“In terms of preoccupation with self and a fixation on the physical, this is more than social insanity; it is spiritually destructive, and it accounts for much of the unhappiness women, including young women, face in the modern world. And if adults are preoccupied with appearance – tucking and nipping and implanting and remodeling everything that can be remodeled – those pressures and anxieties will certainly seep through to children.”

• extensive quotation from the prophecies of Isaiah in the Old Testament
• the Israelite origin of the American Indian
• the future gathering of Israel and restoration of the Ten Lost Tribes
• the peopling of the New World from the Old via a long -journey northward which encountered "seas" of "many waters"
• a religious motive for the migration
• the division of the migrants into civilized and uncivilized groups with long wars between them and the eventual destruction of the civilized by the uncivilized
• the assumption that all native peoples were descended from Israelites and their languages from Hebrew
• the burial of a "lost book" with "yellow leaves"
• the description of extensive military fortifications with military observatories or "watch towers" overlooking them
• a change from monarchy to republican forms of government
• the preaching of the gospel in ancient America

"I dismiss out of hand the early criticism that somehow this was a book that Joseph Smith wrote. The only thing more miraculous than an angel providing him with those plates and him translating them by divine inspiration would be that he sat down and wrote it with a ballpoint pen and a spiral notebook. There is no way, in my mind, with my understanding of his circumstances, his education, ... [he] could have written that book. My fourth great-grandfather -- this goes back to my mother's pioneer side of the family -- said when he heard of the Book of Mormon in England, he walked away from the service saying no good man would have written that, and no bad man could have written it. And for me, that's still the position.

So I disregard the idea that Joseph Smith could have written it."

"The many historical and scientific facts that do not support foundational aspects of the LDS religion cause Mormons to feel confused because of their strong emotional connection to Mormonism. However, despite what Latter-day Saints feel about their church and faith, the facts that do not support both are never going away. Mormons' psychological health depends on them fully acknowledging and accepting those facts. Why? Because no one can ignore the truth, diminish their awareness by avoiding or trivializing the facts, betray their rational mind in the process, and not pay the price psychologically.

Our mind is our principal tool of survival. We need to have full confidence in our mind and its cognitive processes (e.g., our critical and rational thinking) as well as our judgments not only to survive, but to ensure the quality of our lives. If a Latter-day Saint does not fully trust their mind and judgments, it doesn't matter how much money they make or have, their position in the LDS Church, how many generations of their ancestors were Mormons, etc. They are psychologically in need of repair."

As I said to you on another thread, the the now-obvious error two years ago in the Church News and the understandable confusion hardly justify the contemptible, reckless and boderline-libelous accusations by the mob on the Shades board that Elder Holland was lying. Danna and cohorts ought to be ashamed of themselves.

I can forgive them for being confused. Anti-Mormons and ex-Mormons are, by definition, confused, and I'm an exceptionally charitable fellow. And I suppose I can forgive them for accusing Elder Holland of deliberate lying, too. But only because I'm exceptionally charitable. (To the best of my knowledge, they haven't thus far asked for forgiveness, nor even conceded their "error.")

• The BoM had to be retrieved from the Church archives
• Research had to be done to establish the book's provenance
• Consultation took place to determine whether or not Holland ought to wear protective gloves while brandishing the book (mentioned in (IIRC) the Des. News article)
• Articles appeared in Church news outlets in order to assure everyone that this was indeed the real McCoy
• Serious effort had to be made to correct an old screw-up in an issue of Church News
• "Scotty Dog" Lloyd had to send an email to Richard Turley in order to make absolutely sure that the book was legit
• Holland himself had to summon up an emotional wavering in his voice as he spoke

Bathsheba's copy of the Book of Mormon was the one that Hyrum Smith read shortly before the martyrdom, with the corner of the page still turned down, as mentioned in Doctrine and Covenants 135:4.

So... either Holland is telling porkies,

or...there are several 'last book' relics in existence, and Holland needs to sack his researcher.

Surely he should have held the book in a gloved hand if he thought it was real, and the extra shots would have shown gloved hands? It would have made the book seem even more precious.

So maybe the whole thing is just a Mormon myth and once the martyr-making verse was written, a number of people went and dog-eared their BoMs.

Holland related how Hyrum read from Ether,“words of comfort to the heart of his brother” before they departed. Whatever that actually means, the very strong implication is that Hyrum read to Joseph. (The phrasing is really weaselly - if he didn't trip over his tongue the strong suspicion is that the odd phrase has been crafted as deliberate 'escape' - increasing the sense of deliberate misleading). And Holland continued to support this quite logical inference throughout his speech.

The apostle relates how the two men went to their martyrdom pondering the truths of the Book of Mormon. “In the hour they died”, Holland tells us, they were “quoting from and finding solace in” the Book of Mormon. How, could anyone believe that Joseph wrote the book either himself or as part of a conspiracy to defraud, when he went to his death believing and acting upon the book? Would these “men BLASPHEME before God by continuing to fix their ...eternal salvation... on a book they fictitiously created out of whole cloth”.

Indeed we apostates are perverse to disbelieve, given the blood sacrifice of Joseph and Hyrum for the truth of the book. To make our exit from the church we must crawl over, under, or around the Book of Mormon.

This is deliberately deceptive.

The same morning, after Hyrum had made ready to go–shall it be said to the slaughter? yes, for so it was–he read the following paragraph, near the close of the twelfth chapter of Ether, in the Book of Mormon, and turned down the leaf upon it.

9:15.A.M. Elder John Taylor prayed. Willard Richards, John Taylor, John S. Fullmer, Stephen Markham, and Dan Jones stayed with Joseph and Hyrum in the front room.

