Posts
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Update: The Military Mind of Joseph Smith
The "Military Mind of Joseph Smith" has been re posted over at the Millennial Star. You can find it here. I would like to welcome any first time visitors. I hope you enjoy what you find here, feel free to look around and post any comments or questions that you might have.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
The Beltway Disease
A couple posts ago I mentioned how we have a text that can and should help us analyze current events. The scriptures can also help us see beyond a person's rhetoric and instead see the potentially damaging actions that could occur. My friend sent me a link to an article from Meridian Magazine. The article uses the King Men as a tool to analyze President Obama's first nine months, and the culture of corruption in general that surrounds the Beltway.
I disagree with several points of his analysis. First, like Micheal Hobby, I think the King Men were far more active in Nephite politics before and after the episode that Lawrence describes. But six years is close enough to the four year presidential cycle so I can see why he would stress that number. Plus even though I dislike Obama's policies, I don't think he has entered dictatorship territory yet. Jimmy Carter territory for sure, but not the far out dictatorship that many people are warning. Although, Lawrence addresses this concern by showing how the King Men were often subtle and deceiving.
I think Lawrence's best point was how the King Men thought they were the new nobility and looked down on others. I've lost track of the number liberal blogs where anybody who believes in God, Guns, or traditional morality are just plain hick, racist, and troglodyte rubes. A sad number of Mormon blogs are like this as well. Everybody in the club considers themselves the new elite and they make sure through their acerbic comments that anybody who dares to disagree will know that they are just not as smart, nuanced, educated, subtle etc, as the permabloggers. You also see this in the way Obama treats the Town Hall protesters. My wife recently asked why Obama is continuing to seek his version of health care even though Americans clearly want something else. My answer was that he knows what is better for us, so our opinions don't matter. If only WE KNEW, we would want his plan and more government in our lives. Since we don't know, we must be angry and ignorant dummies for protesting his plan.
This post was more political than usual. Feel free to respectfully post your comments if you disagree. I also wanted to point out an example of using the scriptures to analyze current events. The danger comes from the harsh feelings that result when your analysis and conclusions differ from others. Overall I would recommend this article as a way to use the scriptures to examine the difference between rhetoric, goals, and actions.
I disagree with several points of his analysis. First, like Micheal Hobby, I think the King Men were far more active in Nephite politics before and after the episode that Lawrence describes. But six years is close enough to the four year presidential cycle so I can see why he would stress that number. Plus even though I dislike Obama's policies, I don't think he has entered dictatorship territory yet. Jimmy Carter territory for sure, but not the far out dictatorship that many people are warning. Although, Lawrence addresses this concern by showing how the King Men were often subtle and deceiving.
I think Lawrence's best point was how the King Men thought they were the new nobility and looked down on others. I've lost track of the number liberal blogs where anybody who believes in God, Guns, or traditional morality are just plain hick, racist, and troglodyte rubes. A sad number of Mormon blogs are like this as well. Everybody in the club considers themselves the new elite and they make sure through their acerbic comments that anybody who dares to disagree will know that they are just not as smart, nuanced, educated, subtle etc, as the permabloggers. You also see this in the way Obama treats the Town Hall protesters. My wife recently asked why Obama is continuing to seek his version of health care even though Americans clearly want something else. My answer was that he knows what is better for us, so our opinions don't matter. If only WE KNEW, we would want his plan and more government in our lives. Since we don't know, we must be angry and ignorant dummies for protesting his plan.
This post was more political than usual. Feel free to respectfully post your comments if you disagree. I also wanted to point out an example of using the scriptures to analyze current events. The danger comes from the harsh feelings that result when your analysis and conclusions differ from others. Overall I would recommend this article as a way to use the scriptures to examine the difference between rhetoric, goals, and actions.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Mesoamerican Custom of Retreating to a Tower
A recent article suggests that a small group of defenders in Mesoamerica would flee to the temple to make a last stand. This story reminded me of Gideon and his attempt to kill King Noah. In Mosiah 19 we read:
3 And the lesser part [of King Noah's people] began to breathe out threatenings against the king, and there began to be a great contention among them.
4 And now there was a man among them whose name was Gideon, and he being a strong man and an enemy to the king, therefore he drew his sword, and swore in his wrath that he would slay the king.
5 And it came to pass that he fought with the king; and when the king saw that he was about to overpower him, he fled and ran and got upon the tower which was near the temple.
6 And Gideon pursued after him and was about to get upon the tower to slay the king, and the king cast his eyes round about towards the land of Shemlon, and behold, the army of the Lamanites were within the borders of the land.
7 And now the king cried out in the anguish of his soul, saying: Gideon, spare me, for the Lamanites are upon us, and they will destroy us; yea, they will destroy my people.
8 And now the king was not so much concerned about his people as he was about his own life; nevertheless, Gideon did spare his life.
Jerry Ainsworth describes what the term "tower" probably meant in The Book of Mormon here. So when facing defeat Noah flees to a Pyramid to make his last stand, just as Mayans do in the linked article. When Moroni defeats the King Men he also plants the Title of Liberty on their towers(Alma 51:17-21). This would make even more sense if he just defeated them at their tower. Plus, in unpublished research I have suggested that "pull down their pride" and "level them to the earth" refer to defacing stone symbols of their power. This also has a match in the article, as the victors would put their "graffiti" and symbols of their god on the newly conquered tower.
