mormon anthropology assignment and an examination of why i question lds information

8/9/2019 Mormon Anthropology Assignment and an Examination of Why I Question LDS Information

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A Very Good Question, Why Do We

Question?

Sometime ago, I was assigned to write an anthropology

paper on something I was unfamiliar with, concerning theLDS, in my Mormon Anthropology class. And Im glad that Iwas able to talk to some who are active members of theChurch while taking the class, because theyve allowed meto see that active members might find questioning of theirfaith to any extreme, rather unusual. Not just questioningwhat everyone asks, but examining their faith on a level that

seems to condemn or over examine something to a levelthat they might see as going beyond the necessity of justlearning about their faith. They want to know why people areinterested in taking religion so literally, to examine it beyond

just believing itself.

Of course, I cant answer for everyone, but I can give, I hope

what they might feel from my own viewpoints. I was at onetime a very active member of the church, but fell away manyyears ago. Mine were because of questions I had, that Icould never get an answer to; and probably never will. Thisoccurred because I read the God Makers, which the churchhas always recommended, in my opinion quite advisably, notto read. Sadly, for many who read it, they might ask

questions like I did, lose their faith, and be lost, then findsomething to replace it. Or, they might just be lost, forever.And a loss of faith is something very precious, because forsome, its almost life itself.

For me, it turned into an experience for the need to becomemore intellectual, though I would classify myself as an


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amateur intellectual. And I must comment at this point, that Ifind religion itself fascinating. So I have studied some of thephilosophical aspects of Western religion, and soon will doso with Eastern. I have a bachelor degree in history, and amgetting a bachelor degree in anthropology. And while some

might designate me as an atheist, I would prefer to use theterm antitheist, though in some circles its considered thesame thing. But I digress.

Why would I want to thoroughly examine, pick apart; evenfor some, seem to thrill at disproving religion, any religion?Its not so much disproving, but examining. Religion by its

very nature is about faith. Faith isnt knowledge aboutsomething; its a belief that something unseen does exist.Im looking for information that can be proven, shownphysically. You can show me the bible all day long, but theonly thing I see is a book, written by people some 3,000years ago, not a book that proves the existence of asupreme being. The air, my life, these dont show me the

existence of God, what they show me is molecules, atoms,DNA, living beings. If a god made all this, I wouldnt expecthim to have people write a book about his existence,expecting us to worship him, and expect certain behaviorsfrom us.

So, thats why I examine things, because I dont have faith insuch a thing, any more. Of course, Id hope I would continueexamining things, since for me, faith without the right toexamine it so fully, is nothing but blind faith. I wouldnt reallywant everyone to stop having faith, because I realize that formany, faith is the only thing that helps them make it throughthe day. By examining religion, any religion, I learn moreabout human nature, about what has been written, and in


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some cases, what the differences are between what somewrote down, and what we can verify through historicalrecords or archaeological evidence. And in some cases, thisrequires me to pick something apart. After all, how cananyone find out about something, if they dont pick it apart,

or for me, examine it?

So for me, anything that challenges historical oranthropological information has no right to demand that Istop examining it, on the basis of religion itself. And ofcourse, even those things that are seen only as religiousthought, dont have the right to demand I not examine it.

After all, anything that examines how we behave, or shouldbehave, can be seen as purely philosophical. I lovephilosophy, so I see it as being questionable. And even if itwasnt philosophical, its a comment. If I cant question it,then whats wrong with it, why would anyone demand that Inot think about it so deeply?

Of course, there is something I want to make known beforeyou read what I wrote. I believe that anyone who is amember of the LDS church has every right to write aboutwhatever they want, even things that question the LDShistory or philosophy. I mention this for the members,because there is a belief that the church will excommunicatethose who write something the church feels arentappropriate. Some fear that what Ive just written will get meexcommunicated. But for me, if it does, that just leads me tothe conclusion that the church is wrong in doing so. Im afreethinking individual. Whether Im an active member ornot, I have every right to question the church. So long as Imas considerate as possible, they really dont have a right toexcommunicate me. Lets face it; the members of the LDS


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church are the administration of the church. So for me, thechurch has no right to tell the people what they can express,or be excommunicated. And if I am, I say good, because Iwouldnt desire being connected to such a faith, who hassuch beliefs in their right to my time, or my thoughts.

