Moroni the Mayan

As an artist, I'm all in favor of artistic license and interpretation. But I'm also interested in the psychological influence of artistic representations, and here is an astonishing example.

This month's Youth magazine features Captain Moroni as a Mayan.

(click to enlarge)

To be clear, I don't criticize the artist at all. She's an outstanding, creative artist whom I greatly respect.

I see this artwork at the inevitable result of the many years of indoctrination by M2C scholars at Scripture Central and other M2C organizations, promoted with millions of dollars of publicity and online media. Not to mention the ScripturePlus app, which promotes Mayan images such as this.

Cumorah scene from ScripturePlus
(click to enlarge)

Or this, on the Spanish-language version of Book of Mormon Central:

Presumably the M2C scholars at Scripture Central are thrilled to see the fruits of their labor. 

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These magazines are sent to Latter-day Saint youth around the world, reinforcing the M2C message that

 

(i) Nephites were Mayans (or at least lived among the Mayans) in Central America, and 

(ii) the prophets have all been wrong about the New York Cumorah.

To remove any doubt about the Mayan identification, the inside article of the print edition uses a slightly different image on page 8. This one actually features Mayan glyphs on the Title of Liberty!

(click to enlarge)

So much for the "former" idea that the Nephites wrote in Hebrew and reformed Egyptian, as described in the text and as depicted in previous artwork of Captain Moroni (see the end of this post). 

This illustration reminds us of the awesome M2C diorama in the old visitor's center on Temple Square that also depicted Mormon abridging the records surrounded by Mayan glyphs.

Fortunately, the online version of the Youth magazine at least omits the Mayan glyphs and the idolatrous necklace. But the Mayan headdress remains.

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ftsoy/2024/08/05-preparing-for-your-spiritual-battles?lang=eng

We can hope that most Latter-day Saints read the digital version instead of the print version. But they still get the fully dressed "Mayan Moroni."

It's fun to see Captain Moroni and his "band of Christians" reframed as ancient Mayans who wore idolatrous apparel. It's also fun to see the reframe of Central America as the "land of liberty" thousands of miles away from the site of the Restoration. 

Hopefully in the future we will encourage artists to focus on the scriptures instead of the M2C indoctrination from Scripture Central.

12 And it came to pass that he rent his coat; and he took a piece thereof, and wrote upon it—In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children—and he fastened it upon the end of a pole.

13 And he fastened on his head-plate, and his breastplate, and his shields, and girded on his armor about his loins; and he took the pole, which had on the end thereof his rent coat, (and he called it the title of liberty) and he bowed himself to the earth, and he prayed mightily unto his God for the blessings of liberty to rest upon his brethren, so long as there should a band of Christians remain to possess the land—

14 For thus were all the true believers of Christ, who belonged to the church of God, called by those who did not belong to the church.

15 And those who did belong to the church were faithful; yea, all those who were true believers in Christ took upon them, gladly, the name of Christ, or Christians as they were called, because of their belief in Christ who should come.

16 And therefore, at this time, Moroni prayed that the cause of the Christians, and the freedom of the land might be favored.

(Alma 46:12–16)

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Depictions of the "old" version of Captain Moroni.

Some of these have Mayan imagery, but at least they didn't depict the Title of Liberty with Mayan glyphs.