Criticism of Mormonism/Books/One Nation Under Gods/Rewording secondary sources

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Mind reading

A FAIR Analysis of: One Nation Under Gods A work by author: Richard Abanes Rewording secondary sources

Notable omissions

Note: This is a review of claims and/or responses to misrepresentations of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints found in this work. The inclusion of an author's work here does not imply that he or she is "anti-Mormon," or that none of his or her works have value. Those who do not wish to examine the claims contained in what some would consider an "anti-Mormon" work are advised to proceed no further.

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Rewording secondary sources

Sometimes when reading a work critical of the Church, we feel that we've seen the flow of concepts and sometimes even similar wording somewhere before. This section documents some such instances in this work. There is a touch of familiarity in this prose...

Brodie, No Man Knows My History

One Nation Under Gods	Brodie's prose in No Man Knows My History
ONUG 115: "The Missourians further satiated their thirst for violence by tarring and feathering Mormons Edward Partridge and Charles Allen."	Brodie, p. 133: "...the mob thirsted for the sport of mauling men, and Edward Partridge and Charles Allen fell victim to that ever-popular diversion, the tar-and-feather party."
ONUG 123: "Joseph knew that nothing short of a spectacular closing to the dedication week would be acceptable to the crowds. So during the final April 3 service, Smith and Oliver Cowdery, with great ceremonial show, disappeared from the congregation behind two special veils that had been lowered in front of them. No one knew what would happen..."	Brodie, p. 179: "But all the ecstasy that had been flaming for a fortnight paled before the dramatic effulgence of the final services. The temple was filled and overflowing. Joseph and Oliver Cowdery climbed to their pulpits and motioned for the veils to be lowered about them. The audience sat enrapt..."
ONUG 146: "While on a bluff overlooking the waterway, a member of his party discovered a rocky formation vaguely reminiscent of an ancient altar. Joseph gazed at the rocks, then noticed the lush prarie stretching out before him..."	Brodie, p. 211: "On a high bluff overlooking the river someone in the party discovered the ruins of what seemed to be an altar and excitedly led the prophet to it. After examining it, Joseph stood silent, his eye sweeping over the prarie that rolled away beneath him..."
ONUG 198: "Joseph, with his brother, Hyrum, decided instead to flee into Iowa. Once there, however they began to have misgivings about running from the law. First, they had abandoned their flock, which produced in them a significant degree of guilt. Second, their presence in Iowa did not insure their safety since that territory's governor had never agreed to ignore Missouri's extradition order for Smith on the old charge of treason..."	Brodie, p. 384: "But the river was only one factor in Joseph's gloom. He was landing in Iowa, where there was still a price on his head. The Governor of the Iowa Territory had never agreed not to extradite him to Missouri on the old charge of treason. Moreover, Joseph had neither equipment nor appetite for the lonely and savage western trails. And he could not stifle a sense of guilt at deserting his people..."
ONUG 199: "Joseph scribbled another message addressed to Jonathan Dunham, telling him to bring the Nauvoo Legion in order to 'break the jail, and save him at all costs.' The messengers galloped off with Smith's communiques. (internally quoted section is attributed to Brodie)	Brodie, p. 392: "Hastily he scribbled an order to Jonathan Dunham to bring the Legion, break the jail, and save him at all costs. Within seconds two messengers bearing this order and the letter to Emma were off at a frantic gallop..."
ONUG 201: "For a few moments he just swung there helplessly from the sill as the mob watched. Levi Williams shouted, "Shoot him!...Shoot the damned rascal!" But before anyone could fire, Smith dropped to the ground..."	Brodie, p. 394: "For an instant he hung to the sill swinging, while Levi Williams, the colonel commanding the Warsaw militia, shouted: "Shoot him! *** **** him! Shoot the damned rascal!" But no one shot...

Further reading

A FAIR Analysis of Critical Works

• American Massacre: The Tragedy at Mountain Meadows— (Index of claims)
• An Insider's View of Mormon Origins — (Index of claims—Use of sources)
• Archaeology and the Book of Mormon
• Ashamed of Joseph: Mormon Foundations Crumble
• Becoming Gods: A Closer Look at 21st-Century Mormonism/Inside Today's Mormonism — (Index of claims—Use of sources)
• Behind the Mask of Mormonism
• Specific works/Blood of the Prophets: Brigham Young and the Massacre at Mountain Meadows
• Specific works/By His Own Hand Upon Papyrus
• Counterfeit Gospel of Mormonism
• Covering Up the Black Hole in the Book of Mormon
  • Answering Mormon Scholars, Vol. 1
  • Answering Mormon Scholars, Vol. 2
• Decker's Complete Handbook on Mormonism
• Early Mormonism and the Magic World View — (Index of claims—Use of sources)
• Specific works/Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Mormonism
• Faithful History: Essays on Writing Mormon History
• From Captain Kidd's Treasure Ghost to the Angel Moroni: Changing Dramatis Personae in Early Mormonism
• In Sacred Loneliness: The Plural Wives of Joseph Smith — (Index of Claims)
• Indian Origins and the Book of Mormon
• Inventing Mormonism: Tradition and the Historical Record
• Is the Mormon My Brother?
• Joseph Smith: The Making of a Prophet
• Joseph Smith and the Origins of The Book of Mormon (2nd edition)—(Index of claims)
• Joseph Smith's New York Reputation Reexamined
• The Kingdom of the Cults (Revised) — (Index of claims)
• Leaving the Saints
• Letters to a Mormon Elder
• Losing a Lost Tribe: Native Americans, DNA, and the Mormon Church — (Index of claims)
• Mormon America: The Power and the Promise — (Index of claims)
• The Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power — (Index of claims)
• The Mormon Mirage: Seeing Through the Illusion of Mainstream Mormonism
• Mormonism 101—Index of claims
• Mormonism (Kurt Van Gorden)
• Mormonism: Shadow or Reality? — (Index of claims)
• The Mysteries of Godliness—A History of Mormon Temple Worship
• Nauvoo Polygamy — (Index of claims—Use of sources—Prejudicial language—Presentism—Mind reading—Censorship—Romance—Assumptions—Magick)
• New Approaches to the Book of Mormon
• New Mormon Challenge
• No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith — (Index of claims)
• One Nation Under Gods — (Index of claims—Use of Sources—Prejudicial language—Absurd claims—Presentism—Mind reading—Rewording—Omissions—Sarcasm)
• The Refiner's Fire: The Making of Mormon Cosmology, 1644–1844
• Same-Sex Dynamics Among Nineteenth-Century Americans: A Mormon Example — (Index of claims)
• Sidney Rigdon: A Portrait of Religious Excess
• The Changing World of Mormonism — (Index of claims)
• Trouble Enough: Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon
• Under the Banner of Heaven — (Index of claims)
• Word of God: Essays on Mormon Scripture