So, unfortunately for some of my family, I submit my work toMormonThink. I tell the LDS church openly that Im amember. That I do not believe much of what the churchsays or has written about. I do not believe they are evil, non-Christian or even spawns of Satan. But what I do believe isthat man, nothing more, and nothing less created them, like

every other religion around the world. There are some whoask why I dont start the procedures to get myselfexcommunicated, if I feel this way. The answer; I dont feelthe need to spend time doing such a thing. Why spend timegetting excommunicated, when my being an inactivemember of the church is really no different than beingexcommunicated at this moment. So why say anything at

all? Because, I have a brain, I wish to use it, I wish toquestion. Not just about the LDS, but about everything. Itjust so happens that this was one part of what I wanted towrite about that I wanted to present to others. So, more willfollow, about other subjects. These might not be onMormonThink, but they will be out there.

I hope you find what I wrote interesting. I know I found it tobe an interesting subject, because of what we know aboutthis continent because of anthropology, and what so manyhave tried to connect to the Nephites, without having anyevidence to support their claims.


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Anthropology Paper

If we had a time machine, or a system that could let us viewthe past, we could answer many of the important questionswe have concerning philosophically religions issues. These

could be; was there a flood, was there an exodus from Egyptfor the Jewish people, was there a Jesus who was born in amanger and died on a cross? And the most demanding ofall the questions, through all walks of life (altered for politicalcorrectness); does the Pope excrete bodily waste whenwalking through the woods?

This viewer could also help us answer the question ofwhether the history of the Book of Mormon was true or not.Since we dont have any high tech method to find out forsure, the only thing we can do is look at the evidenceprovided by both the LDS and those who are only interestedin understanding the past; historians and anthropologists. Itis through these two sources, that information will be

presented about the arrival of the family of Lehi, which brokeinto two factions, the Nephites and Lamanites. Evidence oftheir living in the Americas, and whether the remainingpeople of North and South America were actually thedescendents of these two great families, but morespecifically Lamanites. This isnt about deciding who is rightor wrong, but examining information that has been presented

in an orderly fashion, so you can decide for yourself, if youdecide to make such a decision at all.

Lehi, family and friends arrive to the

Americas


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So, where do we begin first? Lets start when Lehi, hisfamily and friends left for the Americas. According toPresident Milton R. Hunter, at a meeting in April 1970, Lehiand his family left from Jerusalem around 600 BC.1According to the Book of Mormon, 1 Nephi 1:13, the people

were to be taken captive by the Babylonians. So, they fledsouth to a place they called Bountiful. It was there that theybuilt a boat and sailed to what they called the PromisedLand. They never say whether there were any people there,but mention forests that they found wild animals, such ascows, oxen, horses, and goats, according to 1 Nephi 18:25.According to Joseph Fielding Smith, they landed in South

America, and lived in South and Central America for thegreater part of their time.2 Its known that the Lamaniteswere descendants of Lehis sons, Laman and Lemual, alongwith other members of their group. And the descendants ofthe Nephites were from Nephi and those remaining. InArchaeology and the Book of Mormon, Milton R. Hunterwrote that the Nephites were in actuality the Toltecs.

What does history and anthropology have in relationship tothe LDS version? Well, in 587 BC, the Babylonians diddefeat Jerusalem and destroyed Solomons temple. Soleaving Jerusalem around 600 BC would have been a verygood idea. Okay, what about the Toltecs? Well, lets startwith the Olmecs who lived from about 1200-900 BC,terminating between 600-300 BC. According to Susan TobyEvans, the Toltecs were descendants of the EarlyPostclassic (AD 900-1200) capital, Tula. And from about AD

1 President Milton R. Hunter, Conference Report, April 1970, AfternoonMeeting, p. 137.2 Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, 3 vols, edited by Bruce R.

McConkie, 3: p. 73, 232, 239.


