said that the best way to get an honest recommendation is to remove the conflict of interest by taking my MRI to another surgeon in another hospital and stating that if surgery is needed, I would only do it back in the United States. Under those conditions, there is no profit motive to sway the judgement of the surgeon. I had the taxi turb around and head to another local hospital, and soon found another surgeon who could meet with me and did as Dr. Jae recommended. He pointed to my meniscus on the MRI and explained that it was just torn a little and did not need to be removed. Rather, he suggested that I should try physical therapy. Bingo! </p><p>A few minutes later I was scheduled for physical therapy with Dr. Jae at St. Michael's, a private but quite affordable hospital near where I lived. He was terrific. After one session, my leg was dramatically better, and after several more sessions, the problem was largely eliminated, meaning that I could walk normally and had no pain. Today I still have that meniscus and am so grateful to not have the painful arthritis that I would likely face today if the surgeon had "repaired" my meniscus by removing it. </p><p>In the past two years, I fear that millions have suffered unnecessarily by misplaced or blind trust in medical authorities. Schools have been closed unnecessarily, causing massive harm to millions of school children from delayed education as well as other harms we see from serious increases in obesity and mental health challenges, including dramatic spikes in suicide. Millions of jobs have been lost as local leaders turn into mini-tyrants decreeing which businesses can stay open and which must close. We have been told to trust and to stop asking questions, and those who have asked questions have in many cases been censored or deplatformed. The essence of science is questioning the status quo, while the essence of tyranny is demanding unquestioning compliance. It is the latter that seems to have adopted the slogan, "Follow the science!" </p><p>The red flags for misguided trust need to be kept in mind. Is there a potential for conflict of interest? Is there evidence of something fishy going on? Are reasonable questions attacked or silenced rather than answered? There can be many situations where our desires to trust and respect authority figures need to be suppressed in favor of healthy doubt and vigorous questions. Health care and public health policy is certainly one such area, but there's another field in particular where we need to be on guard lest we face a lifetime of grief, or greatly shortened lives for many, where the potential for corruption, deceit, conflicts of interest, and havoc of all kinds is at a maximum. I speak of war. </p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Preparing for War: Are We Ready to Trust Again?</h4><p>Modern war represents the ideal vehicle for corruption and greed. Trillions of dollars can flow with little scrutiny or transparency. Nations go into debt for war, enriching the coffers of those who fund the war effort. Numerous corporations are eager to swallow up the largess of war. Vast fortunes can be made as the fate of nations hang in the balance. Political fortunes are made as well, as history shows that war can distract from crises and scandals and turn a failing leader into a powerful, popular figure, propped up with a controlled media extolling his success and bloated with new emergency powers to pursue his interests. During war propaganda becomes hard to distinguish from news, just as freedom of speech can be hard for the government to distinguish from treason. Even if war could be waged without bloodshed, it is an ugly monster, the prized pet of megalomaniacs and the most successful tool of the greedy. </p><p>War is one of the most persistent and extensively treated topics of the Book of Mormon, not because God is a fan of war but because we need the Book of Mormon's lessons on war in our day. The Book of Mormon teaches us of the corruption that is often behind war, where power-hungry maniacs like Amalickiah will stop at nothing to expand their power, manipulating information to stir up war and promote the quest for power (this occurred among the Lamanites to provoke war against the Nephites -- Alma 47:1). We learn of the dangers of elites in society who use their influence to stir up others in anger and to corrupt or overthrow legitimate government. In some cases those elites, like Amlici or the king-men of the Book of Mormon, conspire with enemies to weaken a nation and encourage enemies. The Book of Mormon also reminds us just how insane and horrific war can become, leading to the complete destruction of nations. In the modern era, war is often sold to the people as something that can be waged and won quickly, when in fact it tends to drag on endlessly, especially when there never was an intention to prevent or win the war in the first place. For those with conflicted interests that are benefited by war, how could they ever be content with a swift victory when there could be decades of profit or many years of expended power to cope with a never-ending emergency?</p><h4 style="text-align: left;">A Red Flag from Korea: My Father's Story <br /></h4><p>I first gained a sense of the questionable nature of war from my father, who told his family much about what he experienced and learned while serving in the US Army in the Korean War. In addition to numerous stories of close calls with death and the trauma of war, there were also strange, "fishy" things that kept occurring that indicated something wasn't right. Secret marches in the middle of the night to take a position in a new location were greeted by the enemy, who were prepared in detail for their operations as if they knew well in advance what was being planned. How could this be?<br /></p><p>My father, William Dean Lindsay, was part of the first war that was fought under the direction of the United
Nations, and he eventually became convinced that the goal of this war clearly was not to free Korea, which could have
been done easily. Rather, the United Nations ensured that half of Korea
would be left in the hands of brutal Communist dictators. American
soldiers were betrayed by the United Nations. My father testified about
this on Feb. 10, 2003 in Salt Lake City, Utah, before the Government
Operations Committee of the Utah House in favor of H.R. 7, entitled,
"Resolution to Urge Congress to Withdraw the United States from the
United Nations." He spoke as a decorated combat veteran of the Korean
War (Army Commendation Ribbon with Medal Pendant and a Bronze Star) and
as a resident of Utah concerned about the current and future wars we
will fight under the direction of the United Nations. Here is <a href="https://www.jefflindsay.com/snippets/un.shtml" target="_blank">his testimony</a>:
</p><blockquote><span style="font-family: Geneva,Verdana,Arial,Helvetica;">
After I had been in combat with my outfit for four months, we were
relieved by another division and moved to the rear to rest, regroup, and
to receive and train some new soldiers to bring us back up to strength.
After a couple of weeks, we were notified that it was time to return to
action.
<p>
We were told that this was a "Top Secret" move and we were required to
remove all insignia from our uniforms, and all identification from
trucks, vehicles, and weapons. It was so secret that all movement in our
convoy was done at night with Korean runners leading the way. No
lights, no cigarettes or even matches were allowed.
</p><p>
We moved to our new position and were ready to occupy it at the
appointed time. Up until then, we had no idea where we were or who we
were replacing. At 10 o'clock, we began the exchange and suddenly
searchlights illuminated our new position and American music blared over
loud speakers. Then a voice called out a special "welcome" in English.
The speaker identified our division, regiments, and battalions by number
and all of our leaders by name.
</p><p>
When the "welcoming party" ended, the enemy opened fire and pounded our
position with mortar and artillery fire. The shelling continued most of
the night. We sustained some casualties, both dead and wounded.
</p><p>
This horrifying experience only added to the questions that were coming
into my mind. How could our enemy know things about us that we did not
even know ourselves? And why were we only permitted to play deadly war
games with the enemy? We were a vastly superior fighting force, and
could have swept them off the land in a short time, but we were not
permitted to do so.
</p><p>
After I had been home a number of years, I learned the answer to these
questions. The problem was that for the first time in American history,
the United States Congress copped out and abdicated their responsibility
to declare war, and then compounded the problem by turning control over
to the United Nations who orchestrated the war, which, by plan, was to
become America's first no-win war.
</p><p>
We were required to notify the UN in advance of every action we planned
so that the enemy always knew what we were going to do, thus the special
"welcoming party" at our "Top Secret" destination.
</p></span><p><span style="font-family: Geneva,Verdana,Arial,Helvetica;">
Since learning the truth, I have always despised the United Nations, who
conned and deceived and exploited me, and hundreds of thousands of
other loyal and patriotic Americans. And I have always felt betrayed by
the leaders of the land that I love, who placed the precious lives of so
many Americans in the hands of a godless organization that had no
regard for human life.
</span></p></blockquote><p>
In 1952, my father, a green 19-year-old in the 40th Infantry Division,
223rd Regiment, 3rd Battalion, Company M, a heavy weapons support
company, was thrown into the fierce fighting of the Korean "Punchbowl"
where many good men would die. This unconstitutional war, fought under
the direction of foreign powers not seeking the interests of the United
States or the cause of liberty, strengthened the United Nations and set
up the grim scenario we have today, with the threat of nuclear war
emanating from the brutal dictatorship of North Korea, a
terrorist-supporting state that has became a threat to the United
States. </p><p>My father had basic respect for the President under whom all this happened, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and believes that he was pressured to do what he did. President Ezra Taft Benson, one of the few Church leaders with profound high-level experience in government, served as Secretary of Agriculture under President Eisenhower and also had high respect for him, but also saw and said much about how corrupt government can become. As a testimony to at least a desire on Eisenhower's part to resist the powers that may benefit from war and corruption, consider his famous farewell speech where he warned against the rising powers of what her termed "the military industrial complex":</p><blockquote><p>A vital element in keeping the peace is our military establishment.
Our arms must be mighty, ready for instant action, so that no potential
aggressor may be tempted to risk his own destruction...
</p><p>This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large
arms industry is new in the American experience. The total
influence—economic, political, even spiritual—is felt in every city,
every statehouse, every office of the federal government. We recognize
the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to
comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood
are all involved; so is the very structure of our society.
In the councils of government, <b>we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military–industrial complex</b>. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists, and will persist.
</p>
We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties
or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an
alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the
huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful
methods and goals so that security and liberty may prosper together. [From "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military%E2%80%93industrial_complex" target="_blank">Military–industrial complex</a>," <i>Wikipedia</i>, emphasis original.]<br /></blockquote><p>I believe Eisenhower knew what he was speaking about, though the "complex" or "combination" of his day was just getting started compared to the behemoth that we have now. With so much money and so much power involved, with so little transparency and accountability, and with one man now able to declare and wage war without the Constitution's requirement for Congress to declare it, how can we assume that there is nothing to worry about, no risk for corruption or conflicts of interest or betrayal of American interests? Eisenhower called for us as citizens to be cautious, to be informed, and to stand guard against threats to our liberty that might come from the very powerful forces that are supposed to protecting our liberty. This is not a time to trust, nor a time to stifle questions, no matter how ugly our enemy is or is portrayed to be. <br /></p><p>As my father experienced, there is great danger when our military actions become subject to outside influences. However, today our military actions are increasingly subject to what George Washington warned against in his farewell speech, "entangling alliances" with other nations, whether it is through the United Nations, NATO or other treaties or arrangements. Washington knew the lessons of history, especially those from Europe where "entangling alliances" dragged nation after nation into prolonged war. <br /></p><h4 style="text-align: left;">A Red Flag from Vietnam</h4><p>My nine years in China suddenly ended with the outbreak of COVID in China while my wife and I were on a trip to tropical Vietnam during the Chinese New Year holiday season in 2019. I would not set foot in China again (there's another long story there). While in Vietnam for diving at Nha Trang, a visit to Haolong Bay, and a tour of Hanoi, I was surprised at the progress Vietnam had made. It seems that Vietnam learned quickly from the economic revolution of China led by Deng Xiaoping, inspired at least in part by the heroism of heroic farmers in the village of Xiaogang, Anhui Proviince, that showed how deadly collectivism is and how much good can come from economic liberty. If you're not familiar with this crucial story from China, see my recent article, "<a href="https://www.ipwatchdog.com/2021/11/11/desperate-heroism-thunder-quiet-revolution-rise-chinas-economy-ip-system/" target="_blank">Desperate Heroism and the Thunder of a Quiet Revolution: The Rise of China’s Economy and IP System</a>," where I share lessons from my pilgrimage to the tiny Chinese village where the most vital revolution of modern China occurred, one that we still need to remember and understand. </p><p>Vietnam was vibrant and seemed remarkably free in many ways, with, for example, religious freedom beyond that of China. There was a Latter-day Saint Church in Hanoi that we could attend, and we met missionaries (real proselyting missionaries!) serving in the Hanoi area (we cannot have missionaries in China). We were touched by the faith and kindness of the local members we met. But we also saw reminders of the painful past. There was a large celebration organized by the government on the street in Nha Trang near our hotel where I saw a dramatic reenactment of the war, with American soldiers naturally portrayed as the villains invading their country. Understandable from their perspective, of course. But everyone we met there in the south and in Hanoi in the north treated us well. </p><p>I loved my time in that beautiful country. But what happened there in the Vietnam War was a tragic disaster in many ways. So many Americans and so many Vietnamese would die in another no-win war. I would become increasingly familiar with the sweeping effects of that war when I began working with Hmong refugees in Wisconsin when we moved back to Appleton from Atlanta in 1994. My entire family would become part of a new Hmong branch, and as I worked with members and investigators, I would learn story after story of the trauma that the war brought to them, including genocide against them for <a href="https://www.jefflindsay.com/Hmong_tragedy.html" target="_blank">their role in supporting the United States in a secret war that went on in Laos to support the Vietnam effort</a>. We got them involved in our war and promised to always be there for them and suddenly we left them on their own, unprepared for the brutal retribution to come. </p><p>As with the Korean War, our involvement in Vietnam was questionable, but once there, there were obvious things that could have been done to win the war without having to let our young men fight and die in hostile jungles. The key to war is often the supply chain. Haiphong Harbor near Hanoi was where shipments of weapons and supplies were received from the Soviet Union. The Ho Chi Minh Trail was the essential route for delivery of war supplies to the North Vietnamese troops. But due to secret "rules of engagement" that we would not learn about until later, our own government abandoned proven principles of warfare that seek to disrupt the enemy's supply chain. We refused to mine Haiphong Harbor. We could not take out anti-aircraft installations until they were functional, and were greatly limited in what could be done on the Ho Chi Minh Trail. The entire scenario looks like it was set up to fail. <br /></p><p>Major Matthew J. Dorschel of the United States Air Force described some of these ridiculous rules in "<a href="https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/1995/DM.htm" target="_blank">The Effects of Restrictive ROEs on the Rolling Thunder Air Campaign</a>," Globalsecurity.org, 1995:<br /></p><blockquote><p>The ROEs in place for the air campaign over North Vietnam included restrictions on where aircraft could fly, what conditions aircraft could attack enemy forces (when they were considered hostile), and what degree of force could be used both in self-defense and attack. Another part of the ROEs restricted pilots from attacking certain types of target that were off limits; some of these were: enemy airfields, SAM [surface-to-air missile] sites, power plants, naval craft in some areas, a 30 mile area around Hanoi, and a 10 mile area around Haiphong.... Until early 1967, in many instances U.S. pilots were not allowed to engage enemy fighters unless they themselves had been attacked first....<br /></p></blockquote><blockquote><p>Several incidents of ROE violations led to court-martial charges; one that led to charges against the commander and the aircrew was the strafing of the Soviet ship Turkestan in 1967 near Haiphong.14 Fear of ROE violations and the consequences of them led to a dilemma; many aircrews felt as if they could not accomplish their mission without either getting killed by the enemy or brought up on court-martial charges by their own government....</p></blockquote><blockquote><p>The most significant restricted areas that provided sanctuary were the 30 mile area around Hanoi, the 10 mile area around Haiphong, and a 25 to 30 mile "buffer zone" along the Chinese border. These sanctuaries prevented attacks against key targets in the north without prior approval from Washington. The North Vietnamese took advantage of this by offsetting the damage done by our aircraft in non-protected areas. Because Haiphong Harbor was a safe port, they were able to ship up to 85% of their war goods by sea and download them with impunity 24 hours a day at that location. These safe havens allowed the enemy to stockpile war materials until they could be moved to the south. The "buffer zone" along the Chinese border was thousands of square miles where the North Vietnamese could store and transport materials with no fear of U.S. attack. This made any attempts at reducing the ability of the enemy to sustain their combat operations almost futile. <br /></p></blockquote><p>One of the most ridiculous rules prohibited damaging a rubber plantation owned by an influential company, Michelin, the famous tire producer. To protect their precious rubber trees, we weren't allowed to use bombs in the area and thus had to risk American lives to clear out the enemy by hand. The enemy, of course, seemed to learn or figure out what what the rules were and constantly exploited those rules for their gain. See Jesse Beckett, "<a href="https://www.warhistoryonline.com/war-articles/rules-of-engagement-gis-had-to-follow-vietnam-war.html" target="_blank">The Absurd Rules-of-Engagement GIs Had to Follow During the Vietnam War,</a>" <i>War History Online</i>, Nov. 17, 2021. There's also a military thesis on the impact of the rules of engagement by Major Ricky J. Drake, "<a href="https://media.defense.gov/2017/Dec/28/2001861735/-1/-1/0/T_DRAKE_RULES_OF_DEFEAT.PDF" target="_blank">The Rules of Defeat: The Impact of Aerial Rules of Engagement on USAF Operations in North Vietnam, 1965-1968</a>," The School of Advanced Airpower Studies, Air University, US Air Force, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama, May 1992. These rules are still excused by many today as somehow being necessary to prevent World War III, but in light of the massive deceptions to American citizens about this war as revealed in the Pentagon Papers, it's reasonable to wonder if the entire effort was conducted in bad faith as another deliberate no-win war. In any case, it resulted in a major PR victory for Communism and loss of trust in America by many, especially by its own citizens, if they paid attention. <br /></p><p>When the Pentagon Papers were published in 1971, we would learn that our government had lied to us at almost every turn. We had been betrayed. A touch of the shameful abyss of deceit revealed by the Pentagon Papers is covered in the New York Times' nicely written summary by Elizabeth Becker, "<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/09/us/pentagon-papers-vietnam-war.html " target="_blank">The Secrets and Lies of the Vietnam War, Exposed in One Epic Document</a>," June 9, 2021. The subtitle is "With the Pentagon Papers revelations, the U.S. public’s trust in the government was forever diminished" -- and rightly so. </p><p>Though only briefly hinted at in Becker's article, an important part of the perfidy of the Vietnam War is the justification to start the war in the first place. I was taught in school that the war began because of an unprovoked attack of the North Vietnamese on US forces in the Gulf of Tonkin. Even young people today may still be hearing that tale (let me know if your history courses have been more accurate). A clear and incisive article exposing the shady origins of that war comes from a US Navy officer, Lieutenant Commander Pat Paterson, "<a href="https://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-history-magazine/2008/february/truth-about-tonkin" target="_blank">The Truth About Tonkin</a>," <i>Naval History Magazine</i>, vol. 22, no. 1, Feb. 2008, https://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-history-magazine/2008/february/truth-about-tonkin. Here is the abstract:<br /></p><p></p><blockquote>Questions about the Gulf of Tonkin incidents have persisted for more than 40 years. But once-classified documents and tapes released in the past several years, combined with previously uncovered facts, make clear that high government officials distorted facts and deceived the American public about events that led to full U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. </blockquote><p></p><p>For many years it seemed that the United States' questionable declaration of an alleged Aug. 4, 1964 attack on the USS <i>Maddox</i> might have been due to a good-faith misinterpretation of various reports. Only recently did declassified documents reveal that something much more shady was at play. There was a minor incident early on Aug. 2, when the North Vietnamese very likely thought the <i>Maddoxx</i> was involved with attacks underway by the South Vietnamese in the region (attacks that we were promoting and helping to plan, playing a dangerous and unnecessary game in the first place). The response of the North Vietnamese on Aug. 2 was understandable and no excuse for war. But the Aug. 4 events, as conveyed by the White House to the American people and Congress, provided a much stronger story of a significant unprovoked attack, leading to a swift resolution of war and handing President Lydon B, Johnson full power to carry out the war without Congressional oversight, exactly what he wanted. </p><p>However, based on documents declassified in 2005 to 2006, now we know that the government's description of the Aug. 4 event involved intentional deception. There was no attack. We were deceived into support a long-lasting, no-win war that would be a boon to many, but not to our soldiers, not to their families, not to our security, nor to our global goodwill or our own economy (apart from the military-industrial complex). Why the deception was done and how it was orchestrated is not known for sure and must be the domain of "conspiracy theorists," but the existence of corruption of some kind to dishonestly get us into war is now beyond question. Here is an excerpt from Lieutenant Commander Paterson's article:</p><p></p><blockquote><p>Commander [James] Stockdale was again in the action, this time alone. When
his wingman's aircraft developed trouble, Stockdale got permission to
launch solo from the <i>Ticonderoga</i>. He arrived overhead at 2135.
For more than 90 minutes, he made runs parallel to the ships' course and
at low altitude (below 2,000 feet) looking for the enemy vessels. He
reported later, "I had the best seat in the house to watch that event
and our destroyers were just shooting at phantom targets—there were no
PT boats there . . . there was nothing there but black water and
American firepower."</p>
<p>Captain [john J.] Herrick [of the <i>Maddox</i>] also began to have doubts about the attack. As the
battle continued, he realized the "attacks" were actually the results of
"overeager sonar operators" and poor equipment performance. The <i>Turner Joy </i>had not detected any torpedoes during the entire encounter, and Herrick determined that the <i>Maddox</i>'s operators were probably hearing the ship's propellers reflecting off her rudder during sharp turns.<sup> </sup>The destroyer's main gun director was never able to lock onto any
targets because, as the operator surmised, the radar was detecting the
stormy sea's wave tops.</p>
By 0127 on 5 August, hours after the "attacks" had occurred, Herrick
had queried his crew and reviewed the preceding hours' events. He sent a
flash (highest priority) message to Honolulu, which was received in
Washington at 1327 on 4 August, declaring his doubts: "Review of action
makes many reported contacts and torpedoes fired appear doubtful. Freak
weather effects on radar and overeager sonarmen may have accounted for
many reports. No actual visual sightings by MADDOX. Suggest complete
evaluation before any further action taken."... <br /></blockquote><p>Analysis of intercepted communications that were shared with the Pentagon shows deletion the vast body of information that would undermine the story of the Aug. 4, along with some unexplained changes in the translation or the pasting together of two messages into one. Faulty intelligence played a major role in the launching of the war. Was this all an accident? The evidence doesn't support such optimism.<br /></p><p></p><blockquote><p>Subsequently, Secretary McNamara intentionally misled Congress and
the public about his knowledge of and the nature of the 34A operations [the military operations of the South Vietnamese near the Gulf of Tonkin that we were supporting with the assistance of the <i>Maddox</i>],
which surely would have been perceived as the actual cause for the 2
August attack on the <i>Maddox </i>and the apparent attack on the 4th.
On 6 August, when called before a joint session of the Senate Foreign
Relations and Armed Services committees to testify about the incident,
McNamara eluded the questioning of Senator Wayne Morse (D-OR) when he
asked specifically whether the 34A operations may have provoked the
North Vietnamese response. McNamara instead declared that "our Navy
played absolutely no part in, was not associated with, was not aware of,
any South Vietnamese actions, if there were any."</p>
<p>Later that day, Secretary McNamara lied when he denied knowledge of
the provocative 34A patrols at a Pentagon news conference. When asked by
a reporter if he knew of any confrontations between the South and North
Vietnamese navies, he responded: "No, none that I know of. . . . [T]hey
operate on their own. They are part of the South Vietnamese Navy . . .
operating in the coastal waters, inspecting suspicious incoming junks,
seeking to deter and prevent the infiltration of both men and material."
Another reporter pressed the issue, "Do these [patrol boats] go north,
into North Vietnamese waters?" McNamara again eluded the question, "They
have advanced closer and closer to the 17th parallel, and in some
cases, I think they have moved beyond that in an effort to stop the
infiltration closer to the point of origin."</p>
In reality, McNamara knew full well that the 34A attacks had probably provoked the 2 August attacks on the <i>Maddox</i>.
On an audio tape from the Johnson Library declassified in December
2005, he admitted to the President the morning after the attacks that
the two events were almost certainly connected....</blockquote><p>When Johnson ordered a counterattack on Aug. 5, Commander Stockdale and others knew that we were the ones initiating action, not the North Vietnamese. He would later state, "We were about to launch a war under false pretenses, in the face of the on-scene military commander's advice to the contrary."</p>Deception at a very high level led us to engage in a no-win war that would claim over 60,000 American lives and hurt hundreds of thousands of other peoples as well, including the Vietnamese and the Hmong. The deception from the US government over the Gulf of Tonkin Incident may still be called a "conspiracy theory" by those who would have us always trust government, but the evidence of wrongdoing is crystal clear. That's not to say that we should have done nothing, nor is it to say that Communism is better than freedom (I am for freedom). But if a war is justified, let the case for it be advanced based on truth and open debate, and let it be declared by the voice of the people, following the principles in the Constitution. When extreme deception and other red flags abound regarding the need for war, something fishy is going on and bold questions are needed. Further, if a war is to be fought, let it be won swiftly and with as little bloodshed as possible. <br /><h4 style="text-align: left;">Red Flags Everywhere? What Should We Do?<br /></h4><p>Our history of war abound with red flags and suspicious circumstances. The Persian Gulf War, for example, began under questionable pretenses. First, we essentially gave a green flag to Saddam Hussein to invade Kuwait after he inquired about our position on the dispute with Kuwait, and then once he attacked, we acted like it was necessary for us to rush in and rescue the world due to Saddam's weapons of mass destruction that actually never existed. The war could have been prevented. Once started, there was no need for us to be involved. The dictator of Iraq deposes the dictator of Kuwait -- was putting the rightful dictator back on his throne really a noble cause that would require spilling the blood of our young people? The government floated many different arguments in an attempt to stir us up in support of the war, including telling us that it was "about jobs" that would come from the improved access to oil, which was a complete lie. From beginning to end, the war was infused with red flags.<br /></p><p>The war in Afghanistan is another classic example of suspicious justification for a clearly no-win war. We were attacked by a handful of terrorists from Saudi Arabia. For this, we needed decades of fighting? And invading a country that was not responsible for the attack? For this, we needed the "Patriot Act" to turn our government into a massive spying operation to monitor American citizens and their global finances as if we are all terrorist suspects? The Afghanistan war effort would conclude in shame as we broke promises again and not only abandoned our allies, but many of our own citizens, and left $84 billion of advanced weaponry in the hands of the Taliban who are closely linked to China. Very good for China, but not for us. Was this a good faith effort where someone just accidentally forget a few steps, like evacuate your friend and fellow citizens before you leave, and remove or destroy advanced military equipment on the way out, and keep your airbase functional until everyone is out? Or was the fiasco due to something other than incompetence? It's the kind of question that needs to be asked, not silenced. </p><p>Similar questions can be asked about our involvement in many other regions such as Serbia, where we supported <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NATO_bombing_of_Yugoslavia" target="_blank">NATO's bombing of Serbia</a> (illustrating, of course, that NATO is not simply a defensive organization), Sudan, Syria, etc. That's not to say all such actions were wrong or did not at least seem to have noble purposes, but there are fair questions that can be asked. <br /></p><p>The specter of war these days, as in days of old, is linked to corruption and villainy of all kinds. War is now the ultimate playground for the greedy and power hungry. We must approach war with the caution and alertness that Eisenhower calls for. It's not a time for trust and blind faith in humans who tend to be wicked and easily corrupted. We want America to be the good guy, the knight on a rainbow-colored horse that brings happiness to the masses of the world, but as the Book of Mormon sort of says, constant warfare never was happiness.</p><p>As we begin a new round of "rumors of war" and the "patriotic" stirring up of the masses to prepare us to engage in another major war far from our borders, this might be a good time to ponder the red flags of war and of misguided trust before we blindly trust what we are told and asked to do. With the numerous and increasingly popular calls for the US and NATO to enforce a "no-fly zone" over Russie, we need to understand that such intrusion marks the beginning of a real war. Wars are often promoted as something simple -- "we'll just use a few airplanes and missiles, no boots on the ground" -- but once engaged, things always get more complicated especially when we learn, sometimes year later, that the goal was not victory after all. <br /></p><p>If the cause for war is just, we don't need to rely on propaganda and censorship and must utterly shun deceit and lies. Let it be debated based on facts and let Congress declare it. But the cause for war is appropriate under the Constitution of this land, explain why it is necessary. Their are bad guys causing war and invading countries all the time. Can we really be expected to join every battle? We seem to trust in bullets and bombs as the way to right every wrong, almost to the point of idolatry, as President Spencer W. Kimball once pointed out in one of the most neglected and most important messages from a modern prophet. In his June 1976 message in the <i>Ensign, </i>"<a href="https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1976/06/the-false-gods-we-worship?lang=eng" target="_blank">The False Gods We Worship</a>," President Kimball made some strong comments that challenged many in the Church:<br /></p><p></p><blockquote>In spite of our delight in defining ourselves as modern, and our tendency to think we possess a sophistication that no people in the past ever had—in spite of these things, we are, on the whole, an idolatrous people—a condition most repugnant to the Lord.<br /><br />We are a warlike people, easily distracted from our assignment of preparing for the coming of the Lord. When enemies rise up, we commit vast resources to the fabrication of gods of stone and steel—ships, planes, missiles, fortifications—and depend on them for protection and deliverance. When threatened, we become antienemy instead of pro-kingdom of God; we train a man in the art of war and call him a patriot, thus, in the manner of Satan’s counterfeit of true patriotism, perverting the Savior’s teaching:<br /><br />“Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; </blockquote><blockquote>“That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven.” (Matt. 5:44–45.)...</blockquote><p></p><blockquote>What are we to fear when the Lord is with us? Can we not take the Lord
at his word and exercise a particle of faith in him? Our assignment is
affirmative: to forsake the things of the world as ends in themselves;
to leave off idolatry and press forward in faith; to carry the gospel to
our enemies, that they might no longer be our enemies.<br /><br />We must
leave off the worship of modern-day idols and a reliance on the “arm of
flesh,” for the Lord has said to all the world in our day, “I will not
spare any that remain in Babylon.” (D&C 64:24.) ...<br /><br />As we
near the year 2,000, our message is the same as that which Peter gave.
