Brigham Young University Professors
There is no Connection Between Reason and Faith?
Dr. Robert L. Millet quote: "You should never allow science to dictate faith."
Archaeology defined: the scientific study of material remains of past human life and activities.
Read Biblical Critique of LDS Mormon Beliefs Speech by Robert L. Millet
Robert L. Millet Teaching Brigham Young University Students Deception
BYU Professor Arrested
BYU professor arrested in voyeurism case
Saturday, February 18, 2006
KATIE ASHTON - Daily Herald
A Brigham Young University professor was arrested Thursday on charges he secretly filmed a girl in various states of undress.
Robert Jackson, 63, was arrested on charges of exploitation of a minor and voyeurism after police received a videotape depicting the girl, said Provo police Capt. Rick Healey. The minor was unknowingly filmed by Jackson, who appears to have acted alone, Healey said. The tape was found and turned in to the state Division of Child and Family Services, prompting Thursday's investigation, he said.
Jackson resigned from BYU on Friday after teaching at the school since 1988, said Carri Jenkins, BYU spokeswoman. Jackson was an assistant professor in the information systems department of the Marriott School of Management.
"This situation is a great concern to the university," Jenkins said, adding all employees and students are expected to uphold BYU's honor code.
Police aren't saying who found the tape, or how. They're also not giving out any information about where the girl was filmed.
"We're really going to keep all the pieces of the puzzle private for the sake of the victim," Healey said.
The victim has been identified and she and her family have been notified of the incident, Healey said. So far, there has only been one videotape found, but police are investigating whether there are additional incidents. Healey said he didn't know what type of camera was used to film the girl.
Jackson, who has been cooperative with police, was booked into jail Thursday but was released on bail, set at $7,500, Friday afternoon. Police are unaware of any problems with Jackson prior to this incident, Healey said.
Exploitation of a minor is a second-degree felony, which can result in prison time, he said, and voyeurism is a class A misdemeanor.
This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A1.
Brigham Young University is Blocking the Internet and Information!
Mormon-affiliated university Brigham Young blocks YouTube access for students
The Associated Press
February 17, 2007
PROVO, Utah: The popular Internet video-sharing site YouTube has been blocked on campus at Brigham Young University, the Mormon church school where students agree to live a "chaste and virtuous life."
BYU's filtering software blocks pornography, adult content and violence. YouTube has its own filters for porn, but BYU decided last fall to add the site to the list of those blocked through the university's Internet service, The Daily Herald newspaper reported Friday.
"We use the filtering process for two reasons," BYU spokeswoman Carri Jenkins said. "First to protect students from inappropriate material. The other is because of our limited bandwidth. That bandwidth is used for academic purposes."
Students who live off-campus and have a private Internet provider can view whatever they want, although it may violate the school's strict, conservative standards.
Student Megan Timothy, who lives on campus, said she finds most YouTube videos humorous and wishes she could access the site from home, but she understands the campus-wide block.
"It's BYU, and they block everything," Timothy said.
Students and faculty at BYU agree to follow the school's honor code, a list of standards in line with the principles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The honor code includes provisions against alcohol, tobacco and caffeine use, among other things. It also specifically mentions pornography or other offensive materials as taboo and says using the BYU computer network to obtain or distribute pornographic material is inappropriate.
Jenkins said pornography access on campus is "not a huge problem, given that our students are understanding of our campus environment."
Students can access Internet video through Google, which Jenkins said is more easily filtered than YouTube.
BYU REQUIRES RIGOROUS COURSE IN FICTION!
Non-Mormons lose own course
A version of a required class on The Book of Mormon tailored to the uninitiated is canceled
By Sheena McFarland
The Salt Lake Tribune
02/13/2007
Adista Regar is nervous
about delving into next semester's course work at Brigham Young
University.
It is not the film courses her major requires or the general English
classes she must take that have the international student from
Indonesia worried. It is the rigorous Book of Mormon class required of
all BYU students.