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1200-1520 there were the Aztecs. The Olmecs coveredSouthern Mexico and Guatemala. Tula was in an area longthe Gulf of Mexico. And the Aztecs, they covered SouthernMexico. Humans transported all goods, since there were nowheeled carts, not even oxen or horses throughout

Mesoamerica. Shaft tombs have been found in SouthAmerica, dating back to about 500 BC. In fact, according toColin G. Calloway, archaeologists have reached consensusthat Southern Chile was inhabited about 12,500 years ago.

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Living in the Americas

Now, while here in the Americas, the Nephites andLamanites war with each from time to time, until around AD30, when they were visited by Jesus, who taught them histeachings. It was then that the people began to live inpeace, until roughly sometime before AD 400, when theLamanites reared their heads again. I see the term Nephitesand Lamanites used in two different ways. One is the

people who lived separately from each other before 30 AD.During this time, the Nephites were the followers of God,while the Lamanites were those who did not. So, when theywere finally as one, they were known as the Nephites, thefollowers of God. When they begin fighting again, we nowsee the Lamanites more as people who no longer believe,and the Nephites as those who have remained faithful to

God. Milton R. Hunter, in his book Christ in Ancient Americastated that the Mayan and other Mesoamerican calendarswere similar to the Egyptian calendar; and that the Nephiteswrote in an advanced form of Egyptian. Of course, around586 BC, there was another group who left Jerusalem and

3 Colin G. Calloway, First Peoples, page 14


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came to the Americas. These people would be known asthe Mulekites. President Milton R. Hunter mentioned this ina meeting on April 1970. They later joined with theNephites, becoming one people who believe in God.

Weve already covered who lived here from 600 BC to about400 AD. The Nephites, Lamanites or Mulekites were nevermentioned in any city that archaeologist have excavated, sofar. And I would never try to explain whether there was aJesus who died for our sins, thats for philosophers todebate, or theologians. However, I can state that thelanguage and calendar system that the Mayans had arent

similar to the Egyptians. According to the Minnesota StateUniversity eMuseum, the Egyptian calendar was based on360 days a year, with 5 more days added at the beginning ofeach New Year.4 The Mayan calendar, according to

Professor David L. Mills, University of Delaware, stated that

4 Minnesota State University eMuseum,

http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/prehistory/egypt/dailylife/calendar.html


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the Mayan calendarwas based on 365days a year.5 As forthe language of theEgyptians and the

Mayans, the followingfigures show thedifferences betweenthe two languages.

This example wasobtained from the

Cornell Universitylibrary website.6 Itshows how theEgyptian writingsystem looked.

The second image ofsymbols came from theMayans.7 While someof these symbols aresimilar to EgyptianHieroglyphs, the rest isa series of pictograms

that are similar to the writing system started by the Olmec.However, if youll notice they are so dissimilar, that linguists

5 Professor David L Mills, University of Delaware,http://www.ece.udel.edu/~mills/maya.html6 Cornell University Library,http://www.library.cornell.edu/africana/Writing_Systems/Hieroglyphics.html7 Minnesota State University eMuseum,

http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/prehistory/latinamerica/topics/writing.html


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havent managed to translate all of what is available.

And finally, we have to remember that the Mulekites leftJerusalem after the Babylonians had conquered it. This isstill possible, if the dates were off by a year or two. So even

I would give the LDS points for their timing.

Who are the Lamanites?

Now we come to the final examination of the LDS claims tothe Book of Mormon. When the Lamanites destroyed all ofthe Nephites, they reverted to their more uncivilized natures.

But most of all, they claim that the Native Americans are theremnants of the Lamanites, that they have Jewish ancestryin their veins. Though many have tried to decide whichtribes of Native Americans were Lamanites, they have alsodeclared that some Nephites did remain with the Lamanites.However, in the Mormon Doctrine, Bruce R. McConkie wrotethat:

When Columbus discovered America, the native inhabitants,the American Indians as they were soon to be designated,were a people of mixed blood and origin. Chiefly they wereLamanites, but such remnants of the Nephite nation as hadnot been destroyed had, of course, mingled with theLamanites. (1 Ne. 13:30; 2 Ne. 3:1-3; 9:53; Alma 45:13-14;

D. & C. 3:16-19.) Thus the Indians were Jews by nationality(D. & C. 57:4), their forefathers having come out fromJerusalem, from the kingdom of Judah. (2 Ne. 33:8-10.)