And further, that which the Lord himself gave “unto the ends of the
earth, that all that will hear may hear:<br /><br />“Prepare ye, prepare ye for that which is to come, for the Lord is nigh.” (D&C 1:11–12.)</blockquote> <p></p><p>Look, I know we still need to defend ourselves, just as the people of Ukraine need to now. I know armor, weapons, and fortifications can be vital just as they sometimes were for the Nephites. But I like President Kimball's approach. Indeed, if we could abandon our tendency to trust first in military force, I believe that many crises could be averted with wisdom rather than weapons. I don't know the answers, but there are questions that need to be asked, and preferably early rather than after a foreseeable crisis emerges. </p><p>Ukraine has been in our prayers in the Lindsay household every day recently. I've turned to some friends from Ukraine and or who live much of the time in
Ukraine for their thoughts, and recognize that the situation is far more
complex that portrayed in the media, with problems going back many
years. What's happening there is painful for people on both sides of the war. A friend from the region told me that most of the Russians and Ukrainians she knows have family on both sides of the conflict, some actively fighting. This factor, she said, may explain the obvious slowness and in her view restraint of Russian forces in advancing into Ukraine, for they could obliterate entire cities if they wished, but appear to be seeking to reduce civilian casualties. I don't know, though -- it's hard to judge and hard to now which news sources to trust, but I am troubled that Russian sources are being censored in the West. Yes, there will be propaganda, as there is from every country, but how can we even begin to understand other perspectives when differing views are censored?<br /></p><p>Many Ukrainians in the east are pro-Russian, not necessarily because they speak Russian or like Putin but often because they've seen the practical trouble that has come for nations like Poland joining the EU (EU regulations, for one thing, make it terribly difficult for some Eastern European nations to do business in the EU), and prefer to keep their connections with Russia. Some, even in western Ukraine, question the legitimacy of their government and the US role since 2014 in the government of Ukraine. Some of them feel that Ukraine is being played in a proxy war for the US with Russia. These are views from Ukraine that we aren't going to hear with the one-sided reported that seems to be aimed at stirring us up for conflict with Russia. <br /></p><p>One of my friends (a US citizen whose wife is from Kyiv) has pointed out our need to consider the unfortunate role the US has played in Ukraine in the last decade. He encouraged me to consider a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrMiSQAGOS4" target="_blank">2016 presentation by Dr. John Mearsheimer</a>, the R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor in Political Science at the University of Chicago. It was an eye-opening presentation, and if he is right, there may have been some relatively painless and simple things we could have done to prevent the catastrophe happening there. Perhaps. I don't now, but want to know more. Have we provoked Russia? Did our weak sanctions and speaking of "minor incursions" being no big deal encourage the invasion? What was our involvement in the 2014 coup and in the selection of Ukrainian officials since then? Who will profit from war and who has been profiting improperly from events in Russia and Ukraine? And shouldn't we be a little more worried about the risk of nuclear disaster if Russia feels desperate? (Disclaimer: I am somewhat biased on this issue because I have grandchildren. Sorry about that.)<br /></p><p>Meanwhile, I see signals from both of our parties that we all need to stop asking questions (questions = "disinformation," a lesson we should have learned already from the COVID era, and now an unwelcome question about our conflict with Russia can quickly be branded as "Russian disinformation") and be prepared to do whatever is needed to stop Russia. This includes, of course, as much virtue signaling as possible -- dumping vodka (no matter what country made it), closing accounts of ordinary Russian people, shaming Russian cats, and perhaps burning a few Russian Books of Mormon on Tik Tok for good measure. But it's much more serious than that. Many are calling for enforcing a no-fly zone through NATO, an action that would initiate war between the West and Russia. I don't like Putin nor any other authoritarian leader and want every nation and every people to be free. But when it comes to being silent and blindly trusting our government to lead us into a costly and deadly war, I'm not sure we should do that. It sure hasn't worked well in the past. </p><p><i>Addendum, March 7, 2022</i><br /></p><p>So what should we do? I'm not sure, but I can tentatively suggest a few things. First, let's return to a high level of energy independence by opening up our production again and our pipelines that have been vigorously opposed by whoever is calling the shots in the current administration. The massive spike in oil prices is not only enriching Putin and now Maduro in Venezuela, but will cause poverty and suffering for tens of millions around the world. Why are we importing fossil fuels from Putin and turning to the vile and failed dictator of Venezuela, Russia's closest ally in South America, and giving him a huge PR win and massive credibility by having a secret meeting with him to make a deal to buy his oil? Why are we buying oil from dictators at all when we have enough for our needs in the US and for others in need? I feel we must call out the crime of making us so dependent on dictators again. Meanwhile, I'm stunned at the Administration's proposal to just ramp up electric vehicles. Guess where the electricity for electric cars comes from? Largely from dirty coal. In no way do we have enough nuclear power or other green energy sources to supply the grid right now without fossil fuels, and certainly not if everybody starts draining the grid to charge an electric vehicle. Fossil fuels are essential for our economy for years to come. We need fossil fuels and that means we need to stop blocking their production to make is independent again, rather than adding war money to the coffers of dictators. Of course, at the same time we may wish to ramp up mostly carbon-free nuclear power and certainly other forms of power when they can make economic sense, but that will take years to expand while we have the infrastructure in place now to largely return to independence from foreign oil. <br /></p><p>Second, follow President Eisenhower's advice and stay informed. Listening only to official propaganda won't do the trick. Most of us need more diverse news sources. If all your sources are quoting the official narrative of the State Department and the CIA, as is happening now, something's wrong and you're missing at least a part of the truth. I was surprised when two of my Ukraine-connected friends I turned to both sent me material from sources directly challenging the mainstream narrative. One is the YouTube link I discussed above (perhaps a matter of time before it is censored?), and the other is from <a href="http://Substack.com">Substack.com</a>, the refuge of many writers who have been deplatformed or punished by the giants of Social Media. The article my friend recommended is one I had already seen by a writer I respect, Glenn Greenwald. See his "<a href="https://greenwald.substack.com/p/war-propaganda-about-ukraine-becoming?s=r" target="_blank">War Propaganda About Ukraine Becoming More Militaristic, Authoritarian, and Reckless</a>," Greenwald.Substack.com, Feb. 27, 2022. There are many warnings there. </p><p>While expanding your news horizons, understand how corrupt the mainstream media can be. On the issue of Ukraine and Russia, for example, the story of the New York Times and their beloved Pulitzer Prize winner "our man in Moscow," Walter Duranty, needs to be recalled. In the early 1930s as ten million were starving in Ukraine as their grain was taken away by Stalin for his benefit and millions more elsewhere in Russia were starving from the failure of Communism and the brutality of Stalin, Duranty, a corrupt and vile man who was being paid by Stalin to deceive the West, gave glowing reports of Stalin's success. The cover-up of the terrible truth was exposed, to a slight degree anyway, by <span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql oi732d6d ik7dh3pa ht8s03o8 a8c37x1j fe6kdd0r mau55g9w c8b282yb keod5gw0 nxhoafnm aigsh9s9 d3f4x2em iv3no6db jq4qci2q a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id hzawbc8m" dir="auto">
Gareth Jones, a Welsh journalist who had been the Foreign Affairs Advisor to the
British MP and former prime minister David Lloyd George. In 1933 Jones,
who spoke Russian, went to the Ukraine during the man-made famine, escaping from the official deceitful tour that was planned for him and illegally venturing off on his own. When Jones reported the tragedy he saw
first-hand, Duranty and the Times denied it vigorously, and their political clout was used to denounce Jones. Jones was
essentially "canceled" and after that could only get work in a local Welsh paper
covering arts and crafts. He was murdered in 1935 while in Mongolia. </span>The misinformation from the Times continued to prop up Stalin and enabled him to gain recognition from the US and access to Western capital. Roughly 5 decades later when the truth had become clear to those willing to look, there was a movement to ask the Pulitzer Prize Committee to revoke the prize they had given Duranty for his deceitful coverage of Russia. They refused to budge. </p><p>We could not trust the nation's leading establishment media organ when it covered Stalin. We couldn't trust it when it told us that Fidel Castro was just an "agrarian reformer," not a Communist. We couldn't trust it's coverage of the Korean War or the Vietnam War (kudos, though, for their 2021 article discussing the lies of the Vietnam War, just a little too late to save any lives during that war, I'm afraid). How can we trust them now? Maybe what they are saying is 100% accurate, but we can't assume that. They don't deserve our trust. Ask questions, compare sources, and resist the emotions of war propaganda. </p><p>Speaking of Gareth Jones, perhaps you've seen the movie about his life, "Mr. Jones"? <span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql oi732d6d ik7dh3pa ht8s03o8 a8c37x1j fe6kdd0r mau55g9w c8b282yb keod5gw0 nxhoafnm aigsh9s9 d3f4x2em iv3no6db jq4qci2q a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id hzawbc8m" dir="auto">The
movie warns us of the deadly impact that fake news can have, but at the
same time it adds a number of fake elements to the account. Gareth Jones's
family objected to those distortions. If you've seen or will see the
movie, it's good to know what's "truthy fiction" and what Gareth
actually reported. An archived article from a family member is at <span><a class="oajrlxb2 g5ia77u1 qu0x051f esr5mh6w e9989ue4 r7d6kgcz rq0escxv nhd2j8a9 nc684nl6 p7hjln8o kvgmc6g5 cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x jb3vyjys rz4wbd8a qt6c0cv9 a8nywdso i1ao9s8h esuyzwwr f1sip0of lzcic4wl gpro0wi8 py34i1dx" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20201219203327/https://www.garethjones.org/mr_jones/true_story.htm" rel="nofollow noopener" role="link" tabindex="0" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20201219203327/https://www.garethjones.org/mr_jones/true_story.htm</a></span>. (The website <span><a class="oajrlxb2 g5ia77u1 qu0x051f esr5mh6w e9989ue4 r7d6kgcz rq0escxv nhd2j8a9 nc684nl6 p7hjln8o kvgmc6g5 cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x jb3vyjys rz4wbd8a qt6c0cv9 a8nywdso i1ao9s8h esuyzwwr f1sip0of lzcic4wl gpro0wi8 py34i1dx" href="http://GarethJones.org/?fbclid=IwAR3TbLAdliSax9P3NVE56nYtkDRGWRso9biCLLCr3Fvzh_i-0ZgNQY5nG0A" rel="nofollow noopener" role="link" tabindex="0" target="_blank">GarethJones.org</a></span> has an expired certificate, so for security purposes I'm linking to an archived version, but I think that site still appears to be safe -- used it without harm, but be cautious.)</span></p><p><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql oi732d6d ik7dh3pa ht8s03o8 a8c37x1j fe6kdd0r mau55g9w c8b282yb keod5gw0 nxhoafnm aigsh9s9 d3f4x2em iv3no6db jq4qci2q a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id hzawbc8m" dir="auto">Third, pray for Ukraine, pray for all the people there, whether they are on the side of Russia or not, and it might also be good to pray that freedom and in Russia might persist and that people might soon be able to get back to their lives and might be able to have the freedom needed to rebuild, to thrive, and to live and share the Gospel. In praying, we might be inspired to take other steps to help. Personally, I wish to renounce war and don't think that this problem will be solved by dropping more bombs and killing more young men and women from Russia or anywhere else. </span></p><p><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql oi732d6d ik7dh3pa ht8s03o8 a8c37x1j fe6kdd0r mau55g9w c8b282yb keod5gw0 nxhoafnm aigsh9s9 d3f4x2em iv3no6db jq4qci2q a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id hzawbc8m" dir="auto">None of us have all the answers, of course, and I certainly don't, but all of us need to be seeking answers, and that begins by seeking information (viva freedom of speech, and viva revelation, or at least the quest for it) and then asking questions boldly and, when appropriate, taking wise steps. Those steps may not comply with whatever the war propaganda is telling us to do. </span><br /></p><br /><p></p><p><br /></p>Jeff Lindsayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08776493593387402607noreply@blogger.com23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7139169.post-73873676362976956032022-02-19T00:49:00.002-06:002022-02-19T10:42:48.450-06:00An Update on Maps of the Arabian Peninsula Showing Nahom-related Names<p>In 2008, James Gee published the results of his extensive search for the rare European maps of Arabia that included names that seem related to Nahom, the place where Ishmael was buried as described by Nephi in the Book of Mormon (1 Nephi 16:34). See James Gee, "<a href="https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/jbms/vol17/iss1/6/" target="_blank">The Nahom Maps</a>," <i>Journal of the Book of Mormon and Restoration Scripture</i>
17, nos. 1-2 (2008): 40–57. (To provide users with fairly high resolution
views of the maps, the PDF that can be downloaded from BYU's
<a href="https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/jbms/vol17/iss1/6/" target="_blank">ScholarsArchive</a> is an unusually large 45 MB file.) </p><p>I'll offer a few minor updates to what Gee reported, after explaining what we learn (and don't learn) from the maps he found. <br /></p><p>After searching through numerous maps from the 18th and 19th centuries, Gee found 10 relevant maps. The earliest was the 1751 map of <span>Jean-Baptiste Bourguignon D'Anville featuring "Nehem" </span><span><span>in southern Yemen, and the latest </span></span><span><span><span><span></span>was an 1814 map by John Thompson of Scotland, again showing a name spelled as "Nehem." The locations on all these maps </span>give a plausible location for Nahom, consistent with various routes for Lehi's Trail that have been proposed. In fact, the locations given on all these maps have at least one solid candidate for Bountiful being "nearly eastward" (1 Nephi 17:34) on the coast of southern Oman</span>, and are not far from the Marib site where three altars dating back to the 7th century B.C. </span><span><span>were found that bear the ancient tribal name NHM. (S</span></span><span><span>ee Warren Aston, "<a href="https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1289&context=jbms" target="_blank">Newly Found Altars from Nahom</a>,"
<i>Journal of Book of Mormon Studies</i> 10, no.
2 [2001]: 56–61, 71.) They are </span></span><span><span><span><span>north or northeast of Sana'a, </span></span>in or near the Wadi Jawf (sometimes spelled Jof when it is shown), where it is possible to turn near due east and reach the coast while bypassing the formidable Empty Quarter and other natural barriers. (See, for example, Warren P. Aston, <i>Lehi and Sariah in Arabia: The Old World Setting of the Book of Mormon</i> [Bloomington, IN: Xlibris, 2015.])<br /></span></span></p><p><span><span>Whether spelled Nehhem, Nehm, or Nihm (the modern transliteration for the name of the ancient tribe still prominent in that region), or even Nikkum or Nakam (possible Nahom/NHM candidates given the harder "h" sound in the Arabic, though I understand it's softer than the hard "h" of Hebrew), this word on a handful of European maps testifies of the existence of a place name with ancient roots that correlates well with a Book of Mormon place name with some specific constraints. For some critics, the evidence of a place called something like Nahom in the right place for the Book of Mormon necessarily means that Joseph must have had access to one of the rare maps bearing that name, though there is no evidence of such a map being in his vicinity (see my article at <i>Interpreter</i>, "<a href="https://journal.interpreterfoundation.org/joseph-and-the-amazing-technicolor-dream-map-part-2-of-2/" target="_blank">Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Map: Part 2 of 2</a>").</span></span><span><span> Had Joseph seen such a map, why would he pluck an obscure name of a minor place that nobody had ever heard of and apparently neglect the goldmine of credibility-building information and local color he could have added? Why "plagiarize" a name that could serve as evidence once the source map was conveniently "discovered"later, but then never exploit it? And how could he be so lucky to pick a name that would be supported with future archaeological work showing it was prominent in Lehi's day, and also be supported with future field work related to Bountiful showing that a solid candidate for the long-mocked verdant site actual lies nearly due east of Nahom? </span></span></p><p><span><span>But these European maps </span></span>with NHM-names do explain something very
important: the very late rise of Latter-day Saint awareness of potential evidence
for Nahom. The first evidence we have of any member of the Church being
aware of a Nahom-related name on a map of the Arabian Peninsula occurs
in 1978, when a BYU professor, Ross T. Christensen, saw Carsten Niebuhr’s 1763 map of Arabia with the <i>Nehhm </i>in the southwest region of modern Yemen. <a href="https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1978/08/comment?lang=eng" target="_blank">Christensen published a short note in the August 1978 <i>Ensign</i></a>, explaining that the location was just a little south of a route for Lehi's
trail proposed by Lynn and Hope Hilton, and wondered if Latter-day Saint
scholars should examine that region more closely:</p><blockquote><p data-aid="126800149" id="p14" style="--height: 86.39999389648438px;">Perhaps
the next step would be to invite semiticists to give their opinions as
to whether Nahom and Nehhm are probable phonetic equivalents.</p>
<p data-aid="126800150" id="p15" style="--height: 86.39999389648438px;">Another
step would be to search for the name on maps other than Niebuhr’s, even
going back to medieval and ancient ones, if any can be found.</p>
<p data-aid="126800151" id="p16" style="--height: 115.20001220703125px;">Still
another step—when the political situation allows—would be
archaeological fieldwork. Each of these steps should help to define more
precisely the setting in which the Book of Mormon story unfolded
itself.</p></blockquote>I
wish the result of his note had been that Latter-day Saint scholars immediately
began organizing field work to explore the area. But several years
later, when Warren Aston noticed Christensen's note, he inquired at BYU and learned that no follow-up work had been done. Frustrated, he bravely decided to go to Oman and Yemen and do
some field work himself. This led to many other discoveries. It's amazing what a lone person can do!<p><span><span></span></span></p><p><span><span>Gee speculates as to why the last Nahom-related map he could find was in 1814: </span></span><br /><span><span></span></span></p><blockquote>John Thomson published “A New General Atlas of the World” with a map of
Arabia. This is the latest map I have been able to find which mentions
Nehem. I have not been able to find maps with Nahom, or any of its
variant spellings, in the Arabian Peninsula after 1814, even on maps
published by cartographers who had printed the district on their earlier
maps of Arabia. From the information Niebuhr gives in his journals one
could conclude that the Imam of Sana conquered the area, but I could
find no information to verify this conjecture.</blockquote><p></p><p><span><span>Now, as a minor update to Gee's work, I'd like to report that at a few more maps should be added to his list, advancing the date of the last Nahom-related map. While Gee examined countless maps, finding only a few with Nahom-related names, modern online resources make it possible to quickly scan many maps. Thus, while looking at several online sources, especially the large collection of maps of Arabia at </span></span><span><span><a href="https://www.raremaps.com/" target="_blank">Barry Lawrence Ruderman Antique Maps, Inc.</a> (www.raremaps.com), I found the following items of interest. </span></span> </p><span class="hangingindent"></span><h4 style="text-align: left;">Nehm and Nakam in Heinrich Kiepert's 1848 Map</h4><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEge09DxlmxMy-vfoEzmsUlZiS8eu8kqp3Fb5tjDTLWnnwyUBP4S3_X9yBzr02KMmi0-FJsygf_sChxalk5-jAPpXEBrRX6i8A_SlPYjbupVUPMUwIKyfL1S0a8fJ0StZq4vZbtP3ej6UkTHhX0jmeQd5--K13rsWAlXaOan7EtZYqOnX36YZUI=s830" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="830" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEge09DxlmxMy-vfoEzmsUlZiS8eu8kqp3Fb5tjDTLWnnwyUBP4S3_X9yBzr02KMmi0-FJsygf_sChxalk5-jAPpXEBrRX6i8A_SlPYjbupVUPMUwIKyfL1S0a8fJ0StZq4vZbtP3ej6UkTHhX0jmeQd5--K13rsWAlXaOan7EtZYqOnX36YZUI=w400-h278" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>Heinrich Kiepert published one of the most detailed maps of the Arabian Peninsula in 1848 in Weimar, Germany. This map is <a href="https://www.raremaps.com/gallery/detail/69539/arabien-kiepert" target="_blank">viewable at </a><span><span><a href="https://www.raremaps.com/gallery/detail/69539/arabien-kiepert" target="_blank">Barry Lawrence Ruderman Antique Maps</a> at </span></span>https://www.raremaps.com/gallery/detail/69539/arabien-kiepert. A portion around Sana (Sana'a) is shown above, with a large "B. Nehm" to the northeast. "B." stands for <i>belad</i> or <i>bilad</i> meaning "land" or "country," which is appropriate for a tribal region. This pushes the latest known NHM-related map from the nineteenth century from Gee's 1814 to at least 1848. </p><p>Kiepert's map also features a small "Nakam" to the east of Sana. I'd like to entertain the possibility that "Nakam" could be related to the Nihm
tribe, though here is it south of modern Nihm tribal lands. Perhaps the name is unrelated to the Nihm tribe, but it could be, and as discussed in the following section, several maps with "NKM" names might well be considered among our cartographical vestiges of ancient NHM influence in southern Yemen. <br /></p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Maps with Potentially Relevant "NKM" Names: Nikkum, Nakam<br /></h4><p>I first came across an "NKM" place name in Yemen while exploring <span class="hangingindent">Carsten Niebuhr's <i>Travels Through Arabia and Other Countries in the East</i>, vol. 1 (1792), available at Archive.org: <a href="https://archive.org/stream/travelsthroughar11nieb">https://archive.org/stream/travelsthroughar11nieb</a>, where a fold-out </span><span class="hangingindent">"Map of Yemen" shows a region north of Sana'a named "Nehhm" (p. 8). That map is the second of Gee's ten maps of interest. But much later in the text, Niebuhr mentions "mount <i>Nikkum</i>" near Sana'a. This </span><span class="hangingindent"><a href="https://archive.org/details/travelsthroughar11nieb/page/402/mode/2up?view=theater" target="_blank">mention of "Nikkum" occurs on p. 403</a>, shown below, though a misprint gives that page number as 340. </span></p><p><span class="hangingindent"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjoNQidQ51fh_2c2IddW5iu32not6udQiOT0oJk4OMlpLhW8DI5mYl1ufJAYaN_1QAOPj8I2qOq29xQaa__A6RJ2a7r7mVw9eNlqOofjHdNRu2Xn3Fun1c3gFLxVUproGBbv-ObF3yFCJXOwDJFSU6KSDnivIybwSIyAXnfynxCgTt0TaJAtGM=s634" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="634" height="203" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjoNQidQ51fh_2c2IddW5iu32not6udQiOT0oJk4OMlpLhW8DI5mYl1ufJAYaN_1QAOPj8I2qOq29xQaa__A6RJ2a7r7mVw9eNlqOofjHdNRu2Xn3Fun1c3gFLxVUproGBbv-ObF3yFCJXOwDJFSU6KSDnivIybwSIyAXnfynxCgTt0TaJAtGM=w400-h203" width="400" /></a></div><p>"Nikkum" is not shown on Niebuhr's map. Here's a portion of Niebuhr's uncolored <a href="https://archive.org/details/travelsthroughar11nieb/page/n23/mode/2up?view=theater" target="_blank">map from his book</a> showing "Nehhm" as well as "Sana" to the south and "Mareb" (Marib) to the east:</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiiE5RmxVi9uihG6mHsIR6GbB6KoPHc-83Xvt3Auy3tS_M3U7w828i5TuMWFFpYN-rp5WFwxpWOzRvqSotpH2Pp756aioxf3A0OaT7OjpBAd1j2eCqE1KyyaC3hx2GP9KVAKblBF26XuwoCXqZ06QUlzu6wgjLtmUOZiKJbCUdHrRgioEFhbM8=s1704" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="932" data-original-width="1704" height="219" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiiE5RmxVi9uihG6mHsIR6GbB6KoPHc-83Xvt3Auy3tS_M3U7w828i5TuMWFFpYN-rp5WFwxpWOzRvqSotpH2Pp756aioxf3A0OaT7OjpBAd1j2eCqE1KyyaC3hx2GP9KVAKblBF26XuwoCXqZ06QUlzu6wgjLtmUOZiKJbCUdHrRgioEFhbM8=w400-h219" width="400" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p>Slightly different hand-colored versions of the map were also printed separately from the book, such as the one shown in Gee's article, a portion of which is shown below. In both versions, the prominent "Nehhm" is surrounded with a border, suggesting it was a territory comprising several towns. <br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiLA8e4AQPoXJCrCCh85wyqkvCKuLKScBhZvsDxQ0b08Fg6ihIUxBorMi1TyeqI-5zllg1zEo1hu31tFWAntKr6Y68YeWhZwTq-4mV1QDlf3DkGEAnh1aMyF9lyG67dEE1Npnglqp2MAfeFr0oF4Uy0q_NY7waeceTyhZuZ75F2m_sNOzqVaqk=s1394" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="822" data-original-width="1394" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiLA8e4AQPoXJCrCCh85wyqkvCKuLKScBhZvsDxQ0b08Fg6ihIUxBorMi1TyeqI-5zllg1zEo1hu31tFWAntKr6Y68YeWhZwTq-4mV1QDlf3DkGEAnh1aMyF9lyG67dEE1Npnglqp2MAfeFr0oF4Uy0q_NY7waeceTyhZuZ75F2m_sNOzqVaqk=w400-h236" width="400" /></a></div><p>Several later sources refer to "Nikkum," perhaps drawing upon Niebuhr, such as Jedidiah Morse in <i>The American Universal Geography,</i> vol. 2 (Boston: Thomas and Andrews, 1812), p. 650, <a href="https://archive.org/details/americanuniversa02morsiala/page/650/mode/2up" target="_blank">available at Archive.org</a>, where "Nikkum" again is a mountain near Sana'a:<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjLjL18v6Li3hdQcDCvJB_44sqy6UuaTbBUSxGa-e3tCLzGaQTpTIPK9Da_R1hClg0vTweXlMrRfqhnRONt2zikvN41_O_m0jzRWog3-t4NwGtqt44_PDlXSCOj3vG046lYl5vHrGLVOGVUmQNdpzEo2X1EmHmb2XeqWJ6KIQgTamtHXevVFd8=s1542" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="190" data-original-width="1542" height="49" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjLjL18v6Li3hdQcDCvJB_44sqy6UuaTbBUSxGa-e3tCLzGaQTpTIPK9Da_R1hClg0vTweXlMrRfqhnRONt2zikvN41_O_m0jzRWog3-t4NwGtqt44_PDlXSCOj3vG046lYl5vHrGLVOGVUmQNdpzEo2X1EmHmb2XeqWJ6KIQgTamtHXevVFd8=w400-h49" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>Others include<span class="hangingindent"> Bayard Taylor, <i>Travels in Arabia</i> (New York: C. Scribner & Sons, 1893), p. 27, <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=2iirXNmoPt8C&pg=PA27">https://books.google.com/books?id=2iirXNmoPt8C&pg=PA27</a>; Meredith Townsend, <i>The Annals of Indian Administration</i>, vol. 3, part 2 (Serampore, India: J.C. Murray, 1859), p. 114, <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=jrAEAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA114">https://books.google.com/books?id=jrAEAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA114</a>; “Sanaa” in <i>Chambers’s Encyclopaedia: A Dictionary of Universal Knowledge for the People</i>, vol. 8 (London: W. and R. Chambers, 1880), p. 463, <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=LUlAAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA463">https://books.google.com/books?id=LUlAAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA463</a>; and Sir Robert Lambert Playfair, <i>A History of Arabia Felix Or Yemen </i>(Bombay: Education Society Press, 1859), p. 27, <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=i0oOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA27">https://books.google.com/books?id=i0oOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA27</a>.</span><p>While "mount Nikkum" is generally said to be very close to Sana'a, some maps show the "Nikkum Mountains" as a range that corresponds at least in part with Nihm tribal lands, including the region that is named Nehhm or Nehem on other maps. For example, in Philadelphia in 1846 and 1848, Samuel Augustus Mitchell, raised in Scotland, published a <a href="https://www.raremaps.com/gallery/detail/76127/persia-arabia-c-mitchell" target="_blank">map of "Persia, Arabia, etc." showing the "Nikkum Mountains,"</a> which can be viewed at <br />https://www.raremaps.com/gallery/detail/76127/persia-arabia-c-mitchell. The image below is from my personal copy of what was sold as an 1846 edition on Ebay, which I purchasd for just $20. The "Nikkum Mountains" are prominent in the upper right region, and are close to where other maps show Nehem or Nehhm. <br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgPucwYbeXYpGR0QoemfJh0qAU6oKz5ZrDOm3zC95PUKs20Cqg-2d6movGadf-XArUds40jrlmPV91buG2gEabfKjUXp9hsnvDK5AGP_Mggi69YB62nrUUYPlE27FIMkvbnLsLrjTV7z6-3LeQ973dSs_OeDO0svpcy0AP0VdVjNe00u0oIA3M=s1598" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1298" data-original-width="1598" height="325" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgPucwYbeXYpGR0QoemfJh0qAU6oKz5ZrDOm3zC95PUKs20Cqg-2d6movGadf-XArUds40jrlmPV91buG2gEabfKjUXp9hsnvDK5AGP_Mggi69YB62nrUUYPlE27FIMkvbnLsLrjTV7z6-3LeQ973dSs_OeDO0svpcy0AP0VdVjNe00u0oIA3M=w400-h325" width="400" /></a></div><p><br />Another map with "Nikkum" comes from Josiah Conder's 1825 book, <i>Arabia</i>, in <i>The Modern Traveler: A Popular Description, Geographical, Historical, and Topographical, of the Various Countries of the Globe </i>(London: James Duncan, 1825), which I discussed at some length in my 2017 article for <i>Interpreter</i>, "<a href="https://journal.interpreterfoundation.org/the-great-and-spacious-book-of-mormon-arcade-game-more-curious-works-from-book-of-mormon-critics/" target="_blank">The Great and Spacious Book of Mormon Arcade Game: More Curious Works from Book of Mormon Critics</a>." This map is difficult to find online, but I have found <a href="https://expydoc.com/doc/3937504/james-duncan%E2%80%93the-modern-traveller%E2%80%93arabia%E2%80%931825" target="_blank">a low-resolution version</a> or two. Fortunately, <a href="https://www.rookebooks.com/" target="_blank">Rooke Book</a>s of Bath, England kindly emailed me a photograph of their copy of Conder's 1825 map showing the region around Sana’a, where the "Nikkum M." label is northeast of Sana'a, as shown below, with "Nikkum" slightly left of center (click to enlarge):<br /></p><p></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiXUEL1ueRNX5YQ3GqiLGEF3y24AwA5WXAn74cPyuPH3rKq8Bn1XcFnrDbM5l0CrhUY2TKilCBixY9B_bdpRsOtm1Z62U-M8IFhuRZCQFo-V7lVDt38k-VC8jqaM_13HSGfFPOojn4LWr_UNz7u6tRScdC5AQiEgpv3BjYMrQZ67Jp1zJSbSbY=s420" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="420" data-original-width="420" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiXUEL1ueRNX5YQ3GqiLGEF3y24AwA5WXAn74cPyuPH3rKq8Bn1XcFnrDbM5l0CrhUY2TKilCBixY9B_bdpRsOtm1Z62U-M8IFhuRZCQFo-V7lVDt38k-VC8jqaM_13HSGfFPOojn4LWr_UNz7u6tRScdC5AQiEgpv3BjYMrQZ67Jp1zJSbSbY=w400-h400" width="400" /></a></div><p>For now I think it's plausible that the Nikkum mountains are related to the name Nahom/Nehem/Nehm./Nihm.<br /></p><h4 style="text-align: left;">A Note on Gee's Map #10, John Thomson, 1814</h4><p></p><p>Finally, I offer some information regarding the final Nahom-related map from James Gee's article, the 1814 map of John Thomson, where the presence of "Nehem" is very difficult to detect, as shown in this image from Gee's article where "Nehem" is virtually in the center but largely obscured by the dark mountain range under it:</p><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEicHTTZZUzZdXU5dxcqsKUhUA31eapl14R5gyNIvMinNdZ6jGtvDn4qVTxTaeVnMaaDQc-qwo4DU2iztrqM4HZLsxahOVtU8O1P-499pPXeK-CjF9CWiKEs3Ga77ft5ihJ0bG41QREJlIJFsJ2Fzrnrxp7iIV_QIJ2DAmS2fe2FCmpjVkK0FrM=s686" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="642" data-original-width="686" height="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEicHTTZZUzZdXU5dxcqsKUhUA31eapl14R5gyNIvMinNdZ6jGtvDn4qVTxTaeVnMaaDQc-qwo4DU2iztrqM4HZLsxahOVtU8O1P-499pPXeK-CjF9CWiKEs3Ga77ft5ihJ0bG41QREJlIJFsJ2Fzrnrxp7iIV_QIJ2DAmS2fe2FCmpjVkK0FrM=s320" width="320" /></a></div><br />While examining maps at <span><span><a href="https://www.raremaps.com/" target="_blank">Barry Lawrence Ruderman Antique Maps</a> a few weeks ago, I came across a large, beautiful map<i> </i>where "Nehem" was prominent and visible. I felt I had to buy it, even though it was fairly expensive (by my standards). With my wife's permission, I ordered the map, <a href="https://www.raremaps.com/gallery/detail/71422" target="_blank">labeled at raremaps.com as an 1814 map of John Thomson of Edinburgh</a>. I </span></span><span><span><span><span>was not thinking about its relationship to Gee's article apart from assuming that it was one of the maps Gee mentioned, and was </span></span> just happy to have found a map I could display with a Nahom-related name on it, We have lots of people over to our home, including grand children, and I have already enjoyed the chance to discuss the nicely framed map hanging on our wall and tell the story of Lehi's Trail and the growing body of Book of Mormon evidence.<span><span> </span></span></span></span><p></p><p><span><span><span><span>Only just now while writing this post did I notice that the map I bought isn't really one of the maps shown by Gee. It definitely is not the same as the 1814 John Thomson map in Gee's article. In fact, it's extremely