Regar, a practicing Muslim whose parents agreed to send her to BYU
because of the Provo school's strict honor code, does not mind learning
about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which owns and
operates BYU.
But she and other non-Mormon students are lamenting BYU's
cancellation of a Book of Mormon class designed specifically for them.
They fear their grades may be adversely affected when they are
thrown into classes with peers who have studied Mormon scripture since
they could read. "Not everyone is familiar with the scriptures, and the
normal Book of Mormon courses are designed for someone familiar with
the scriptures," Regar said.
She emphasizes that she does not expect special treatment as a
non-Mormon student.
"I don't want a nonmember class to make a nonmembers club," she
said. "It's just that there are questions you can ask and things you
can discuss more easily with a nonmember class."
BYU started making accommodations for its nearly 300 non-LDS
students in 2000 by offering a section of the Book of Mormon class for
nonmembers. The class ended, however, with the retirement of Paul
Warner, the faculty member who proposed the class.
The school decided against continuing the class because it already
offers another option for non-Mormon students, said John Livingstone,
associate chairman of the department of church history and doctrine.
Students twice a year may enroll in an Introduction to Mormonism
class that gives a basic overview of LDS doctrine and practices.
"The introductory class really is the place for good basic
questions," he said. "Students feel a lot more comfortable in their
other religion courses after taking it."
In a statement, BYU outlined several other reasons for canceling the
class.
The school said, for example, that it does not believe it is a good
practice to offer different versions of the Book of Mormon class when
it does not do the same for other religion courses, such as a Doctrine
and Covenants course all students must take.
In addition, the statement says the Book of Mormon courses offer the
easiest text and the classes are often filled with freshmen.
"BYU students, whether LDS or not, are capable and bright. Years of
experience with mainstreaming students of other faiths, including those
for whom English is their second language, have proven that by
effective study, attendance and attitude they can and do succeed in LDS
Book of Mormon classes," the statement said.
Regar said she has taken the introductory class and is unconvinced
she is sufficiently prepared to take religion courses with Mormon
students.
"Most of us want the nonmember classes not because we're special
students, but because we're intimidated in regular classes," she said.
"There are things that are obvious to members. We ask questions that
would be completely a waste of time for Mormon kids, and members
themselves may want to talk about things beyond our comprehension."
GET SAVED BY PERFORMING PAGAN MORMON TEMPLE RITUALS
By Meghan Morgan
BYU Newsnet
9 May 2007
A plan for accepting the Savior's invitation to come to Him was offered by Neil J. Anderson, linguistics and English language professor, at Tuesday's (May 8, 2007) devotional in the de Jong Concert Hall.
"May we come unto Christ through the ordinances and covenants of the gospel, ministering to others with a humble attitude of self evaluation," Anderson said.
His speech was divided into four sections. Each section represented a letter in the word "come."
First was the letter "C," which stands for coming unto Christ.
"Come is a verb of movement," Anderson said. "The use of the word in the context we are examining this morning is as an imperative or command."
He said that while reading the scriptures he has noticed that when Christ extends an invitation to come, there is usually a promise attached.
"If we are to move closer to the Savior Jesus Christ and respond to these invitations, we must yield our whole heart to Heavenly Father," he said. "In this way He will know of our sincere desire to become one with Him and His son."
Anderson noted that we must accept the invitation to come and make the effort to move closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.
The letter "O" represents the word "ordinances." He divided his discussion of ordinances into two sections - ordinances of the sacrament and ordinances of the temple.
"When we enter into an ordinance of the gospel, we also make covenants with our Heavenly Father," he said.
He said the sacrament not only reminds us of the covenants we made at baptism, but of the atonement as well.
"Each week we can partake of the sacrament and feel the cleansing power of the atonement in our lives," he said. "By worthily partaking of the sacrament you are responding to the invitation to come."
He said all we do in the church should direct individuals and families to focus on the importance of temple ordinances.
"As we participate in the ordinances of the temple, we receive a gift from our Heavenly Father," he said. "We also learn about our natural capacities. We receive power and Heavenly Father increases our ability."
