Criticism of Mormonism/Books/One Nation Under Gods/Sarcasm

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A FAIR Analysis of: One Nation Under Gods A work by author: Richard Abanes Sarcasm

Index of Claims

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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Sarcasm

Well, all I can say is, I combat the errors of the ages. I solve mathematical problems of universities, with truth—diamond truth; and God is my 'right hand man.' God made Aaron to be the mouth piece for the children of Israel, and He will make me be god to you in His stead...I have more to boast of than ever any man had....I boast that no man ever did such a work as I.
Oh, wait, all of that material has been already used. Sorry. Nevermind. Sorry, my bad.
—The author, using a compound quote that he created from multiple sources in One Nation Under Gods to ridicule Joseph Smith, Posted to Mormon Apologetics and Discussion Board, Dec. 4, 2008

The author uses sarcasm to belittle what he claims to be LDS beliefs and doctrine.

Reference	The claim...	The rest of the story...	Use of sources
23 (HB)	"This messenger from the great beyond declared himself to be Moroni, a resurrected and glorified servant of the Lord (i.e. an angel)." (emphasis added)	How about Luke 1:30, which says, "And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God." Would the author refer to this angel as coming from the "great beyond?" Not likely.	None
109 (PB)	"Smith came up with a novel idea that would literally make them Israelites: a heavenly blood transfusion."		History of the Church, vol. 3, 380.
117 (PB)	After using a quote from Brodie to describe how Latter-day Saints were driven from their homes in Jackson County, the book attempts an additional bit of "Brodie-like" embellishment: "They had neither provision, nor direction. some fled to nearby Clay County, but most of those exiled remained huddled in the woodlands by the Missouri River. Their only comfort was the hope that Christ would soon deliver them." (emphasis added)
132 (PB)	"Although Smith never took any Lamanites as wives, he did begin establishing what would gradually become a fairly large harem of young girls and women taken from his flock of 'white and delightsome' disciples."		Author's opinion.
146	"But after Smith arrived, the Mormons suddenly could not remember making an agreement to limit their settlements to one county."
285, 573n25 (PB)	"Earth, by the way, in this Mormon scenario, was fashioned as part of a joint creative project supervised by the most faithful of Heavenly Father's spiritual progeny (e.g., Jesus, Joseph Smith, Noah, Adam, John the Baptist, etc.). Elohim's other spirit children included: Lucifer, who would become the Devil (a.k.a. Satan); Napoleon; George Washington; Joseph Smith; Louis Armstrong, Donny and Marie Osmond, Senator Orrin Hatch, U.S. President George W. Bush, and everyone else who has ever lived on this planet.	Is this laundry list of names really helpful? This is a way to take LDS beliefs about the pre-existence and portray them in a sarcastic, demeaning way.	McConkie, 169.
323, n48	"Ever the optimist, Woodruff had another revelation on November 24, 1889....Despite Christ's assurances that the ruling would favor the Saints, May 19, 1890, saw a five to four decision by the Supreme Court to uphold the government's right to close the LDS church, seize its property, and redistribute it."
370	"Mormons, by and large, were pleased that God had changed his mind at such a convenient time in history."
371, 600n63	"The spiritual 'out' for Mormons is that rather illogical belief that the words of a living prophet...always supercede [check spelling] the teachings of a dead prophet."

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