book of mormon historicity: jon adams a special thanks to my facebook friends lds beliefs and their...
TRANSCRIPT
Book of Mormon Historicity:
Jon Adams
A special thanks to my Facebook friends
LDS Beliefs and Their Implications
The Book of Mormon
• Published in 1830
• Purports to be a translation by Joseph Smith of “a record of God’s dealings with the ancient inhabitants of the Americas...”
• BoM peoples are “among the principal ancestors of today's Native Americans.”
Or...
Why?
Because it’s interesting!
Seriously, why?
• Mormonism's relevance– Political/cultural influence– 13 million members– Latin American growth
• 1964: < 1%
• 2004: 37%
• Beliefs matter– Inform actions and attitudes
– Importance of racial sensitivity in an increasingly diverse LDS Church
Previous Research
• Most literature on LDS Church and blacks– Slavery, Civil Rights Era and pre-1978
priesthood ban
• Religious folklore about race pervasive among Mormons (Wilson)
– Found in LDS scriptures• “White and delightsome”
– Spencer W. Kimball's Oct 1960 talk
Previous Research, cont.
• Murphy's “Lamanite Identity”– Native/Latin Am. Mormons identify as
descendants of BoM peoples– Conflate native folkore with Mormon
folklore– Tension with white church hierarchy
• 1989 excommunication of George P. Lee
Methods
• Created a 10-question BoM survey– Demographic questions (gender, age, etc.)– Questions about BoM, faith, and racism
• Sent the survey to 200 Mormon friends via Facebook
• 115 responded– Response rate: 57%
Demographics
• Gender– Male: 68%– Female: 32%
Gender
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Male
Female
Demographics
• Age– 0-17: 4%– 18-24: 79%– 25-29: 12%– 30-34: 2%– 35+: 4%
Age
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
0-17
18-24
25-29
30-34
35+
Demographics
• Race– White: 95%– Hispanic: 6%– Native Am.: 2%– Bi/multiracial:
1%
Race
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
White
Hispanic
Native
Bi/multi
Church Membership
• Born into church?– Yes: 93%– No; convert:
10%
Born into church?
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Yes
Convert
Church Activity
• Attendance– Weekly: 81%– Monthly: 8%– Yearly: 3%– Inactive: 10%
Attendance
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Weekly
Monthly
Yearly
Inactive
Book of Mormon Beliefs
• BoM historical?– Yes: 90%– No: 10%
Historical?
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Yes
No
Book of Mormon Beliefs
• Historicity important to testimony?
– Yes: 51%– Somewhat: 24%– No: 26%
Historicity important?
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Yes
Somewhat
No
Book of Mormon Peoples
• Who are BoM descendants?
– Mesoamericans: 58%
– Native Am.: 56%
– South Am.: 51%
– Pacific Islanders: 38%
– Not sure: 38%
– None: 6% BoM Descendants
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Meso
Native
South
Islanders
Not sure
None
Book of Mormon Peoples
• Book of Mormon peoples...
– Lost the promised land due to sin: 66%
– Had their skin literally darkened due to sin: 53%
– Are a covenant people like the Israelites: 88%
– Should have a more prominent role in LDS Church: 6%
– Should be prioritized in missionary work: 6%
BoM Peoples...
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Lost land
Dark skin
Covenant
Prominent role
Prioritized
Racism
• Is racism a problem in the LDS Church today?
– Yes: 14%– Somewhat: 38%– No: 43%– Not sure: 9%
Racism
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
Yes
Somewhat
No
Not sure
Discussion
• Support for Murphy's “Lamanite Identity” theory
– All Hispanic respondents report high activity and believe BoM to be historical
– 43% of Hispanic respondents believe BoM peoples lost land and had skin darkened because of unrighteousness(!)
– 43% of Hispanic respondents believe BoM descendants should have a more prominent role in the church
• vs. 4% of non-Hispanic respondents
– 86% of Hispanic respondents identify Meso/South Americans as BoM descendants
Discussion, cont.
• Racism?– 71% of Hispanic respondents believed it's at
least somewhat of a problem in the church• vs. 48% of non-Hispanics respondents
• Disparity between BoM scholars and Mormon laity
– Only 41% of Dialogue's subscribers believed that the BoM is a historical document
• vs. 90% of my respondents who believe the same
Further Research
• The need for a systematic survey of Mormons both inside and outside the U.S.
• Exploration into the rift between Mormon scholars and Mormon laity
• Exploration into why people come to disbelieve in the BoM's historicity
Questions?