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Recovery from Mormonism (RfM) discussion forum.
Mormon Enigma Emma Hale Smith
Preface to the second edition p.xii
"Since publication of Mormon Enigma, many new works have fleshed out the founding period of the Mormon movement. These include biographies of Emma Smith's associates, analytical narrative histories, essays, and articles. A number of these publications acknowledge Emma Smith's historical influence and cite Mormon Enigma as being helpful in interpretation and content.
But the book offended the leadership of the LDS Church in Utah. In June 1985, a month after it received the Evans Award, newspaper headlines of the Los Angeles Times announced, "Mormons Forbid Female Biographers of Smith's wife to Address Church." We were prohibited from speaking about any aspect of religious or church history in any LDS Church-related meeting or institution. Church leaders took this action without reading the book in its entirety or informing us of their decision, and it remained in effect over ten months. In the wake of the national publicity caused by the ban, the sales of the book tripled, but the church's speaking ban was detrimental to all concerned-and it took a toll on us, our families, and on the public perception of the church itself. After a ten-month stalemate, Linda Newell successfully petitioned church leaders to reconsider the prohibition. On April 24, 1986, she was informed that the restrictions the church had placed on us were no longer in effect. A little over a week later, the Mormon History Association named Val Avery its president-elect. While the story of the lifting of the ban appeared in newspapers throughout the United States through both the Associated Press and the United Press International wire services, it never appeared in the church-owned Deseret News. This omission gave the unmistakable message to faithful church members that both the book and its authors were still suspect. While LDS Church leaders criticized our interpretation of Joseph Smith as being "a non-traditional view," a marked increase in accounts of Emma Smith began to appear in church instructional materials and other church publications. Emma Smith has finally become a three-dimensional historical figure."
I felt this was an important piece of the puzzle to post due to the church's charges that "well-read members" would know this information. Additionally, if you will recall, the church tried to rehabilitate Emma and Joseph by releasing a movie that did not dwell in any fashion with the plural marriage issue. The more I consider this issue, the more the dishonesty of the leadership comes to the fore. It makes it harder and harder for garden variety Mormons to trust the likes of M. Russell Ballard when they say that they won't lead us astray.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/18/2014 02:37PM by baneberry.
Preface to the second edition p.xii
"Since publication of Mormon Enigma, many new works have fleshed out the founding period of the Mormon movement. These include biographies of Emma Smith's associates, analytical narrative histories, essays, and articles. A number of these publications acknowledge Emma Smith's historical influence and cite Mormon Enigma as being helpful in interpretation and content.
But the book offended the leadership of the LDS Church in Utah. In June 1985, a month after it received the Evans Award, newspaper headlines of the Los Angeles Times announced, "Mormons Forbid Female Biographers of Smith's wife to Address Church." We were prohibited from speaking about any aspect of religious or church history in any LDS Church-related meeting or institution. Church leaders took this action without reading the book in its entirety or informing us of their decision, and it remained in effect over ten months. In the wake of the national publicity caused by the ban, the sales of the book tripled, but the church's speaking ban was detrimental to all concerned-and it took a toll on us, our families, and on the public perception of the church itself. After a ten-month stalemate, Linda Newell successfully petitioned church leaders to reconsider the prohibition. On April 24, 1986, she was informed that the restrictions the church had placed on us were no longer in effect. A little over a week later, the Mormon History Association named Val Avery its president-elect. While the story of the lifting of the ban appeared in newspapers throughout the United States through both the Associated Press and the United Press International wire services, it never appeared in the church-owned Deseret News. This omission gave the unmistakable message to faithful church members that both the book and its authors were still suspect. While LDS Church leaders criticized our interpretation of Joseph Smith as being "a non-traditional view," a marked increase in accounts of Emma Smith began to appear in church instructional materials and other church publications. Emma Smith has finally become a three-dimensional historical figure."
I felt this was an important piece of the puzzle to post due to the church's charges that "well-read members" would know this information. Additionally, if you will recall, the church tried to rehabilitate Emma and Joseph by releasing a movie that did not dwell in any fashion with the plural marriage issue. The more I consider this issue, the more the dishonesty of the leadership comes to the fore. It makes it harder and harder for garden variety Mormons to trust the likes of M. Russell Ballard when they say that they won't lead us astray.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/18/2014 02:37PM by baneberry.
It is, in my opinion, that they do not believe that the church members are capable of coming through these issues with their testimony intact. I suppose they are right. I didn't. So, that then leaves you with the uncomfortable question of why? Why do they hide the facts? Why do they obfuscate the truth? If they are such men of integrity, why don't they stand up and say that there is something wrong with the picture? How can they, in good conscience, do what they are doing? How can they be "good men" when they do not follow their own counsel?