close but not exactly the same as Gee's map #8 by John Cary, printed in
1804. </span></span></span></span></p><p>Here's a view of the map I purchased:</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEisvAArra47HOHmNRhEKEHdksyUSNJiSXok9PkS4PqfM3JyBlgB-uUSZmWHI0xfwiDzde1iPkM7giW4wQkvo0vgyzpkB9mLA_v6E3jd735bVxW_3rFiAwg3BRBgmBiK6JYzaBvidmG0fzdgsviMnO6vlSXpHXr9WCH5WkD4Ldjl_AwfMIC0EcQ=s1024" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="923" data-original-width="1024" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEisvAArra47HOHmNRhEKEHdksyUSNJiSXok9PkS4PqfM3JyBlgB-uUSZmWHI0xfwiDzde1iPkM7giW4wQkvo0vgyzpkB9mLA_v6E3jd735bVxW_3rFiAwg3BRBgmBiK6JYzaBvidmG0fzdgsviMnO6vlSXpHXr9WCH5WkD4Ldjl_AwfMIC0EcQ=w400-h360" width="400" /></a></div><p>Here's a detailed view of my map showing Nehem clearly visible near the center, with Sana (Sana'a) in the lower left-hand corner::</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjYDlrhNCvdAFJu1-BypJubzrkIxTsVpVjnEfWrVzZC8AnrzCkHa2M9HMaWrgSzVnXGJaaT9ANxYvdzXQKrdhtDDuQTFwlioVnCHajFXjSEXRDqCgTeoKQYk-gVC7LS5s8HnJfpdSIj3wun0mX-xbYV6IHWxvbt2QoP48pTJQo7MFTT6qqVXhU=s501" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="404" data-original-width="501" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjYDlrhNCvdAFJu1-BypJubzrkIxTsVpVjnEfWrVzZC8AnrzCkHa2M9HMaWrgSzVnXGJaaT9ANxYvdzXQKrdhtDDuQTFwlioVnCHajFXjSEXRDqCgTeoKQYk-gVC7LS5s8HnJfpdSIj3wun0mX-xbYV6IHWxvbt2QoP48pTJQo7MFTT6qqVXhU=s320" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p>Is this just a different edition from Thomson, also published in 1814? The details behind the creation of old maps and even their precise dates are often somewhat cloudy. But I think it's an interesting addition to Gee's collection, giving us a cleaner view of the name "Nehem" and showing it near "Jof," which I presume is the same word shown on maps today as "Jawf" as in Wadi Jawf in Nihm tribal lands, the region where one make a risky but possible turn straight east, bypassing the Empty Quarter and, with a lot of luck or some miraculous Liahona-style guidance, make it to the entrance of a wadi that can bring you to either of a couple of impressive candidates for Bountiful (i.e., Wadi Sayq, leading to Khor Kharfot, the Bountiful candidate advocated by Warren Aston, or Wadi Darbat, leading to Khor Rori, the Bountiful candidate advocated by George Potter). </p><p>There may be a variety of other maps to consider that I've missed, so if you are aware of more, let me know. Feedback on the NKM proposal is also welcome. <br /></p><p>Lehi's Trail in the Arabian Peninsula continues to offer some of the
most interesting examples of evidence for Book of Mormon authenticity.
While the most impressive may be the candidates for Bountiful (Khor
Karfot with Wadi Sayq and Khor Rori with Wadi Darbat) and the candidate
for the River Laman and the Valley Lemuel at Wadi Tayyib al-Ism, we
must not forget the importance of an incredible <a href="https://knowhy.bookofmormoncentral.org/content/who-called-ishmaels-burial-place-nahom" target="_blank">candidate for Nahom</a> nor the recently explored and proposed <a href="https://journal.interpreterfoundation.org/nephis-shazer-the-fourth-arabian-pillar-of-the-book-of-mormon/" target="_blank">candidate for the place Shazer, as recently described by Warren Aston</a>. There's more to learn and more to explore. I am very grateful to adventuresome and dedicated investigators like Warren Aston and George Potter for their field work in challenging areas and for the scholarship of many others exploring aspects of Lehi's Trail and many other details of the Book of Mormon. This is such an exciting time to be a fan of that miraculous witness of Christ!<br /></p><br />Jeff Lindsayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08776493593387402607noreply@blogger.com25tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7139169.post-7652212721799466192022-01-16T22:25:00.006-06:002022-01-17T13:13:55.422-06:00Taliban Hackers Hijack Salt Lake Tribune Website, Call for Totalitarian Oppression of Unvaxxed<p>Thanks to certain contacts across Asia and the Middle East, I've heard off the record that a well-funded group of hackers working for the Taliban--now flush with resources after our generous exit--were responsible for the January 15 hacking of the normally secure Salt Lake Tribune website. On behalf of the Taliban, the hackers posted a shocking opinion column calling for government persecution, if not eradication, of the unvaxxed as if they were loathsome infidels. The result, of course, was the notorious column, "<a href="https://www.sltrib.com/opinion/editorial/2022/01/15/utah-leaders-have/" target="_blank">Utah leaders have surrendered to COVID pandemic, the Editorial Board writes</a>." The piece calls for one immediate action so radical that I feel readers should have immediately spotted the prank and recognized the hand of the Taliban:</p><p>
</p><p class="body-raw"></p><blockquote>Were Utah a truly civilized place, the governor’s next move
would be to find a way to mandate the kind of mass vaccination campaign we
should have launched a year ago, going as far as to <b>deploy the National Guard
to ensure that people without proof of vaccination would not be allowed, well,
anywhere</b>.</blockquote><p></p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p><p></p><br />Of course, this uncreative parody of Soylent Green, funny as it may be, reflects foreign confusion about how things work in America, where citizens don't need to carry papers to get a police state's approval to go places, and where a governor can't simply order troops to drive out citizens or even exterminate them (the apparent implication of not being allowed to be, well, anywhere, of course) when they don't comply with a regime's wishes of the moment. These are the crude fantasies of stone-age totalitarians (no offense to the Taliban intended -- there were many positives about the Stone Age, such as being relatively carbon neutral), not the fruit of the more literate and genteel minds behind the Tribune. <p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhxMYsOplO8QKWF4-bNJ2LM14Qj0YsMtSj0zupktQyz-QSm2oyLGE8TQMCw0tT20mgRwwiJb1OUg2QR0SgsRYojYcAsOROq308C1VIMrEDHgDlnSucYyFvjP0zu7H-spDaDNxNvTgO3oWAMXl3BQQnK7zxqov-WXu8dTOk7oTcmP2GoMIANM7E=s1524" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1206" data-original-width="1524" height="158" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhxMYsOplO8QKWF4-bNJ2LM14Qj0YsMtSj0zupktQyz-QSm2oyLGE8TQMCw0tT20mgRwwiJb1OUg2QR0SgsRYojYcAsOROq308C1VIMrEDHgDlnSucYyFvjP0zu7H-spDaDNxNvTgO3oWAMXl3BQQnK7zxqov-WXu8dTOk7oTcmP2GoMIANM7E=w200-h158" width="200" /></a></div>So please, don't take this seriously, and don't blame the Tribune. It's a Taliban thing, and not even the Taliban in general, I'm told, but a specific radical splinter group known as the <i>Talibune</i>, proud for one day to have written for the Salt Lake Talibune. Unfortunately, with the many billions of capital they recently received from us, they may have funding for many more similar gags in the near future, so please be on guard and be ready at all times to ignore apparent threats to your Constitutional rights. <p></p><p>Another tell-tale sign of Taliban origins is the so-last-year implication that this is a pandemic of the unvaccinated, and the appallingly divisive notion that if we can only get rid of those deplorables, our problems will be solved. The educated among us have long-since learned that the benefit of the vaccines is reducing personal risk when ill. Except for those living in caves (again, no offense, Taliban -- caves can be lovely places high in equity, vibrant communal living, and energy conservation), we've all realized that the vaccines don't do much to prevent transmission or prevent infection. Vaccines may be effective, especially for older people or and those with various health risks, in greatly reducing the impact of the disease, but the disease is going to spread and persist and mutate for years to come. Omicron is spreading among vaccinated and unvaccinated alike. I'm double vaxxed and was diagnosed early last week with COVID. as was my wife, who is also double vaxxed. It seems we can spread it and get it easily, vaxxed or not. I'm glad I'm vaxxed, but we need to <a href="https://mormanity.blogspot.com/2021/11/lets-have-some-compassion-for-our.html">respect the choice of those who hesitate or have legitimate reasons to wait</a>. </p><p>Finally, the surest evidence of all that the good folks at the real Salt Lake Tribune (not the Salt Lake Talibune!) did not write the hacked column of Jan. 15 might be the diversity implications of the piece. The Taliban don't yet understand that certain minorities in the US tend to be less vaccinated than white people. The pro-diversity and pro-equity minds that gently guide the Tribune certainly would not call for oppressive means to compel hesitant people of color to be denied basic rights. To think that we need to use the military power of the National Guard to bully them in order for Utah to be "more civilized" should make this ugly prank all the more obvious. It's just too bad it wasn't published on April 1 so readers would be more willing to ask if this was just an insensitive joke. With hackers like this running unfettered, from now on we must consider every day as April 1 when we read the news. <br /></p><p>Without a legitimate social good argument, without a reasonable right in America to deny personal privacy and body sovereignty ("my body, my choice"), and now <i>with</i> the availability of effective treatments for mitigating the impact of the disease, there is no justification to compel anyone to take an injection, especially one that has not had the normal years of extensive safety testing, an injection that is not needed as the only possible way to cope with an existential threat. Whether to get it or not must be a personal decision based on <i>informed consent and free will</i>, not bureaucrats deciding they should determine what medical treatment others get, and forcing all of us to carry papers are if subjects of totalitarians who get to determine where and when we can have their permission to gather or travel. That may seem OK to the writers of a gag column on the other side of the world, but this is still America, a place with traditions, freedoms, and laws that the Talibune authors obviously do not grasp. <br /></p><p>But how could this have happened in the first place? How did the primitive Talibune manage to bypass 21st century security systems to place their divisive verbal malware on the Tribune's site? My hacker friends in Asia (whose existence I can neither confirm nor deny, for the record) believe the breach occurred via a non-compliant Windows 10 computer that had refused the latest anti-virus booster. The partially unvaxxed device is being hauled away by the National Guard as we speak for the greater good and will be recycled into pleasant green motherboard materials to sustain more worthy low-carbon-footprint computers in the future. </p><p>Again, please remain calm, carry on, and above all don't blame the Tribune or cancel your subscription. <br /></p>Jeff Lindsayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08776493593387402607noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7139169.post-18383965019323721352022-01-16T03:30:00.008-06:002022-01-16T03:40:27.432-06:00Do I Dare Join the Woman in the Boat?<p> </p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 15 px;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjZplmDXFwnl2-Ys8awJDBqMEH9SSAQYYocY2z10ou9QHXhe52n3FO-MuM-2aJDWMkcyPJpON61d_DndUilV_C5XjX2kaG_8ExEmy5rnQ4aZ-BUtmlpg3ALJSG2RkkQinPGS2Rd0n7Fnx9CoT5GFnEGzWKgHqE526T4ZgFeaIIcDNLv2KRKvLc=s1000" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Arthur Becher: Woman Reading in a Boat, ca. 1910" border="0" data-original-height="714" data-original-width="1000" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjZplmDXFwnl2-Ys8awJDBqMEH9SSAQYYocY2z10ou9QHXhe52n3FO-MuM-2aJDWMkcyPJpON61d_DndUilV_C5XjX2kaG_8ExEmy5rnQ4aZ-BUtmlpg3ALJSG2RkkQinPGS2Rd0n7Fnx9CoT5GFnEGzWKgHqE526T4ZgFeaIIcDNLv2KRKvLc=w320-h228" title="Arthur Becher: Woman Reading in a Boat, ca. 1910" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Woman Reading in a Boat" <br />by Arthur Becher, ca. 1910. </td></tr></tbody></table>I just awoke from a dream, or series of dreamlike images, in which I stood on my familiar shore at a dock. There at the side of the dock was a small boat, a row boat, with a passenger waiting for someone to join her. The woman in the boat was not necessarily beautiful but certainly young, perhaps 30, and mysterious. She was dressed warmly and in a very old style. Her smile was familiar and seemed to beckon: "Come join me for a ride. You row, and I'll show you how different your shore looks from the middle of the lake where I live. What is big to you now will seem small. And you'll also see where I live. It's on the island, in a secluded building behind a wall. It's called a sanitarium."<br /><br />The term "sanitarium" was part of the dreamlike experience and recalled my days in China were I was surprised to see buildings with titles like "City of Shanghai Workers' Sanitarium." To me, "sanitarium" often means a residence for the treatment of the severely mentally ill, but it can also mean a place or institution concerned with promoting health. Rather than an institution for those society shuns as insane, it might be simply a place for healing of many kinds.<br /><br />But why would I set foot on the boat and begin the hard work of rowing just to see a new perspective offered by a stranger? This is the challenge readers have when confronted with the invitation from any author. Why should I bother? Why should I care about seeing my world from afar or getting up close to you and your island and especially your sanitarium? That just sounds a little crazy.<br /><br />It took several glances for me to understand the familiarity of the dark-haired woman and her smile. She was quiet, she was patient, and she simply sat there, waiting, as if she knew eventually I would take the frightening step of shifting my weight away from what is firm and safe for the rocky, insecure boat, to pick up the oars and begin what could be a difficult journey to unknown regions. <br /><br />The woman, I suddenly realized after the dream sequence, was my mother. Not quite the same eighty-nine-year-old dementia patient I now call Mom, who doesn't remember my name and who, when not in cheerful mood, will yell or scream with an operatic voice to command me and others to whatever has suddenly become urgent, but the woman in the boat was my mother when she was much younger, perhaps when she was a young mother quite busy in caring for her firstborn and soon five more siblings to follow me. Much of her mind today is trapped in times when she was still young and active, and her mind was keen. Sharp-witted, well read on a number of topics, humorous, sometimes cynical or angry, she has left many writings in journals and letters that can entertain but also trouble or perplex. I feel something about her is inviting me to pick up the oars and row to join her in seeing a different horizon and understanding that deep down, she is not the dementia patient that her decaying mind presents, but a young woman inviting me to see her in another way, on her island, in a sanitarium, or sanatorium, a place of nurturing and healing where the healing may be mine. <br /><br />In my next visit, I see it's time I take her documents more seriously and begin rowing. <br /><br />The invitation to step into a boat and row to a new place can be frightening, but I think many of our ancestors are inviting us to take this journey. Such journeys I think are part of the spirit of family history work, connecting the hearts of the children to the fathers and certainly to the mothers. It may be as simple as learning their names, their birthplace, and a few details about their lives, while for others there are mysterious clues wrapped up in just a few pages of writing and perhaps a damaged photograph or two. For some there are worlds of exploration open to us now through their writings or other compilations of information and stories that can lead us to see details of their islands and let us view our own comfortable world with new respect, understanding how some things we think are big may be quite small, and how some of the biggest things don't even come into view until we've rowed for quite a while. <br /><br />How odd that some random dreams and images could move me to arise at 3 AM to write about a new resolution for this year. I look forward to learning more about that mysterious woman in the boat, the familiar woman I've known as "Mother" all my life. <br /><br /><p></p>Jeff Lindsayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08776493593387402607noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7139169.post-87444801144811716582022-01-11T15:16:00.000-06:002022-01-11T15:16:02.707-06:00Science as a Faith: Do We Need Another Restoration?<p>One of our nation's leading bodies of scientific influence, the Center for Disease Control, is citing their <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7102e2.htm" target="_blank">recent scientific study</a> -- as are their media allies like the <i>New York Times</i> -- to encourage parents to have their children vaccinated. The study has some easy-to-understand objectives and principles that make it a great topic for talking about science and how science works. If you care about the science education of those around you, this study might be a good one to discuss. Strangely, it can also help you understand how science is much different than religion and politics, particularly political propaganda. </p><p>When scientists do science, they must always understand that an apparent effect can have many causes and that there can be random variation that influences their observations. A "study" that doesn't try very hard to honestly consider such problems is not scientific. For example, if I have a friend who wears bright green shirts and that friend has diabetes, I might think, "Ah ha, perhaps bright green colors cause diabetes." But something else might be the cause. One human data point is not enough. To be more fair, I might go interview hundreds of diabetes patients and ask them if they have ever worn bright green colors or eaten foods with bright green food coloring. "Wow, 52% of diabetes patients have repeatedly worn bright green, and 96% have eaten bright green, and <i>72% regularly eat bright green</i>! Bingo!" But that still doesn't mean anything. It's too early to condemn Mountain Dew, Skittles, and green apple Jelly Belly jelly beans for their greenness. A control group is needed in which we compare people who are similar but don't have diabetes. </p><p>Things become more meaningful and more interesting when you add a control group. Imagine interviewing 1000 healthy people and finding that only 50% of them have ever knowingly worn or consumed bright green. Hypothesis confirmed? We're not there yet. What if the healthy people were also much younger than the diabetes patients we interviewed? What if they live in much different environments, have much different genes, have much different patterns of exercise and diet, and eat much different foods? Even if we do our best to account for all this, there is still the possibility that a statistically significant relationship between diabetes and bright green foods is not because bright green food coloring causes diabetes, but is merely correlated with a factor that is the actual cause. In this case, bright green food coloring may be consumed more by those with diabetes because it is part of a less healthy diet that they prefer, a diet with abundant bright green food coloring added to candy, soda, and various sweets, for example. The point here is that doing a study in a scientific way takes a lot of caution and thinking, and a desire to be fair and honest before we dare to declare that a hypothesis even seems to have scientific support. </p><p>Now let's look at the CDC study on diabetes and COVID. The study is "<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7102e2.htm" target="_blank">Risk for Newly Diagnosed Diabetes > 30 Days After Sars-CoV-2 Infection Among Persons Aged < 30 Years -- United States, March 1, 2020 - June 28, 2021</a>," prepared by Catherine E. Barrett et al., released Jan. 7, 2021. Here is the summary as published on the CDC website:</p><p><b></b></p><blockquote><h4 style="text-align: left;"><b>Summary</b></h4><p><b>What is already known about this topic?</b></p>
<p>SARS-CoV-2 infection is associated with worsening of diabetes
symptoms, and persons with diabetes are at increased risk for severe
COVID-19. SARS-CoV-2 infection might also induce newly diagnosed
diabetes.</p>
<p><b>What is added by this report?</b></p>
<p>Persons aged <18 years with COVID-19 were more likely to receive a
new diabetes diagnosis >30 days after infection than were those
without COVID-19 and those with prepandemic acute respiratory
infections. Non–SARS-CoV-2 respiratory infection was not associated with
an increased risk for diabetes.</p>
<p><b>What are the implications for public health practice?</b></p>
<p>The increased diabetes risk among persons aged <18 years following
COVID-19 highlights the importance of COVID-19 prevention strategies in
this age group, including vaccination for all eligible persons and
chronic disease prevention and treatment.</p></blockquote><p></p><p>So the CDC is calling for increased vaccination of young people because of the frightful risk of diabetes that can be caused by COVID, as demonstrated by their scientific study. Many parents will be frightened by this and may feel an increased need to take the risk of vaccination for their kids to prevent lifelong harm from diabetes. Here is where you can start doing science, if you are not a scientist, by thinking for yourself and asking questions, a practice that is actually the foundation of the scientific method. That's right, "follow the science" in the scientific world really means follow the scientific method, which begins with daring to ask questions and then seeing if the data fits a hypothesis, or not. Unfortunately, in some other worlds, such as the world of politics, ,"follow the science" means just the opposite: quit asking questions and trust your glorious leader. That's actually much more like religion when it tells you to just believe. (Good religion, in my opinion, allows for questions and doubt while seeking to provide meaningful answers and yet recognizing that faith is always needed, but not blind faith. I like faith that can grow as a result of asking questions and seeking answers patiently.)</p><p>Step one is understanding what the study did. It begins by mentioning that it is known that adults with COVID are more likely to have diabetes than those who don't. It's well known that obesity is a major factor associated with risk of death and hospitalization for adult COVID patients. The studies cited (references 4-7 in the study) all deal with patients requiring medical care. That's clear from the titles of three of the studies, and <a href="https://dom-pubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/dom.14269" target="_blank">the other one (Sattish et al.)</a> was a meta-analysis of many studies wherein "all studies were hospital-based, and the patients were mostly severely or critically ill." COVID patients needing hospitalization are much more likely to be obese. Sattish et al. state that, "While newly diagnosed diabetes in COVID-19 patients could be attributed
to the stress response associated with severe illness or treatment with
glucocorticoids, the diabetogenic effect of COVID-19 should also be
considered...." But again, this is looking at hospitalized patients who are much more likely to be obese and have other comorbidities. What happens when BMI or other indicators of obesity are considered? that's an important question for adults and perhaps the first issue to consider in a study of children. <br /></p><p>So how did the CDC study account for the important issue of obesity and other related factor? Here you don't have to wade through the entire study. Just search for the word "obesity" and note that it occurs only once in this critical sentence: "Third, <b>the present analyses lacked information on covariates that could
have affected the association between COVID-19 and incident diabetes,
including prediabetes, race/ethnicity, and obesity status</b>."</p><p>Hold on, you mean that the extensive healthcare databases they relied on didn't include any clues about the basic health of the children being examined? Nothing on body weight, BMI, or other indicators on obesity? No data on blood sugar level (<a href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/prediabetes/symptoms-causes/syc-20355278" target="_blank">prediabetes</a> means blood sugar is high)? Really? </p><p>But that's just one of several gaps. As you read the study, there are a number of questions one should ask to see if the study is based on real science or something else. A very mainstream doctor and scientist, Vinay Prasad MD MPH, a hematologist-oncologist and Associate Professor
in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University
of California San Francisco, has done some of that work for you already in his post, "<a href="https://vinayprasadmdmph.substack.com/p/does-covid19-cause-diabetes-in-kids" target="_blank">Does COVID19 cause diabetes in kids? The CDC's publishes an embarrassing study,</a>" Jan. 8, 2021. Here's an excerpt that begins with a discussion of the two databases that were used, IQVIA and HealthVerity:</p><p></p><blockquote><p>In IQVIA, among kids with COVID19, a whopping 68 out of 80,000+ or
0.08% ended with diabetes; among kids without COVID19, it was 132 out
of 400,000+ or 0.03% ended up with diabetes, and among kids with prior
respiratory infection it was ~0.06%</p><p>The absolute risk of diabetes
due to COVID (if you believed this is causal) appears to be an increase
on par with a swiftly eaten bag of skittles.</p><p>Now in the
HealthVerity database, the risk of diabetes post COVID19 was 0.25% (a
quarter of 1 percent), if you were tested for COVID19 but negative, it
was 0.19% (one fifth of 1 percent). Here, COVID appears as risky as a
McDonalds supersized soda.</p><p>The CDC trumpets this finding as “children and teens 18 years & younger who have had <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/COVID19?src=hashtag_click" rel="">#COVID19</a> are up to <a href="https://twitter.com/CDCgov/status/1479528331825582081" rel="">2.5 times more likely</a> to have a <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/diabetes?src=hashtag_click" rel="">#diabetes</a> diagnosis after infection”</p><p>Is that a fair take away or a fear-mongering distortion?</p><p>First,
the whole analysis hinges on the idea that age-sex matched kids without COVID should be comparable to the kids who got covid in terms of risk
of diabetes. The only difference between the kids should be that some,
unfortunately, had COVID. But COVID may be more likely to affect kids
of lower socioeconomic status, of certain races, and kids who were
already overweight or suffering from medical problems.</p><p>Does the
CDC attempt to correct for any of these confounders? Not at all.