He challenged those listening to obtain a temple recommend, remain worthy to use it and attend the temple frequently.
"Think about how the ordinances you have participated in draw you close to Jesus Christ," he said. "Think about how you are responding to the invitation to come unto Christ."
The letter "M" represents the phrase "ministering to others."
"As we minister to others we provide service," he said. "It is through service to others that we demonstrate to Heavenly Father the purity of our hearts."
He said meaningful service stretches our souls and strengthens our character. Through serving others we are accepting the Savior's invitation to come.
"E," the final letter of the word "come," stands for "evaluation."
"I have found that three places in particular provide the perfect setting for deep, personal self-evaluation and reflection," he said. "During daily, personal scripture study, while partaking of the sacrament each week in sacrament meeting and in the temple."
He said each person must find the best time and place for daily scripture reading.
"Daily scripture study is one of the best ways I know of to become aware of my strengths and weaknesses," he said.
During the sacrament, he said, there is a wonderful opportunity to reflect upon one's life.
"Heavenly Father will bring to our minds the things that we have done that require that we make improvements," he said, in reference to personal pondering during the sacrament. "He will also bring to our minds the peace that will confirm that we are making progress."
As a third place for personal evaluation, he offered the temple.
"The quietness of the temple can provide a refuge from the cares and concerns of the world," he said. "And we can be better prepared to move back into the world and be instruments in our Heavenly Father's hands."
Seek Counsel Only From LDS Apostles and Prophets?
Guided by Watchmen on the Tower
Elder Earl Tingey of the Quorum of the Seventy addresses students and faculty during Tuesday's Devotional at the de Jong Concert Hall.
By Julian Cavazos
BYU News
6 Jun 2007
You will be protected from the evils of Satan if you look for the "watchmen on the tower," Elder Earl C. Tingey said Tuesday.
"Satan destroyed the olive trees," he said. "Today he seeks to destroy families."
Tingey related The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints today to the parable of the 12 olive trees, found in Doctrine and Covenants 101.
"The olive tree figures realistically and figuratively in the gospel, the scriptures and the life of the Savior as an object of value and sacredness," Tingey said.
Jesus Christ is the Lord of the vineyard, he said.
"He has a very choice spot of land where He has planted 12 olive trees," he said. "I truly believe we, as individuals and families, could be considered the favored, valued, sacred olive trees."
The watchmen, Tingey said, are the prophets and apostles today.
"We will be guided and protected from the enemy if we follow his counsel," he said. "A father is a watchman on the tower to his family. Each of you should be a watchman to yourself."
The servants are all members of the Church, he said.
"They are the worker bees," Tingey said. Being a member of the Church and serving in various callings and responsibilities implies that we are servants."
The towers used to overlook the vineyard are the revelations, prophets, scriptures and temples.
"The tower is a symbolic point of elevation where we may see the enemy before others do," he said. "Revelation from living prophets permits us to see more clearly in a clouded world."
Because of Life Experiences the BOM is True?
By Kirsten Swenson
BYU NewsNet
8 Aug 2007
Larry Echohawk spoke to students of his conversion to the Book of Mormon, by telling stories of the people who influenced him, during Tuesday's devotional.
Professor Echohawk, a law professor, looked back on three life-changing experiences that helped him gain his testimony of the Book of Mormon and the church.
Life was hard growing up as a Pawnee Indian as people would discriminate against his background.
"As I look back through past years, perhaps the most painful thought is the realization that in my childhood my family had no expectations of achieving a higher education and becoming doctors, lawyers or engineers," Echohawk said. "A college education seemed beyond our reach."
The first experience happened to Echohawk when he was 14 years old. Not knowing much about the Christian faith, he learned from the Mormon missionaries. His entire immediate family was baptized.
Echohawk continued living the way he did before he was baptized, not having much of a testimony. He was just happy his family was together.
This experience, although it did not seem so big in his life then, paved the way for the second experience he had, helping him gain a testimony of the church.
