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Defenders of faith support Church's position August 14, 2004
SANDY, Utah — As knowledge of the restored gospel continues to pervade the earth, and with increasing accessibility of information, true and false, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints occasionally comes under strident attack. Acting on their own part and without Church sponsorship, some individuals and groups have undertaken to provide information resources via the Internet and other means to aid persons who might be troubled by the claims of those who take an adversarial stance toward the Church. One such organization is the Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research, known by the acronym FAIR. (Apologetics is a word of Greek derivation that means defense, specifically of a Christian faith such as Mormonism.) Scott Gordon, FAIR president, told the Church News, "There have always been critics of the Church. I am always amazed how strong our position is, and how many things that start as criticisms lead to research that supports the Church's position." The foundation's central activity is to maintain a Web site, www.fairlds.org, offering doctrinal, scriptural and scholarly resources for addressing opposition leveled at the Church. It also sponsors an annual conference. The sixth such conference was held Aug. 5-6 at the South Towne Exposition Center in Sandy, Utah, offering presentations from 14 speakers covering a wide range of topics such as doctrine, scriptural authenticity, Church history, women and racial minorities in the Church, and relations with other faiths. Several of the presentations will be published on the Web site. The following are excerpts and summaries of some of them. A. Dean Byrd The Church sometimes comes under criticism for teaching that it is sinful to act on homosexual tendencies. A. Dean Byrd, clinical professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Utah, and author of the LDS-oriented book Willpower Is Not Enough , countered the notion of biological predisposition to homosexuality in his presentation at the FAIR conference. He said many articles advocating that viewpoint are ideologically inspired and "though well-written, do not reflect good science. In fact, the social advocacy of the articles would suggest a greater reliance on politics than on the scientific method." It has even been questioned whether or not an individual should have the right to seek treatment to diminish unwanted homosexual attraction, he noted, the rationale being that seeking such treatment stems from societal pressure or "internalized homophobia." "Is the gay identity so fragile that it cannot bear the thought that some people may not wish to be gay?" he asked. Indeed, he noted, researchers whose studies have been used to perpetrate the myth that homosexuality is innate and immutable are speaking out against that conclusion. "Being supportive of the basic civil rights of self-identified gays and lesbians does not require a belief in the false notion that homosexuality is invariably fixed in all people," he said. "It is not." Davis Bitton "I don't have a testimony of the history of the Church," asserted Davis Bitton in his presentation. "That's why I can be a historian and also a believing Latter-day Saint." "Do all well-informed historians become anti-Mormons?" asked Brother Bitton, a retired University of Utah history professor and former assistant Church historian. Responding to his own question, he declared: "There's nothing in Church history, zilch, nada, that leads inevitably to the conclusion that the Church is false. There is nothing that requires the conclusion that Joseph Smith was a fraud. How can I say this with such confidence? For the simple reason that the historians who know most about our Church history have been and are faithful, committed members of the Church. Or to restate the situation more precisely, there are faithful Latter-day Saint historians who know as much about the subject as any anti-Mormon or as anyone who writes on the subject from an outside perspective." He said that what is potentially damaging or challenging to faith depends on one's expectations and not necessarily on history. Andrea Radke Speaking to the topic of "Women in the LDS Church," Andrea Radke countered a widely publicized 1994 study that claimed Utah had the highest per capita female use of Prozac in the nation. "Although the study itself was admittedly problematic, critics of the Church are quick to cite the study's sensationalized conclusions as proof that Mormon women must suffer under the strains of patriarchy, early marriages, constant child bearing and voiceless acceptance of male dominance," she observed. A visiting professor at BYU, Dr. Radke said the study failed to show "complex factors that might affect the use of Prozac and other anti-depressants." These include socio-economic status, level of education, number of children, genetic factors, level of religiosity, counseling services that accompany medication and the numbers of men who might also require medicating and counseling. Further, she said, Mormons' abstinence from addictive substances might prompt depression sufferers to seek more legitimate forms of help. She cited one woman's observation: "LDS women experience depression more acutely because they don't go out and get drunk to mask their pain. Another example is they don't drink coffee in the morning to minimize the fatigue that often accompanies depression." Matthew Brown Did Joseph Smith's account of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon evolve over time, as some critics of the Church contend? Matthew Brown, author of several books and articles on Mormonism, addressed that question in his FAIR presentation. "The credibility of the revision theory is seriously damaged by the very documents that anti-Mormons have used to construct it," he said. Taken together, non-Mormon documents between June 1827 and 1830 that recite what Joseph Smith Jr. and his close associates said about the coming forth of the Book of Mormon show "a relatively complete version of the story that Joseph Smith recorded in 1838 and published in 1842," he said. "In other words, these non-Mormon documents preserve and confirm the traditional LDS version of events." Richard Lloyd Anderson The author of the acclaimed book Investigating the Book of Mormon Witnesses, Richard L. Anderson addressed attempts by detractors to "explain away" the testimony of the witnesses. A professor emeritus of ancient scripture at BYU with doctorates in law and history, Brother Anderson noted that the approach of critics is to assassinate the character or the intelligence of the Book of Mormon Witnesses. He contradicted these charges, showing that men who testified to having seen and/or handled the Book of Mormon plates had substantial reputations for integrity and reason. Oliver Cowdrey's law partner, for example, said he had never met a man so well-informed on so many different subjects. Responding to the charge that the witnesses were deceived because they had "too much faith," Brother Anderson said he has compiled more than 200 records in which a Book of Mormon witness says in effect, " 'I did sign the statement, the statement means what it says, I saw the angel, I saw the plates,' or in the case of the eight witnesses, 'I handled the plates.' "
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FAIR is not owned, controlled by or affiliated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. All research and opinions provided on this site are the sole responsibility of FAIR, and should not be interpreted as official statements of LDS doctrine, belief or practice. If you like what FAIR does and you agree with our mission, we invite you to support FAIR in any way you are able. You can make a donation, or visit our Membership page for additional support ideas. FAIR only succeeds through the efforts of our gracious volunteers.
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