They surely have height and weight, and could adjust for BMI, but do
not. I am truly puzzled as to why.</p><p>Second, they don’t have the
true denominator. This is only kids who present and have a COVID19
diagnosis. Seroprevalence [evidence of COVID from blood tests] is needed to find the real denominator of
kids with COVID19. This will lower the absolute risks. COVID19 may be
downgraded from a whole bag of skittles to a single, red skittle. </p><p>Does the CDC adjust for this? Nope</p><p>Third,
kids who seek medical care for COVID19 may get more blood tests than
those without COVID19, and perhaps more than those with other
respiratory viruses in yesteryear. This too may capture more diabetes.
</p><p>Does the CDC correct for ascertainment? Not at all</p><p>Finally,
the HealthVerity database is particularly odd, as the kids who get
tested but test negative might be very dissimilar from those with
COVID19. It may include some who are planning a trip to Maui (Hawaii
used to require testing to visit), and compare them to kids who come in
feeling very sick.</p><p>Does the CDC correct for this? No....</p><p>Lastly, the CDC uses this study to push vaccination, the
findings “underscore the importance of COVID-19 prevention among all age
groups, including vaccination for all eligible children and
adolescents…”. But, the study provides no useful information to further
weigh the risk benefit balance for vaccination beyond what was presented
at the VRBAC meeting for 5 to 11, and a prior one on 12-17, a topic of
wide global debate, with differing recommendations by nation (US vs UK).</p><p>As
Marty Makary says, the CDC’s study would not pass a 7th grade science
fair competition. It is certainly not serious scholarship. I have no
idea if COVID19 causes more diabetes in kids than not having it; and the
study gives me no better information to guide vaccination policies. <br /></p></blockquote><p> Or you can watch Dr. Prasad discuss this study on YouTube:</p><p><br />
<iframe frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://youtube.com/embed/FBUshlyJYJ4" style="background-image: url(https://i.ytimg.com/vi/FBUshlyJYJ4/hqdefault.jpg);" width="480"></iframe>
</p><p>Maybe it's true that the databases the CDC study chose to examine did not make such information available, but even then, given what is known about obesity and COVID, it should have been possible to make some reasonable adjustments. In fact, the CDC's own data could have been applied to make this study slightly more reasonable. See V. Wanga et al., "<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm705152a3.htm?s_cid=mmmm705152a3_w#suggestedcitation" target="_blank">Characteristics and Clinical Outcomes
of Children and Adolescents Aged <18 Years Hospitalized with
COVID-19 — Six Hospitals, United States, July–August 2021</a>," MMWR Morbidity and
Mortality Weekly Report, 70 (2021):1766–1772, DOI: <a class="tp-link-policy" data-domain-ext="org" href="http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm705152a3" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm705152a3</a>. There we find that among young people hospitalized for acute COVID, "approximately two thirds of those aged 12–17 years had obesity." That's much higher than normal, according to the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/childhood.html" target="_blank">CDC's data on childhood obesity</a> or to data shared by <a href="http://StateofChildhoodObesity.org/">StateofChildhoodObesity.org</a>.</p><p>Failure to even try to consider obesity and prediabetes means that this
study wasn't about doing real science, but something else. Propaganda, perhaps, for the noble cause of scaring parents into having their children be vaccinated for a disease that has almost no risk for children and has not had the years of safety testing normally needed to approve a new vaccine nor even the same level of testing as the vaccines approved for adults. </p><p>I know, to question the CDC or Fauci is to question the faith, the Faith of Science itself, where the new scientific method is to listen faithfully to the Anointed Experts and High Priests of Science, and stop asking apostate questions or be cancelled and shamed. But back in the days before science became a faith, the scientific method was all about asking questions and not relying on authority but data and inquiry to figure things out. Maybe it's time for another restoration, or a little less faith.</p><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p> <br /></p>Jeff Lindsayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08776493593387402607noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7139169.post-48985388049972691882022-01-01T12:25:00.012-06:002022-01-02T20:44:02.069-06:00Many Questions about Dementia and Just One Answer So Far<p>An expert on senior care, Professor Thomas Kitwood, <a href="https://www.scie.org.uk/dementia/after-diagnosis/communication/understanding-dementia.asp" target="_blank">once quipped</a> that "when you've met one person patient with dementia, you've met ... one person with dementia." The point, of course, is that every dementia patient is unique, with an endless range of variety in behavior and symptoms. <br /><br />The past 3 years and especially the past 3 weeks have given my wife and me a wide variety of experiences with dementia. We have experienced very little compared to those hidden heroes of humanity who are helping a loved one every day for years, giving much of their life in complete but often unthanked service. Still, in our occasional efforts to assist others with their heavy caregiver duties, we've encountered incredible variety. <br /><br />One woman was sweet and grateful for every little thing we did, while another was angry, demanding, and utterly implacable. Another was deeply spiritual, always speaking of her faith and the Lord, with an authority as if she were a prophetess dictating scripture for her posterity, while shortly after that I dealt with a patient who mocked the Church and my faith, cackling with sarcasm about the idiotic Mormons. One was shy and very private, unwilling to allow me as a male to assist in bathroom duties, while another was uninhibited and highly inappropriate in sexual language and flirtatious behavior. <br /><br />One was quiet and demure, while another cursed constantly, apparently feeling, as many modern comedians do, that her repetitive use of profanity was wildly entertaining. One kicked, scratched, gouged, and screamed at the top of her mighty lungs with what seemed like a powerful operatic voice gone evil, while another was gentle and loved to have her hand held and her back scratched. Yet another also yelled loudly, but in exuberant joy, shouting "Hallelujah" and singing in delight when someone she loved showed up or when she ate an especially delicious and exotic delicacy such as my wife's amazing buttered toast with a touch of honey. <br /><br />One is deeply moved by beautiful music, becoming calm and even moved to tears of joy when listening to Handel's Hallelujah Chorus, while the same music causes another to grow angry as if listening to pure noise, demanding that we "turn that cra* off!" One was noted for her passionate interest in her cats, even secretly stashing away bits of Kentucky Fried chicken wrapped in tissues under her bed, in her pockets, and elsewhere so that she could later feed her favorite food to her precious cats when her guardians weren't watching since the vet had ordered her to not feed that greasy food to the overweight "children," as she called them. Another knew she had pets but largely ignored them, neither feeding nor petting her once beloved felines, though she would look at them occasionally. <br /><br />One is constantly on the go, demanding that we hurry, hurry, hurry and move her about or rush her into the car and take her to her birthplace in southern Utah, loving nothing more than a long drive, while another will become agitated in the car and may strongly resist getting in, even when it is necessary for a doctor visit or other purpose. <br /><br />One missed her husband dearly and constantly asked where he was. Time after time after time she became solemn when I broke the bad news that he had just passed away last week, last month, or last year. Another seems to have no idea that she had been married, and one, in spite of raising six children in a long and happy marriage, suddenly "came out" this week and declared that she loved and wanted women, women, women (though it soon appeared that her orientation at the moment was actually bisexual). </p><p>Such variety among elderly people with dementia was surprising to me, especially since all of them are the same person, my mother. <br /><br />I mention this with the approval of her guardian, my sister, and in a desire to know what others experience and what science might tell us, if any of you are up on the latest research. I'm also interested in the possibility that these wildly different aspects of one person with dementia might be related to dissociative identity disorder (also called multiple personality disorder). Years ago, a noteworthy amount of my time while serving as bishop involved working with a woman with dissociative identity disorder. In exploring what this woman was going through, it turned out that there were 76 distinct identities, I think all with names and many with ages, possibly related to various times of great fear in her terribly painful life, victimized by a large number of people. Some of the greatest spiritual experiences and most obvious miraculous events in my life occurred when working with that woman, and I feel that period was one of the most precious and important times of my life. She had excellent professional help, but I hope that my efforts to help were also of some value. In any case, today she strikes me as an amazingly helpful and successful woman who blesses the lives of many others in hearty service. She attributes her healing to the power of the Savior, which I think is the only explanation for the healing and restoration that has occurred. <br /><br />The phenomenon of multiple personalities, though disparaged by some experts, is one that I find to be real and convincing, based on two people I've worked with, both of whom experienced severe trauma in their lives. But that phenomenon seems surprisingly familiar to me in dealing with my mother these days, where there seem to be a number of distinct personalities that can switch in and out. I used to just think of these as "moods" but it's not just a happy mood or bad mood. It really is more like different sets of characteristics coming in and out of focus, sometimes very quickly, triggering between the cackling sarcastic woman who seems possessed by demons to the sweet, gentle, grateful mother I like best or versions of the various characters described above. There are differences and maybe it's better to consider just a collection of diverse attitudes that can be brought out by different triggers. Whatever it is, I'm curious to know more and welcome your thoughts.</p><p>Do any of you see similar traits in the elderly people with dementia that you deal with? Is it possible that the fragmentation behind multiple personality disorders could have a relationship with some forms of dementia?<br /><br />There is one thing that seems certain and clear amid all this mental vacillation and all my unanswered questions. No matter where she is mentally, she remembers that she has children and wonders where they are. She may not remember their names, where they live, or even how many she has, but she knows she has them, and she wonders why they aren't here with her. She is happy when family members are around. She loves to be the center of attention, but also loves just to have the bustle of multiple loved ones nearby, even if they are talking to each other and not always with her. "Where are the others?" is a common question when few are in the house, and the desire to be loved seems to be the basis of this trait. <br /><br />While she forgets so much and can ask the same question over and over again for many minutes without remembering that she's been given the answer already, she recognizes people who love her and is happy to have them around. If someone treats her poorly, as had happened in her mind with some caregivers or healthcare workers, she doesn't trust them after that. Strangers who come to serve her with kindness will soon gain her trust and she will recognize them and be happy to seem them once that rapport is built. She's very sensitive and very aware, even if the names of things and loved ones slip away. She may seem like a wild animal or toddler at times, but there's a sensitive woman in there in need of compassion and love. <br /><br />I have many questions about this tiring work of caring for the elderly and know so little, but have learned that those like my sister and her husband or an aunt of mine and her husband who have sacrificed so much of their lives and careers to provide the best care at home (when this is possible) for a declining parent or loved one are real heroes and deserve more support and recognition from the rest of us. I also suspect that no matter how desperate the mental state of a loved one is, visits and attention will bless them, even if they can't say thanks, even if they don't seem grateful or happy, and even if when they first look at you, as my mother did to me at the beginning of this visit, they say, "Get the he** out!" I left for a while, and a couple hours later she was grateful that I was here. <br /></p><p>Questions abound about what to do (e.g., home care vs. care in a facility) and what's happening in their head, but as with so many of our deepest challenges in life, love is the answer. Treat them with love, even though it may never be reciprocated in this life, knowing that our elderly are beloved sons and daughters of God who sense and feel our love for them, at least in their souls, and this love will be remembered when we meet again after this life. Spend time with them and express your love as best you can to follow that basic commandment, "Honor thy father and thy mother." </p><p>In addition to seeking to love our elderly, let's be sure to love, respect, and support those who step up for what can be the most difficult service of all, caring day after for a person in need of constant help. I'm amazed at the love and sacrifice of some of these heroes. We'll be heading back to the comforts of home and the joy of our own nearby grandchildren soon, while the needs of this unpredictable woman will continue on and on. I'm so touched by the work of those who live with her and week after week oversee her care. <br /></p><p>The woman who was angry, shouting, and trying to gouge me in the middle of the night is now cheerful and is begging to get in the car and go. We're going to give this a try and see how far we can go. The weather looks great for a change. Wish us luck! <br /></p>Jeff Lindsayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08776493593387402607noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7139169.post-55740648296535957692021-12-26T11:04:00.010-06:002021-12-27T22:35:43.472-06:00May We Follow the Science and Stand for Life <p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgdB8pho05Gyw88BpyEh1iLChGwcD7bT-LDCed62A_GqDdIYU_H5bsfs28mYcINrvKku0Rihp2EIn7Dy1WfWAFlwg73QeEhx3ziM1jZEUtMPvaPUxF3CrMiMUJpb6vLoOWfhCuJyLaGicLNuer54oDxpaaE_-8FDafj_wj2-GLfeP0YnVn6HMk=s590" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="590" data-original-width="540" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgdB8pho05Gyw88BpyEh1iLChGwcD7bT-LDCed62A_GqDdIYU_H5bsfs28mYcINrvKku0Rihp2EIn7Dy1WfWAFlwg73QeEhx3ziM1jZEUtMPvaPUxF3CrMiMUJpb6vLoOWfhCuJyLaGicLNuer54oDxpaaE_-8FDafj_wj2-GLfeP0YnVn6HMk=s320" width="293" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From <i>The Chosen</i>, "The Messengers"<br /></td></tr></tbody></table>I began my Christmas Day by watching the "Messengers" episode of <i>The Chosen</i> in which the baby Jesus is born. It was touching to contemplate the physical reality of his birth and the courage and love of his mother, a mother that to the world was a seemingly unworthy mother out of wedlock. The Son of God was born in an unsanitary manger, small, weak, and vulnerable. His life was preserved, though there were those who would have slain him even as an infant. <p></p><p>I could not help but ponder the fate of other vulnerable infants in our day in a nation where tens of million have suffered the brutality of abortion. <br /></p><p>If we are going to sincerely follow the science as we deal with the medical and social issues of our days, let's follow the science of life. What we have learned in the past few decades about the miracle of life has expanded our horizons in many ways, revealing the miraculous brilliance and majesty hidden in our cells and our genes, steadily adding to the wonder of reproduction. Science today makes it abundantly clear that an unborn child is a unique human. It is not merely a clump of cells that is part of the mother's body, but a unique human with its own brain, its own circulatory system, and of course its own unique DNA. It is a separate body, vulnerable but alive, sheltered in the body of the mother. That tiny infant is more than amazing -- it is miraculous, a divine gift. Based on the latest science, we now know much more about what happens in the life of this delicate human after conception. Here's a three-minute scientific visualization, "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-lQOooYAs8" target="_blank">Meet Baby Olivia</a>" from <a href="http://LiveAction.org">LiveAction.org</a>, that could help save the lives of millions if more of us were to grasp and follow this science:</p><p><br />
<iframe frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://youtube.com/embed/S-lQOooYAs8" width="480"></iframe>
<br /> </p><p>How have we reached a state where our law discounts the value of a human life before birth and allows millions of the unborn to be killed?<br /></p><p>Many liberal scholars and lawyers <a href="https://illinoisfamily.org/life/what-truth-telling-liberals-say-about-roe-v-wade-2/" target="_blank">admit that the law behind <i>Roe v. Wade</i> was abysmal</a>. (For further details, see "<a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/the-pervading-dishonesty-of-roe-v-wade" target="_blank">The pervading dishonesty of <i>Roe v. Wade</i></a>" by Timothy P. Carney, <i>Washington Examiner</i>, Jan. 23, 2012.) But the bad science used to deny the humanity of the victims of abortion and to mask the brutality of abortion also needs more attention. <br /></p><p><i>Roe v. Wade</i> relied upon what was already bad science in 1973. Part of that bad science was the claim that the unborn child could not feel pain during the brutal abortion procedure. Doctors who care for unborn and premature children are aware of the obvious fact that they feel pain and are extremely sensitive. Few parents would choose abortion of they understood that they had been deliberately lied to by abortion advocates claiming that the baby does not feel pain. Few could endure the thought of the painful brutality of today's abortion procedures that occur in the second or third trimesters if they knew the basics of the science about the unborn child. We must learn from science to help our withering civilization become more humane. </p><p>Part of the bad science behind <i>Roe v. Wade</i> involved claims about when the fetus can become viable outside the womb. As science has progressed, the ability to save the life of a premature infant has far exceeded what was thought possible in 1973. In 1973, it was generally believed that a fetus born before 28 weeks could not survive. Today those born at 28 weeks routinely survive. <a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/mkt_morningbrief/less-than-1lb-preemie-who-was-kept-warm-in-sandwich-bag-and-bubble-wrap-is-now-thriving_3870538.html" target="_blank">A fetus weighing only 1 pound or less can live outside the womb</a> and be given hope for a happy and productive life. But viability outside the womb may not be a reasonable criterion to decide whether the unborn child has any rights. The humanity of the living fetus needs to be considered, not just its dependence on others. <br /></p><p>Part of the bad science behind <i>Roe v. Wade</i> was the claim that there was no scientific consensus on when life began. Other questionable aspects of the evidence presented to justify the decision include completely fraudulent data, such as the numbers presented to make it seem like thousands of women were dying from illegal abortion, that legal abortion would save women's lives, and, of course, that the fetus is not yet a human being. See "<a href="https://www.liveaction.org/news/roe-v-wade-lies-legal-abortion/" target="_blank">Exposing the six lies of <i>Roe v. Wade</i> that led to legal abortion</a>" by Nancy Flanders. <br /></p><p>Here are the thoughts of a doctor who is focused on the care of the unborn, Dr. Grazie Pozo Christie, author of "<a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-obsolete-science-behind-roe-v-wade-abortion-fetus-supreme-court-ultrasound-11635449644" target="_blank">The Obsolete Science Behind Roe v. Wade</a>" for the <i>Wall Street Journal</i>, Oct. 28, 2021:<br /></p><p></p><blockquote><p>As a diagnostic radiologist—whose youngest patients are fetuses, who
are very much alive—I submitted a friend-of-the-court brief in <i>Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization</i> urging the justices to rethink <i>Roe, </i>a
case premised on a claim about science. I was joined by two other
female physicians, a neonatologist and an obstetrician, who also value
their youngest patients, believing that whether inside their mothers or
born, premature or full-term, they are worthy of respect and protection.
</p>
<p>Ultrasound technology was in its infancy in the 1970s, when
there was much more uncertainty about life before birth. The first
ultrasound machines, introduced in 1958, were enormous, and the images
were rudimentary. It was only in the later 1970s that fetal ultrasound
became widely available, with increasingly detailed images of
recognizably human babies. Black-and-white ultrasound images are now
found on refrigerators of expectant parents across America. New
three-dimensional images have put a human face on the person once
dehumanized as a mere clump of cells.</p>
<p>Perfectly apparent now, to the justices sitting on today’s
court as well as the public, are the liveliness and humanity of babies
at 15 weeks of gestation—the age at which Mississippi proposes to
protect them from elective termination.</p><p>Nestled within their mothers, these fetuses on average are 6.4
inches long and weigh 4.1 ounces. They have the proportions of a
newborn—seemingly all head and rounded belly. The major organs are
formed and functioning, and although the child receives nutrients and
oxygen through the mother’s umbilical cord, the fetal digestive, urinary
and respiratory systems are practicing for life outside the womb. The
sex of the child is easy to discern by this point. The baby swallows and
even breathes, filling the lungs with amniotic fluid and expelling it.