Between his junior and senior year of high school, Echohawk had a new priest quorum adviser, Richard Boren, who took special interest in him.
"You can do anything you want," Boren said to him. "You can go to college, get a good education and do wonderful things with your life."
Brother Boren helped Echohawk train for the football team his senior year. Because of Echohawk's hard work and dedication, he earned himself the spot as starting quarterback, beating out the team captain.
As the first game grew close, Echohawk experienced something horrible. He was struck in the eye with a football, was bandaged up and sent home to lie in bed for a week in fear that his eyesight would not return.
"How could this happen," Echohawk said. "Why me?"
This accident turned into a blessing. As he lay in bed, Echohawk started thinking about the gospel seriously, he said.
Echohawk said he thought about everything Brother Boren had taught him about Christ, the scriptures and prayer. He slipped out of bed and dropped to his knees, praying intently for the first time. He promised Heavenly Father if his eyes would heal, he would read the Book of Mormon.
Within a week, his eyes were back to normal and he kept his promise.
After reading ten pages a day, finally finishing, he knelt down on his knees and prayed.
"At that moment, I had my first very strong spiritual experience," he said. "I knew then the Book of Mormon was true."
That experience increased his faith and testimony of the church. He continued playing football for his high school and ended up receiving a full-ride scholarship to BYU to play football. His dream of attending college came true.
Echohawk had the privilege as a young man to meet Spencer W. Kimball. He became one of Echohawk's greatest mentors.
One day while attending BYU, President Kimball gave a speech entitled, "This is My Vision" where he talked about a dream he had concerning the future of the Lamanites. President Kimball told them they would be lawyers and great leaders. Echohawk took his words to heart as he decided to continue his education at law school.
Today, Echohawk can say that his dream of finishing his goals did come true. He, along with all of his siblings, graduated from college. He has practiced law, served as the Attorney General for Idaho and has served in many capacities in the church.
"I am glad I was able to say without hesitation that I am a Mormon and that I know the Book of Mormon is true," he said.
BYU Professor Defends
Mo-ham-mad and Slams Christendom!
Book explores the life of Islam’s founder
BYU author aims to educate Westerners
By
Carrie A. Moore
Deseret Morning News
Aug. 11, 2007
As director of the Middle Eastern Texts Initiative at Brigham Young University, Daniel Peterson has overseen the translation of many documents from Arabic to English, providing Western scholars with a rich new library of research materials that were previously inaccessible.
Now he's written a book designed to help Western laymen understand the founder of Islam, free from the cynical characterizations that have grown up around Muhammad among some in Christianity and Judaism. That is according to Muslim scholars who have praised the book as "the best scholarly text on the prophet Muhammad written by a Christian."
"Muhammad: Prophet of God," published earlier this year by Eerdmans Publishing, provides a narrative of Muhammad's life that weaves his revelations, his inspiration and his personal relationships together in "a clear, fluid style that makes it suitable for both scholars and nonscholars," according to Khaleel Mohammed of San Diego State University.
Discussion about the book is particularly fitting this weekend, which is the Muslim holiday of Lailat Isra and Miraj, marking Muhammad's journey from Mecca to Jerusalem and his ascension into heaven.
Peterson said he decided the book was necessary because "the level of ignorance of people in the West about Islam is stunning." In his public lectures — particularly since 9/11 — he frequently asks whether Muhammad lived before or after Christ, and few are able to tell him.
Yet he finds the recent interest in Islam encouraging, as long as it's responsible. After 9/11, he said he visited Christian bookstores to see what kinds of books were being published about Islam and was largely dismayed at what he found, much of it the same type of hateful rhetoric that has traditionally been directed toward the LDS Church.
"Sometimes it was those same anti-Mormon people doing the writing, and it's just horrible stuff," he said, noting such books often outsell the reputable academic books on the subject.
For scholars who know anything about Islam, such books are "beneath their dignity to even respond to," he said. But such avoidance leads to acceptance, and that was something Peterson said he wasn't comfortable staying silent about. "I think it's a moral responsibility" to correct mischaracterizations. "If you deal in a field where there are public issues and you are silent when the misinformation is permeating the culture," that's irresponsible, he said.
