Windy Sydney

When I went to the Ex-Mormon Foundation Conference in Salt Lake City, I received a book written by Azra Evans titled, "The Keystone of Mormonism." I have been reading this book over the week and I found myself highlighting parts that I wanted to share on the blog.

The introduction of the book starts with Mr. Evans introducing himself and his life in the Church. He mentioned one of his friends that left the church, and the constant sadness of his mother about his exit from Mormonism. This quote struck me:

"Every time he went home she begged him to go back to Church, start paying tithing, put his regulation garments back on, and start going to the temple again so that her entire family could be together in the celestial kingdom. She couldn't understand why her son no longer believed the indoctrination that she had so carefully given him.

I empathized with my friend's dilemma because of my mother, even on her deathbed, made this very same request of me. I found this extremely painful. She wasn't asking for my time, my money, or my love which I would have willingly given. She was asking for my honor and integrity. I just couldn't do it. She was asking too much."

I loved this because it points out that people don't leave the church because they are bad, possessed or hateful. We leave because our integrity won't let us stay.

Reading this book was the first time I had heard the story of Martha Brotherton. In 1842, the eighteen year old convert from England came to Nauvoo to join the Saints in Zion...

"Brigham Young went to Joseph and asked for Martha. Martha was soon called to meet with Smith and Young. She felt greatly honored to be singled out for special attention by these two great men. But why were they taking such a special interest in her?

Martha's account is as follows:

"Brigham Young said, 'Brother Joseph has had a revelation from God that it is lawful and right for a man to have two wives... if you will accept of me, I will take you straight to the celestial kingdom, and if you will have me in this world, I will have you in that which is to come, and brother Joseph will marry us here today, and you can go home this evening, and your parents will not know anything about it.

"When I declined this offer, Joseph Smith said, 'He is the best man in the world, except me. If you will accept Brigham you shall be blessed. God shall bless you, and my blessing shall rest upon you... and if you don't like it in a month or two, come to me, and I will make you free again; and if he turns you off, I will take you on.'"

"Martha refused to be coerced and intimidated even by these two powerful men. Eighteen year old Martha, tearfully asked for permission to go home. She not only told her parents everything but wrote down the entire episode while it was still fresh on her mind.

"After telling others in Nauvoo about this incident, Martha and her disillusioned parents took a steamboat to St. Louis where Martha published her account in a St. Louis newspaper. This caused such a scandal that in the next church conference, Joseph and Hyrum stood up and denied that any Church leaders had more than one wife. Martha was called a liar, an apostate, and a harlot. Smith had control of both the pulpit and the media in Nauvoo. He could destroy the reputation of anyone who went against him, and he often used this power."

If this doesn't show you the true nature of Joseph Smith and Brigham Young, I don't know what will. Would a man of God and honor speak of a lady in that manner just because she turned them both down on a marriage proposal? No. He wouldn't.

I went on to read about things in the Book of Mormon that are impossible when looked at in a scientific light. Take the story about the Jaredites, for example:

"Jared, his brother and their twenty-two friends, along with their wives and children, were saved by the Lord from having their language confounded at the time of the Great Tower of Babel (about 2000 B.C.).

"The brother of Jared prayed unto the Lord and was commanded to build eight small submarines and to collect flocks and herds, male and female of every kind, and prepare for an ocean voyage to the promised land (America). The Lord then said to the brother of Jared:

"What will ye that I should do that ye may have light in your vessels. For behold, ye cannot have windows for they shall be dashed in pieces; neither shall ye take fire with you for ye shall not go by the light of fire.

"It is ludicrous to suggest that the Lord would even bring up the possibility of building a fire inside of an airtight submarine! The comment about glass windows which could be 'dashed in pieces' also shows the ignorance of the author. This incident supposedly took place almost 2000 years before the Romans finally developed small pieces of flat glass and almost 3700 years before clear, flat, window glass that could be 'dashed into pieces' was developed!

"... These strange Jaradite submarines didn't need strong steel hulls, compressors, pumps, valves, or even a dependable air supply...

"... How could they have taken flocks and herds when a single cow eats about one half of a bale of hay and drinks about ten gallons of water each day. When multiplied by the 344 days that the Jaradites were at sea, this would amount to about six tons of hay and over 3000 gallons of fresh water for just one cow!

"... Even one day in such an environment would have been intolerable and probably fatal!"

You know, when I look back I wonder why the hell I didn't think about this...

Every single leader I had in the Mormon Church would get up on the first Sunday of every month and testify that the Book of Mormon was true, and that Joseph Smith was a good man and a prophet, yet if you take a step back and look at things objectively you can't help but shake your head in disgust!

What was I thinking???

Oh, thats right... I was letting others do the thinking for me...

Andee