Mormon Heretic

Mark L Grover gave a fascinating biography on Helvecio Martins, the first black general authority in the LDS church in the latest issue of the Journal of Mormon History (Summer 2010.) Elder Martins was ordained to the Second Quorum of Seventy in 1990 under President Ezra Taft Benson. In 1995 he was released, and he passed away in 2005

Martins joined the LDS church in 1972 with his wife Ruda and son Marcus. Grover describes in detail race relations in Brazil. From page 36, Read more…

I just finished the book Saint Peter: A Biography by Michael Grant.  I think it is misnamed.  I don’t feel like I know Peter any better, but it is a good book for learning about early Christianity.  The author describes how tough it is to really understand Peter both at the beginning, as well as the end.  From the Epilogue, pages 175-6,

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A friend of mine recommended a book by Kary Doyle Smout called  The Creation/Evolution Controversy: A Battle for Cultural Power.  Kary is an Associate Professor of English at Washington and Lee University, and specializes in rhetoric.  I usually delve more into historical topics, so this was a bit of a change for me, but I enjoyed it.

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I wanted to get this post up sooner, but I’ve been really busy correcting final exams.  I really enjoyed the last day of Sunstone, since I was able to attend all day, rather than a session here or there.  Don Bradley gave a presentation titled “Dating Fanny Alger”, a bit of a play on words.  I remember he gave a funny line to the effect of “By all accounts, she was hot!”  Anyway, Bradley tried to pin down when the “affair” happened.  Apparently, Emma discovered Joseph and Fanny late at night in the barn.  According to Bradley, Alger appeared pregnant.  Emma threw a fit, and threw Alger out of the house.  (Apparently Alger had been working as a sort of nanny.)

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Trouble in Zion Poster

The Haun’s Mill Massacre.  The Mountain Meadows Massacre. The Rwandan Genocide.   Ethnic Cleansing in Bosnia and Serbia.  How do such terrible atrocities happen?

Kenny Ballantine is in the process of producing a documentary called Trouble in Zion.  The documentary discusses the events leading up to the 1838 Mormon War in Missouri.  It highlights the Extermination Order and Haun’s Mill Massacre, as well as events leading up to these terrible events.  Kenny showed a pre-release version of the film at the Mormon History Association in Independence, Missouri in May, and he is also showing the film at Sunstone here in Salt Lake City in August.  I really enjoyed the film, and highly recommend it.  I thought Kenny was pretty even-handed, and had experts discuss reactions by both Mormons and non-Mormons which escalated the violence.

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I really miss my book club, but I am participating in the Stay LDS Book Club.  The first book that we have decided to read is Left to Tell by Immaculee Ilibagiza.  It is her story of the Rwandan Genocide.  I previously discussed the movie Hotel Rwanda, describing the events from Paul Russebagina’s point of view.  Immaculee has an incredibly inspiring story as well.  The book is intensely moving.

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As I mentioned previously, I really enjoyed the Strangite session of the Mormon History Association meetings a few weeks ago.  Vickie Speek, John Hamer, and Mike Karpowicz gave some fascinating presentations on this little known group.  Following the session, they answered additional questions, and I thought it would be interesting to provide a transcript of the Q&A session.  But before I get into the transcript, I should tell you a brief history of the Strangite Church.

James Strang, prophet of the Strangite Church

James Strang was baptized into the church just a few months before Joseph Smith was killed in 1844.  He said he had a letter from Joseph proclaiming that Strang was to lead the church.  The letter is currently owned by Yale University; in the past few decades, they have declared Joseph Smith’s signature on the letter a forgery.

Evidently Strang was a dynamic leader.   Read more…

I received a surprising resurgence of activity from one of my oldest posts, Book of Mormon Geography.  In the latest discussion, Bishop Rick asked, “Why would HF send a revelation that would not be understood?”  Then he clarified it further stating, “Why would HF send a revelation to HIS “Prophet” (as opposed to any “prophet”) that would not be understood by HIS “Prophet”?”

This seems to be a common theme in the Bloggernacle–but not just here.  Other religions have similar questions, and even agnostics/atheists ask similar questions.  In the book Powerful Prayers, Larry King asks Rabbi Irwin Katsof, “Why can’t God speak English?”  Let me quote from the book for a moment.  From page 163, Read more…

CoC Independence Temple at Sunset

All trip long, I have been looking forward to attending the Community of Christ Devotional at the Independence Temple.  The meeting began at 8:30 AM, and was a wonderful hour of singing and spoken word.  Professor Alex Baugh of BYU, and Apostle Susan Skoor of the Community of Christ

CoC Apostle Susan Skoor

gave background on many hymns written or revised by WW Phelps.  It was a truly inspiring meeting.  I haven’t enjoyed singing that much since I was in the MTC!

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John Hamer, Mike Karpowicz, and Vickie Cleverly Speck gave a very interesting history of the Strangite movement.  What’s a Strangite you say?  Speck filled in many details: she said that James Strang was baptized into the LDS church just 4 months prior to the death of Joseph Smith.  Strang claims to have a letter from Joseph Smith making him the new leader of the LDS movement, and claims to been visited by Smith at the moment of Smith’s death.  An angel later anointed Strang with oil as the new prophet.  Amazingly, Strang counted many of the Smith family (including  Joseph’s brother William) as followers, and other prominent members, such as Martin Harris.

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It’s the pits when you have to choose between sessions, and I made a difficult choice in the morning.  I had wanted to attend Kathleen Flake’s session on LDS Adoption Theology, but instead attended Ken Ballentine’s documentary, Trouble in Zion. (Saints Herald has already blogged about it, and there is a Facebook page.  I also mentioned that I wanted to see it from the LDS Film Festival earlier this year.)

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I thought I’d give a quick rundown of my first day here at the Mormon History Association meetings here in Independence, Missouri, and tell you of some of the cool people I’ve met here.  The first activity we had was to go to the Harry S Truman Library.  I didn’t realize President Truman grew up in Independence, Missouri.  I enjoyed going to the museum and meeting several people there.  As I have learned more people on the bloggernacle and Mormon history, I recognized Emily Jensen of the Mormon Times.  As I introduced myself to her, I was surprised to learn than she had read my brief blog post from yesterday.  I had just posted it a few hours prior, and she told me that she knew that Mormon Heretic was here at MHA, and she was hoping to meet me!  I was really surprised when she told me that she reads my blog regularly.

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It’s been a busy week.  Last week, Summer semester started, and I am teaching 2 online math classes at the local community college, so I apologize for no post on Sunday.  I am currently in Kansas City, Missouri for the Mormon History Association meetings over the next few days, so I hope to make up for the past week.  On my way in to register, I ran into Lavinia Fielding Anderson and Elder Marlin K Jensen.  They were very pleasant to meet with, and I look forward to giving you some more updates following the opening session tonight.  Stay tuned!  (I plan to attend a devotional on Sunday morning at the Community of Christ temple in Independence.)  If anyone else is here, please let me know your comments too.