He's collected from 30-40 books that provide blatant misinterpretation of Islam and is looking to counter those characterizations at every turn, he said.
Regarded by Muslims as the last in a series of biblical prophets, including Jesus, Muhammad is known as the "seal of the prophets" by most, he said, much like the wax seal on a letter that confirms the integrity of its contents so they won't be tampered with. In fact, the Muslim concept of a prophet "is not so different from the one that people would recognize in Utah."
Far from the religious fundamentalists that misconstrue and misinterpret the Quran — Islam's holy book of revelations to Muhammad — mainstream Muslims have always had much in common with both Jews and Christians, who are known as "people of the book" because they share the Bible as a foundational scripture.
Now he's garnering a reputation for defending a faith that's not his own, but Peterson said he's OK with that role. "I'm a very active Latter-day Saint, but I've found myself in this role of being a defender of Islam. I just think somebody has to do something."
Author Daniel Peterson, right, meets with Yahia Abdul-Rahman, imam and former chairman of the Islamic Shura Council of Southern California.
WHO WANTS TO READ ABOUT THE LIFE OF MO-HAM-MAD?
Attacks on Islam, Mormonism spring from the same dark well
By Eric Dursteler
Salt Lake Tribune
01/22/2008
As a Mormon
and a historian, I have watched with a certain fascination the
maelstrom which has raged around Mitt Romney's presidential candidacy.
While religion has been front and center throughout the campaign,
Romney has assiduously avoided any substantive theological discussions
of Mormonism's basic tenets, and generally his fellow candidates and
the media have not delved too deeply into the doctrines and practices
of his uniquely American religion.
The gloves came off, however, in an apoplectic broadside delivered
by liberal pundit and television writer/producer Lawrence O'Donnell
during a McLaughlin Group debate of Romney's "faith of my fathers"
speech. O'Donnell derided Romney's religion as "based on the work of a
lying, fraudulent criminal named Joseph Smith who was a racist, . . . a
slavery champion, [and] the inventor of this ridiculous religion."
To O'Donnell's credit (or shame), he did not recant. Indeed, he
expanded on his views in other forums. Of the Book of Mormon, he said
"it's an insane document produced by a madman who was a criminal and a
rapist," and he asserted that Mormonism "was founded by an alcoholic
criminal named Joseph Smith who committed bank fraud and claimed God
told him polygamy was cool after his first wife caught him having an
affair with the maid."
While the historical and logical flaws of O'Donnell's contentions
are obvious, I was intrigued by the language of the attack. In
describing Joseph Smith as a criminal, a fraud and a rapist, O'Donnell
was drawing on deeply-rooted themes and images which medieval
Christians used in the age of the Crusades, and which were revived in
the 19th century by critics of Mormonism.
In the Middle Ages, European contacts with Islam through crusade
and commerce produced an expansive, almost obsessive, literature
treating the faith's history, beliefs and practices. Much of this
polemical literature focused on Muhammad as a means to disproving and
discrediting Islam, and a fantastical and fabricated pseudo-biography
was invented to enumerate the myriad personal flaws of the Prophet.
To this end, medieval writers such as Peter of Poitiers described
Muhammad as a hypocrite, a liar, a sorcerer, a thief, a murderer and an
adulterer. This latter charge was common, and authors made much of
Muhammad's supposed libidinousness and lechery, evident to them in his
own personal life and the Quran's validation of polygamy.
These medieval views of Muhammad and Islam enjoyed long shelf
lives. Variations on the same old themes resurfaced following the 9/11
terrorist attacks in statements by conservative evangelical leaders who
described Muhammad as "a robber and a brigand," a "demon-possessed
pedophile," and Islam as "a very evil and wicked religion."