The Last Night in Carthage Prison. During the evening the Patriarch Hyrum Smith read and commented upon extracts from the Book of Mormon, on the imprisonments and deliverance of the the servants of God for the Gospel's sake. Joseph bore a powerful testimony to the guards of the divine authenticity of the Book of Mormon, restoration of the Gospel, the administration of angels, and that the kingdom of God was again established upon the earth, for the sake of which he was then incarcerated in that prison, and not because he had violated any law of God or man.

They retired to rest late. Joseph and Hyrum occupied the only bedstead in the room, while their friends lay side by side on the matresses on the floor. Dr. Richards sat up writing until his last candle left him in the dark.

• Took orders for the Nauvoo legion;
• Listened to a lengthy and detailed oration by Joseph which included the statement: "Our lives have already become jeopardized by revealing the wicked and bloodthirsty purposes of our enemies...";
• Discussed and took down a list of witnesses to fetch from Nauvoo for the trial;
• Listened to so many personal messages to take to Nauvoo that Dr Richards thought he should write them down, but Hyrum stared him down and told him to remember them;
• Listened to Joseph tell, in lengthy detail, of a dream about his farm in Kirtland,
• And then we find this squeezed in after Wheelock's activities -

"Both Joseph and Hyrum bore a faithful testimony to the Latter-day work, and the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, and prophesied of the triumph of the Gospel over all the earth, exhorting the brethren present to faithfulness and persevering diligence in proclaiming the Gospel, building up the Temple, and performing all the duties connected with our holy religion".

3:15 P.M.The guard began to be more severe in their operations, threatening among themselves, and telling what they would do when the excitement was over.

Elder Taylor sang The Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief [lyrics omitted]. (p 614)

When he got through, Joseph requested him to sing it again, which he did.

Hyrum read extracts from Josephus.

4 P.M. The guard was again changed, only eight men being stationed at the jail, whilst the main body of the Carthage Greys were in camp about a quarter of a mile distant, on the public square. (p 615)

4:15 P.M. Joseph commenced conversing with the guard about Joseph H. Jackson, William and Wilson Law, and others of his persecutors.

Hyrum and Dr. Richards conversed together until quarter past five.

5 P.M. Jailor Stigall returned to the jail, and said that Stephen Markham had been surrounded by a mob, who had driven him out of Carthage, and he had gone to Nauvoo...

"Later, when actually incarcerated in the jail, Joseph the Prophet turned to the guards who held him captive and bore a powerful testimony of the divine authenticity of the Book of Mormon.8 Shortly thereafter pistol and ball would take the lives of these two testators.

As one of a thousand elements of my own testimony of the divinity of the Book of Mormon, I submit this as yet one more evidence of its truthfulness. In this their greatest–and last–hour of need, I ask you: would these men blaspheme before God by continuing to fix their lives, their honor, and their own search for eternal salvation on a book (and by implication a church and a ministry) they had fictitiously created out of whole cloth?"

Failed theories about its origins have been born and parroted and have died–from Ethan Smith to Solomon Spaulding to deranged paranoid to cunning genius. None of these frankly pathetic answers for this book has ever withstood examination because there is no other answer than the one Joseph gave as its young unlearned translator. In this I stand with my own great-grandfather, who said simply enough, “No wicked man could write such a book as this; and no good man would write it, unless it were true and he were commanded of God to do so.”

“May I suggest that wherever possible a white shirt be worn by the deacons, teachers, and priests who handle the sacrament. For sacred ordinances in the Church we often use ceremonial clothing, and a white shirt could be seen as a gentle reminder of the white clothing you wore in the baptismal font and an anticipation of the white shirt you will soon wear into the temple and onto your missions”

"In his visit to Mongolia, Elder Holland said he was pleased to see the many people who have joined the Church since its inception in the country in 1992.

"'To come here and see the Church in Mongolia – born in a day in a sense – 10,000 strong [and] nearly one in every 10 citizens in Ulaanbaater are members of the Church, I was just unprepared for this,' Elder Holland said."

Holy scripture records that “after the waters had receded from off the face of this land it became a choice land above all other lands, a chosen land of the Lord; wherefore the Lord would have that all men should serve him who dwell upon the face thereof.” (Ether 13:2.) Such a special place needed now to be kept apart from other regions, free from the indiscriminate traveler as well as the soldier of fortune.

To guarantee such sanctity the very surface of the earth was rent. In response to God’s decree, the great continents separated and the ocean rushed in to surround them. The promised place was set apart. Without habitation it waited for the fulfillment of God’s special purposes.

• the book of Abaraham papyri don't correspond with Joseph Smith's translation. How do you explain that?
• does the strengthening church members committee still exist? What is its purpose? What is its secondary purpose?
• does/did the church do throat slitting in the temple? So would Mitt Romney have done this and sworn secrecy to it?
• does the church shun members who leave?
• is the church a cult?

"...we're not a cult. I'm not an idiot, you know. I've read a couple of books and I've been to a pretty good school, and I have chosen to be in this church because of the faith that I feel and the inspiration that comes. I've met people, and if people want to call us a cult, they can call us a cult and you can call us a cult, but we are 14-million and growing, and I'd like to think that your respect for me would be enough to know that this man doesn't seem like a dodo."

• His appeal to reverse-ad-hominem by refering to his education and acquaintances
• His use of the euphemisms "faith" and "inspiration" to justify his position (to those who look favorably on such terms, which is most people)
• His appeal to the inflated membership number to make his church look good
• Trying to make all people who respect him offended that anyone outside of that circle would consider him a "dodo"