
(Photo from Russell Richins)
The first presentation at today’s FAIR Conference was “BYU-Pathway: Serving the Hidden Many” from Brian K. Ashton, the president of BYU-Pathway Worldwide. It was absolutely thrilling. BYU-Pathway Worldwide (obviously yet another horror drawn from the Christopher Hitchens Memorial “How Religion Poisons Everything” File™) is something of which, I think, all members of the Church — in the developed world and beyond, ought to be aware. (There are more students currently enrolled with BYU-Pathways Worldwide than there are at the Provo and Rexburg campuses of Brigham Young University combined.)
It was a fascinating presentation and I recommend it to you. In fact, I expect that more than a few Latter-day Saints will want to contribute to this effort and perhaps even to offer their services. I’m already trying to think of ways that I might become involved in it, and even (where and if possible) involve the Interpreter Foundation.
Among many other things, President Ashton helped me to see 1 Nephi 21:8-16 in a fresh way, and to regard BYU-Pathway and the Church’s vast and expedited temple-building program (“high places”) as a literal fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy:
Thus saith the Lord: In an acceptable time have I heard thee, O isles of the sea, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee; and I will preserve thee, and give thee my servant for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages;
That thou mayest say to the prisoners: Go forth; to them that sit in darkness: Show yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places.
They shall not hunger nor thirst, neither shall the heat nor the sun smite them; for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them.
And I will make all my mountains a way, and my highways shall be exalted.
And then, O house of Israel, behold, these shall come from far; and lo, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim.
Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; for the feet of those who are in the east shall be established; and break forth into singing, O mountains; for they shall be smitten no more; for the Lord hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted.
But, behold, Zion hath said: The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me—but he will show that he hath not.
For can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee, O house of Israel.
Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me. (1 Nephi 21:8-16)
The second presentation of the morning, a very interesting one indeed, was given by George Mitton, who will celebrate his ninety-sixth birthday next week. George has been a friend and a valued colleague now for many years, having served as an associate editor of the late FARMS Review and having, thereafter, been present at the creation of the Interpreter Foundation. His remarks were titled “Joseph Smith and the Magical Context,” and I’m pleased to now realize that they have already been published in what looks to be a very good new book entitled Steadfast in Defense of Faith., edited by Shirley S. Ricks, Stephen D. Ricks, and Louis C. Midgley. Yesterday morning, I saw the very first copy of that book in Utah, and I’m told that it will arrive tomorrow (Friday) at the FAIR bookstore here at the conference, hot from the press. I look forward to reading George’s paper as soon as I’m able. (The presentation by Mike Ash and Ugo Perego from Wednesday’s conference meeting, “The Apparent Genetic Discrepancy between Mormon’s Narrative and the Origin of Native Americans,” also appears in the new book.)
Neal Rappleye’s presentation, “Material Plates, Spiritual Vision: Martin Harris, Divine Materiality, and Seeing with “Spiritual Eyes,” was also drawn from a more expansive and annotated paper that has just been published in Steadfast in Defense of Faith. I liked it very much; it deals with the issue of the nature of the experience of the Book of Mormon witnesses with the ancient Nephite plates — a topic that has interested me for many years and that is reflected in Witnesses, Undaunted: Witnesses of the Book of Mormon, and the short Insights videos.)
I recently read Janiece Johnson’s book Convicting the Mormons, which appeared in May — see my 7 July article for Meridian Magazine, “Searching Out the Truth about the Mountain Meadows Massacre” — and so I really appreciated the chance to hear her FAIR presentation on “Convicting the Mormons: The Mountain Meadows Massacre in American Culture.” As she said in her opening remarks, her book is about the Massacre but, really, not about the Massacre at all. She shared a number of images from the non-LDS press and spoke about how Latter-day Saints were depicted as un-American, non-“white,” “unmanly,” not civilized, and so forth. It’s a valuable discussion.
After lunch — during which we heard news of the hospitalization of Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, which, sadly, did not much surprise me — we heard from LaJean Carruth, who is a historian for the Church History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah, and a well-nigh legendary transcriber of nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century documents written in Pitman, Taylor, and Pernin shorthands. What she presented, under the title of “His Accuracy was not What it Ought: Comparing George D. Watt’s Original Shorthand Record to his Published Transcripts in the Journal of Discourses,” is extremely important. She illustrated ways in which, for example, Brigham Young’s statements were rendered as more authoritarian than “his real words” actually indicate. He would not, she suggested, have liked the title “American Moses.” Instead, he was more of an “Enoch.” According to the shorthand record, Sister Carruth argued, Brigham was a much more caring person than he has sometimes appeared to be in the Journal of Discourses.
Jen Yorgason Thatcher spoke next, to the topic of “Fostering Resilient Faith In the Midst of Questions, Doubts, and Loved Ones Leaving.” She used a powerful image: Apparently many drownings occur while other family members are right nearby, even when they are looking on without understanding (until it’s too late) what is happening. I liked a lot about her talk, including her advice that we always recall that members of the Church aren’t perfect, and that, when we face a challenge, we seek a vertical relationship with God and build horizontal relationships through service.
Michaelbrent Collings gave a lively, entertaining, and unexpected talk on “Finding Light in the Darkness: The Necessity of Horror in the Gospel.” I got a kick out of it, and found it extremely interesting. And I think that many of you will, too.
The closing presentation, given by my friend of many decades John W. Welch, was entitled “The Seven Seals in the Apocalypse of John: Possible Cultural, Legal, and Imperial Contexts.” Unfortunately, I was obliged to spend much of the duration of it on a conference call with some other leaders of the Interpreter Foundation, the Foundation’s financial advisor, and a lawyer. Fortunately, though, Jack’s paper, too, has been published in Steadfast in Defense of Faith.
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You might enjoy this, newly posted by the Interpreter Foundation: “Preview Video – Not By Bread Alone: Stories of the Saints in the DR Congo“