Now the timing of this article puts it at 150 A.D, however the location corresponds to one of the dominant theories for Book of Mormon geography. Also, this could update our knowledge of Mesoamerican warfare; as I have shown, principles of warfare can generally be applied both forwards and backwards in time. Thus the location and principles both match up well with warfare in the Book of Mormon. Thanks to http://americantestament.blogspot.com for the hat tip.
3 And the lesser part [of King Noah's people] began to breathe out threatenings against the king, and there began to be a great contention among them.
4 And now there was a man among them whose name was Gideon, and he being a strong man and an enemy to the king, therefore he drew his sword, and swore in his wrath that he would slay the king.
5 And it came to pass that he fought with the king; and when the king saw that he was about to overpower him, he fled and ran and got upon the tower which was near the temple.
6 And Gideon pursued after him and was about to get upon the tower to slay the king, and the king cast his eyes round about towards the land of Shemlon, and behold, the army of the Lamanites were within the borders of the land.
7 And now the king cried out in the anguish of his soul, saying: Gideon, spare me, for the Lamanites are upon us, and they will destroy us; yea, they will destroy my people.
8 And now the king was not so much concerned about his people as he was about his own life; nevertheless, Gideon did spare his life.
Jerry Ainsworth describes what the term "tower" probably meant in The Book of Mormon here. So when facing defeat Noah flees to a Pyramid to make his last stand, just as Mayans do in the linked article. When Moroni defeats the King Men he also plants the Title of Liberty on their towers(Alma 51:17-21). This would make even more sense if he just defeated them at their tower. Plus, in unpublished research I have suggested that "pull down their pride" and "level them to the earth" refer to defacing stone symbols of their power. This also has a match in the article, as the victors would put their "graffiti" and symbols of their god on the newly conquered tower.
Now the timing of this article puts it at 150 A.D, however the location corresponds to one of the dominant theories for Book of Mormon geography. Also, this could update our knowledge of Mesoamerican warfare; as I have shown, principles of warfare can generally be applied both forwards and backwards in time. Thus the location and principles both match up well with warfare in the Book of Mormon. Thanks to http://americantestament.blogspot.com for the hat tip.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Yes they can!
A long time ago I posted about the ideology of war. The post basically describes some research done by Hugh Nibley concerning the rhetoric of war. This rhetoric was an an attempt by the "villains" in the Book of Mormon to present themselves as heroes.
The Lamanites only fought to regain their rights "stolen" by Nephi and his descendants. Korihor was only trying to free an oppressed populace. The Zoramites just wanted to live on their own until they were subjected to Nephite cultural Imperialism, that is, the preaching of Alma and the conversion of large segments of the Zoramite population. I have no doubt that if we had more of the words of King Noah he would say that his excessive building projects were designed as a show of strength against Lamanite aggression and were thus protecting his people. And the Gadianton robber, Giddianhi, simply wished to reclaim his rights which the Nephites had taken from him.
The point is that you rarely find somebody proudly proclaims they are overthrowing freedom, leading a murderous rebellion, or seeking wars of aggression. Even Hitler conquered territory claiming to correct the wrongs of the Versailles Treaty, seeking to bring freedom to Germans in other lands, or seeking a joining (Anschluss) with other Germans. Terrorists obfuscate their true nature and tactics by claiming the mantle of "freedom fighter". In short, dictators will find more subtle ways to cloak and or justify their actions:
We need to continually parse and examine the words that people use to justify their actions. We receive great training in the scriptures, since we already know who the "bad guys" are. And even Moroni [1] had to rally the people to the cause of righteousness. Real life is a bit more tricky, but we can and should apply the lessons we learn to modern situations.
For example, I will demonstrate how even singing about hope and change can have ominous connotations. I came across this video from 2008. It was without a doubt the creepiest thing I saw the entire election. And the "Pyongyang Remix" shows why. I don't think Obama is Hitler, but this video clearly shows how even lofty and inspiring rhetoric can really be used as a tool for political control by real or potential dictators.
The Lamanites only fought to regain their rights "stolen" by Nephi and his descendants. Korihor was only trying to free an oppressed populace. The Zoramites just wanted to live on their own until they were subjected to Nephite cultural Imperialism, that is, the preaching of Alma and the conversion of large segments of the Zoramite population. I have no doubt that if we had more of the words of King Noah he would say that his excessive building projects were designed as a show of strength against Lamanite aggression and were thus protecting his people. And the Gadianton robber, Giddianhi, simply wished to reclaim his rights which the Nephites had taken from him.
The point is that you rarely find somebody proudly proclaims they are overthrowing freedom, leading a murderous rebellion, or seeking wars of aggression. Even Hitler conquered territory claiming to correct the wrongs of the Versailles Treaty, seeking to bring freedom to Germans in other lands, or seeking a joining (Anschluss) with other Germans. Terrorists obfuscate their true nature and tactics by claiming the mantle of "freedom fighter". In short, dictators will find more subtle ways to cloak and or justify their actions:
We need to continually parse and examine the words that people use to justify their actions. We receive great training in the scriptures, since we already know who the "bad guys" are. And even Moroni [1] had to rally the people to the cause of righteousness. Real life is a bit more tricky, but we can and should apply the lessons we learn to modern situations.
For example, I will demonstrate how even singing about hope and change can have ominous connotations. I came across this video from 2008. It was without a doubt the creepiest thing I saw the entire election. And the "Pyongyang Remix" shows why. I don't think Obama is Hitler, but this video clearly shows how even lofty and inspiring rhetoric can really be used as a tool for political control by real or potential dictators.
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