03-13-2008, 04:45 AM | #101 | ||
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Saying "we just want to seek the truth" is a bit specious. So who doesn't? I like truth. I'd wager Elder Packer does too. The challenge is, not all truth is of the same value. Discouraging historians (or any profession, really) from trumpeting truths that may contribute to the destruction of testimonies is not dishonest. It's recognizing that the spiritual truth of the First Vision is far more important than the historical truth of Joseph's polygamist relationships. Or as Rex Lee once taught young, cocky BYU columnist Eric Snider, "Just because it's true doesn't mean you have to write about it." Moreover, the word "truth" is an ambiguous and elusive thing anyway. Historians do not publish each and every artifact they come across. When they write books and articles, they sift the information, summarize it, abridge it, and sometimes perform interpolation. Context is usually necessary for full understanding. Presentation can make a huge difference in perception of truth. This is not a monolithic concept. Some philosophy courses spend an entire semester on the topic. Lastly, "lie" is such a clumsy and inappropriate word (and my original objection in the thread that spawned this one). It's use in this context is not just ill-informed but may in of itself be dishonest. We ought to be more circumspect about how easily that word is tossed around. One more thing. Self-styled church historians may do wonderful work. Good for them. It's unfortunate they lose their saving ordinances in the process, but that is their choice. Some of you highly value their work, and cheers to you. For my part, if I come to two doors where on the one side stand Packer and Oaks beckoning, and on the other, Quinn and Toscano, I would have no problem picking the former every time.
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03-13-2008, 05:35 AM | #102 |
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What if one door was Packer and the other door was Oaks?
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03-13-2008, 05:47 AM | #103 | |
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"... the arc of the universe is long but it bends toward justice." Martin Luther King, Jr. |
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03-13-2008, 02:09 PM | #104 | |
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History, I think, has pretty clearly shown that more harm than good is done when an entity attempts to "cover up" some blemish of its past. Inevitably, it leads to far greater harm than it would have if the organization had simply acknowledged the blemish, framed it as favorably as possible, and moved on. The church is true. I believe that. And so I believe it can stand on its own merits and has nothing to fear from its blemishes. |
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03-13-2008, 02:18 PM | #105 | |
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Well there are middle grounds, such as the Arrington Alexander way. Both were faithful members, who were professional, yet truthful and not afraid of any truth. What the Packer approach misses is that an ignoring of certain facts will give us an incomplete picture. If we ignore Joseph peering into a hat, we don't have a complete picture of revelation. Tex casts the professional historian as one bent upon losing his saving ordinances whereas the bureaucratic method as the only way to salvation. I disagree with that and suspect many will be lulled away into a false security through the Peterson-Packer method to hell.
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03-13-2008, 02:31 PM | #106 | |
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You can't have conversations about morality with someone that can't morally reason. |
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03-13-2008, 02:33 PM | #107 | ||
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"Have we been commanded not to call a prophet an insular racist? Link?" "And yes, [2010] is a very good year to be a Democrat. Perhaps the best year in decades ..." - Cali Coug "Oh dear, granny, what a long tail our puss has got." - Brigham Young |
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03-13-2008, 02:36 PM | #108 | |
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So instead, I choose to accuse both of you of dishonesty. |
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03-13-2008, 02:41 PM | #109 | |
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If relating history were so clear cut, we wouldn't have a thousand biographies of Abraham Lincoln. We'd have one.
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"Have we been commanded not to call a prophet an insular racist? Link?" "And yes, [2010] is a very good year to be a Democrat. Perhaps the best year in decades ..." - Cali Coug "Oh dear, granny, what a long tail our puss has got." - Brigham Young |
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03-13-2008, 02:57 PM | #110 |
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I'm suggesting that Krakauer purposely discarded information that would have conflicted with his conclusion that Mormons are prone to religion-inspired violence, regarding the Laffertys.
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