In the ongoing pursuit of clarity, charity and understanding, let's consider some recent observations by Elder Soares. He spoke at the Global Faith Forum in Washington, DC. Among other things, he said “Peace is not passive. It requires dialogue and action to protect it and spread it throughout society.”
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| Photo from https://x.com/Ulisses__Soares/status/1887253089436172646/photo/3 |
He also quoted a Swiss theologian, Hans Küng, who observed, “There will be no peace among the nations without peace among the religions. There will be no peace among the religions, without dialogue among the religions.”
The importance of dialogue should be obvious to everyone. Like most people, I strongly favor dialogue for the reasons Elder Soares listed. I posted about his comments here as well:
https://nomorecontention.blogspot.com/2025/02/three-benefits-of-friendship-ulisses.html
Plus, dialogue is fun and engaging.
But apparently not to the management, employees, and contributors at Scripture Central.
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Since its inception, Scripture Central (and Book of Mormon Central, FARMS, and BMAF before it) has refused to engage in dialogue with faithful Latter-day Saints who still believe the teachings of the prophets about the origin and setting of the Book of Mormon.
The reason? Because the founders and management of Scripture Central and its predecessors have convinced themselves that:
1. The prophets were wrong when they taught that the Hill Cumorah/Ramah is in western New York.
2. As Royal Skousen has declared, Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery deliberately misled everyone about the translation of the Book of Mormon.
This is not a question of "Book of Mormon geography" or "which stone Joseph used."
That is pejorative framing designed to dismiss those who disagree with Scripture Central's interpretations.
Instead, these are questions directly related to the credibility and reliability of Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery.
It's a simple dichotomy.
- Scripture Central and its affiliates reject what Joseph and Oliver taught about the origin and setting of the Book of Mormon.
- Other faithful Latter-day Saints still believe what they taught about the origin and setting of the Book of Mormon.
But Scripture Central refuses to engage in dialogue with anyone who doesn't agree with their repudiation of the teachings of the prophets on these topics.
It's axiomatic that people can believe whatever they want.
In my view, though, people cannot make informed decisions without having access to all the relevant information. President Nelson taught that "Good inspiration is based upon good information."
To be specific, how can any Latter-day Saint make an informed decision about the credibility and reliability of what Joseph and Oliver said about Cumorah without knowing both (i) what they said and (ii) the evidence that corroborates their teaching?
Yet Scripture Central, so far, has refused to provide its readers, viewers and listeners with this basic information.
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Here's hoping that Scripture Central will one day heed the advice of Elder Soares and engage in actual dialogue with faithful Latter-day Saints who don't share the Scripture Central narratives about the origin and setting of the Book of Mormon.
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