A scene of ancient Mesoamerican warfare in a detail from a reproduction of one of the murals at Bonampak, Chiapas, Mexico, near the border of Guatemala (Wikimedia Commons public domain image)
Two new articles went up today in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship:
Abstract:As an ancient book, the Book of Mormon employed verbal punctuation rather than typographical punctuation. An example of this verbal punctuation is the word behold, which is used in the Book of Mormon to point things out, to highlight unexpected effects of situations, and to modify a previously expressed proposition. This corresponds to ancient Hebrew usage. Joseph Smith’s usage from the time the Book of Mormon was produced, however, differs in both its frequency and how it was used, even when Joseph Smith was consciously trying to imitate the Book of Mormon.
Review of Morgan Deane, To Stop a Slaughter: Just War and the Book of Mormon (Middletown, DE: Morgan Deane, 2024). 138 pages. $14.99 (paperback).
Abstract:Morgan Deane’s To Stop a Slaughter: Just War and the Book of Mormon defines and discusses the concepts of war in the Book of Mormon and places “just war” within a larger context. The various aspects of just war and its impact are compared to the teachings and writings of scholars and philosophers from the early Church Fathers to Chinese military strategists. This interesting and informative book helps Latter-day Saints understand when war is necessary and justified.
Brigham Young (John Donovan Wilson) and Heber C. Kimball (Quinton Kappel) in a scene from “Six Days in August”
If you’re thinking of heading out tonight for a showing of the new Hugh Grant vehicle, Heretic, with its victimized and manipulated sister missionaries, you might profit from reading this item from the staff of Public Square Magazine: “Heretic Movie: All Your Questions Answered.” I’ll be candid: I was already disinclined to see it in the first place. And not merely because I’m not really into horror movies. But I’m even less inclined to see it now. It doesn’t even strike me as particularly good or interesting. But there’s no disputing about taste, right?
However, you still have a (dwindling) chance of catching Six Days in August on a big screen, where it can be seen to full advantage. Do you have friends, neighbors, ward members, or family members who should see it? The film will eventually be available on DVD and Blu-Ray, as well as via streaming — I signed a streaming agreement for the movie with Samuel Goldwyn Films just a few minutes ago — but that won’t happen immediately.
In the meanwhile, Brett DeLange, who was among the participants in the just-completed Interpreter Foundation educational tour to Guatemala and Mexico, kindly reminded me of a nice story about Brigham Young that I’ll now share with you. I believe that it illustrates an important facet of Brigham’s character that is often overlooked or even denied:
One disturbing incident occurred almost at the very start [of the pioneer trek to the Great Basin]. A rule had been established that no wagon in the procession should stop, because this would cause a break in the train and encourage an Indian attack. Lucy Groves attempted to climb out of her wagon while it was in motion. Weak from having given birth just ten days before, she slipped and fell in front of the front wheel. It ran over her body and broke three ribs. Her husband was standing close by and grabbed her as quickly as he could to prevent the hind wheel from running over her leg too. But her leg was broken as well. Brigham went to her immediately, set her leg, and gave her a blessing assuring her that she would reach Salt Lake in good condition.
Lucy’s children had to walk from then on, as the bed upon which she lay took up all the room in the wagon. Her thirteen-year-old daughter assumed her mother’s tasks — cooking, washing, caring for the little children. But on the ninth day out, when it seemed that the leg was knitting satisfactorily and Lucy would soon be up, the daughter accidentally stumbled over her mother’s leg, breaking it a second time. This time the pain was so severe that Lucy cried out in agony at every step the oxen took. She finally told her husband that he would have to pull out of the train and stop. When Brigham saw the wagon pull to one side, he stopped the entire train and rode back to where Lucy was. Tears were falling down her cheeks as she explained the situation and urged him to go on without them. Brigham replied that he would do no such thing; he would not leave any of his people alone. Instead, he made camp for the night, sawed off the tops and bottoms of the legs of the poster bed so there was nothing left but the frame around the mattress and the springs, which were laced across pioneer style. He fastened this to the wagon bows so it would swing easily, like a hammock. He then renewed his blessing to Lucy, promising her she would live many years. He rode by her side for several days to make sure that she had no further trouble. “With his gentle kind manner,” wrote Lucy’s grandson, “he won the love of Lucy and her posterity forever.”
(Leonard J. Arrington, Brigham Young: American Moses [New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1985], 157-158)
The statue of Brigham Young that stands in front of the Provo Library at Academy Square (Wikimedia Commons public domain image)
And, finally, I’ve located a trio of additional horrors in the Christopher Hitchens Memorial “How Religion Poisons Everything” File™ that I want to share with you, or inflict upon you:
If, understandably, you find your indignation rising to the boiling point at the thought of such abominations, just relax and take a deep breath. Focus your mind, instead, on the blissful future that awaits us all when these crimes against humanity are done away.
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