The heart is fully formed, its four chambers working hard, with the
delicate valves opening and closing. </p>
<p>A healthy baby at 15 weeks is an active baby. Unless the child
is asleep, kicking and arm-waving are commonly seen during ultrasound
evaluations. The fetal spine is a marvel of intricacy, and it is most
often gently curved as the fetus rests against the mother’s uterine
wall. Often, I watch as babies plant their feet against the uterine wall
and stretch vigorously. Sometimes a delicate hand—with all five
fingers—approaches the face and appears to scratch an itch. Fingernails
aren’t visible, but they are present. We can see how the bones of the
leg meet the tiny ankles and the many-boned feet.</p>
<p>At 15 weeks, the brain’s frontal lobes, ventricles, and
thalamus fill the oval-shaped skull. The baby’s profile is endearing in
its petite perfection: gently sloping nose, distinct upper and lower
lips, eyes that open and close. With the advent of 3D ultrasound, we can
now see the fetal face in all its detail. </p>
<p>These are the patients I encounter daily in my work as a
radiologist. Clearly human, clearly alive, no longer mysteriously hidden
from the eyes and knowledge of man, they ask us to consider them not
disposable nonhumans but valuable members of our human family. </p>
<p>Yes, our understanding was different in 1973. But in <i>Roe</i>’s
own terms, we have arrived at a much different “point in the
development of man’s knowledge” about life in utero. The Supreme Court’s
judgement should reflect that advancement and put an end to the casual
cruelty of unfettered abortion. </p></blockquote><p></p><p>Dr. Christie has joined two other woman doctors in filing a brief to the Supreme Court as they consider a direct challenge to <i>Roe v Wade</i>,
where "science" was used to deny protection to the fetus before viability. Christie and others are asking the Supreme Court to strike down <i>Roe</i> and <i>Planned Parenthood v. Casey</i>, thereby allowing Mississippi to ban elective abortions after the 15th week of pregnancy.</p><p>Christie also addresses the issue of fetal pain in "<a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/2021/09/the-pro-abortion-case-is-based-on-bad-science/" target="_blank">The Pro-Abortion Case Is Based on Bad Science</a>" for <i>National Review</i>, Sept. 21, 20201: <br /></p><p></p><blockquote>We want the justices to know that there have been vast changes in our fields in the decades since Roe. We physicians know so much more <i>about</i> and can do so much more <i>for</i> the unborn babies in our care than we could in 1973. The patient-doctor relationship with our fetal patients has grown and grown, reflecting scientific advances in the areas of fetal therapeutics, fetal imaging, and our understanding of fetal pain. Our growing knowledge of fetal pain, especially, demands the end of Roe, which enshrines the nationwide legality of the breathtaking brutality of second- and third-trimester elective abortion. In short, if <i>Roe</i> is based on science, then let it stand or fall today on modern science.<br /><br />At the time of <i>Roe</i>, the scientific consensus held that for a fetus to feel pain, her brain cortex had to be developed and connected to peripheral nerves through the spine, and that these pathways were established around 24 weeks’ gestation. Therefore, second-trimester abortion (dilatation and extraction), in which the fetus is dismembered alive with forceps, could not cause the baby suffering. Ethical and moral considerations that would be naturally awakened at the thought of causing even any animal pain when being “put down” could be set aside in the case of the elective termination of a young human. That was then. Now, however, the science presents a drastically different picture, demanding a new judicial response from a compassionate country.<br /><br />In the <i>Journal of Medical Ethics</i> last year, Doctors Stuart Derbyshire and John Bockmann wrote, “Current neuroscientific evidence supports the possibility of fetal pain before the ‘consensus’ cutoff of 24 weeks.” In fact, Derbyshire and Bockmann conclude that they may experience pain<i> as early</i> as twelve weeks.<br /><br />That’s the science from the journals. Clinicians, however, have not waited for the research scientists to reach a consensus on neural pathways and cortical activity in regard to fetal pain. Neonatologists treating premature babies born at 23, 22, or even 21 weeks (something unthought of in 1973 when viability was much later) watch their little patients react with distress to painful stimuli, and they protect them with analgesia and anesthesia just as they do their full-term patients.<br /><br />Other clinicians who know that babies before the 24th week of gestation feel pain are fetal surgeons. The first successful fetal surgery occurred in 1982, and the field has since exploded. Removing a living unborn child from the womb, operating on him or her, and returning the baby to finish growing inside the mother was also unthought of in 1973. Today during a fetal surgery, a specialist in fetal anesthesia is invariably present to administer a general anesthetic to the baby, as well as a paralytic agent and an opioid. The aim? Preventing unnecessary and gruesome suffering for the fetal patient.<br /><br />A lot has changed since <i>Roe</i> put America in the same class with North Korea and China by legalizing second- and third-trimester elective abortion. The undeniable and ever-more plainly visible humanity of the unborn child has since increased our sensitivity to these vulnerable persons’ moral claims on our compassion and respect. Advances in fetal science have made plain just how barbaric and unethical their terminations are. For us as doctors, who establish warm and urgent ties with our fetal patients, who advocate for them, care for them, pray for them, it is crystal clear that <i>Roe</i> must pass away and a more humane America be born. </blockquote><p></p><p>For members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints considering the issue of abortion, I'd like to recommend the thoughtful and courageous views expressed by Dr. Terryl Givens, a profound thinker and scholar who has helped many of us better appreciate our religion and our scriptures. In "<a href="https://publicsquaremag.org/sexuality-family/a-latter-day-saint-defense-of-the-unborn/" target="_blank">A Latter-day Saint Defense of the Unborn</a>" written for <i>Public Square</i>, Oct. 19, 2020, he begins with a well-reasoned call for us to approach the issue with an open mind, and an open heart, as he shares perspectives that might help us reason more effectively with others:<br /></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;"></span></p><blockquote>The intellect disconnected from the
heart is just an organ for winning arguments. And few arguments of our
day are as disconnected from both the heart and the facts as those
disputes involving “reproductive rights.” Most partisans of the pro-life
and pro-choice positions are immovable in their entrenchment. I am
pro-life. I taught in a private liberal arts college for three decades,
where, as is typical in higher education, political views are as
diverse as in the North Korean parliament. In numerous conversations
with colleagues over the years, I was consistently dismayed by the
general lack of thoughtful rationales for their embrace of the
pro-choice position. Frequently, I found they were uninformed,
unreflective, but occasionally—very occasionally—they were surprisingly
open to reconsideration upon a more honest evaluation of the facts and
premises behind their positions. In the hope that some of my fellow
pro-choice Saints and other readers may similarly be open to a deeper
engagement with this issue, I offer the following information and
discussion.</blockquote><p>Givens deals with a number of the issues raised above, but I'd like to especially call attention to his thoughts on the fundamental issue of life that needs to be considered, regardless of our political leanings: <br /></p><p></p><h4><i><span style="font-weight: 400;"></span></i></h4><blockquote><h4><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Can’t I be personally pro-life but politically pro-choice?</span></i></h4>
<p>If abortion is wrong, it is wrong <i><span style="font-weight: 400;">because </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">it involves the intentional destruction of another human being. This is really the heart of the matter. You must ask yourself, </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">why </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">are
you personally opposed to abortion? I am not personally opposed to
abortion because of religious commitment or precept, because of some
abstract principle of “the sanctity of life.” I am personally opposed
because my heart and mind, my basic core humanity revolts at the thought
of a living sensate human being undergoing vivisection in the womb,
being vacuum evacuated, subjected to a salt bath, or, in the “late-term”
procedure, having its skull pierced and brain vacuumed out. (I have
spared the reader the clinical descriptions of those procedures,
although I think those who support abortion rights while willfully
avoiding direct confrontation with the specifics of what they
countenance are in an indefensible position). </span><a href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/pregnancy-week-by-week/in-depth/prenatal-care/art-20045302"><span style="font-weight: 400;">According to the Mayo Clinic</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">,
an infant in the womb has a beating heart by 5-6 weeks of pregnancy.
The first electrical brain activity also appears at this point. Well </span><a href="https://www.pcuc.org/statistics-on-abortion/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">over two-thirds of abortions</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">
are performed at that stage or later. And as we saw above, at a very
early, undefined moment in the child’s development, a nervous system
responds to the horror of such inflicted suffering. There is no more
ethical or logical sense in being “personally opposed, but pro-choice”
than in being personally opposed to sex trafficking, slavery, or child
abuse, “but” pro-choice regarding the adult’s prerogatives in those
cases. Abortion is not like heavy drinking or pornography or
blaspheming, where one deplores the action but accords another the right
to act immorally. Abortion is of that class of wrongs that entails the
willful infliction of pain or killing on another human being.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Ultimately, the pro-life position is
not a commitment predicated on sectarian values or God’s precepts. It is
the fruit of a more universal commitment to protect the most vulnerable
and voiceless. It is a commitment to the most fundamental obligation we
have as part of the human family: to defend the defenseless.</span></p></blockquote><p><span style="font-weight: 400;"></span></p><p>Here, science helps us understand the fundamental issue more clearly than ever: what was once (and still often is) called just an inanimate "clump of cells" is known to be much more. It is much more lively and human -- and beautiful -- than those who profit from abortion would ever want their customers to know. When we understand the physical reality of the fetus, an unborn child, and the mechanics and brutality of abortion, it will be easier for us to frame the ethical questions properly and recognize that something very tragic and inhumane is being sold to us at a terrible price. Humane alternatives are needed. Compassion for the weakest and most vulnerable among us is needed. May our hearts and minds join in praying that this nation might be a safer place for the unborn, a less violent and brutal place that respects and treasures life. May those in power have the courage to resist the political and financial pressures to sustain the abortion industry and deny the humanity of the unborn. May those asked to judge on this matter judge widely, and listen to their hearts and their minds, and pay attention to sound science this time. <br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Jeff Lindsayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08776493593387402607noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7139169.post-64018981455952673922021-11-28T21:39:00.002-06:002021-11-29T06:33:54.948-06:00Recent Discoveries and Advances Published by Interpreter, Part 1<p>If you aren't following the journal <a href="https://journal.interpreterfoundation.org/" target="_blank"><i>Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship</i></a>, you may have missed some discoveries and advances in understanding our scriptures that could be helpful for your own spiritual and intellectual journey. I will disclose my bias as a co-editor of the journal, where I have the privilege in this volunteer role of working with some remarkable authors as their articles go through our peer review process. It's great to work with the many bright people who submit articles to the <a href="https://interpreterfoundation.org/" target="_blank">Interpreter Foundation</a> for consideration in the journal. It has been a delight to learn of their insights and discoveries as they dig deep into many aspects of our faith and our scriptures. Here are just a few of many recent highlights. </p><p><br /></p><h4 style="text-align: left;">"<a href="https://journal.interpreterfoundation.org/an-ishmael-buried-near-nahom/" target="_blank">An Ishmael Buried Near Nahom</a>" by Neal Rappleye</h4><p><b>Background</b></p><p>One of the most intriguing Book of Mormon evidences from the Arabian Peninsula involves the episode during Lehi's journey in which Ishmael dies and was then buried in a place that was called Nahom, as described in 1 Nephi 16:34. The discovery of three altars bearing the NHM name, apparently related to Yemen's Nihm tribe near that region was active, indicates that a name related to Nahom was prominent in Lehi's era, providing hard evidence from the right time and roughly the right place in favor of the plausibility of an unusual place name in the Book of Mormon. Much has been written about that and also discussed here, with a plausible candidate for the place Nahom being in the region of Wadi Jawf, not far from Sanaa. From Wadi Jawf, it is possible to make the abrupt turn in direction from generally south-southeast to nearly due east, as Nephi describes, and travel without having to cross the deadly Empty Quarter or to face impossible mountains or other impassable obstacles to reach at least one and apparently both of the leading candidates for Bountiful in southern Oman. See, for example, <span class="hangingindent">Warren Aston, “Across Arabia with Lehi and Sariah: 'Truth Shall Spring out of the Earth,'” <i>Journal of Book of Mormon Studies</i> 15/2 (2006): 8–25, 110–13; <a href="https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1401&context=jbms">https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1401&context=jbms</a>. Also see </span><span class="hangingindent"><span class="hangingindent">Warren P. Aston and Michaela K. Aston, <i>In the Footsteps of Lehi</i> (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Comp., 1994); Warren P. Aston, <i>Lehi and Sariah in Arabia: The Old World Setting of the Book of Mormon</i> (Bloomington, IN: Xlibris Publishing, 2015); and George Potter and Richard Wellington, <i>Lehi in the Wilderness: 81 New, Documented Evidences that the Book of Mormon is a True History</i> (Springville, UT: Cedar Fort, Inc., 2003). For videos, see <a href="http://www.lehiinarabia.com/" target="_blank"><i>Lehi in Arabia</i></a>, DVD, directed by Chad Aston (Brisbane, Australia: Aston Productions, 2015), <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgDNCG-7x98" target="_blank">available on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgDNCG-7x98</a>, and <i>Journey of Faith</i>, DVD, directed by Peter Johnson (Provo, UT: Neal A. Maxwell Institute of Religious Scholarship, 2006), available at </span></span><span class="hangingindent"><span class="hangingindent"><span class="hangingindent"></span></span></span><span class="hangingindent"><span class="hangingindent"><span class="hangingindent"><a href="https://journeyoffaithfilms.com/videos/watch-journey-of-faith" target="_blank"><span class="hangingindent">https://journeyoffaithfilms.com/videos/watch-journey-of-faith</span></a><span class="hangingindent">.</span></span></span></span></p><p><b>The New Publication </b><br /></p><p>Thanks to Neal Rappleye, we now have what may be another find of interest, one of 400 carved funerary stelae from Wadi Jawf. With detailed scholarship and a good deal of caution, Neal Rappleye explores the possible significance of an ancient inscription from Yemen indicating that someone named Ishmael (equivalent to the carved <i>y s<sup>1</sup>mʿʾl</i> in Epigraphic South Arabian) was buried, possibly in the region of the candidate for Nahom, in what may have been Lehi's day. We don't know if it was the same Ishmael of the Book of Mormon, of course, but as Rappleye gently suggests, "circumstantial evidence suggests that such is a possibility worth considering." However, there are questions about the provenance (not the authenticity) of the
stela since it was part of a group of looted items that were recovered, so the exact site where it was found is not known, though it seems we can say that it was made for an Ishmael "buried somewhere within or near the Wadi Jawf, ca. 6th century BC."
It is possible that it was associated with the ancient lands of the Nihm tribe, as
is the case for other items in the collection. The dating of the stela and nature of the name are also compatible with the Book of Mormon account:<br /></p><p></p><blockquote><p>The stela is paleographically dated to 6th–5th centuries BC, but Mounir Arbach and his co-authors consider it stylistically among “a few coarse examples” <span class="pagenumber" id="p34"></span>of the <i>incised face elements</i> stela type “known for the 7th–6th centuries BC.”</p><p>The name <i>Yasmaʿʾīl</i> is the South Arabian form of the name <i>Ishmael</i>, even though the two names may look somewhat different in translation. The inscribed <i>y s<sup>1</sup>mʿʾl</i> is exactly how the Hebrew name <i>yšmʿʾl </i>(ישמעאל) — typically rendered as “Ishmael” in English — would be spelled in Epigraphic South Arabian. In fact, the two names have the exact same etymology, meaning “God has heard/hearkened,” or “may God hear,” and in <i>The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament</i>, the Old South Arabian <i>y s<sup>1</sup>mʿʾl</i> is listed as an equivalent to the Hebrew name <i>yšmʿʾl</i> (Ishmael). Thus, this stela indicates that a man named the equivalent of <i>Ishmael</i> was buried in or near the Wadi Jawf around the 6th century BC, about the same time period Ishmael was buried at Nahom, according to the Book of Mormon (1 Nephi 16:34). </p></blockquote><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlteSOFCgfAul4zNrrdT02pz1lsEJJltBhNaUooD8fltB6BX2v0CI3g4XfIRXoi7Ohg0FqKLp2mEDTAccoNmO0VFCDguMTkW5qnjngbYpDUOl5mfjyHAWlLHXDqWR_ekdsUobSYQ/s468/48_03_Rappleye-Fig02.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="The name “Ishmael” (Yasmaʿʾil) in Old South Arabian script." border="0" data-original-height="154" data-original-width="468" height="131" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlteSOFCgfAul4zNrrdT02pz1lsEJJltBhNaUooD8fltB6BX2v0CI3g4XfIRXoi7Ohg0FqKLp2mEDTAccoNmO0VFCDguMTkW5qnjngbYpDUOl5mfjyHAWlLHXDqWR_ekdsUobSYQ/w400-h131/48_03_Rappleye-Fig02.png" title="The name “Ishmael” (Yasmaʿʾil) in Old South Arabian script." width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The name “Ishmael” (Yasmaʿʾil) in Old South Arabian script.</i></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>Rappleye also explains why the name most likely has Hebrew rather than Arabic origins. <br /></p><p>Scholars examining the collection of stelae propose that they were made either for foreigners from the north passing through the area or for the members of the lower ranks of society. In either case, this could fit the case of Lehi's family, traveling as nomads without the gold and silver Lehi once had in Jerusalem. </p><p>Rappleye's conclusion is intriguing but also appropriately cautious:</p><p></p><blockquote><p> At the very least, it seems reasonable to suggest that <i>if </i>the Ishmael of the Book of Mormon was buried with some sort of identifying marker, it probably would <span class="pagenumber" id="p39">[Page 39]</span>have
looked something like the Yasmaʿʾil stela — a crudely carved stela
typical of foreigners traveling through the area, who lacked substantial
time or resources to afford a more extravagantly carved and engraved
burial stone.
</p><p> Although a firmer conclusion eludes us, the very fact that <i>an</i>
Ishmael was buried in close proximity to the Nihm tribal region around
the very time the Book of Mormon indicates that a man named Ishmael was
buried at Nahom is rather remarkable. Such a fact certainly does not
weaken the case for the Book of Mormon’s historicity. </p></blockquote><p></p><p>Please don't think or say that "scholars have found the grave marker of Ishmael in the Book of Mormon at Nahom." But what that they have found, and what scholars have concluded about the collection of Wadi Jawf funerary stelae in general, at least modestly demonstrates the <i>plausibility</i> of the Book of Mormon claim that a Hebrew man named Ishmael was buried at a place called Nahom near Wadi Jawf. Wadi Jawf, as Warren Aston has reported (see his books <i>In the Footsteps of Lehi </i>and more recently <i>Lehi and Sariah in Arabia</i>), appears to be just about the only region where one can turn nearly due east from the main trails leading south through Yemen and not only have a chance of surviving, but, with a little guidance from the Liahona to chose the right final wadi, be on a path that could lead directly to a plausible candidate for Bountiful such as a Khor Kharfot at Wadi Sayq (or nearby Khor Rori, another leading candidate that some prefer). </p><p>Don't make too much of Rappleye's fascinating find, but it does merit attention and is one more interesting work of genuine scholarship advancing our appreciation of the plausibility of Lehi's Trail in the Book of Mormon. Rappleye's careful work helps strengthen the general case for Nahom as one of the "four pillars" of Lehi's Trail, <a href="https://journal.interpreterfoundation.org/nephis-shazer-the-fourth-arabian-pillar-of-the-book-of-mormon/" target="_blank">as Warren Aston put it</a>, places in Nephi's account with strong candidates for specific Book of Mormon locations in Arabia that were completely unknown in Joseph Smith's day. These include: 1) the River of Laman in the Valley of Lemuel, 2) the place called Nahom, 3) Bountiful, and most recently identified, 4) the place Shazer, <a href="https://journal.interpreterfoundation.org/nephis-shazer-the-fourth-arabian-pillar-of-the-book-of-mormon/" target="_blank">as Warren Aston reported</a> in 2020 in another must-read publication at <i>Interpreter.</i> </p><p> <br /></p><h4 style="text-align: left;">"<a href="https://journal.interpreterfoundation.org/the-people-of-canaan-a-new-reading-of-moses-7/" target="_blank">The People of Canaan: A New Reading of Moses 7</a>" by Adam Stokes</h4><p>Given the mission and scope of <i>Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship</i>, it is natural that our authors tend to be members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.<i> </i>This paper was a welcome exception from a man who has great interest in and respect for the Book of Moses, even though his own church does not accept it as scripture. Stokes was formerly with the Community of Christ, but is now a member of the Church of Jesus Christ with the Elijah Message, an organization that traces its roots to David Whitmer. Taking on the sensitive issue of race in the Book of Moses, Stokes brings out some clear and important points that we often miss when reading passages in Moses 7 that seem to reflect old racial stereotypes. What made this article especially interesting to me is that its author is black, though I didn't know that until after the paper had been accepted and I received the photo now published at the end of the article and also on our <a href="https://journal.interpreterfoundation.org/author/adams/?journal" target="_blank">"About the Author" page for Adam Stokes</a>. </p><p>Here is the abstract for this important article:</p><p><i><b></b></i></p><blockquote>Moses 7 is one of the most famous
passages in all of Restoration scripture. It is also one of the most
problematic in regard to its description of the people of Canaan as
black (v. 8) and as a people who were not preached to by the patriarch
Enoch (v. 12). Later there is also a mention of “the seed of Cain,” who
also are said to be black (v. 22). This article examines the history of
interpretation of Moses 7 and proposes an alternative understanding
based on a close reading of the text. In contrast to traditional views,
it argues that the reason for Enoch’s not preaching to the people of
Canaan stems not from any sins the people had committed or from divine
disfavor but from the racial prejudice of the other sons of Adam, the
“residue of the people” (vv. 20, 22) who ironically are the only ones
mentioned as “cursed” in the text (v. 20). In looking at the
implications of this passage for the present-day Restoration, this
article notes parallels between Enoch’s hesitancy and various attitudes
toward black priesthood ordination throughout the Restoration
traditions, including the Community of Christ where the same type of
hesitancy existed. This article argues that, rather than being
indicative of divine disfavor toward persons of African descent, this
tendency is a response to the racist attitudes of particular eras,
whether the period of the Old Testament patriarchs or the post-bellum
American South. Nevertheless, God can be seen as working through and
within particular contexts and cultures to spread the gospel to all of
Adam’s children irrespective of race.</blockquote><i></i><p></p><p>There are four main arguments made in this paper:</p><ol><li>Moses 7 both reflects and challenges the prevailing understanding of race and ethnic prejudice in the ancient <span class="pagenumber" id="p163">[Page 163]</span>world (yes, concepts of race and prejudice, though vastly different than ours, did exist in antiquity).</li><li>The “people of Canaan” of Moses 7 are never mentioned as being
cursed in the text. Rather their blackness is the result of God cursing
something else (i.e., the land).</li><li>The only people mentioned as cursed in Moses 7 are the “residue of
the people” (vv. 20, 22, 28) which, as the text itself notes, does not
include the “seed of Cain” (7:20, 22). In contrast to the prevailing
reading of Moses 7, the text implies condemnation not of the seed of
Cain/people of Canaan but of this “residue of the people” due to both
their hatred of the people of Canaan and their general rejection of the
gospel message preached by Enoch.</li><li>Enoch’s rationale for not preaching repentance to the people of
Canaan in Moses 7 is not due to any personal animosity toward them or
from the view that they are cursed. In other words, his rationale, as
the text explains, is different from common interpretations and readings
in the Latter-day Saint tradition.</li></ol><p>Stokes's reading of Moses 7 leads to a surprising conclusion that may be controversial but needs to be considered in light of the detailed analysis Stokes provides: "Moses 7, far from being a racially problematic text, presents
a progressive racial message in which God himself condemns the prejudice
and cruelty of the other sons of Adam. It is this cruelty, in
conjunction with their rejection of the gospel, that results in the 'residue of the people' being cursed, a curse from which the people of
Canaan themselves are spared." There's much to ponder in the work from this intriguing author, and I hope you'll read it carefully. </p><p> <br /></p><h4 style="text-align: left;">"<a href="https://journal.interpreterfoundation.org/the-inclusive-anti-discrimination-message-of-the-book-of-mormon/" target="_blank">The Inclusive, Anti-Discrimination Message of the Book of Mormon</a>" by David M. Belnap</h4><p>This is one of the most extensive and data-heavy articles ever published by <i>Interpreter</i>. It took a lot of work to go through a lengthy review and editorial process that began and was essentially finished before I came onboard in mid-2020, but I'm very proud of what David Belnap has accomplished and of Allen Wyatt as the lone editor then for guiding it through the process. To get a feel for the significance of this paper, I'll quote what Adam Stokes said about it in his paper discussed immediately above:</p><p></p><blockquote><p>I find it necessary to provide a point of comparison here between my
reading of Moses 7 and David Belnap’s excellent analysis of the
depiction of the Lamanites in the Book of Mormon. In his recent article
for <i>Interpreter, </i>“The Inclusive, Anti-Discrimination Message of
the Book of Mormon,” Belnap takes a radically different approach to the
sacred text focusing not on the presentation of the Nephites in the
Book of Mormon — the standard default position for Book of Mormon
exegetes — but that of the Lamanites.</p>
<p>Belnap persuasively and effectively argues that while the negative
statements about the Lamanites in the Book of Mormon have been
highlighted both by the book’s advocates and opponents, the text
ultimately and primarily presents them in a highly positive light. As
such, the Book of Mormon ultimately promotes a radical egalitarian and
anti-racist ethic which elevates the “dark,” blackened Lamanites over
and above their “pure” and “white” Nephite counterparts [note that Belnap and others provide plausible reasons for recognizing the troubling language in the Book of Mormon about the "blackness" or darkness of the Lamanites as metaphorical, not descriptions of racial differences, though there are other possibilities]. He notes that in the majority of instances that the Lamanites are
mentioned in the Book of Mormon it is either as equal or better than the
Nephites and that in many cases the Lamanites are presented as spiritually superior to the Nephites.</p></blockquote><p></p><p>Belnap provides a massive amount of data to show that the Book of Mormon overwhelming denies the racist message that some see in the Book of Mormon:<br /></p><p></p><blockquote>Counter to the racist impression, more than three thousand
Book of Mormon verses directly or indirectly impart an inclusive,
anti-discriminatory message (Table 1).<a href="https://journal.interpreterfoundation.org/the-inclusive-anti-discrimination-message-of-the-book-of-mormon/#sdfootnote7sym" name="sdfootnote7anc" title="7. 3, 591 verses in the Book of Mormon directly or indirectly address issues of interracial, interethnic, international, intranational, or interclass relations (Table 1). That is 54% of the verses in the book. I used the 1981 and 2013 editions of The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ (Salt Lake City: …"></a>
People today may perceive the cursing [of the Lamanites] as a racist declaration or
a license to discriminate, but righteous Book of Mormon people did not.
Wicked behavior of the cursed group was excused, but that of the
non-cursed, recordkeeping group was severely criticized. Several times
the cursed people were righteous examples or were more righteous than
the non-cursed people. People of the two nations were considered
brethren. Love of all was preached and practiced. Kind acts occurred
between nations and within each nation, including outreach to the other
nation and help to the poor within a nation, and some selfless people
lost their lives or put their lives at risk. Although often at war, the
two nations had significant peaceful interactions. Unkind actions and
attitudes toward other groups were identified as evil, including <span class="pagenumber" id="p198"></span>exploitations,
class distinctions, persecutions, and attitudes of superiority. War was
tragic and caused by wickedness. Intermingled in these messages are
messages especially relevant for today. God loves and invites all
people. God is fair to all. Prophecies extend his blessings worldwide to
modern Jews, other Israelites, descendants of Book of Mormon people,
and all other people (Gentiles). The promised blessings will be
fulfilled if people choose to follow the Lord. Those who fight against
the Lord will incur his wrath, regardless of ethnicity or heritage.
Anti-Semitism is condemned. Conspiracies are extremely wicked. The book
contains a powerful example of redemption from discriminatory attitudes.</blockquote><p>After discussing numerous issues related to alleged racism in the Book of Mormon and its message of inclusion, Belnap writes:</p><p></p><p></p><blockquote><p> Instead of highlighting how a few verses were interpreted as
reflecting 1800s attitudes, a better focus is on the inclusive messages
that are in more than half of the book’s verses:</p>
<ul><li> God loves all people and his message is for all people on earth (Table 4).
</li><li> God will treat all people fairly (Table 4).
</li><li> God favors personal righteousness, not lineage (Table 4).
</li><li> Every group (Nephites, Lamanites, Jaredites, Jews, and Gentiles) has had times of righteousness and times of wickedness.<a href="https://journal.interpreterfoundation.org/the-inclusive-anti-discrimination-message-of-the-book-of-mormon/#sdfootnote133sym" name="sdfootnote133anc" title="133. Tables 5–8, 17–22. Righteous examples of Jews are found in the Bible. Examples of Nephite righteousness are found throughout the Book of Mormon. For righteousness and wickedness of Jaredites, see the Book of Ether."></a>
</li><li> All groups need to repent (tables 5–6, 20–22).
</li><li> <span class="pagenumber" id="p265"></span>The aim is spiritual beauty and cleanliness, not physical attractiveness (Table 3).
</li><li> The Gentiles have persecuted Lehite descendants and Jews. The
Gentiles’ need to repent is particularly emphasized (tables 21–22).
</li><li> All people (Lehites, Jews, and Gentiles) are promised blessings and happiness if they follow the Lord (tables 4, 17–19).
</li><li> Anti-Semitism is evil (Table 21).
</li><li> Slavery is evil (Mosiah 2:13; Alma 27:9).
</li><li> Righteous Nephites viewed the Lamanites as brothers, and vice versa (tables 11, 13).