D. Jeffrey Meldrum and Trent D. Stephens wrote a paper onthe genetic debate concerning the remaining Lamanites inAmerica. In their paper, they acknowledge that the DNA


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evidence concerning the natives of the Americas,representing Asian ancestry is accurate. However, theystate that it is impossible to determine Jewish ancestrybecause of the dilution of the population; at least thats whatI got from it, not being a biologist by profession.

Now, what does history or anthropology have to counter withthe LDS version? Lets begin with the inhabitants of theAmericas, specifically North America. If there had been anyNephites and Lamanites, they would have had to mingle withquite a few people, to be accepted by many, becauseAmerica had been inhabited long before 600 BC. Here are a

few examples from First People by Colin B. Galloway.

On the northwest Pacific coast, from northern Californiato Alaska, seagoing peoples were harvesting rich marineresources five thousand years ago (pg 17)

Between 12,000 and 8,000 BC, Native Americanpeoples hunted on foot on the Great Plains for big game

mammoths, mastodons, and bison (pg 20).

Some Indians in present-day Illinois were growingsquash by 5,000 BC (pg 25).

In the Eastern Woodlands, over a period of about 4,000years, Indian peoples constructed tens of thousands of

large earthen mounds. Archaeologists have discovereda complex of eleven mounds, near the town of WatsonBrake in northeast Louisiana, built between 5,000 and5,400 years ago (pg 25).

Not being a biologist, the only thing I can counter with, is theLemba. According to Tudor Parfitt and Yulia Egorova, in the


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paper Genetics, History, and Identity: the Case of the BeneIsrael and the Lemba, it was determined that the Lemba ofSouth Africa had Jewish DNA. One out of ten had thespecific information in their DNA that proved they had Jewishancestry. So, my question is, if they could find their DNA

remnant, which could go as far back as 700 BC, then whycouldnt we find it in the Native Americans.

Analysis

Now comes the fun part, what do I make of all this? Letsbegin with Lehi, his family and friends who came to America.

Everyone who reads the Bible would know that Babylonsacked Jerusalem. And since the Book of Mormon doesntactually give a date as to when Lehi got the prophecy thatJerusalem would be sacked, we just associate the time fromwhat we know in history. And of course, they dont giveenough specifics in the Book of Mormon that we could relatespecifically to a place in the Americas. We just try to

associate that information based on the scraps that areavailable. So, its quite possible someone could have justwritten the Book of Mormons beginnings with just theknowledge of the Bible.

And then of course, we have the history of Central America,and the history some have associated with the Nephites and

Lamanites. As I mentioned, the history of Central Americadoesnt mention them, and the cultures that were there, weremagnificent in their own right. The Olmecs had somemagnificent cities, along with the Mayans and the Aztecs.And their religions were definitely nothing like Christianity.Of course, as was noted, the calendar and written languages


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used by the Egyptians and Mayan arent even remotelysimilar. So, since there arent any similarities, we really cantsay that the two are connected. So, it tells me that theNephites and Lamanites didnt exist as the ruling class. But,if they did exist, they could have existed as a small band of

people, similar to the Gnostics, in relationship to the Catholicfaith, around 100 AD. There, but anything they wrote or saiderased from history, accept one book in New York.

And then we come to the Lamanites, who were supposed tobe the descendants of the Jewish people. If they wereLamanites, I would expect that the DNA could have

supported such a claim, since it could be supported for theLemba. But, considering that we know people lived on theAmericas as far back as 12,000 BC, this would helpsubstantiate the potential claim that there were no Nephitesor Lamanites. In fact, all of North and South America had tobe populated by those who came here, maybe from Asia.But in truth, it really doesnt matter to me how they got here,

were talking about people who lived on this continent morethan 11,000 years before Lehi and company ever set foot onthe Americas. They wouldnt have become the majorplayers of the world, but only a small band, if they ever didexist.

