Mormonism Disproven! Book of Mormon is Bunk! Mormonism, Mitochondrial DNA, and the nature of religious truth. Our story begins back during the 16th through 19th centuries C.E. During this time the discovery of North and South America, continents which were populated with peoples that are never mentioned in the Bible, engendered a great deal of speculation among people concerning the origin of this glaring biblical omission. If the Bible is the Gods word, why does it not mention the New World and its inhabitants? What provisions had God made for the salvation of these New World peoples, given that they were bereft of any knowledge of the atoning death of Jesus? Into this controversy steps Joseph Smith, who had an answer for these troubling questions. Smiths point of departure apparently was John 10:16, where Jesus, it is claimed, says that he has sheep that are not of this fold. Unlike most exegetes, who see here a reference to the Gentiles, Smith interpreted this passage to mean that the group Jesus referenced was actually Native Americans. According to Smith, the Native American inhabitants were actually Semites, specifically of Jewish decent. In general there were two groups; the Lamanites and the Nephites. The Book of Mormon claims the first Jewish migration was from a family known as Lehi, all of whom traveled by boat from the Middle East circa 600 BC. At some point after the death of Lehi one of the sons of Lehi, Nephi by name, had overheard that his brothers were plotting to kill him, so Nephi and his family, as well as his followers, left the others and went out into the wilderness. The followers of Nephi called themselves Nephites. The followers of Laman, Lehis other (and oldest) sons, were called Lamanites. Indeed, the major thrust of the Book of Mormon is a history of these Semitic descendents which we call Indians, but Mormons call Lamanites. There is a problem though; numerous genetic studies demonstrate that Native Americans are allied to groups in Siberia. In other words, it supports the idea developed by scientists that various peoples crossed over the Bering Straight during certain periods (principally during the various ice ages) to populate North and South America. The genetic studies do not show any affinity between Native Americans and Semitic peoples at all. This determination comes from mitochondrial DNA, which is derived maternally. Each major group has certain characteristics, such a mutations, which each group carries. As it turns out, Native American mitochondrial DNA carries the genetic markers of Northern Asian peoples (four haplotypes), not Semitic peoples. With the exception of 0.04% of the population which has some European genetic markers, there is nothing to indicate any link to Semitic peoples. And even this is an exception for it is believed to be a result of post-Columbus interbreeding between Europeans and Native Americans. In addition, these studies have been bolstered by results looking at alleles on the Y-chromosome (see now Murphy, Thomas, Lamanite Genesis, Genealogy, and Genetics, in _American Apocrypha: Essays on the Book of Mormon_ . Dan Vogel and Brent Lee Metcalfe, eds., Signature Books: Salt Lake, 2002: 58). In short, the Book of Mormon has been decisively scientifically refuted. But there is more: archeological, paleontological, morphological, and linguistic evidence all refute the Book of Mormons position concerning the roots of Native Americans and the purported civilization that it claimed existed prior to the advent of Europeans. Mormon scholar and anthropologist Dr. Thomas Murphy notes: From a scientific perspective the Book of Mormons origin is best situated in early nineteenth century America, and Lamanite genesis can only be traced historically to ca. 1828. The term Lamanite is a modern social and political designation that lacks a verifiable biological or historical underpinning linking it to ancient American Indians. (Ibid.: 68). Thomas continues: An apparent consensus on some central issues of debate about the Book of Mormon appears to be emerging. Most Book of Mormon scholars today...reject a literal reading of the Book of Mormon and agree that Nephites and Lamanites never actually rode horses, traveled in chariots, used steel swords, raised cattle, or ate wheat....We have reached a virtual consensus that the traditional interpretation of the Book of Mormon as the history of the American Indians has been thoroughly discredited by the discoveries of anthropology, biology, and history. Thus, we would seem to agree that the teachings about Israelite and Lehite ancestry of American Indians espoused by every LDS prophet since Joseph Smith must necessarily be disregarded as incorrect. (Murphy, Thomas, Simply Implausible: DNA and a Mesoamerican Setting for the Book of Mormon, in _Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought_. 36 (4): 111). Now, if you patiently explain this evidence with a Mormon you will find that they will not listen to you at all. Why? They subscribe to an experiential role for validation of their religion. Mormons experience something called the burning bosom; a phenomenon where they feel a burning sensation in their thoracic region. It is this witness to their faith which fuels their continued allegiance to Mormonism. What are we to make of these data? Lets consider the ramifications of the material that was presented here. First, why does God allow Mormons, a group who loves God, to flounder in this horrible ignorance? Why does he not save His Mormon children? Mormons most assuredly love God every bit as much as Born-again Christians, yet God allows them to waste their life in a lie. Where is Gods love for them? Second, if someone who loves God can live perpetually in a lie and receive no help from God, then this could be true of any other religious group, including Conservative Christians. In other words, Conservative Christians might full well be lost in deception as much as Mormons and God would not so much as lift a finger to help them and the Christian would never know it! Third, adopting a experiential approach to religion is without question the worst approach a person can take. As the Mormon experience shows, relying on some experience to determine the validity of your faith can lead one astray faster than anything else. People must use logic, reason, and evidence if they are build some edifice of faith--not rely on some experience. (for the interested reader see now: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamanite). en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Mormon en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_W._Murphy_(anthropologist) Thomas Murphys PhD thesis, IMAGINING LAMANITES: NATIVE AMERICANS AND THE BOOK OF MORMON. 2003. University of Washington. atheism.about/library/glossary/mormon/bldef_burningbosom.htm)
Posted on: Fri, 10 Oct 2014 23:50:21 +0000
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