Think of it: the North American setting means we can embrace the teachings of the prophets without resorting to a bunch of sophistry to justify/explain the Mesoamerican/two-Cumorahs theory (M2C).
After all, President Oliver Cowdery (Assistant President of the Church at the time) declared it was a fact that the hill Cumorah in western New York was the location of (i) the repository of Nephite records and (ii) the final battles of the Nephites and the Jaredites. See http://www.lettervii.com/.
To justify/explain M2C, M2C intellectuals and their followers have to frame Oliver as an ignorant speculator who misled the Church. They have to extend their framing to Joseph Smith as well. And to all the other prophets who reaffirmed the New York Cumorah.
In Moroni’s America, the teachings of the prophets are corroborated by archaeology, anthropology, geology, and geography. We don’t need to resort to word thinking and sophistry to try to fit the Book of Mormon into Mesoamerica, to create “two Cumorahs,” and to explain why the Mayan civilization has not a trace of Hebrew or Book of Mormon influence–just as the Book of Mormon has no trace of Mayan culture.
Those of us who still believe the teachings of the prophets are happy to discuss the North American setting, with Cumorah in New York.
Of course, our M2C friends seek to defend M2C. We can expect that to continue because of their intellectual, financial, and emotional investment in M2C. And that’s all fine.
But even they know that most Church members, once they hear about Moroni’s America, choose to reject the whole idea of “two Cumorahs” and the associated theories.
That’s why the M2C proponents* continue to censor the teachings of the prophets and the evidence that supports and corroborates those teachings.
Censorship ultimately fails, especially in the age of the Internet. So keep spreading the word. M2C will collapse of its own weight once Church members are able to make informed decisions.
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* M2C proponent include Book of Mormon Central, the Interpreter, FairMormon, BYU Studies, Meridian Magazine, and, sadly, the Saints book, volume 1. At least Saints, volume 2, tried to make up for the errors in Saints, volume 1, but it would be much better to fix volume 1 instead of continuing to teach the obvious false information it contains.
See https://saintsreview.blogspot.com/2018/10/the-historians-explain-censorship-in.html
Source: About Central America
One thought on “The happiness of Moroni’s America”
We just need to be aware as to what Peter warned in 2Peter 2:1-3, and reason out through study on the matter who has been misleading…the prophets or the scholars, who it seems, for their own popularity and prestige, try to stand out by designing new narratives to keep itching ears satisfied! However, study can be a problem since most members prefer to follow those assigned to lead them, forgetting that Elder Holland among others, has directed members do do their own research.
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