There are many parallels in Church history for the current situation in the Church.
The Seer, a Church magazine from the 1800s, has a relevant article that I've excerpted below.
Right now, we have leading intellectuals in the Church, including those who manage Book of Mormon Central, who, because of their belief in M2C, look down upon and oppress those faithful members who still believe the teachings of the prophets about the New York Cumorah.
Those of us who still believe the teachings of the prophets about the New York Cumorah are happy to have other faithful members believe whatever they want. However, we think every member of the Church should be enabled to make informed decisions about these issues by being fully educated.
We encourage people to read what these intellectuals teach, but we also encourage them to read what the prophets have taught and to learn about the evidence that supports the teachings of the prophets.
We would like to see the New York Cumorah re-correlated, but the prophets have always taught that we should heed the teachings of the prophets, regardless of how intellectuals tell us to think.
The M2C intellectuals take a different approach.
Book of Mormon Central is spending millions of dollars to divert members of the Church away from the teachings of the prophets about Cumorah and toward their own theory that the "real" Cumorah is in southern Mexico (hence M2C: the Mesoamerican/two Cumorahs theory). Their database contains articles that attack those of us who still believe the prophets, and it has been purged of any material that explains why we still believe the prophets.
Book of Mormon Central uses their millions of dollars to:
1. Develop ScripturePlus, the app that teaches M2C exclusively and uses colorful graphics and videos to entice Church members away from the Gospel Library;
2. Promote M2C through social media advertising; and
3. Castigate fellow Church members on social media for still believing the teachings of the prophets about the New York Cumorah.
By now, this is all well known and obvious to everyone who looks at the Book of Mormon website. What is less known is how the practices of the M2C intellectuals follow a pattern we've seen before in Church history.
_____
While working on another project, I came across this passage from The Seer, Vol. II, No. 1, January 1854. It reminded me of the way the M2C citation cartel treats those who still accept the New York Cumorah.
THE TREATMENT OF THE UNITED STATES TOWARDS THE SAINTS.
Question.—First, In what manner have the people of the United States treated the divine message contained in the Book of Mormon?
Answer.—They have closed their eyes, their ears, their hearts and their doors against it. They have laughed at, ridiculed, derided, and treated it with the utmost contempt. They have scorned, rejected, and hated the servants of God who were sent to bear testimony of it. They have invented the most abominable, wicked and malicious lies, and published the same against it. Their priests have hypocritically and piously read these lies from the pulpit, and warned their congregations from one end of the Union to the other, to neither hear, read, nor investigate it, nor any thing in favor of it. They have denounced it as “a most vile and wicked imposition;” “a horrid blasphemy;” “a soul-destroying and most damnable doctrine, emanating from the bowels of hell.” Their editors have for years reiterated, through the columns of their papers, these abusive unjust denunciations and vile falsehoods, without giving any chance in their columns for a reply or correction of these bare-faced and foul misrepresentations.
(Seer II.1:193 ¶2–3)
So long as Book of Mormon Central continues to push M2C exclusively, while simultaneously criticizing and censoring those faithful Church members who still believe the teachings of the prophets about the New York Cumorah, "without giving any chance in their [web page] for a reply or correction," we will continue to see members of the Church being deprived of the chance to make informed decisions.
The Seer, a Church magazine from the 1800s, has a relevant article that I've excerpted below.
Right now, we have leading intellectuals in the Church, including those who manage Book of Mormon Central, who, because of their belief in M2C, look down upon and oppress those faithful members who still believe the teachings of the prophets about the New York Cumorah.
Those of us who still believe the teachings of the prophets about the New York Cumorah are happy to have other faithful members believe whatever they want. However, we think every member of the Church should be enabled to make informed decisions about these issues by being fully educated.
We encourage people to read what these intellectuals teach, but we also encourage them to read what the prophets have taught and to learn about the evidence that supports the teachings of the prophets.
We would like to see the New York Cumorah re-correlated, but the prophets have always taught that we should heed the teachings of the prophets, regardless of how intellectuals tell us to think.
The M2C intellectuals take a different approach.
Book of Mormon Central is spending millions of dollars to divert members of the Church away from the teachings of the prophets about Cumorah and toward their own theory that the "real" Cumorah is in southern Mexico (hence M2C: the Mesoamerican/two Cumorahs theory). Their database contains articles that attack those of us who still believe the prophets, and it has been purged of any material that explains why we still believe the prophets.
Book of Mormon Central uses their millions of dollars to:
2. Promote M2C through social media advertising; and
3. Castigate fellow Church members on social media for still believing the teachings of the prophets about the New York Cumorah.
By now, this is all well known and obvious to everyone who looks at the Book of Mormon website. What is less known is how the practices of the M2C intellectuals follow a pattern we've seen before in Church history.
_____
While working on another project, I came across this passage from The Seer, Vol. II, No. 1, January 1854. It reminded me of the way the M2C citation cartel treats those who still accept the New York Cumorah.
THE TREATMENT OF THE UNITED STATES TOWARDS THE SAINTS.
Question.—First, In what manner have the people of the United States treated the divine message contained in the Book of Mormon?
Answer.—They have closed their eyes, their ears, their hearts and their doors against it. They have laughed at, ridiculed, derided, and treated it with the utmost contempt. They have scorned, rejected, and hated the servants of God who were sent to bear testimony of it. They have invented the most abominable, wicked and malicious lies, and published the same against it. Their priests have hypocritically and piously read these lies from the pulpit, and warned their congregations from one end of the Union to the other, to neither hear, read, nor investigate it, nor any thing in favor of it. They have denounced it as “a most vile and wicked imposition;” “a horrid blasphemy;” “a soul-destroying and most damnable doctrine, emanating from the bowels of hell.” Their editors have for years reiterated, through the columns of their papers, these abusive unjust denunciations and vile falsehoods, without giving any chance in their columns for a reply or correction of these bare-faced and foul misrepresentations.
(Seer II.1:193 ¶2–3)
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