They think they know better. They think that the ends justify the means. They think that they are the arbiters of morality because the lay membership of the church would be off snorting cocaine off of hookers bellies in a flash if they decide the church is not true...
They have no belief in innate human goodness.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/18/2014 08:00AM by baneberry.
They think they know better. They think that the ends justify the means. They think that they are the arbiters of morality because the lay membership of the church would be off snorting cocaine off of hookers bellies in a flash if they decide the church is not true...
They have no belief in innate human goodness.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/18/2014 08:00AM by baneberry.
They know JS was full of crap but they do seem to believe God used a scumbag like him to establish an important organization that is to have some vague important role in the future.
They think they're benefiting people and giving them purpose, even if with lies, much like old Joe thought. They have no qualms about using people to their ends.
They think they're benefiting people and giving them purpose, even if with lies, much like old Joe thought. They have no qualms about using people to their ends.
Let's recall how the Brethren's go-to bully-boy, Dallin Oaks, moved to ban female Mormon historians Linda King Newell and Vallen Tippetts Avery from giving talks in Church or firesides about their LDS-unapproved book, "Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith."
Below is a brief historical review on how anti-fem-for-men Oaks went after these two award-winning women Mormon authors with a vengeance for telling the truth about Joseph Smith's sordid reputation. It's a revealing case of how the LDS male elite has muzzled Mormon females who dare speak, in print, truth to LDS male-abused priesthood "power.
"'Mormon Enigmas: Linda Newell and Valeen Avery'
"John Larson of 'Mormon Expression' did a book review of Mormon Enigma' by Linda Newell and Valeen Avery. I’m not going to quote the whole podcast, but John gives a very interesting introduction to the book. In light of my recent post, 'Latter-day Dissent,' I thought I would continue the theme of how the church deals with intellectuals."
"'This book was published in the fall of 1984. There sort of a back story to it. Both of the women who wrote the book were faithful, active members. One has passed away; the other is still alive today. They both still remain active members of the Church. There was sort of a controversy around the book. A priesthood circular went all, I think all through Utah telling all priesthood leaders that they were not allowed to have either woman speak about the book in any setting.
"'At the time, during the 1980s, there was the "Know Your Religion" series, and it was really common to have firesides about people who knew something about something or the other. They got stopped immediately. The two women actually requested and were granted a meeting with the top brass; they met with [Dallin H.] Oaks and [Neal A.] Maxwell [both were apostles]. This would be around the early summer of 1985.
"'The meeting went back and forth. What was really confusing to the authors is that they remained members in good standing, although there were rumors going around that they would be excommunicated or whatever, but they were never told anything. That went out into that sort of secret circular letter and they only knew about it because they had friends who were stake presidents who shared it with them. When they met with the Brethren, they said, "what’s going on?"
"'Oaks said something very informative. I pulled this out of "Dialogue" magazine: "If 'Mormon Enigma' reveals any information that is detrimental to the reputation of Joseph Smith, then it is necessary to try to . . . stop its influence and that of its authors." They basically said, it doesn’t matter if what you are saying is true or not; if you’re going to say something that’s outside the normal line, we don’t want you talking about it.
"'Of course, the authors were blacklisted. You can read about the blacklisting in Arrington’s book, "Adventures of a Church Historian." He talks about it quite extensively. The Church maintains a blacklist of all the books and authors that are not allowed to be quoted. This effectively ruined the two women’s careers for speaking or engaging with the active Latter-day Saints, although you can still buy this book through Deseret Book. It remains sort of an enigma itself, so I guess that’s fitting for the book.'
"That’s the background of the book. . . .
". . . [T]he book won several awards. In 1984, it won an award from the Mormon History Association for best book. It also won an award from BYU, which sort of put the Church in a bind because they had recognized it as a great book and then they were stopping it at the same time.
"This sort of action really bothers me. As I mentioned in my previous post, I would like to start writing Mormon history articles and/or books. I’m looking to write good, honest history. This blacklisting just seems a bit sneaky and dishonest to me. I don’t think the rumors about these two women’s reputation is fair or Christlike. It’s as if the Church is saying in a Jack Nicholson voice, 'You can’t handle the truth.'
"Why can’t we be honest with our history? Is it really a good idea to suppress unflattering information? None of us are perfect. Joseph and Emma weren’t either. Is it really good to believe in whitewashed myths about them? Can’t truth be inspiring as well?"