</li><li> Righteous Nephites reached out to the Lamanites, and vice versa (Table 12).
</li><li> Righteous people were kind to others. Sometimes these acts
cost unselfish people their lives or put their lives at risk (Table 13).
</li><li> Unkind actions against others are condemned (Table 14).
</li><li> Persecution or oppression of others is wickedness (Table 15).
</li><li> Attitudes of superiority are condemned (Table 15).
</li><li> Class distinctions are evil (Table 15).
</li><li> Exploitation of vulnerable people is evil (Table 16).
</li><li> Although defensive war may be necessary, war is started by wickedness (Table 23).
</li><li> Conspiracies, which in our day are involved in some discriminatory actions or crimes, are extremely evil (Table 24).
</li><li> The wicked punish the wicked (Mormon 4:5).
</li><li> On no occasion do righteous Nephites seek to destroy Lamanites or vice versa (Table 23).
</li><li> People can learn from despised people. Multiple times
Lamanites, who were scorned periodically by the Nephites, are examples
of righteousness (Table 8), even when “unconverted” (Table 9).
</li><li> Christ taught us to focus on fixing ourselves and not others
(3 Nephi 14:3–5; Matthew 7:3–5). The Nephite record does that by
focusing on Nephite faults and de-emphasizing Lamanite ones (tables 5–7,
9–10).
</li></ul>
<p> Righteous people in the Book of Mormon cared about others. Whatever
the differences truly were between the Nephites and Lamanites, <span class="pagenumber" id="p266"></span>those people gave us much to learn from in our day of unrelenting discrimination.</p></blockquote><p></p><p></p><p>As Belnap ably shows, the Book of Mormon as a whole has a consistent message that is needed in our day. The few passages that cause concern need to be considered in light of Belnap's work and the scholarship he discusses (e.g., works of Ethan Sproat and Brant Gardner) on interpreting those verses, but stay tuned for more coming soon on another important insight from modern scholarship that may advance our understanding of some challenging Book of Mormon passages in light of ancient culture in the Americas. An article that I'm looking forward to will be published soon, so stay tuned. </p><p> <br /></p><h4 style="text-align: left;">"<a href="https://journal.interpreterfoundation.org/personal-relative-pronoun-usage-in-the-book-of-mormon-an-important-authorship-diagnostic/" target="_blank">Personal Relative Pronoun Usage in the Book of Mormon: An Important Authorship Diagnostic</a>" by Stanford Carmack</h4><p>Stanford Carmack and Royal Skousen have published a series of works exploring the language of the Book of Mormon as originally dictated. One of the most puzzling discoveries, driven by data and not any apologetic agenda, is that much of what we assumed was Joseph's own bad grammar actually turns out to be legitimate Early Modern English, with many elements that predate the English of the King James Bible. What that means is that the details of the English in the Book of Mormon, as dictated, cannot be simply explained as Joseph imitating what he found in the Bible. And in many cases, it doesn't seem possible to explain it as an artifact of Joseph's own language or New England dialect in his day. Why it should be this way is still a mystery, but it's an important issue worthy of recognition, and one that may raise the bar for those arguing that Joseph Smith is the fabricator of the Book of Mormon. </p><p>Some of Carmack's many works on this topic, including quite a few at <i>Interpreter</i>, explore complex or highly technical topics and may be difficult for many of us appreciate, but this one deals with an issue that most of us can easily grasp, even if we aren't familiar with some of the terminology. Carmack explores the use or "personal relative pronouns" in the Book of Mormon and other works. Personal relative pronouns (PRPs) are pronouns that relate one clause to another. As an example, consider the sentence, "The author <i>that</i> wrote the paper was a fine scholar." After mentioning the author, we can then refer to the author again in a new clause with a PRP such as "that" or "who." There is also third possibility that is less commonly used in modern English, the PRP "which," which was more frequently used in the Early Modern English era (roughly 1470 to 1700). But all three choices ("that," "who"/"whom"/"whose," and "which") need to be considered as Carmack compares the Book of Mormon to Joseph's early writings, the KJV Bible, other "pseudo-biblical" literature that deliberately sought to imitate the KJV Bible, and Early Modern English literature. </p><p>Carmack first considers how Joseph himself used PRPs in his early writings (10 letters and his 1832 personal history). The data here should be easy to grasp (click to enlarge): Joseph predominantly used "who(m)" but also had a modest share of "that" in his language, with "which" being rather rare as a PRP. The Book of Mormon reverses the "who"/"that" balance, strongly preferring the use of "which" as a PRP, quite unlike Joseph. The choice of PRP is something we don't tend to think about consciously, just saying what feels natural at the time. Such unconscious choices of minor words can be something that is hard to notice and hard to fake when seeking to imitate a style. <br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqfuqCJ_Pk6bhR8jKNXWM3ORq7GEVD4jkiUvShrOFds6KF0TRC3vrLzjPZTvgJrNMjMbmbQy6PSQfgL66QcMEecgeUCWP3WOma68Mc68dC1x8uTART1aOigg9DLVBNz-4BBSeTRQ/s1380/Screen+Shot+2021-11-28+at+8.32.12+PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="PRP Usage in the Book of Mormon vs. Joseph's Early Writings" border="0" data-original-height="1002" data-original-width="1380" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqfuqCJ_Pk6bhR8jKNXWM3ORq7GEVD4jkiUvShrOFds6KF0TRC3vrLzjPZTvgJrNMjMbmbQy6PSQfgL66QcMEecgeUCWP3WOma68Mc68dC1x8uTART1aOigg9DLVBNz-4BBSeTRQ/w400-h290/Screen+Shot+2021-11-28+at+8.32.12+PM.png" title="PRP Usage in the Book of Mormon vs. Joseph's Early Writings" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>Carmack then compares the Book of Mormon to the Bible, where large differences again emerge. The KJV Bible uses the PRP "that" 86% of the time, followed by "which" 10% of the time and "who(m)" just 4% of the time. </p><p>Considering the antecedent for PRPs can add additional information related to the syntax of a text. Based on analysis of some major databases, Carmack observed that PRPs most frequently occur after the words "he" and "they," and also noted that the PRPs used with them may differ. After "they," the PRP of choice in the Book of Mormon is "which," occurring 69% of the time, while after "he" it is "that" 90% of the time. The "he" + PRP pattern in the Book of Mormon is quite similar to the Bible's, while "that" + PRP are sharply different, with the Bible preferring "he that" 79% of the time vs. 68% "he which" in the Book of Mormon. But the choices for "he" and "they" + PRP in the Book of Mormon closely matched several Early Modern English texts, while not matching pseudo-biblical texts. </p><p>Carmack's conclusion has startling implications:</p><p></p><blockquote><p>The statistical argument for each scenario outlined above is
compelling — whether we look at all PRP usage, a subset involving
high-frequency antecedents, or just contexts involving the subject
pronouns <i>he</i> and <i>they</i>. We can tell with exceptionally
high confidence that the Book of Mormon’s PRP patterns were not derived
from Joseph Smith’s own patterns, from the King James Bible, or from
attempting to imitate biblical and/or archaic style. We can also tell
that the patterns do match a less-common pattern that prevailed during
the middle portion of the early modern period, but not in the 18<sup>th</sup> century — a pattern with an overall preference of personal <i>which</i> over <i>that</i> or <i>who(m)</i>.</p>
<p>In the case involving more antecedents than just <i>he</i> and <i>they</i>,
a simple examination of the dramatic differences shown here or an
application of standard chi-square tests of the raw numbers (see the
appendix) indicate that the Book of Mormon’s PRP pattern would not have
been achieved by closely following the patterns of the King James Bible,
pseudo-archaic works, or Joseph’s own dialectal profile, which at times
was biblically influenced. The large differences in PRP usage between
the Book of Mormon and the King James Bible and pseudo-archaic works
indicate a different authorial preference for these sets of texts —
a preference that is mostly nonconscious, as shown by an inability of
pseudo-archaic authors to sustain archaic/biblical usage over long
stretches. The Book of Mormon is not a match with the usage in Joseph’s <span class="pagenumber" id="p20"></span>personal writings, as his own patterns fit comfortably in the late modern period, as do most contemporary pseudo-archaic works.</p><p>
This point has been made in other contexts, including various
iterations of stylometric analysis, but the force of the data is
difficult to deny, even though it is based on only a single linguistic
feature. (These PRP comparisons are in effect a kind of focused, precise
stylometry.) Furthermore, the data lead us clearly away from Joseph as
author or English-language translator and toward a specific time period —
the only time when we find textual matching with the Book of Mormon’s
archaic PRP distribution rates: the early modern era, and primarily the
second half of the 1500s and the first decade of the 1600s. </p></blockquote><p></p><p>This is puzzling. Why it should be that way is a mystery, and Carmack states he does not wish to speculate, but points out that the important thing is that the data weigh strongly against the common assumption that the Book of Mormon simply reflects Joseph's own wording. We know Joseph edited portions of the text, sometimes taking out the awkward grammar he had dictated to make it more clear or proper, so he was not averse to using his own language when he felt it was needed. But if Carmack is correct, it seems that what he dictated cannot be assumed to simply be his own wording. </p><p>This is a controversial position, but one that seems based on a growing body of detailed data. There are other popular views on the nature of the translation and the influence of his own wording, and I look forward to the replies of other scholars in exploring alternate theories. The debate, if focused on the data, will be fascinating. </p><p>No publication should ever be assumed to be the final, definitive word. There's always more to learn and new data to consider. Our goal at <i>Interpreter</i> is to advance scholarship and faith by publishing what we hope are meaningful, solid works related to the scriptures, Church history, and other gospel topics for others to consider and, in many cases, respond to with new advances. Whether an article offers the ultimate answer or just some great questions and issues for further thought, we hope they will be helpful to readers and will remind all of us of the need to keep learning and growing in our faith and study. </p><p>I'll share some more thoughts from recent publications in another upcoming post or two. If you have a favorite recent publication, let me know what you liked and why in the comments below. <br /></p><p></p>Jeff Lindsayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08776493593387402607noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7139169.post-81771045506185975952021-11-08T16:53:00.011-06:002021-11-21T08:09:35.529-06:00Let's Have Some Compassion for Our Untouchables<p>If you grew up in a nation with a formal caste system, would you let society dictate how you treated others, especially the shunned and shamed untouchables? Would you deplore them based on what others told you to do, or would you have compassion for the downtrodden? If you grew up in the South after the civil war, when former slaves who had recently been freed found guns pointed at them if they attempted to vote and were not allowed to enjoy many of the blessings of the freedom they had supposedly gained, would you dare speak out for their rights? Would you treat them with compassion and kindness, or shun them as many did? If you were raised in Germany in the 1930s, would you look at Jews as the source of society's greatest problems, or would you have the wisdom and charity to ignore propaganda and social pressure and instead love others in spite of their differences? I believe most of us will sincerely think that in those settings, we would have been different from the sheep around us and would have the courage to stand up for the rights of others and respect them as fellow humans. However, in the rush of real events, when one senses the possibly high price of courage and feels the surging power of peer pressure and political force, we might fail to see that we were standing before a decisive opportunity to deploy our noble intentions and face the unknown consequences of defiance. <br /></p><p>Power seekers throughout history have found scapegoats to be valuable tools for their own gain, and the Book of Mormon gives us several case studies to ponder as corrupt men used anger and blaming of others to obtain power, including Amalickiah, King Noah, and others. Stirring up senseless anger and fear has been a tool to justify expanded power and personal agendas time after time in world history. I feel that a new caste of deplorable untouchables is being created in our midst, the caste of the unvaccinated who are shamed and blamed for many social ills, and are being systemically punished and discriminated against. We are fortunately nowhere near to the level of persecution and abuse that many groups have faced throughout history, but the shaming, exclusion, and now firing of the unvaccinated is an alarming step. Though I am vaccinated and generally encourage vaccination and thus disagree with at least some of the unvaccinated, I feel we need to stand for their rights of medical privacy, of personal choice, and body sovereignty, especially in light of what "the science" is actually teaching us (see my Nov 21, 2021 update below for more details on this).<br /></p><p>Unfortunately, many of us have been lied to about the alleged need to compel the untouchable caste to accept vaccinations. It's time to recognize the lies and stand up with compassion for others and respect for their rights, even if they are different in their views and choices. When you look at the stories you are not being told, it should also be clear that current government mandates and policies can no longer be assumed to be made in good faith. In fact, it's critical that you understand why. But first, please take a moment to consider the humanity of those being targeted. <br /></p><p>Right after the announcement of the new federal vaccine mandate that
puts the jobs of many Americans at risk, I had some surprising
conversations with friends and relatives who fear its impact. One single mother who <i>works from home and only from home </i>for a healthcare-related company is being required to vaccinate. When President Biden gave his September speech that announced the plan for vaccine mandates, signalling a ramped-up divisiveness by telling the unvaccinated that "we are losing patience with you," her employer soon announced that she would need to be vaccinated or have weekly COVID testing. This mother with a very challenging life and overwhelming duties chose weekly testing, which involved having to drive one hour each week at her own expense to pick up a test kit. That was bad enough, but with the mandate now officially in place through OSHA, she has been told by her employer that now she must be vaccinated or be fired. She previously had a religious exemption, but now she is told that that won't help any more. <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/11/05/2021-23643/covid-19-vaccination-and-testing-emergency-temporary-standard" target="_blank">The language of the mandate</a> appears to make exemptions possible and should not apply to those working remotely, but it seems that many companies are choosing to go the extra mile, perhaps to seem as faithful as possible in light of the fearsome penalties for non-compliance with the dictate. I guess they are just embracing the spirit of the law: expel the untouchables, even if they are among the heroes who have been risking their lives to help COVID patients, put out fires, stop criminals, or serve in many other urgently needed and understaffed areas that cannot afford losing large numbers of employees. To protect Americans, for our social good, we need to expel these people now or force them to buckle. The judicial stay issued a few days ago isn't making much of a difference, and the Biden Administration is essentially ignoring the court order, telling corporations to move ahead with compulsory vaccination. <br /></p><p>In reality, her reason for not wanting the vaccine may be more based on personal medical reasons than her religious beliefs. She is highly allergic to many materials. The last time she had an injection, the adjuvants (compounds added with a medication to make it more effective or preserve it) gave her a severe reaction that took weeks to overcome. But she's had to change doctors and is not sure her current hard-to-reach doctor will support seeking a medical exemption. She'll try to get the exemption, but fears she will be fired. With the children she's caring for and the stress her life already has, the impact of the mandate seems rather cruel. Why cause her so much trouble and risk when she works from home and cannot possibly be putting others in the workplace at risk? It's senseless. Please understand, the logic behind this is not based on science, as we'll see, but pure politics. For this mother and for many thousands in similar situations, I hope you will recognize the unjust discrimination against her and feel a sense of compassion. <br /></p><p>She and many others with concerns about the vaccine now have their jobs at risk. The reasons the vaccine hesitant have vary widely. For some, it's medical, such as concern about long-term adverse effects or allergic reactions, a concern shared by some college students I know. For others, it may be more religious, such as concerns about the essential role that fetal cells played in the development of a new drug or religious concerns about taking experimental materials into one's body as expressed by Victory Boyd, fired by the NFL after being hired to sing the National Anthem. Some object because of a distrust of government, a factor which I sense may be especially true among the many young black Americans who are vaccine hesitant (no, vaccine hesitancy is not unique to white Republicans). </p><p>I'm currently reading <i>Bad Blood: The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment</i> by James H, Jone, 2nd ed. (New York: Free Press, 1993, first edition 1991), whose opening pages note the role the Center for Disease Control (yes, our beloved CDC) played after they were split off from the Public Health Service and took over running and justifying the horrific Tuskegee Experiment. Can we fairly blame the lack of trust in our government among many black Americans (or Americans of any color) who have heard about this decades-long experiment in which effective treatments for syphilis were deliberately and callously withheld from over 300 black men who thought they were getting treatment for their disease, all in an alleged "scientific" effort to watch the gruesome late stage effects of syphilis? </p><p>If someone has personal reasons for not trusting government and especially the CDC, go ahead and post all the lectures to them that you want about how this time everything's totally transparent and truthful, but let's have some respect for the feelings and concerns of those who know something about the Tuskegee Experiment or have other reasons for doubting the often contradictory and sometimes clearly questionable official information they are given (e.g., see this <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/how-fauci-fooled-america-opinion/ar-AAQbFiu" target="_blank">frank op-ed from two medical scholars published at MSN.com</a> or <a href="https://wirepoints.org/stop-following-cdc-covid-guidance-because-the-cdc-lies-wirepoints/" target="_blank">this observation with reasonable support from Chicago-based Wirepoints</a>). Some of you have been telling my black friends that America is systemically racist, but now you're trying to tell them that they really need to trust the white folks running the CDC and the NIH and accept their "experimental drug" (as many see it and as it has been called from authoritative sources)? Can you have enough compassion to recognize that they might have genuine concerns? Do their feelings and even informed decisions not matter? If black lives matter, what about black sovereignty over one's body, black medical privacy, black personal choice, and black concerns about the overreach of an untrustworthy government? <br /></p><p>I have several highly educated friends working for Silicon Valley giants. One of them who <i>works from home</i> now has his job at risk. The company, apparently showing its political faithfulness by going beyond the actual written requirements of the mandate, is requiring even remote employees to be vaccinated well before the mandate's requirement. As a matter of principle, my friend feels such a demand is not only contrary to logic and science, but is a violation of his personal privacy and, in my words, demeaning to him as an employee. He refuses to make his employment subject to accepting what could be an endless list of intrusions into his body as others declare what medications he must take. He works from home. His company knows he's vaccinated. But because he won't bow before an unconstitutional decree and disclose official proof of his medical status, his job is at risk. I applaud this man's courage. To even stand up and object politely was an act of amazing courage. I hope we can appreciate and sympathize with this kind of courage. It's a courage this country needs more than ever right now. <br /></p><p>There seems to be fear that showing any kind of leniency toward the non-compliant could result in federal scrutiny with unbearable risk. This law, by the way, does not come from elected representatives in Congress as the Constitution seems to require, or, more properly, from elective representatives of the states since this should be a state or local issue, not a federal one. Rather, it comes from the decree dictated by one very powerful leader -- perhaps from President Biden himself, for all we know. <br /></p><h4 style="text-align: left;">The Bad Faith and Lack of Science Behind the Mandate <br /></h4><p>We just had some of the most exciting news related to the COVID pandemic, the announcement of two different drugs that appear to have very high potential for treating COVID patients. I am not talking about certain unmentionable, low-profit FDA-approved medications for <i>other</i> human diseases that some nations and some doctors in the US are using for COVID (sometimes prescribed in the US as well as "off-label" medications [but see my 11/19/21 update below if you are convinced that one such drug has strong studies supporting its use]). No, nothing that shady. I'm talking about nice, shiny new proprietary medications from two of the superstars of Big Pharma, Pfizer and Merck, so doctors won't be too afraid to prescribe these and pharmacies won't have to improperly practice medicine by declining to fill valid prescriptions for drugs the CDC doesn't like us to use. In short, the need for constant dread is about to wane, for not only are most Americans vaccinated with millions more having the still-ignored advantage of natural immunity, but now we are about to receive medications that can greatly reduce the harm of COVID. The latest news came within hours of the mandate as Pfizer reported its medication that can reduce the harm of COVID by 89% (see <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-11-05/pfizer-to-seek-u-s-nod-for-covid-pill-after-strong-results" target="_blank">Bloomberg's Nov. 5, 2021 report</a> and <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2021/11/05/1052679112/pfizer-covid-pill-treatment" target="_blank">NPR's story</a>). </p><p>On top of this, we have already learned from the CDC that the vaccines don't stop transmission of the disease, for the vaccinated can still get the disease (though it's somewhat less likely than for the unvaccinated) and when they do, while the harm to them is reduced, they can still <a href="https://apnews.com/article/science-health-coronavirus-pandemic-d9504519a8ae081f785ca012b5ef84d1" target="_blank">have the same viral load</a> as others, making them able to transmit the disease to vaccinated and unvaccinated alike. The benefit of the vaccine is real, but it's personal: it reduces the harm to the individual. My body, my choice -- and I chose the vaccine. What right do I have to treat the unvaccinated as untouchables? [On the failure of the vaccines to significantly reduce transmission of the disease, see my Nov 21, 2021 update below and the excerpts from an important new study.] To the degree that the vaccine is effective, it protects the vaccinated, and if it's not really effective, why force others to take it? But the efficacy at the moment is not quite in the glowing 100% range we heard a few months ago. According to an <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/17/health/us-coronavirus-sunday/index.html" target="_blank">Oct. 17 article from CNN</a> which appears to accurately summarize some findings from <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.10.13.21264966v1.full.pdf" target="_blank">a recent study</a>, if you got Johnson and Johnson vaccine in February, the efficacy of your vaccination is now around 3%. It's higher for other vaccines, but the moral high ground for looking down on the unvaccinated seems to have eroded down to a small dirt clod for at least some of the vaccinated. But don't panic, there's that good news I mentioned about <i>treatments</i> for COVID. <br /></p><p>Importantly, with effective drugs that can mitigate the harm of COVID, we can now expect a greatly reduced risk for vaccinated and unvaccinated alike. The vaccine still makes sense, but the mandate does not. We are not facing an existential threat that forces us to surrender individual rights. We do not need to create a new caste system to promote separation from and anger toward the deplorables among us who refuse to comply. Their body, their choice. If they are making a mistake in refusing the vaccine, the harm is theirs. If we who chose to be vaccinated end up facing some unexpected long-term ailments, the harm will be ours. Whichever of these two groups faces the greatest problems in the end, I hope all of us will be compassionate and help make sure that others are treated well. How appalling it is to see so many people online expressing glee when an untouchable passes away, or wishing COVID or worse upon others. <br /></p><p>Meanwhile, as pressure against the alleged risk of the unvaccinated seems to be escalating, the government-allied media (GAM) seems to be working overtime to ignore, downplay, or suppress vital news about the scandalous crisis on our southern border, where hundreds of thousands of people have been encouraged to walk into the US without any requirement for vaccination and often without COVID testing, resulting in many thousands of COVID-positive people not just crossing the border but actively being flown to many cities around the country (see, for example, <a href="https://nypost.com/2021/10/18/biden-secretly-flying-underage-migrants-into-ny-in-dead-of-night/" target="_blank">an Oct. 18 New York Post report</a>). How is it that the same government that claims it just wants to save us from harm will force its citizens to be fired if they won't submit to a vaccine mandate, while not requiring the same of non-citizens who enter illegally? But if you get your news from CNN, for example, you won't hear much about the border crisis. (My search shows that "crisis" was last used to describe some challenges on the border on Sept. 20, and very little has been said about the obvious COVID risk. A Google search at CNN.com for "COVID border crisis" leads with a CNN "fact check" saying that there's no solid evidence that immigrants are causing COVID spikes and the real problem is unvaccinated citizens, not the immigrants, whose unvaccinated status is rarely mentioned.) But <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/18-percent-migrant-families-leaving-border-patrol-custody-tested-positive-n1276244" target="_blank">NBCNews.com did run a story in August noting that between 18%-25% of immigrants tested were COVID positive</a>. If the government is acting in good faith to protect us from a disease so dangerous that it requires spending away much of our future, giving politicians and unelected medical bureaucrats vast new powers, and taking away individual choice with intrusive mandates, why are tens of thousands of COVID-positive people entering our cities not a cause for urgent action that demands much higher priority? The neglect of the border utterly contradicts the claims used to justify the mandates. What we see at play here is something very ugly and political that further undermines trust in government. It's not about following the science. <br /></p><p>If we need a mandate, perhaps what we need now is a mandate for compassion: </p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>compassion to rescue the many jobs at unnecessary risk, </li><li>compassion for those who have genuine, unanswered questions about the long-term effects of the vaccines on cancer or reproductive health, areas where years more of study may be needed,</li><li>compassion for those who value their privacy, especially medical privacy (the <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/11/05/2021-23643/covid-19-vaccination-and-testing-emergency-temporary-standard" target="_blank">language of the mandate</a> raises some concerns about this), and don't want to trust their medical records with untrustworthy corporations,</li><li>compassion for those of any color worried about the apparent untrustworthiness of many parts of our government such as the history of medical abuse related to the Tuskegee Experiment, </li><li>compassion for those who have sincere medical or scientific concerns about the vaccines, </li><li>compassion for those who don't want their employability to require subscribing to whatever medication or booster a central official decrees they must take, regardless of individual circumstances, and</li><li>compassion, not mocking, for those who value personal liberty. <br /></li></ul><p>Actually, we already do have a commandment that seems to sum all this up and is far more benign than any political mandate: "love one another." May we love one another, including the unvaccinated, and in compassion stand up for their rights, their jobs, and freedom of choice, even if we disagree with the choices they make. Ditto for those who are overweight, alcoholic, smokers, or engage in a variety of other risky lifestyle choices like, say, my personal vice of scuba diving (yes, I'm coming out!). We may disagree with the choices they have made, choices which can fill our hospitals and strain our medical system year after year, especially for those who have COVID, but let us not address the problem by requiring companies to fire the overweight or promoting coercion of any kind. <br /></p><p>Lat's drop the mandate, stand in support for those it may harm, and choose instead the greatest commandment of all to address the core problems in this nation. Those problems, by the way, do not include inadequate autocratic power in the hands of a few. But failure to respect those with different views, needs, and choices is a problem we all need to work on. "Love one another" -- may this be our domestic and foreign policy, along with "teach correct principles, and let people govern themselves."</p><p>If divide and conquer is the stratagem here, after companies with more than 100 employees buckle and comply as the many millions of the rest of us sit back quietly, the next step could be a mandate for all other companies as well, and then will come vaccine mandates for the children, something already in the works in some regions. I know some good people who are anxious to have their children vaccinated, but I hope all of us can recognize the right of parents to say no, regardless of how safe and effective the vaccines may be. For those who are already or soon will be facing pressure to vaccinate your children, you may wish to read the Wall Street Journal's Nov. 9 op-ed, "<a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-vaccine-mandate-kids-unlawful-eua-emergency-use-authorization-5-to-11-year-old-11636493796" target="_blank">Forced Covid Vaccination for Kids Is Unlawful</a>" by <span class="author-name">Jenin Younes (free registration required). Whatever you choose, at least recognize that it is not irresponsible for parents to decline a vaccine for their children for which we don<i>'</i>t yet have the many years of safety testing and experience that is typical of other vaccines. Let's stand with empathy for the rights of workers whose jobs are at risk and for the parents who will be pressured if not demonized for a reasonable decision. </span></p><p><span class="author-name"><br /><i></i></span></p><p><span class="author-name"><b>Update, Nov. 19, 2021: </b>Above I referred to a medication that some doctors are prescribing for COVID as an off-label prescription (a common practice where a physician believes an existing FDA-approved medication may be useful for a patient if used in a non-standard way). The drug referred to, ivermectin, has been the subject of much controversy and bad science or bad faith on both sides of the debate. But based on the most comprehensive and clear-headed meta-analysis of nearly all of the studies involving its treatment of COVID, skepticism toward that drug appears justified after all, even though I was previously persuaded by some significant medical authorities and their analysis of many studies. It turns out that even after removing all the studies with obvious serious flows, there are studies that point to a definite positive effect. But new information suggests that this positive effect may be almost entirely explained by -- can you guess? -- worms! No kidding. Please see Scott Alexander's "<a href="https://astralcodexten.substack.com/p/ivermectin-much-more-than-you-wanted" target="_blank">Ivermectin: Much More Than You Wanted To Know</a>," <i>Astral Codex Ten</i>, Nov. 16, 2021, https://astralcodexten.substack.com/p/ivermectin-much-more-than-you-wanted. </span></p><p><span class="author-name">The higher-quality studies pointing to a positive effect of ivermectin comes from regions where people are more likely to be afflicted with parasitic worms, which make COVID even more damaging. The anti-parasitic benefits of the drug could handily explain the benefits. When worms are taken into account, ivermectin may no longer offer statistically significant improvements in patients. There's still more to study and learn here, but I think it's reasonable to conclude that the drug may not be the way to go, at least not by itself. The new therapeutics might be much better. </span></p><p><span class="author-name">It would have been great if our medical institutions had done the kind of clear thinking and explaining we see from Scott Alexander instead of mocking the use of the drug and threatening doctors who prescribed it, actions which only exacerbated mistrust (especially given that the studies as a whole seem to weigh in favor in a cheap drug -- until the parasitic effect is considered, which had not yet been done as far as I can tell). <br /></span></p><p><span class="author-name">Alexander's article also tries to explain the reasons why some of us are distrustful of the Medical Elite. His analogy to alien conquerors asking us to accept brain implants to spare us from an alien disease is quite funny and interesting, though it may miss the depth of intelligent reasons for such distrust. Would like to see a version of his analogy that incorporates a parallel to the border crisis, for example.</span></p><p><span class="author-name">By the way, kudos to Geoff B. at <i>Millennial Star</i> for calling attention to the compelling scientific evidence for the benefit of natural immunity in "<a href="https://www.millennialstar.org/lancet-natural-immunity-equal-to-vaccination-for-covid-safety/" target="_blank">Lancet: natural immunity 'equal to' vaccination for COVID safety</a>," Nov. 18, 2021. How can the attempted vaccine mandate completely ignore natural immunity and still be assumed by anyone to just "follow the science" and be in good faith? Something's fishy. Science is real, and so is natural immunity. </span></p><p><span class="author-name">As Geoff B. properly points out, <a href="https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/first-presidency-message-covid-19-august-2021" target="_blank">the First Presidency statement of Aug. 12, 2021</a> considers natural immunity when it speaks of the importance of "</span><span class="author-name">immunizing a very high percentage of the population." Immunization is broader than vaccination alone and includes natural immunity. Further, the statement also shows good scientific knowledge in speaking of the <i>personal</i> benefits of vaccination in reducing the severity of disease: "To provide
personal protection from such severe infections, we urge individuals to
be vaccinated." Well said. Let's be careful not to read that as an endorsement of vaccine mandates or the need to pressure people into vaccination to presumably stop the spread, which the vaccines don't seem to be doing well. But the personal benefit is clear. I add my voice in urging vaccination of adults (who don't have medical issues that might make vaccination problematic and who haven't already had COVID).</span></p><p><b><span class="author-name">Update, Nov. 21, 2021: New Information on the Effect of the Vaccines on Transmission</span></b></p><p><span class="author-name">As we watch strange trends across the globe, such as <a href="https://twitter.com/verycentrist/status/1460694064223899653" target="_blank">100% Gibraltar having a spike in COVID cases</a> or <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/california-s-covid-cases-are-lower-than-in-other-states-that-are-more-vaccinated-why/ar-AAPh6vz" target="_blank">highly vaccinated states in the US sometimes having much more severe spikes in cases</a> than less vaccinated states, many have begun to question the basic belief that vaccines surely must greatly reduce transmission of COVID. We've also had reports about CDC data showing that the vaccinated, when infected, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/science-health-coronavirus-pandemic-d9504519a8ae081f785ca012b5ef84d1" target="_blank">can have the same viral load as the unvaccinated</a>. That created a stir, though I'll admit I thought that something was wrong in <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7031e2.htm?s_cid=mm7031e2_w" target="_blank">the CDC study</a> that it would give such an unexpected result, which seems to be contrary to what vaccines are supposed to do. But now a number of scientists are concluding that the vaccines, while effective in reducing personal harm, do not prevent the spread of the disease. </span></p><p><span class="author-name">A new study, S. V. Subramanian and Akhil Kumar, "<a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10654-021-00808-7" target="_blank">Increases in COVID-19 are unrelated to levels of vaccination across 68 countries and 2947 counties in the United States</a>," <i>European Journal of Epidemiology</i> (Sept. 2021), https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10654-021-00808-7, </span><span class="author-name">examined 68 countries and 2,947 counties in the US and found that <i>higher vaccination rates are not associated with fewer
COVID cases</i>. To me, this is a stunning reversal of "common knowledge" about what vaccines are supposed to do. Here are some of the findings of that study:</span></p><p></p><blockquote><p><span class="author-name">At the country-level, there appears to be no discernable relationship
between percentage of population fully vaccinated and new COVID-19 cases
in the last 7 days (Fig. <a data-track-action="figure anchor" data-track-label="link" data-track="click" href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10654-021-00808-7#Fig1">1</a>).
