RussianAmericanMormon
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User ID: 4365
RussianAmericanMormon
4d ago
to fund its scams
What scams? Joseph Smith lost friends, faced life threatening scenarios, mortgaged his farm, and saw little profit that one would expect form a supposed conman. I would think that for a scammer, the opportunity cost to undergo such afflictions would not be justified.
Polygamy
It was a temporary practice that was limited to aproved individuals and consensual. Joseph Smith's plural marriages were never consummated.
had a racial dynamic the quorum and president try to downplay
Pray tell? I assume you are refering to the priesthood ban imposed against individuals of African descent. Joseph Smith has ordained black people to the priesthood prior to its imposition, and Brigham Young has stated that it shall be temporary and a day will come when it is lifted. The rationale behind it is not known to the general public, but the most compelling theory in my view is that this is akin to Jesus commanding his disciples to prioritize their ministry to the Pharisees before expanding to other demographics. Since the lifting of the ban in 1978, missionary work has skyrocketed in Africa to an extent that French is on track to become the most widely spoken language in the Church in about 10 years or so. That kind of success would have not been possible under a colonized or pre-colonial Africa, and it was not financially viable prior to the pivotal Church finance reforms that were undertaken in the 1970s, and church converts in Africa and Latin America were typically destitute. A racial dynamic fails to explain why such restrictions didn't apply to e.g. Polynesians of an equally dark skintone.
claimed its scriptures were actually the ancient egyptian for mormon stories
The scriptures were written in a script referred to as Reformed Egyptian by scholars, which are simply characters derived from the ancient Egyptian writing system, which have been altered and condensed. Corroborated examples of this phenomenon include Demotic, Meroitic, the writing in Papyrus Amherst 63 and the Elephantine Papyri, or most notably Coptic.
When I’ve visited sun belt cities I can’t remember any full walkable neighborhoods.
In Houston you have the Museum District, The Heights, Montrose, EaDo, really anywhere within the I-610 loop. For all the flak Phoenix gets, its urbanism has made great leaps since 2015 with CityScape, Roosevelt Row, Hance Park, Kierland Commons (technically an outdoor mall but integrated with public amenities such as green spaces). If you include the suburbs in the greater Phoenix area, you have walkable entertainment districts such as Mill Ave/Town Lake in Tempe, Old Town Scottsdale, Chandler around Crowne Plaza, Downtown Glendale, and Main Street Mesa which is home to 3 museums, a cutting-edge Arts Center, Pioneer Park, and the temple. In Dallas you have Uptown, Deep Ellum, and the Arts District.
RussianAmericanMormon
21d ago
I don't watch those particular shows but usually that isn't challenging, it's answering open-ended questions and having to delineate specific processes in choronological order that eludes me.
RussianAmericanMormon
22d ago
My prowess in natural sciences is for all intents and purposes nonexistent, I have always been more humanities-oriented.
RussianAmericanMormon
22d ago
I honestly believe I have knowledge gaps in just about every one of them bar ecosystems and Punnett squares. Gene expression, neurons, enzymes, blood transport, respiratory and gas exchange come to mind.
RussianAmericanMormon
22d ago
Biology as a subject has never been my forte. In high school, I mistakenly took the advice of the majority of people in the grade above mine and opted for biology over physics. Though physics may be more mentally demanding, I appreciate its formulaic nature. Due to my executive dysfunction, I never managed to get biological concepts to fully click in my mind, as much of the learning process felt like rote memorization of Latin-derived jargon I saw no way of applying into my everyday life. I wish to retake my biology exam in November as a private candidate and find a way to get the content to resonate with me. Any actionable advice or resources one could point me to?
White is not used as a physical descriptor anywhere in the Book of Mormon.
At most 3% of ancient Mayan civillization has been unearthed by archeologists to date. There have been roughly 200 alleged anachronisms in the Book of Mormon since its publication in 1830, with 70% having been corroborated today. Anthropologist John Sorenson wrote a book named Mormon's Codex which explores the authentic Mesoamerican correspondences in detail.
There have been 11 witnesses of the golden plates who have maintained their accounts to be true even after personal rifts have led to some of them no longer affirming Joseph Smith's legitimacy as a prophet, believing that he has lost his divine providence.
The Mesoamerican model is in fact the one that is nearly universally accepted by serious scholars for several reasons.
The Book of Mormon described Captain Moroni using his "coat" as the "Title of Liberty" rather than a document, ring, necklace, or tattoo that would indicate his title. Title and status being denoted one's cloak/cape that they wore is unique to Mesoamerican cultures to my knowledge. When Cortes first arrived in Tenochtitlan and met emissaries on one of the causeways to the city, one of the first things he was given was a cloak denoting his status as a diplomat, in recognition of him being the King of Spain.
Teancum assassinated Amalickiah on New Year's Eve. The Mayans expect the head of state, as the representative of his subjects to the gods, to resist and battle the underworld deities, as they were believed to be at their strongest at the turn of a calendar year. The Lamanites awake to their protector being deceased, and enter a state of profuse panic due to the cosmological significance,
The huge uptick in brutal warfare towards the closing chapters of the BoM is in line with the late Mayan preclassic period where Teotihuacan sought to establish influence and dominance over the entire Mayan region (who were at their strongest at around 450AD, roughly when the Book of Mormon ends). Hagoth's expedition, which abruptly interrupts the narrative in Moroni's writings, is likely describing Teotihuacan, indicating the Nephites turning to Teotihuacan.
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