("Mormon Enigmas: Linda Newell and Valeen Avery," on "Mormon Heretic: Stuff they don’t talk about in Sunday School," by "Mormon Heretic," 15 May 2011, at: http://www.mormonheretic.org/2011/05/15/mormon-enigmas-linda-newell-and-valeen-avery/)
Here's more on Oaks' vow to silence these uppity LDS female historians:
"When asked about an unflattering (though historically accurate) book about the life of Emma Smith called 'Mormon Enigma: The Life of Emma Hale Smith,' which sheds a very unfavorable light on Joseph's practice of polygamy, Elder Oaks said this: 'My duty as a member of the Council of the Twelve is to protect what is most unique about the LDS Church, namely the authority of priesthood, testimony regarding the restoration of the gospel, and the divine mission of the Saviour. Everything may be sacrificed in order to maintain the integrity of those essential facts. Thus, if "Mormon Enigma" reveals information that is detrimental to the reputation of Joseph Smith, then it is necessary to try to limit its influence and that of its authors.'"
(Apostle Dallin Oaks, quoted in "Inside the Mind of Joseph Smith: Psychobiography and the Book of Mormon, Introduction,footnote 28, p. xliii," as referenced under "Milk Before the Meat," on "New Order Mormon" website, at: http://forum.newordermormon.org/viewtopic.php?p=116703)
Here's an updated account of the initial ban and Oaks' effort to enforce it:
"'Mormon Enigma,' by Linda King Newell and Valeen Tippetts Avery:
"Avery and Newell's 1984 bio of Emma Smith was referenced quite favorably in the 'Ensign' pre-publication and they were both invited by church groups, particularly Relief Society groups, to give firesides and presentations on their work in church. Then some time after the book was actually published, all of the invitations stopped rather suddenly. Upon investigating, the authors learned that a letter was sent from Church headquarters instructing wards and stakes not to allow the authors to address any Church group. I believe the two authors were also not to be allowed to speak in their own wards' sacrament meetings.
"They were finally granted an audience with Dallin Oaks, who, according to them, gave as the reason for the ban this gem of a quote:
"'My duty as a member of the Council of the Twelve is to protect what is most unique about the LDS church, namely the authority of priesthood, testimony regarding the restoration of the gospel, and the divine mission of the Savior. Everything may be sacrificed in order to maintain the integrity of those essential facts. Thus, if "Mormon Enigma" reveals information that is detrimental to the reputation of Joseph Smith, then it is necessary to try to limit its influence and that of its authors.' (Linda King Newell, 1992 Sunstone Pacific Northwest Symposium, "The Biography of Emma Hale Smith').
"The ban was lifted a few years later after quiet and persistent efforts by concerned parties behind the scene.
"'MormonThink' review: 'Mormon Enigma' is one of the books that was allowed to be read for class assignment at BYU when I attended there. It’s not dedicated to polygamy but deals with it quite a bit--mostly from Emma’s perspective. It's available at Deseret Book. Although it if a faithful book, it accurately describes some of the disturbing details of polygamy and mentions the Book of Mormon translation details that most members are unaware of. It's a fairly tame book and probably the best LDS book for members that only want a slight introduction to some of the more colorful aspects of Mormon history.'"
("Mormon Books," at: http://mormonthink.com/books.htm)
"Mormon Women: Isn't It About Time We Shut Them up"?
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/18/2014 11:13AM by steve benson.
Below is a brief historical review on how anti-fem-for-men Oaks went after these two award-winning women Mormon authors with a vengeance for telling the truth about Joseph Smith's sordid reputation. It's a revealing case of how the LDS male elite has muzzled Mormon females who dare speak, in print, truth to LDS male-abused priesthood "power.
"'Mormon Enigmas: Linda Newell and Valeen Avery'
"John Larson of 'Mormon Expression' did a book review of Mormon Enigma' by Linda Newell and Valeen Avery. I’m not going to quote the whole podcast, but John gives a very interesting introduction to the book. In light of my recent post, 'Latter-day Dissent,' I thought I would continue the theme of how the church deals with intellectuals."
"'This book was published in the fall of 1984. There sort of a back story to it. Both of the women who wrote the book were faithful, active members. One has passed away; the other is still alive today. They both still remain active members of the Church. There was sort of a controversy around the book. A priesthood circular went all, I think all through Utah telling all priesthood leaders that they were not allowed to have either woman speak about the book in any setting.
"'At the time, during the 1980s, there was the "Know Your Religion" series, and it was really common to have firesides about people who knew something about something or the other. They got stopped immediately. The two women actually requested and were granted a meeting with the top brass; they met with [Dallin H.] Oaks and [Neal A.] Maxwell [both were apostles]. This would be around the early summer of 1985.
"'The meeting went back and forth. What was really confusing to the authors is that they remained members in good standing, although there were rumors going around that they would be excommunicated or whatever, but they were never told anything. That went out into that sort of secret circular letter and they only knew about it because they had friends who were stake presidents who shared it with them. When they met with the Brethren, they said, "what’s going on?"
"'Oaks said something very informative. I pulled this out of "Dialogue" magazine: "If 'Mormon Enigma' reveals any information that is detrimental to the reputation of Joseph Smith, then it is necessary to try to . . . stop its influence and that of its authors." They basically said, it doesn’t matter if what you are saying is true or not; if you’re going to say something that’s outside the normal line, we don’t want you talking about it.