<b>In fact, the trend line suggests a marginally positive association such
that countries with higher percentage of population fully vaccinated
have higher COVID-19 cases per 1 million people.</b> Notably, Israel with
over 60% of their population fully vaccinated had the highest COVID-19
cases per 1 million people in the last 7 days. The lack of a meaningful
association between percentage population fully vaccinated and new
COVID-19 cases is further exemplified, for instance, by comparison of
Iceland and Portugal. Both countries have over 75% of their population
fully vaccinated and have more COVID-19 cases per 1 million people than
countries such as Vietnam and South Africa that have around 10% of their
population fully vaccinated.</span></p><p><span class="author-name"><b>Across the US counties</b> too, the median new COVID-19 cases per 100,000
people in the last 7 days is largely similar across the categories of
percent population fully vaccinated (Fig. <a data-track-action="figure anchor" data-track-label="link" data-track="click" href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10654-021-00808-7#Fig2">2</a>). Notably there is also substantial county variation in new COVID-19 cases <i>within</i>
categories of percentage population fully vaccinated. There also
<b>appears to be no significant signaling of COVID-19 cases decreasing with
higher percentages of population fully vaccinated </b>(Fig. <a data-track-action="figure anchor" data-track-label="link" data-track="click" href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10654-021-00808-7#Fig3">3</a>).</span></p></blockquote><p><span class="author-name"> Now there are many complex factors that could confound results and obscure a positive effect from the vaccines. But such a signal, if it exists, probably cannot be very strong to be so difficult to observe, and if not clear and strong, what is the social justification for vaccination? Please recognize that there is still a strong reason for adults, especially those who are elderly or with compromised health, to be vaccinated, but the reason is personal, not social. If the vaccinated are roughly just as likely to spread the disease as the unvaccinated, or perhaps even marginally more likely as the data for countries might suggest (likely to be a random fluke in the data, IMHO), then there simply is not a valid reason to discriminate against the unvaccinated in any way, especially in light of the arrival of effective therapeutics for COVID. </span></p><p><span class="author-name"><i><br /></i></span></p><p><span class="author-name"><i> </i></span><i></i></p>Jeff Lindsayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08776493593387402607noreply@blogger.com28tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7139169.post-54501356331976844542021-10-15T12:00:00.009-05:002021-10-21T21:54:14.543-05:00Institutional Bullying and the Question of Religious Exemption from Vaccine Mandates<p>I received a call this week from a father with two children facing intimidation and bullying from the universities they are attending. As is common these days, those who have concerns about the COVID vaccine and are hesitant to be vaccinated are treated as second-class citizens, with corporations, universities, and other institutions treating them as second-class citizens if not pariahs to be ousted. At the two universities in question, the vaccine hesitant are easily identified and are pressured or bullied by other students and intimidated by the university. Sincere religious concerns do not count for much. </p><p>Religious exemption requests are based on the idea enshrined in the Constitution that American citizens should have freedom to practice their religion. Of course, where the boundaries of those freedoms are is a complex and thorny issue. But an important aspect of that liberty is codified into law in <a href="https://www.eeoc.gov/laws/guidance/questions-and-answers-religious-discrimination-workplace">Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964</a>,
which prohibits discrimination of employees on the basis of religion. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission requires
employers to provide "reasonable accommodations" for the sincere religious beliefs of workers unless that would cause undue
hardship. Similar principles have been put into state laws and are part of the official policies of many universities. See, for example, the <a href="https://eoc.unc.edu/our-policies/religious-accommodations-policy/" target="_blank">Religious Accommodations Policy of the University of North Carolina</a>. </p><p>But what does this have to do with COVID? No major religious organization, as far as I know, has come out against COVID vaccination. The leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have encouraged us to protect ourselves and others by being vaccinated. (For the record, my wife and I are vaccinated and we think it's a good idea to get vaccinated, especially if they do not already have natural immunity and are in a high-risk category or closely associate with those at high risk.) So how can there be a sincere religious objection to the COVID vaccine? </p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Two Possible Grounds for Religious Objections<br /></h4><p>The two university students in question have concerns about the use of fetal cells in the R&D and development that led to these new vaccines. The vaccines do not contain fetal cells, but fetal cells were used in the development and commercialization of the vaccines that are available in the US. Many people who share an opposition to unnecessary abortion and strongly believe in the sanctity of human life do not necessarily object to the use of modern fetal cell lines that have been cultured from fetal cells taken in the 1970s, especially when those fetal cells are not physically part of the product. But there are arguments both ways. I think we need to understand that a person can have a sincere concern about any new medical product that was invented or developed through the use of abortion, even if the abortion occurred long ago. If aborted cells were an integral part of the development and introduction of a new product, I can see why it might be viewed as tainted and objectionable to use, or especially repugnant to take into one's body. </p><p><a href="https://www.michigan.gov/documents/coronavirus/COVID-19_Vaccines_and_Fetal_Cells_031921_720415_7.pdf." target="_blank">As reported by the State of Michigan in their fact sheet on fetal cells and COVID vaccines</a> (PDF), the “Johnson & Johnson (Janssen) COVID-19 vaccine used a fetal cell line to produce and manufacture their vaccine.” While the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccine did not use a fetal cell line to manufacture their vaccine, “a fetal cell line was used in a very early phase to confirm efficacy prior to production and manufacturing.” All three vaccines are thus subject to potential religious concerns about the use of fetal cells for the development of a new drug. <br /></p><p>But fetal cell use is not the only reason a religious person might have a sincere religious concern about the COVID vaccines or any experimental drug or drug that has not had the normal years of <i>long-term </i>safety testing. As I discussed in <a href="https://mormanity.blogspot.com/2021/09/medical-tyranny-when-your-government.html" target="_blank">my Sept. 10, 2021 post on the Emmy Award-winning singer, Victory Boyd</a>, whose contract with the NFL was terminated when she refused vaccination on religious grounds, Ms. Boyd based her request for a religious exemption on the biblical concept of the sanctity of her body and the desire to not take potentially harmful (or not completely tested) substances into her body. Here is her statement:</p><blockquote><p>“The Bible admonishes Christians to appreciate their bodies as being
sacred and a temple of the Holy Spirit and to not participate in things
that can defile the body or render the body dysfunctional.</p>
<p>“I am in prayer to make sure that the Lord guides me into the right
decision concerning receiving an unproven injection with artificial
properties that can potentially have a long-term effect on my
reproductive health.</p>
<p>“If I want to take the vaccine, the decision will be between myself,
my doctor, and my God. At this point, the Spirit of God is leading me to
take a stand for freedom of choice.”</p></blockquote><p>Sadly, the "my body, my choice" argument only seems to work if it's being used to justify destroying someone else's very vulnerable prenatal body. When it comes to actually protecting your own body from unwanted substances, many institutions insist that compliance is the only option with no effort at all to make reasonable accommodations for one's sincere concerns. But that doesn't mean a person with those concerns should be silenced, shamed, or booted from the company or university. Even if we disagree with the religious concerns, I think we need to stand with those who are asking for their religious views and rights to be respected. <br /></p><p>As Latter-day Saints with our own health code, we are taught to have concerns about taking harmful substances into our body. Tobacco, alcohol, and harmful drugs are on the list. But what about drugs where the safety status has not been fully resolved due to the lack of long-term studies on such issues as reproductive health or cancer? The two students in question both wish to be parents one day and have sincere concerns about the long-term impact of the vaccines on reproductive health. What is the impact on pregnancy or on fetal development or mutations? What we know so far from extensive safety testing in the past 18 months is that the vaccines are safe. But no matter how awesome your short-term testing is, no matter how close your rats and mice are to humans, there are some human health issues that cannot be fully settled with one or two years of testing. Most vaccines go through 10 to 15 years of development and testing before being rolled out for widespread use. There is a sincere reason why someone might feel short-term testing is not enough time to take a substance that could affect them for the rest of their life. It's a reasonable basis for a religious exemption and a reasonable basis for a scientific objection. I'm not saying we have to agree with it or that the argument is compelling, but it is a position that a reasonable person can take. </p><p>There may be further grounds for religious exemption requests besides
the two considered here, but please understand that those having
religious objections may have more than one basis for their concerns. <br /></p><p>As healthy young people with very little risk to COVID, both of these students wonder why they should be compelled to take a substance into their bodies that may bring genuine risk (though risk that at the moment seems quite rare) yet offers very little benefit for them while in their youth. Given their health and age, having COVID is very unlikely to send them to the hospital to use up limited resources for others. Their vaccinated peers have very little to fear from them if the vaccines are effective. Compelling them to take a medication that may bring risk but offers little benefit seems unfair. Giving them time to wait for long-term safety results doesn't seem unreasonable. </p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Aspirin, Tylenol, Ex-Lax and the Hypocrisy Test<br /></h4><p>One of the children of the father who called me had already expressed the desire for a religious exemption to the university, which apparently claims that it will make reasonable accommodations to sincere religious belief. In response, the university provided an intimidating form to "test" the sincerity of that belief by giving a long list of popular over-the-counter products that allegedly also have used fetal cells. The form requires students seeking a religious exemption to vow that they do not and will not use such products. <br /></p><p>The hypocrisy test apparently was developed at the healthcare company, Conway Medical, p<a href="https://www.tspr.org/post/getting-religious-exemption-vaccine-mandate-may-not-be-easy-heres-why" target="_blank">er Tristates Public Radio, WIUM</a>. Here's their form (click to enlarge):</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0CRtz0MkV6GBvra3XHgi6X786sKiS_iB1m6y3Ix5rm6o0Bc00LFJbzuXm_X7JfmF3T8s_dMAhydroVi5mxwnZ-CrBTRpW6AjOV6rHlH9qX61SQdAitvLmYkDUJAKroTYo43BZxg/s2048/Conway-Medical-religiousexemptionattestationforcovid.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1556" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0CRtz0MkV6GBvra3XHgi6X786sKiS_iB1m6y3Ix5rm6o0Bc00LFJbzuXm_X7JfmF3T8s_dMAhydroVi5mxwnZ-CrBTRpW6AjOV6rHlH9qX61SQdAitvLmYkDUJAKroTYo43BZxg/w304-h400/Conway-Medical-religiousexemptionattestationforcovid.jpg" width="304" /></a></div><br /><p>The same list is now being used in many parts of the country, including at some universities. This hypocrisy test, in my opinion, might not really be based on a good-faith desire to confirm
the sincerity of a student's religious views, for it feels like it is intended to intimidate students and mock their belief. It's a little like saying, "Oh, you refuse to drink alcohol due to religious beliefs? <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5421578/" target="_blank">According to science, you're a hypocrite.</a> We've seen you drinking orange juice and eating bananas, both of which can contain around 0.2% ethanol. We've seen you eating hamburgers with baked buns known to have over 1% ethanol. It's amazing you can even walk straight right now. You obviously don't have a sincere religious belief against alcohol. Now drink up!" </p><p>This alcohol-related mocking is only a little like the mockery of the university's hypocrisy test, because my alcohol hypocrisy test is actually much more logical. Alcohol occurs naturally in many foods, enough so that parents perhaps really should be cautious about giving young children lots of fruit juice. See Eva Gorgus, Maike Hittinger, and Dieter Schrenk, "<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5421578/" target="_blank">Estimates of Ethanol Exposure in Children from Food not Labeled as Alcohol-Containing</a>," <i>Journal of Analytical Toxicology</i>, vol. 40, no. 7 (Sept. 2016): 537–542. But there's still a significant difference between most alcohol-rich foods and the alcohol content of beer, wine, or liquor. </p><p>Importantly, whether my religious acceptance of the Word of Wisdom's prohibition of alcohol is logical or scientific does not determine the sincerity of my religious belief. My religious beliefs related to what I eat or drink is based on revelation and to some degree religious tradition in interpreting that revelation. I personally avoid low-alcohol beer, even if its alcohol content might actually be less than that of my favorite fresh-baked bread. Our response to the Word of Wisdom may seem illogical or contradictory when explored by secular observers. But guess what? <i>It's religion. </i>It's a matter of faith and sometimes a matter of tradition. It's not supposed to make perfect sense to outside secular observers. Religion of all kinds abounds with elements that require faith and may seem contradictory, superstitious, or unreasonable to outsiders, especially those looking for reasons to criticize. Whether it's the nature of the Trinity or the refusal to eat cheeseburgers based on an interpretation of a verse in the Torah, there are things that are puzzling to those outside the believer's faith. Whether a student has taken Tylenol is not a fair gauge of the sincerity of religious belief.<br /></p><p>Further, the university's hypocrisy test is actually deceptive and unreasonable. It is deceptive because nearly all of the products on the list were developed and marketed without the use of fetal cells, often long before fetal cells were even available for testing. <a href="https://pharmaceutical-journal.com/article/infographics/a-history-of-aspirin" target="_blank">Aspirin, which was first marketed by Bayer in 1899</a> but has a history that goes much further back in time. <a href="(https://www.nytimes.com/1997/03/23/nyregion/fyi-218294.html" target="_blank">Ex-Lax</a> was first produced in 1906. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tums" target="_blank">Tums</a> was introduced to the market in 1928 but employs compounds known to be safe long before that. <a href="https://www.wikidoc.org/index.php/Preparation_H" target="_blank">Preparation H</a> dates to around 1935. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibuprofen" target="_blank">Ibuprofen</a> was discovered in 1961. Now that aspirin is on the market, if some lab or manufacturer decides to test it with fetal cells, I don't need to reject aspirin <i>if my religious belief and conscience leads me to reject products that relied on abortion for their development and commercialization</i>. Products that were developed and commercialized independent of an aborted child are what some people object to. Taking an existing product that did not rely on the cells of an aborted fetus for its development and commercialization and then later testing it with fetal cells may be unfortunate, but need not require the believer to reject that product.</p><p><b>If some lab decides to test the safety of lettuce using fetal cells, that would be unfortunate, but it does not turn pro-lifers objecting to fetal cell use in vaccines into hypocrites if they are caught eating salad.</b> Lettuce salad, like most of the products on the hypocrisy test list, was an established product long before fetal cells were available for testing. <br /></p><h4 style="text-align: left;">A Better Sincerity Test</h4><p>If the universities really want to know if these students have sincere objections to the vaccines
based on pro-life views or the Word of Wisdom or some other matter of
faith and conscience, the right gauge is not whether or not they have
ever used aspirin, Tylenol, Ex-Lax, etc., or consumed fresh-baked bread
or orange juice. The hypocrisy test is great as a secular tool to
belittle the beliefs of others, but if you want to know how sincere
those students are, a better tool might be to simply observe what they
have been doing already. In spite of being publicly shamed as vaccine
hesitant rebels, facing sustained harassment from fellow students
motivated by statements and policies from the university without respect
for the medical privacy and personal beliefs of the students, these
students continue to maintain their position and to implore the
university for the right to control what is taken into their bodies and
to avoid an injection of a substance that, unlike aspirin or Tylenol,
relied on the cells of an aborted fetus for its very existence (i.e.,
its development and commercialization). Being willing to face that kind
of pressure and discrimination and now to risk being expelled from the
university for their beliefs seems like an indicator of sincerity, even
if we don't share or agree with the position they take. </p><h4 style="text-align: left;">The "Scientific Exemption": It's Not Just Religion We Need to Respect</h4><div style="text-align: left;">For the two university students in question, the objection to the vaccine is not just based on religious concerns, though I think they should be respected in spite of my not fully agreeing with them. Besides the religious concerns, there is also a scientific or health-based objection, and they may be including a request for a "scientific exemption" in their requests to the university. </div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;">Their concern is that they are young, healthy people with almost zero risk from COVID. The decision to receive the vaccination makes a long-lasting change in their bodies and while the evidence so far points to a high level of safety, there are significant unanswered questions. A particular concern is about long-term impact on their reproductive health. These concerns are swiftly dismissed by advocated of vaccine mandates based on "extensive" testing in the past 18 months or so. But have we really had enough time to understand the effect on the human reproductive system and on children born to those who have received the vaccine? Do we understand the long-term effect on cancer? How can we have solid answers in such a short time?</div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;">If concerns about reproductive issues have been fully assessed already, why did the NIH just award five institutions grants “to explore potential links between COVID-19 vaccination and menstrual change”? See the NIH post, "<a href="https://covid19.nih.gov/news-and-stories/covid-19-vaccines-and-menstrual-cycle" target="_blank">COVID-19 Vaccines and the Menstrual CycleNIH encourages researchers to investigate reported changes in menstruation after COVID-19 vaccination</a>." Here there are enough concerns that have been raised for the NIH to launch a study related to reproductive health. <b>Note that these grants in no way suggest there are any reasons to believe that the vaccine might have any adverse impact on fertility or on children born to vaccinated parents, and I personally don't know of any data suggesting the least real concern so far.</b> But if understanding the effect on menstruation requires more time and money, could their be other aspects of reproductive health that will require even more time? Ditto for the long-term effect on cancer or other ailments. It is not unscientific to ask questions about such effects and to seek more data before taking injections that can impact my body for decades to come with effects that are not yet clear. I may not agree, but a person can have sound scientific reasons for at least wanting more data before committing to vaccination. There is a reasonable basis for a good-faith request for a "scientific exemption" from the vaccine mandate based on the principle of stewardship over one's body, back to "my body, my choice."</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: left;">Finally, Let's Not Forget Natural Immunity<br /></h4><p>One of the most puzzling things about the vaccine mandates sweeping this country is the uniform neglect of natural immunity. Why should those who have already had COVID need to be vaccinated as a condition of employment or continuing at a university?</p><p>While I am vaccinated and think it's a good idea for most people, I also recognize the scientifically demonstrated principle of natural immunity and feel that those who have already lived through COVID should be given recognition for their natural antibodies. There should also be recognition that <a href="https://www.gavi.org/vaccineswork/why-vaccine-side-effects-might-be-more-common-people-whove-already-had-covid-19" target="_blank">adverse reactions, though typically mild, are more likely for those that have already had COVID</a> and is something that might reasonably be weighed in a person's personal decision about vaccination.<br /></p><p>A few days ago, I met a young mom who was required by her employer to get the vaccine in spite of having had COVID. She objected and asked for an exemption based on already having antibodies. Request denied. So she buckled. For her, the adverse reaction to the vaccine was much worse than COVID. COVID was like having a cold for her, but the vaccine caused intense pain and fatigue that kept her ill for about a week. Unfortunately, even after a month she said feels she's only 75% back to normal. </p><p>Meanwhile, a close friend of that woman had COVID and struggled with the complication of myocarditis. Now he's been forced by his employer to receive the vaccination, even though it is known that <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/cdc-heart-inflammation-cases-ages-16-24-higher-than-expected-after-mrna-covid-19-2021-06-10/" target="_blank">young men like him may be at some risk of myocarditis</a> from the vaccine (again, the vaccines are generally safe and I still encourage vaccination, but also encourage respect for individual concerns). He's asked for an exemption based on medical risk and the fact that he already has natural antibodies. Request denied, even though his doctor is on his side (so I was told, but maybe she had the story wrong). He's deeply worried about his health and does not want the vaccination, but may have to leave his high-paying job in the financial industry. Shouldn't there be respect for people's health and for their concerns? Shouldn't there be reasonable accommodations for reasonable health-based and scientific objections, as well as religious objections? Concerns about myocarditis, especially in males, are not based on mere rumors and fake news, but are leading Europe to take significant steps. See the Oct. 8, 2021 CNBC report, "<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/10/08/nordic-countries-are-restricting-the-use-of-modernas-covid-vaccine.html" target="_blank">Nordic countries are restricting the use of Moderna’s Covid vaccine. Here’s why</a>," and the earlier July 9, 2021 Reuters story, "<a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/eu-regulator-lists-heart-condition-possible-side-effect-mrna-vaccines-2021-07-09/" target="_blank">EU finds potential link between heart inflammation and mRNA COVID shots</a>." These concerns are generally minor and don't affect everyone, but they can affect some. The <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/safety/myocarditis.html" target="_blank">CDC is also aware of some reports of myocarditis</a>, but still encourages vaccination. But we must not forget that there are always risks with any drug, and these need to be weighed against the benefits.</p><p>There are plenty of good reasons to be vaccinated, and I'm glad (so far, anyway) that I've been vaccinated. But may we have enough compassion and respect for others to recognize that there are genuine religious and scientific concerns that some may have. Today there is popular pressure to shame such individuals, some of whom are likely in our own wards or branches, families, workplaces, or schools. </p><p>May we express our humanity and our tolerance of diversity by standing for their freedom to choose, for their rights to have their religious views reasonably accommodated and their scientific objections to be considered. May we stand against the unreasonable and hateful condemnation of the unvaccinated and sweeping one-size-fits-all vaccine mandates that may be genuinely unnecessary for many. May we resist the manipulative paranoia and fear that is causing some of us vaccinated people to dread and despise those who have sincere reasons for not wanting the vaccination at this time. And may we help keep them from being fired or expelled from universities, especially those who are in critical areas related to health care, law enforcement, manufacturing, and numerous other fields already suffering from a shortage of talent. Reasonable accommodation and kindness is surely the most reasonable thing we can be doing with those who have sincere concerns about these new vaccines. </p><p><i><b>UPDATE, Oct. 21, 2021: </b></i>The social argument for vaccine mandates needs more discussion and more science. It's repeated without question as an article of faith, often without consideration of data and the existence of other means of mitigating risks. Those wishing to not be pressured into letting others make decisions about one's body and one's health care may be on even stronger grounds in light of the latest relevant scientific report: S. V. Subramanian and Akhil Kumar, "<a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10654-021-00808-7" target="_blank">Increases in COVID-19 are unrelated to levels of vaccination across 68 countries and 2947 counties in the United States</a>," <i>European Journal of Epidemiology</i>
(Sept. 30, 2021), https://doi.org/10.1007/s10654-021-00808-7. Analysis
of extensive data suggests that high levels of vaccination aren't
effective in slowing the spread of the virus. The benefit is the reduced
risk to the vaccinated. This seems to greatly weaken the "social good"
argument that requires people to "give up their 'precious' freedoms" and
let some corporate or political bureaucrat dictate what medical
treatment they receive instead of making their own decision. I'm
pro-vaccine, but also pro-freedom. There are cases where the social good
argument may be compelling, but the data does not seem to come close to
supporting that in this case. If vaccination does not greatly reduce
the spread of the infection, what's the basis for vaccine mandates and