While the work of Edward Said and other scholars has familiarized
modern readers with the historical distortions of Muhammad and Islam,
the Mormon variation on this theme is much less well known. During the
19th century as Mormonism began to expand, American commentators dusted
off the centuries-old rhetoric used against Islam and in similarly
vituperative fashion equated the Mormon prophet, Joseph Smith, with the
Muslim prophet, Muhammad. From the faith's earliest days, Smith was
referred to as the "Yankee" or the "American" Muhammad, and newspaper
editors included him in a long line of religious imposters, which
included the Muslim prophet.
One of the earliest anti-Mormon works, Mormonism Unvailed,
likened Smith to "the great prince of deceivers, Mohammed." A later
tract attributed to the Mormon leader a laundry list of bad behavior:
He was "a low, vulgar, lazy, worthless, profane character; addicted to
strong drink, and accused of sheep-stealing." His alleged revelations
on plural marriage were intended as "a cloak to cover . . . [his]
vileness . . . [as a] holy seducer."
This last charge was particularly common, and here too writers drew
explicit parallels between the Mormon and the Muslim prophets,
especially after word of Mormon polygamy began circulating. One author
wrote that Mormonism "bears in many respects a striking resemblance to
Mahometanism, especially as to its sensual character." Another
intimated that "both Joseph Smith and Mohammed used a word of God to
settle their private needs and most intimate love affairs."
As with medieval Christians writing on Islam, for 19th century
American commentators on Mormonism, among the most compelling ways to
prove the falsehood of these new, competing faiths, was to expose their
founders as frauds, imposters and moral degenerates.
The post-9/11 comments on Islam and O'Donnell's recent diatribe
against Mormonism suggest that medieval modes of thought still resonate
in contemporary religious dialogue. When the ill-informed, the
provocateur, or simply those looking to boost ratings, they have a
ready supply of well-worn, tried-and-proven polemical firebombs at
their disposal to denigrate and marginalize individuals and communities
that do not fit squarely into their intolerant models of society.
---
* ERIC DURSTELER is an associate professor of history at Brigham
Young University.
The first Mormon
Public Forum Letter
The Salt Lake Daily Tribune
01/23/2008
Eric Dursteler,
associate professor of history at Brigham Young University, wrote an
op-ed piece in which he accused TV writer/producer Lawrence O'Donnell
of using "centuries-old rhetoric" to criticize Joseph Smith, founder of
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ("Attacks on Islam,
Mormonism spring from the same dark well," Opinion, Jan. 22).
The criticism of Smith may have been exaggerated on some points:
Smith may not have been labeled a rapist in the 1830s, but he
definitely was a womanizer of many women, and even some teenagers.
Also, Smith may not have been an alcoholic, but he was known to imbibe
quite frequently. He even had a bar in the Nauvoo House.
Most of the other assertions about Smith by O'Donnell are actually
true. For example, Smith did commit bank fraud. He did lie to the
public about the LDS practice of plural marriage.
Why didn't Dursteler separate the exaggerations from the facts,
instead of implying that all of the accusations against Smith were
unfounded? When a political commentator stretches the facts, it doesn't
help to respond with obfuscation.
Stephen Clark
Salt Lake City
BYU CONTINUES A BIASED VIEW OF HISTORY
Historian: Mormon land grabbed in Missouri
Published: June 27, 2008
SALT LAKE CITY, June 27 (UPI) -- A historian at Brigham Young University argues that Mormons were persecuted in Missouri in 1838 in a deliberate and successful effort to get their land.
Joseph Walker, who is working on the Joseph Smith papers, said documents show the Extermination Order of 1838 -- aimed at the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints -- was timed to prevent Mormons from buying land they had improved, Mormon Times reported.
Local laws allowed what was known as pre-emption, Walker says. Settlers had the right to buy government land they had lived on and farmed, but if they were unable to do so, others could buy the improved land at the price of vacant land.
Mormons settled in Missouri in the early 1830s. They were driven out in 1838 by government-sanctioned violence, Walker said, and moved to Nauvoo, Ill., where Joseph Smith, the church's founder, was killed by a mob in 1844.
Brigham Young, Smith's successor, led the Mormons to Salt Lake City.