Of course, Ive also been considering something else. Whensomeone looks at the prophecies of Nostradamus, they try tosee what prophecies relate to the past. But they can neverrelate any of his prophecies to the future, because itssomewhat unclear. Its like a fortune cookie that says yourfuture will become brighter. So it could be the same with theBook of Mormon. That history could be of a small group,relating to bigger groups, designed to tell a story of God, but


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embellished in some cases for good story telling. Suchcases can be found in the Bible, as in the Jewish peopleconquering Jericho and Ai, which were destroyed yearsbefore the Jewish people were supposed to have enteredthe Promised Land.

Conclusion

So, what has been presented? First, that Lehi, family andfriends may or may not have left Jerusalem, along with theMulekites when they arrive some 30 years later. And I saymay or may not, because we have no real evidence that they

came, either through journals or even historical records.And the historical records dont support them, because othercivilizations, quite different from what is presented in theBook of Mormon were in existence either before or during,even beyond the history of the Nephites and Lamanites.

Weve learned that the written records of the Nephites has

very little in common with the Mayan language, and eventheir calendar systems are different. All of this is based onthe belief that the Nephites used a writing and calendarsystem much like the Egyptians.

And finally, even when everyone thinks that the people whoremained in the Americas were now Lamanites, there isnt

any real evidence to support such a claim. No DNA orhistory, since we know so many people came to the UnitedStates and lived here, almost 11,000 years before Lehiarrived.

Finally, we have one other thing, I feel strong about saying.Just because many others who read this document might


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agree with me, that the Nephites and Lamanites neverexisted, really doesnt matter. What really matters is themessage that so many get from the Book of Mormon. So inreality, Im questioning the history of the Nephites andLamanites, not the book itself. For me, its similar to the

Bible. Sometimes the history might not jive with the booksstories, they might even sound fanciful, but there can be ameaning in the words that go beyond the stories. It can helpmany to find peace and happiness. So remember that,when you consider what has been written, more thananything else you get from this paper.


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Works Cited

Bible: King James Version

Book of Mormon

Calloway, Colin G. (2004) First Peoples: A DocumentarySurvey of American Indian History. Boston: Bedford/St.Martins

Cornell University Library,http://www.library.cornell.edu/africana/Writing_Systems/Hier

oglyphics.html

Evans, Susan Toby (2004) Ancient Mexico & CentralAmerica: Archaeology and Culture History. London: Thames& Hudson Ltd.

Hunter, Milton R. Archaeology and the Book of Mormon(Electronic Text: LDS Library 2006)

Hunter, Milton R. Christ in Ancient America (Electronic Text:LDS Library 2006)

Hunter, President Milton R., Conference Report, April 1970,Afternoon Meeting (Electronic Text: LDS Library 2006)

Levack, Brian; Muir, Edward; Maas, Michael; & Veldman,Meredith (2004) The West: Encounters & Transformations:Volume 1 to 1715. New York: Pearson Longman

McConkie, Bruce R. (1981) Mormon Doctrine. Salt LakeCity: Bookcraft
http://www.library.cornell.edu/africana/Writing_Systems/Hieroglyphics.html


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McConkie, Bruce R., Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines ofSalvation, 3 Vols (Electronic Text: LDS Library 2006)

Meldrum, D. Jeffrey & Stephens, Trent D. (2003) Who arethe Children of Lehi? Journal of Book of Mormon Studies,

Vol 12, Number 1

Minnesota State University eMuseum,http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/prehistory/egypt/dailylife/calendar.html

Minnesota State University eMuseum,http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/prehistory/latinamerica/topics/writing.html

Parfitt, Tudor & Egorova, Yulia (2005) Genetics, History, andIdentity: The Case of the Bene Israel and the Lemba.Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry 29:193-225

Professor David L Mills, University of Delaware,

http://www.ece.udel.edu/~mills/maya.html
http://www.ece.udel.edu/~mills/maya.htmlhttp://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/prehistory/latinamerica/topics/writing.htmlhttp://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/prehistory/egypt/dailylife/calendar.html

mormon anthropology assignment and an examination of why i question lds information

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