shaming the unvaccinated? It's time we engage in conversation on this topic. <br /></p><p> <br /></p>Jeff Lindsayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08776493593387402607noreply@blogger.com78tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7139169.post-65147322977046025232021-09-20T09:29:00.004-05:002021-09-21T11:19:21.754-05:00Zeal Without Data: Blaming the Church for Utah's Allegedly Low Vaccination Rates<p><a href="https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/nt/rom/10.2?lang=eng&clang=eng#p1" target="_blank">Romans 10:2</a> speaks of those who "have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.<span class="p">" </span><a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=proverbs+19&version=NET" target="_blank">Psalm 19:2 in the NET</a> (New English Translation) tells us that "It is dangerous to have zeal without knowledge, and the one who acts hastily makes poor choices." Hugh Nibley was fond of the phrase "zeal without knowledge" and once gave <a href="https://archive.bookofmormoncentral.org/content/zeal-without-knowledge" target="_blank">a talk at BYU with that title</a>. Zeal without knowledge can refer to those who think they are valiantly following God but acting in ignorance of the truth, which can lead to atrocious results that hurt others and hinder Zion. Nibley urges us to do our own thinking, to use our minds, to constantly seek knowledge, so that we can mature, grow, and do what's right. "Zeal makes us loyal and unflinching, but God wants more than that." Nibley quotes Joseph Smith (Teaching of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 80) saying, "Many, having a zeal not according to knowledge," said the Prophet, " . . . have, no doubt, in the heat of enthusiasm, taught and said many things which are derogatory to the genuine character and principles of the Church." </p><p>That problem continues to this day, in spite of he incredible growth of access to information. Highly educated people who think they know what they are talking about can easily act in zeal, driven by their passionate loyalty for misguided causes, sharing information and teachings that are based on ignorance and a lack of accurate data. Nibley warned that if we don't actively seek and obtain good information and use our minds to their full capacity, then "false information flourishes" and we are likely to believe all sorts of preposterous nonsense. </p><p>A case in point is the very unfortunate <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2021/08/24/even-lds-leaders-are-struggling-get-mormons-vaccinated-against-covid/" target="_blank">op-ed column by a Latter-day Saint professor, Benjamin Park, in the influential Washington Post</a> explaining why the past conservative politics of the Church is to blame for Utah's allegedly very low vaccination level. The subhead (line below the headline) declares that "LDS leaders stoked a far-right culture for decades. Now it might undermine their authority." Yep, that's the problem, all right. Utah's got some Republicans and it's the Church that foolishly "stoked" that. Now I suppose Utahans are going to be devastated by COVID as a result since those ignorant right-wingers aren't getting vaccinated. <br /></p><p>Park jumps in quickly with data showing how behind Utah is: "<a href="https://coronavirus-dashboard.utah.gov/vaccines.html">Less than half</a>
of eligible residents of Utah, where members constitute a majority of
the population, are fully vaccinated, placing the state in the lower
half of the nation." The link he gives is to a Utah vaccine dashboard where Park apparently has taken the percent vaccinated <b>among all Utahans</b>, not the smaller population of "eligible residents." Huh? </p><p>It's well known that Utah has lots of children, and children under the age of 12 are not eligible for vaccination. So why isn't Park looking at the eligible population when he claims to be reporting that data? That dashboard page shows Utah's vaccination level is at 51.2% of all residents (might have been just below 50% when Park penned his article in August), but what's the level among the eligible? This isn't hard to find. In fact, the Utah dashboard page that Park linked provides relevant data right next to the number Park was using. The more relevant number is hard to miss: "Percent 12+ Received at Least One Dose" and the value reported is at <b>72%</b>. That's a lot better than "less than half." The number who are fully vaccinated is at 63% of the eligible population. You can also see how Utah compares to the rest of the nation -- not bad at all all -- on the <a href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/coronavirus-covid-19/vaccine-tracker " target="_blank">Mayo Clinic's Vaccine Tracker page</a> under the section, "State COVID-19 vaccine rates by age."<br /></p><p>If there was any kind of real fact checking going on at the Washington Post, this embarrassing blunder would have been rectified -- but then the story would not come close to fitting the desired narrative, for the real data directly contradict the basis of Park's rant. </p><p>Park's error is treated in more detail by A&R Skabelund in the post, "<a href="https://arskabelund.substack.com/p/an-attack-of-mormon-mania" target="_blank">An Attack of Mormon Mania: Embarrassing blunder by WaPo and Benjamin Park on vaccine hesitancy among LDS Church members and what it reveals about our ruling class</a>" at <a href="https://arskabelund.substack.com/" target="_blank"><i>Worthless Thoughts</i></a>, Sept 21, 2021. They use data from Aug. 18, the week before the Aug. 24 publication of Park's piece, and show just how painfully off this piece was, not just in the reported "less than half" level, but also in the comparison to other states:</p><p></p><blockquote>The second part of Park’s claim, that Utah was in the “lower half of the nation,” also proves to be wrong. I consulted the <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210818045516/https:/www.mayoclinic.org/coronavirus-covid-19/vaccine-tracker/" rel="nofollow ugc noopener">Mayo Clinic’s vaccine tracker</a>
(also from August 18th) to compare fully vaccinated rates for each
state in the three demographic categories provided: under 18, 18-64, and
65+. In the under 18 fully vaccinated rates, Utah is at 14.2%
vaccinated, tied for 25th place. For the 18-64 demographic, Utah’s fully
vaxxed percentage comes in at 62.3%, at 17th place. And for the 65+
demographic, Utah is at 90.4%, at 20th place.</blockquote><p></p><p>The older group most likely to have been influenced by the conservative era that Park decries, are the most vaccinated and are in the top 20 states. </p><p>Scholars make mistakes all the time, just like medical experts do. The appropriate scholarly thing is to own up to it and make a retraction. The appropriate political thing, however, if your purpose is pure politics driven by data-free zeal, is to continue acting with zeal while ignoring the real data because the end justifies the means and "progress" is all that matters. I'm looking forward to seeing whether this particular professor will choose scholarship over politics, now that the blunder has been made known. Here's my wish that he and WaPo will issue a correction that gets at least as much visibility as the error did, though such a thing is rare in the increasingly politicized media. </p><p>The Skabelunds go on to discuss reasons for the lack of scrutiny to facts and data in pieces that attack the Church, and also write much to point out that there are good reasons why intelligent people might be skeptical of the positions our government is taking in the fight against COVID. Some of what they write is similar to the points I made in my recent article, "<a href="https://latterdaysaintmag.com/how-to-talk-to-concerned-church-members-who-are-covid-policy-doubters/ " target="_blank">How to Talk to Concerned Church Members Who Are 'COVID Policy Doubters,'</a>" published Aug. 15 in <i>Meridian Magazine</i>. Please read their full article and consider some of the excellent point they make. It can help us be less divisive and more understanding of those among our ranks who don't yet want the vaccine. Again, I'm vaccinated and encourage people to get it, but I value freedom of choice on this issue. <br /></p><p>Park is worried about fundamentalist, evangelical, and right-wing white Americans who seem to be the bogey man for COVID, failing to recognize that the data shows black Americans and some other minorities are among the most vaccine hesitant. And the reasons they have for not being super trustful of the US government should not be ridiculed. Ever heard of the Tuskegee experiment? Park may have accepted the call of the politicians to demonize the vaccine hesitant, but his response is an unfortunate illustration of how some of our own members can harm the cause of Zion by acting in zeal without knowledge, or in this case, zeal without sound data. <br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p> </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Jeff Lindsayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08776493593387402607noreply@blogger.com25tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7139169.post-92051953746554292612021-09-10T10:29:00.009-05:002021-09-12T08:33:30.118-05:00Medical Tyranny? When Your Government Tells You to Abandon Freedom and Personal Choice, It's Time to Speak Out<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibIG04GFeFXAY1rASwSKUeOZwxWnem8bqbNilofkwUjCqT4nv8l-eNHktlArEJD6oNTtD3ONaaIaYOeew-quI28G8rWjryPZhGhboE5eOsRqeIiaTusrndhEk3IejBYX2j3_Qn8g/s616/Screen+Shot+2021-09-10+at+10.27.27+AM.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="574" data-original-width="616" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibIG04GFeFXAY1rASwSKUeOZwxWnem8bqbNilofkwUjCqT4nv8l-eNHktlArEJD6oNTtD3ONaaIaYOeew-quI28G8rWjryPZhGhboE5eOsRqeIiaTusrndhEk3IejBYX2j3_Qn8g/s320/Screen+Shot+2021-09-10+at+10.27.27+AM.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Victory Boyd<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br />The mainstream media has largely ignored a chilling story about disrespecting the religious beliefs of a black woman, Grammy Award-winning singer and songwriter Victory Boyd. After being hired by the NFL to sing the national anthem at the season-opening football game on Sept. 9 in Tampa, Florida, <a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/recording-artist-victory-boyd-refuses-vaccine-for-religious-reasons-nfl-cancels-her-national-anthem-opening-day-performance_3986004.html" target="_blank">she was fired</a> when she stated that she wanted a personal religious exemption from the League's vaccination requirement. The requirement is surely not based on science, for she would be performing in Raymond James Stadium, an open-air venue, where she would not need to be in close contact with the fans and staff, just her entourage. But the NFL refused to honor her request for a religious exemption. Fired. And almost no media coverage (e.g., so sign of the story on CNN.com or CBS.com, though the latter has a story that mentions the release of her song "Open Your Eyes"). </p><p>To get a taste of what America missed on Sept. 9, please listen to her sing <a href="of the national anthem" target="_blank">the most beautiful and touching rendition of the National Anthem that I've ever heard in her video post at Instagram</a>. <br /></p><p></p><p class="subheading">But now it's not just the rights of one black woman that will trampled on. President Biden now seeks to protect us all by forcing people to be vaccinated. In his <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2021-09-09/biden-says-vaccine-order-isn-t-about-freedom-or-personal-choice-video" target="_blank">declaration</a> on Thursday, he declared that private businesses now need to mandate
vaccinations for their employees. “<b>This is not about freedom or personal choice</b>,” Biden said. “It’s about protecting yourself and those
around you.” He's got that right: it's definitely not about freedom.<br /></p><p>This comes after prior assurances from the White House and the head of the CDC that vaccine mandates were not within the scope of government plans nor authority. Now it suddenly is, though for some reason, the Administration still recognizes that it can't mandate masks. See "<a href="https://reason.com/2021/09/09/biden-admits-he-cant-mandate-masks-why-does-he-think-he-can-mandate-vaccines/" target="_blank">Biden Admits He Can't Mandate Masks. Why Does He Think He Can Mandate Vaccines?</a>" at Reason.org. <br /></p><p>Those who speak of personal choice and freedom these days are scorned (unless they are using that language to justify an act of violence against an unwanted prenatal human). I guess I need to come out and say I am willing to be in the scorned group. If the potential for some minor public benefit trumps personal freedoms and Constitutional restraints on government authority, then freedom has no meaning (landlords, of course, already know this now that the CDC has "discovered" its authority to declare legal and voluntary contracts between renters and landlords essentially void "due to COVID"). When we think of the abuses of government in the past, there has almost always been a public welfare argument to be made:</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Withholding syphilis medication from the victims of the Tuskegee experiment yielded important medical information that the Public Health Service and its daughter, the CDC, thought were important for medical progress for the good of society. </li><li>Forced sterilization of "mentally feeble" citizens would supposedly help improve the overall mental ability of the race. This was not just one of the diabolical extremes of National Socialism in Germany, but the results of laws passed by many states in the US in the 1920s and supported by a ruling of the US Supreme Court in 1927, mentioned below. <br /></li><li>Putting Japanese Americans into prison camps would allegedly reduce the danger to the rest of us when America was at war with Japan. </li><li>Using force and terror to suppress the votes of freed black slaves in the South and rig elections would secure the rights of the white man and Christian society and "fortify" elections and democracy itself. On this, see the highly recommend work on the reign of terror in the South after the Civil War, Stephen Budiansky, <i>The Bloody Shirt: Terror After Appomattox</i> (New York: Viking, 2008), which I'll be reviewing here soon.</li></ul><p>But vaccination requirements are not without precedent in the US, and even gained the support of the Supreme Court in the 1905 decision, <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/197/11/" target="_blank"><i>Jacobson v. Massachusetts</i></a>. The issue there was not exactly that of forced vaccination, but requiring a $5 fee to be paid if one did not get the smallpox vaccine. The Supreme Court ruled that there could be limits on individual freedoms when "<span class="headertext">reasonable regulations" were needed to secure public health. </span><br /><i></i></p><p>Oliver Wendell Holmes, who was a Supreme Court justice who helped create the 1905 <i>Jacobson</i> opinion, built on the <i>Jacobson</i> decision in a later case related to eugenics, which had become politically popular in the 1920s. The following comes from History.com's 2021 article, "<a href="https://www.history.com/news/smallpox-vaccine-supreme-court" target="_blank">When the Supreme Court Ruled a Vaccine Could Be Mandatory</a>":<br /></p><p></p><blockquote><p>In a far darker chapter, the <i>Jacobson </i>decision also provided
judicial cover for a Virginia law that authorized the involuntary
sterilization of “feeble-minded” individuals in state mental
institutions. In the 1920s, <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/germany/eugenics">eugenics</a> enjoyed wide support in scientific and medical circles, and the Supreme Court justices were not immune.</p><aside class="m-in-content-ad-row l-inline not-size-a not-size-b not-size-d"></aside><p>In the infamous 1927 case <i>Buck v. Bell</i>, the Supreme Court accepted the <a href="https://www.facinghistory.org/resource-library/supreme-court-and-sterilization-carrie-buck" rel="noopener" target="_blank">questionable “facts”</a>
presented in the lower court cases that a young Virginia woman named
Carrie Bell hailed from a long line of “mental defectives” whose
offspring were a burden on public welfare. </p><p><b>“The principle that
sustains compulsory vaccination is broad enough to cover cutting the
Fallopian tubes (Jacobson v Massachusetts, 197 US 11). Three generations
of imbeciles are enough,” wrote Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes in a
chilling opinion.</b></p><p>The <i>Buck</i> decision opened the floodgates
and by 1930, a total of 24 states had passed involuntary sterilization
laws and around 60,000 women were ultimately sterilized under these
statutes. </p><p>“<i>Buck v. Bell</i> is the most extreme and barbaric example of the Supreme Court justifying a law in the name of public health,” says Sanders. [<i>emphasis added</i>]<br /></p></blockquote><p></p><p>I think the ethics behind forced vaccination are questionable, especially for a disease far less dangerous than polio and in a climate where the science and ethics of those constantly seeking to expand government power leave huge question marks over the reasonableness of such a mandate. </p><p>While I have been vaccinated, I support the rights and acknowledge the feelings of those who are hesitant about the COVID vaccines. As I have previously explained, they are not necessarily acting out of mere ignorance, but often have legitimate reasons for their positions. Ph.D.s, with whom I share some affinity, are among the most likely to resist the vaccine, and it's not out of pure ignorance. Forcing them or people with any level of education to lose their jobs because of their choice relative to a new drug (for which it may yet take years to determine its long-term side effects) seems horrifically unfair and yes, contrary to the principles of freedom on which this nation was founded. <br /></p><p>There are those who are at risk of adverse affects from the vaccine, and some have even been warned by their doctors that they should not get the vaccine for their own health. Will many of them now lose their jobs thanks to this sweeping, unjustified mandate?<br /></p><p>There are those, perhaps particularly in the relatively less-vaccinated black community, who have sincere and thoughtful reasons for not wanting to take a vaccine that has not had the normal years of safety testing. Their reasons may be based on distrust of government, which was a legitimate reason for vaccine hesitancy expressed by many Democratic politicians when Trump was president, and may be a legitimate concern regardless of who is president, perhaps especially for those who recall the tragedy of the morally corrupt and vicious Tuskegee experiment that harmed many black Americans, an experiment that was supported by the CDC. </p><p>Some, such as Victory Boyd, may have personal religious reasons for not wanting this particular vaccine, reasons which may be influenced by the rapidly developed nature of the vaccine and the sense that long-term safety testing has not had time to be fully completed. </p><p>Some may have basic scientific objections such as the inadequacy of testing so far and the need for long-term evaluation of the effects of the vaccine relative to large control groups of unvaccinated people in order to properly assess long-term risks (if everyone is vaccinated, there will be no control group and no easy way to determine if the vaccine may be responsible for elevated cancer rates or other issues in years to come). The concern over safety is not a groundless concern. Indeed, if we are going to learn anything from the polio vaccinations of the past, it should be the very real risks of harm when a vaccine is rushed to market. The Cutter incident resulted in many unnecessary polio victims. Then, later batches of the polio vaccine were frequently contaminated with Simian Virus 40 (SV40), a virus from primates that has the characteristics of a cancer-causing virus, though it is still unclear if it has caused increased cancer in vaccinated humans (the <a href="https://www.nationalacademies.org/news/2011/10/more-data-needed-to-determine-if-contaminated-polio-vaccine-from-1955-1963-causes-cancer-in-adults-today" target="_blank">National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine has said that more detailed work is needed</a> to determine if cancer did increase because of the vaccine). You can read about both the Cutter issue and the SV40 issue on the CDC's page that seeks to assure us that vaccines are usually safe (a proposition I generally agree with): see "<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/concerns/concerns-history.html" target="_blank">Historical Vaccine Safety Concerns</a>." </p><p>There are also some who may have an irrational fear of vaccines, just as some may have an irrational fear of germs or, more commonly now, an irrational fear of the unvaccinated. But if we presume that we can override someone else's right to say "my body, my life" and decline the vaccine, can we also decide that they are too deplorable to have children and thus mandate sterilization? The Supreme Court once might have agreed, but that doesn't make it right. There is irrational anger being stirred up by our government and other governments (<a href="https://nypost.com/2021/09/07/australias-covid-rules-are-a-warning-to-rest-of-the-world/" target="_blank">Australia</a> comes to mind) against the dread threat of vaccinated people, even when over 70% of us have been vaccinated and many of the remainder may already have natural immunity. There is absolutely no recognition from the authorities in our government about the beneficial effect of natural immunity. To some, that makes it look like it's at least partly about political power, forcing people to get the government jab or else as a step toward expanding an avaricious governments' power over its subjects. <br /></p><p>Given the actual data for the COVID virus, the risk that an unvaccinated person poses to the vaccinated seems quite small. Is it worth sweeping intrusions against liberty and choice? Why do we have leaders who wold shut down so much of our society for so long over a threat not vastly more dangerous than that of cancer, heart disease, and automobile accidents? We do we tolerate lockdowns that hinder the future our our children, vastly increase suicide and mental health harms, exacerbate heart disease and other health issues, without weighing the dramatic costs against the illusory gains? </p><p>We need to recognize that everything comes with risk. Your alleged right to travel by driving your car down the road puts me at risk when I am a driver or a pedestrian. Your alleged right to drink alcohol puts me at risk when you drive or operate machinery. Your alleged right to eat lots of sugar, fat, or fast food puts me at risk because your future bad health may use up the hospital bed I need after I exercise my right to go skydiving. Your alleged right to live in a home made with wood puts me at risk because it could catch on fire and trigger a forest fire that threatens my well-being while living in my enlightened but rather dim and damp fireproof cave. As one of the few troglodytes willing to speak out, I'd like to say that freedom and personal choice are still vital for our society and for all mankind. We need to stand against medical tyranny and for the freedom of people to choose what they will allow to be injected into their bodies, even if we don't agree with their decision or their reasons. </p><p>After being fired by the NFL for sticking to her religious values and declining an unwanted injection, Victory Boyd, according to <a href="https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2021/09/08/nfl-cancels-victory-boyd-performance/" target="_blank">Digital Music News</a>, said “I’ve made peace with not being able to sing the National Anthem
tomorrow for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. But I have not and will not make
peace with the re-emergence of segregation and discrimination. This is
not okay and it’s about time that we say so.” She further explained her position in what I understand was <a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/recording-artist-victory-boyd-refuses-vaccine-for-religious-reasons-nfl-cancels-her-national-anthem-opening-day-performance_3986004.html" target="_blank">the first news site to report her story</a>:</p><p></p><blockquote><p>“The Bible admonishes Christians to appreciate their bodies as being
sacred and a temple of the Holy Spirit and to not participate in things
that can defile the body or render the body dysfunctional.</p>
<p>“I am in prayer to make sure that the Lord guides me into the right
decision concerning receiving an unproven injection with artificial
properties that can potentially have a long-term effect on my
reproductive health.</p>
<p>“If I want to take the vaccine, the decision will be between myself,
my doctor, and my God. At this point, the Spirit of God is leading me to
take a stand for freedom of choice.”</p></blockquote><p>Thank you, Victory Boyd, for thoughtfully expressing your desire to make a decision for yourself and about your body (not the body of anyone else) based on your religious values. Your decision may differ from mine, but I believe you should have that right and that the NFL was unreasonable, perhaps even discriminatory, in requiring you to be vaccinated in order to stand alone on an open field and sing a song to America that reminds us of the need to stand together for freedom and liberty. May we stand for freedom and against medical tyranny. <br /></p><p><b>Update, 9/12/2021: </b>While standing for the right of people to choose their own medical treatment, let me reiterate <b>the need for more of us to be vaccinated</b>. I'm vaccinated and have considered the data carefully, leading me to believe it is safe and effective. President Nelson's encouragement in favor of vaccination is wise counsel for the general population and I hope you'll consider it. Vaccination may be especially critical for those of you in vulnerable groups, such those who are elderly, overweight, have impaired lungs or other serious health issues. COVID is a serious illness for many, and if you are in those groups, you could easily need to be hospitalized. </p><p>Some less vaccinated regions like Alabama are facing a crisis now as ICU beds are at capacity (some counties in northern Idaho and many other places are also struggling). <a href="https://hotair.com/allahpundit/2021/09/11/alabama-man-dies-of-heart-issue-after-being-rejected-by-43-icus-at-capacity-n415219" target="_blank">A man just died in Alabama when he was turned away from numerous overwhelmed hospitals</a>, unable to get treatment for a heart condition. That could have been prevented if more people had been vaccinated. It also could have been prevented if more people reduced their weight, improved their diet, exercised more, quit drinking and smoking, got better nutrition, and stayed off skateboards -- all problem areas that, like inadequate vaccination, could be solved by the use of force in the name of saving our lives. Rather than override the principles of liberty that our nation was founded upon and turn our nation into a police/nanny state, I prefer that we maintain our republic and use wise counsel to encourage wise behavior. </p><p>We obviously want this crisis to be over (nearly all of us, anyway) and get back to our lives, but this is not the time to be casual about the risk of infection. Consider vaccination, which is proving fairly effective. Vaccinated or not, maintain care in terms of hand washing, avoiding densely packed gatherings, etc., and respect requirements for masking, even if you understand that mask efficacy is very low. </p><p>A problem, of course, is that the wisdom of our government's counsel to be vaccinated is obscured in the minds of many by actions that reflect bad faith. A few days ago a sincere journalist asked a reasonable question in a White House press conference, wondering why American citizens are subject to a vaccine mandate but the numerous undocumented migrants entering our nation are not. In response, Jen Psaki snapped, "That is correct" and immediately went to another journalist for the next question. This looks like bad faith. It does not reflect the attitude of people who feel they have been asked to represent and serve the American people, but rather seems to reflect the attitude that it's our duty to humbly serve and obey them and stop asking questions. </p><p>I've seen test data suggesting that as many as 20% of the undocumented walking across our border are COVID positive. Many southern states like Florida and Alabama have been sent large numbers of the newcomers. If COVID is such an existential threat that American liberties must be suspended and companies must be forced to terminate the vaccine hesitant (even if they already have natural immunity!), how is it possible that our government doesn't seal the border to ensure that only the COVID-free are brought in, and that they are at least encouraged or incentivized to be vaccinated? Those who see this discrepancy can't help but question the motives of our leaders, even when they give what normally should be seen as wise and thoughtful counsel. But I hope we can look past these issues and recognize that, no matter what the failures of our politicians might be, the vaccines themselves are safe and effective, and by being vaccinated, we might save our own life and perhaps the lives of others. <br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Jeff Lindsayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08776493593387402607noreply@blogger.com41tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7139169.post-37335695230151093752021-08-23T07:26:00.004-05:002021-08-29T08:10:20.156-05:00A Google Earth View of a Candidate for Bountiful, Khor Kharfot on Wadi Sayq<p>Here is a beautiful <a href="https://earth.google.com/web/@16.73713318,53.32576221,173.39342198a,4737.73716439d,35y,-73.69384682h,73.5348991t,0r" target="_blank">view from Google Earth of a leading candidate for the Book of Mormon site Bountiful, Khor Kharfot</a>, the fertile inlet at the end of a long wadi (valley or ravine where water can flow in the rainy season), Wadi Sayq, in Oman. It is at a location nearly due east of the candidate for Nahom in Nihm tribal lands, about 25 miles north of Sanaa in Yemen. Khor Kharfot, a site I've discussed frequently on this blog, is one of the most fertile spots on the eastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, boasting the largest fresh water lagoon in the entire Arabian Peninsula and a truly a place of abundance. It is a site of ongoing research and conservation work, thanks in part to <strike>the Khor Kharfot Foundation</strike> to the early work of the now defunct Khor Karfot Foundation. </p><p>Thanks to Warren Aston for the link to this view of Khor Kharfot. </p><p>Click to enlarge. Any of you been there? It's a goal of mine to visit Oman and Yemen. </p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmUDX8XCHu7nchUXGb-zU34VJ_tie6e7grnumOXdZITMjGOOFuH8DU06RKRjeHvQxqwVgKEDhHHEMNEvz7uBX19f3sH4WSyx8mQ7yrhnq7aTV6-yl8A0WKnze67OeTXjPWq_5zCA/s1894/Screen+Shot+2021-08-23+at+7.06.18+AM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1164" data-original-width="1894" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmUDX8XCHu7nchUXGb-zU34VJ_tie6e7grnumOXdZITMjGOOFuH8DU06RKRjeHvQxqwVgKEDhHHEMNEvz7uBX19f3sH4WSyx8mQ7yrhnq7aTV6-yl8A0WKnze67OeTXjPWq_5zCA/w400-h246/Screen+Shot+2021-08-23+at+7.06.18+AM.png" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /></p>Jeff Lindsayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08776493593387402607noreply@blogger.com3