NOM

jfro18 wrote: ↑Mon Nov 05, 2018 6:01 pm When I first got into all the church issues I asked my wife to read 'Letter For My Wife.' She immediately zeroed in on the infographic where they have the passages side-by-side, which FAIR tore apart because of how they were condensed to give the impression that JS lifted them directly. That led to her doubling down early and never really being open again to this stuff... I wish CES/LFMY had been more careful there because that infographic is a bit misleading IMO.

Well the presentation is interesting, he starts off immediatly by postulating that the BoM was not a copy of another book at all. It was a mashup inspired by several other sources. He does an interesting literary analysis to show how influential other books of the time really were.

FAIR's job is to deflect criticism. They try to get the reader to dismiss all the plagerism by pointing out some differences. And yet the majority of the book wouldn't pass any of the anti plagerism tests that even my kids school papers are subject to!

I agree though that to try to contend that the BoM is a copy of another book is a mistake and we should avoid those kinds of absolutes. That being said, just pointing out the differences between the BoM and View of the Hebrews, the first book of Napoleon, Manuscript Found etc. Does not undo all the blatent plagerism of wording, phrases and passages from a number of sources. And that doesn't even factor in the Bible. (I don't understand how the Bible plagerism isn't a smoking gun in it's own right.)

The FAIR style arguments are full of fallacy and misdirection designed to allow the TBM to dismiss all arguments without giving them any real thought. So it's impossible to FAIR-proof any explaination of anything.

felixfabulous wrote: ↑Mon Nov 05, 2018 11:09 am I think he was successful in producing a narrative that resonated with a lot of people and addressed these questions that seemed to be on a lot of minds.

Yes, even if they weren't directly involved, I'm sure Joseph's parents took immense pride in the fact that their son was doing exactly what they had groomed him to do since early childhood, and succeeding far beyond their wildest expectations. As a result they gained a lot more respect and lived much more comfortably. During the Kirtland period Oliver Cowdery wrote of the Smith parents like royalty and reminisced about how he knew them when they were poor. What more could they have asked for?