"'Of course, the authors were blacklisted. You can read about the blacklisting in Arrington’s book, "Adventures of a Church Historian." He talks about it quite extensively. The Church maintains a blacklist of all the books and authors that are not allowed to be quoted. This effectively ruined the two women’s careers for speaking or engaging with the active Latter-day Saints, although you can still buy this book through Deseret Book. It remains sort of an enigma itself, so I guess that’s fitting for the book.'
"That’s the background of the book. . . .
". . . [T]he book won several awards. In 1984, it won an award from the Mormon History Association for best book. It also won an award from BYU, which sort of put the Church in a bind because they had recognized it as a great book and then they were stopping it at the same time.
"This sort of action really bothers me. As I mentioned in my previous post, I would like to start writing Mormon history articles and/or books. I’m looking to write good, honest history. This blacklisting just seems a bit sneaky and dishonest to me. I don’t think the rumors about these two women’s reputation is fair or Christlike. It’s as if the Church is saying in a Jack Nicholson voice, 'You can’t handle the truth.'
"Why can’t we be honest with our history? Is it really a good idea to suppress unflattering information? None of us are perfect. Joseph and Emma weren’t either. Is it really good to believe in whitewashed myths about them? Can’t truth be inspiring as well?"
("Mormon Enigmas: Linda Newell and Valeen Avery," on "Mormon Heretic: Stuff they don’t talk about in Sunday School," by "Mormon Heretic," 15 May 2011, at: http://www.mormonheretic.org/2011/05/15/mormon-enigmas-linda-newell-and-valeen-avery/)
Here's more on Oaks' vow to silence these uppity LDS female historians:
"When asked about an unflattering (though historically accurate) book about the life of Emma Smith called 'Mormon Enigma: The Life of Emma Hale Smith,' which sheds a very unfavorable light on Joseph's practice of polygamy, Elder Oaks said this: 'My duty as a member of the Council of the Twelve is to protect what is most unique about the LDS Church, namely the authority of priesthood, testimony regarding the restoration of the gospel, and the divine mission of the Saviour. Everything may be sacrificed in order to maintain the integrity of those essential facts. Thus, if "Mormon Enigma" reveals information that is detrimental to the reputation of Joseph Smith, then it is necessary to try to limit its influence and that of its authors.'"
(Apostle Dallin Oaks, quoted in "Inside the Mind of Joseph Smith: Psychobiography and the Book of Mormon, Introduction,footnote 28, p. xliii," as referenced under "Milk Before the Meat," on "New Order Mormon" website, at: http://forum.newordermormon.org/viewtopic.php?p=116703)
Here's an updated account of the initial ban and Oaks' effort to enforce it:
"'Mormon Enigma,' by Linda King Newell and Valeen Tippetts Avery:
"Avery and Newell's 1984 bio of Emma Smith was referenced quite favorably in the 'Ensign' pre-publication and they were both invited by church groups, particularly Relief Society groups, to give firesides and presentations on their work in church. Then some time after the book was actually published, all of the invitations stopped rather suddenly. Upon investigating, the authors learned that a letter was sent from Church headquarters instructing wards and stakes not to allow the authors to address any Church group. I believe the two authors were also not to be allowed to speak in their own wards' sacrament meetings.
"They were finally granted an audience with Dallin Oaks, who, according to them, gave as the reason for the ban this gem of a quote:
"'My duty as a member of the Council of the Twelve is to protect what is most unique about the LDS church, namely the authority of priesthood, testimony regarding the restoration of the gospel, and the divine mission of the Savior. Everything may be sacrificed in order to maintain the integrity of those essential facts. Thus, if "Mormon Enigma" reveals information that is detrimental to the reputation of Joseph Smith, then it is necessary to try to limit its influence and that of its authors.' (Linda King Newell, 1992 Sunstone Pacific Northwest Symposium, "The Biography of Emma Hale Smith').
"The ban was lifted a few years later after quiet and persistent efforts by concerned parties behind the scene.
"'MormonThink' review: 'Mormon Enigma' is one of the books that was allowed to be read for class assignment at BYU when I attended there. It’s not dedicated to polygamy but deals with it quite a bit--mostly from Emma’s perspective. It's available at Deseret Book. Although it if a faithful book, it accurately describes some of the disturbing details of polygamy and mentions the Book of Mormon translation details that most members are unaware of. It's a fairly tame book and probably the best LDS book for members that only want a slight introduction to some of the more colorful aspects of Mormon history.'"
("Mormon Books," at: http://mormonthink.com/books.htm)
"Mormon Women: Isn't It About Time We Shut Them up"?
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/18/2014 11:13AM by steve benson.