Posted by:
michaelm (not logged in)
(
)
Date: August 06, 2014 05:00PM
Some will probably try to mention it. Careless Mormons cherry picking for "evidence" do that on a news story without bothering to look at the published research. Here is a link to the journal article:
The Better Angels of Their Nature: Declining Violence through Time among Prehispanic Farmers of the Pueblo Southwest
http://www.metapress.com/content/m78474620h8h2683/Notice how this statement from the abstract does not sound like wicked Lamanites waiting for the arrival of "gentiles" to fix all their problems?
"Violence generally declined through time in the northern Rio Grande until the arrival of the Spanish, even as populations increased. We propose that this decline was due to the combination of increased social span of polities, the importance of inter-Pueblo sodalities, the nature of religious practice, “gentle commerce,” and increased adherence to a set of nonviolent norms."
The "nature of religious practice" contributing to a decline in violence doesn't fit the Book of Mormon theme at all. I guess Moroni failed to tell Joe Smith about the "nonviolent norms":)