Major Publication on the Ghost Dance Religion, Mormons, and American Indians Reissued (LDS/Mormon)

Boulder, CO, January 28, 2011 --(PR.com)-- Bauu Institute and Press, a leading research institute and publisher of books, news, and information on indigenous peoples around the world is pleased to announce the publication of Mormons, Indians, and the Ghost Dance Religion of 1890, Second Edition. On the occasion Director Peter N. Jones, Ph.D. explained the importance of the publication: “With this book, Dr. Barney has presented an informative historical analysis of both the Ghost Dance Religion and Mormonism, two phenomena that arose in the American West during the 19th century. Until now these two phenomena – which have played large roles in the history of the American West – have been examined in isolation of each other. With the release of the second edition of Mormons, Indians, and the Ghost Dance Religion of 1890, these two phenomena are examined together, providing important insights into the history of this period.”

The book reviews the 1841 meeting between Joseph Smith and a group of Sac and Fox Indians, the 1851 ordination of four Ute Indians as priests of the church, making them eligible to wear temple garments and having a strong symbolic parallel to the Ghost Dance shirts, the coincidence of 1890 having been set as the year of the Second Coming both by the Mormon prophet Joseph Smith and the Paiute Indian prophet Wovoka, as well as the acceptance by some Mormons of Wovoka as the spiritual manifestation of the Nephites (immortal humans of great righteousness).

As Paul M. Edwards of Baker University notes in the Forward, “In this study, Dr. Garold Barney has done an excellent job of reflecting both Mormon thought and the Indian concepts behind the Ghost Dance Religion. These two phenomena have existed in the history of the American West for a long time but it has taken Dr. Barney, following the footsteps of Dr. Coates, to make a good case for their relationship. I would recommend Barney’s work to anyone interested in Mormons, the Plains Indians, the Ghost Dance Religion, or anyone with a general interest in the religious movements in the American West.”

With the re-release and update of this landmark study, Dr. Barney has succeeded in contributing a major publication to our understanding of this pivotal period in the history of American Indians, the American West, and Mormon history. Information on the book can be found here: http://www.bauuinstitute.com/Publishing/GhostDanceReligion.html

Seekers of truth,

If you peruse the Free Republic religion forums you will notice a pattern. There's an anti-Mormon group of people here that spends a great deal of their time attacking the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. They post regurgitated propaganda on an almost daily basis.

They have a misguided obsession. You can witness many different tactics employed that you might find quite interesting. The straw man argument is a big favorite and is frequently preceded by cherry-picking quotes or other material. After the "quotation" the attacker will misrepresent what has been said or what was meant and then attack their own interpretation.Later they will have the audacity to claim they were "only" quoting our own material.

They will of course insist ad nauseum that they are merely using our sources and are therefore innocent of any deceptive practice. LDS persons have no issue whatsoever having our scriptures or leaders quoted as long as it is presented fairly and accurately. This is rarely (if ever) done.

Another favorite is posting scripture or statements which on their own really present no dilemma. They make something out of nothing while never bringing up a single objection that hasn't been addressed a hundred times before.

You might note a couple of other tactics used to try to antagonize is the use of disrespectful or insulting terms or language and/or pictures. That's a Christlike thing to do right? Yeah I don't think so either. It does speak volumes about them though.

Some of them claim being some sort of special witness to you as being supposedly former Mormons. So someone who is an ex-member of any organization would never have an axe to grind or have reason to try to justify their actions by any means? Perhaps not but perhaps so. The LDS Church gains members from other denominations as well as others faiths all the time. This doesn't make them an expert on anything and you certainly won't hear them attacking their former Church.

Frequently they cruise the headlines of the day seeking any story that might be twisted into making the Church look bad. Anything will do, just watch the progression of posts following it and see what I mean.

After reading their posts, I invite you to seek the truth about whatever "issue" they seem to be "revealing" or "exposing". I promise that if you do so with honest intent, the "ahah" moments you will have will be many and frequent. You will start to recognize the tactics employed to cleverly twist and attack and will likely chuckle the more you see. In actuality, there's nothing new here. It's all been addressed many times before.

The latest twist in the anti-Mormon propaganda machine is to actually go to the links provided, but then they cherry pick what they want, quote and straw man attack that. Almost without fail you will see examples of this following this post.

Clever. It almost appears that they are helping you out by doing some footwork for you. Not so much. Don't be insulted, look for yourself. It's not the haystack they want you to think. So again, seek the truth. They aren't providing it. Use your God-given brain and discernment.

Here's a few links to get your started from a different viewpoint. I have found that the vast majority of the "issues" brought up can be found and addressed at http://www.fairlds.org/ but here's more:

http://scriptures.lds.org/
http://www.lds.org
http://www.fairlds.org/
http://www.mormonapologetics.org/
http://www.mormonwiki.com/Main_Page
http://www.lightplanet.com/response/index.html
http://www.jefflindsay.com/LDS_Intro.shtml
http://www.answeringantimormons.com/index.htm
http://promormon.blogspot.com/

Now you will likely notice the "you never address or answer our points" posts pop up as usual. All after providing the answers just as you have here.

Sometimes it is claimed that these sites present a needle in a haystack. Far from it. But if you give up before you try you won't know will you? They often state that these sites provide no answer. They just don't want you looking. It is as simple as that.

Will you wear blinders too? Seek truth. Find out for yourself. Want to chat with someone on any topic? A few of these sites provide just that. So do your homework sincere seeker of truth. Listen and read from both "sides". Make up your own mind.

I witness to you of these truths and wish you the best, in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

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