DCP: "Film makes Lehi's journey real"

[_Infymus]

Is this being shown in theaters?

No, I don't believe so.

The two "Journey of Faith" films are available through byubookstore.com (or 1-800-253-2578) and in many LDS bookstores, in English, Spanish and Portuguese. Many have seen these films. Many others would be interested.

"Many have seen these films."

Really? Many?

I'll admit that when I was Mormon I sought out this kind of tripe - to try and fill the empty gaps of information that was so vastly different outside of Mormonism. I could not understand why outside of Mormonism nobody saw all of the evidence presented by Mormon "Scholars" about the Lamanites and Nephites. I recall my brain often repeating "does not compute" - but snake oil like DCP is selling was like taking morphine.

Stop questioning. Stop thinking. The apologists have it all taken care of.

[_zeezrom]

Years ago, when I first heard about this evidence of Lehi's journey in the Middle East, I thought to myself: "Why spend so much time looking for evidence of a journey made by like 14 people when you could just drive down to southern Mexico and find evidence of 1,000,000 people?"

[_sock puppet]

Wait, so are we back to believing that the Lamanites and Nephites were real?

http://www.mormontimes.com/article/2081 ... urney-real

Warning, large forehead.

For many years, Latter-day Saint scholars and travelers — including Hugh Nibley, Ross Christensen, Lynn and Hope Hilton, Warren Aston, George Potter, and S. Kent Brown — have studied the question of Lehi's route through Arabia from Jerusalem to Old World "Bountiful," where he and his party built a boat and sailed for the Americas. Their books and academic articles have reached a few interested readers.

Since 2006, however, a larger audience has been able to see the likely setting for much of 1 Nephi. They don't actually feel the staggering heat and harsh, whipping winds of the Arabian desert, but "Journey of Faith," filmed on location in Israel, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Oman, represents the next best thing to being there. The story becomes vividly real.

I like this quote because I'm sure they're betting on it:

The film takes its audience to locations that few Latter-day Saints will ever visit

Ok, so we're back to it being Guatemala?

A sequel, "Journey of Faith: The New World," appeared in 2007. Filmed, like its predecessor, on location — this time in the steamy jungles of Guatemala and Mexico — and featuring interviews with 32 scholars, it, too, runs 90 minutes. It covers the much larger American portion of the Book of Mormon story, accompanied by breathtaking footage of lush vegetation, rugged volcanoes, ancient ruins and Mayan art.

32 scholars eh? I'm betting they are all card carrying Mormons who will start with the Book of Mormon is true and walk backwards. No other self respecting scholar would head down to Guatemala and put their reputation on the line - that the Book of Mormon is a true account of the history of North and South America, that all the descendants of the natives used to be white Jewish settlers that wrote in reformed Egyptian - and brought with and used horses, wheat, honey bees, steel, chariots...

Ah yes, the Mayans were Lamanites, even though LDS leaders are moving away from who the Lamanites really were.

The sequel addresses temples, political structures, warfare, the likely location of the City of Nephi, the significance of Mesoamerican pyramids, chronological parallels between the development of Mesoamerican culture and events in the Book of Mormon, cultural similarities and differences between Maya and Book of Mormon peoples, and the possibility that a volcanic storm was the actual cause of the destruction described in 3 Nephi.

Mormons will eat this up and Daniel Peterson is selling this crap like snake oil.

Look how white that Snake Oil makes DCP's teeth!

[_Sethbag]

Years ago, when I first heard about this evidence of Lehi's journey in the Middle East, I thought to myself: "Why spend so much time looking for evidence of a journey made by like 14 people when you could just drive down to southern Mexico and find evidence of 1,000,000 people?"

Even better, why try to foist upon the descendants of the Mayans and other native folk the insipid Book of Mormon fake history of their ancestors, when there is a real history that is gradually being unfolded that is a hundred times better, more interesting, and, last but not least, real?

I see videos like this as cultural vandalism. The Mormons who make these videos are trying to hijack the real history of millions of people who actually existed to prop up a fairytale story of a group of people who existed only in someone's imagination. What is the potential impact on people nowadays, whose ancestors' real history is being sidelined and morphed into this Book of Mormon cartoon?

[_Jonah]

Look how white that Snake Oil makes DCP's teeth!

Haaa haaa. It MUST be true...his teeth have turned "white and delightsome"!! Errrr...make that "pure and delightsome".

[_Some Schmo]

Even better, why try to foist upon the descendants of the Mayans and other native folk the insipid Book of Mormon fake history of their ancestors, when there is a real history that is gradually being unfolded that is a hundred times better, more interesting, and, last but not least, real?

I see videos like this as cultural vandalism. The Mormons who make these videos are trying to hijack the real history of millions of people who actually existed to prop up a fairytale story of a group of people who existed only in someone's imagination. What is the potential impact on people nowadays, whose ancestors' real history is being sidelined and morphed into this Book of Mormon cartoon?

This is a superb point. How incredibly thoughtless of these "scholars."

[_Sethbag]

Thinking about my previous post, I went back and watched one of those Hitler Bunker Scenes where humorous but fictional dialog, in this case Hitler's XBox Live account being banned, is superimposed on images from a historical film, depicting (as well as the filmmakers could) things that really happened.

This is a lot like Book of Mormon geography to me. Mormons are trying to take actual archealogical evidence, left behind by people who really did exist, and superimpose upon this evidence the fictional Book of Mormon account. In the Hitler XBox account banning, that's just humorous fun and games. The Mormons are serious though, and actually wish for people to believe that the cartoonish history and peoples described in the Book of Mormon are in fact the real story behind all of this evidence.

Check out the Cigar Guy Photobombs. Book of Mormon archeology is really just one huge photobomb where all the faces have been replaced, with Nephi, Lehi, the Brother of Jared, and last but certainly not least, Shiz.

[_DarkHelmet]

Years ago, when I first heard about this evidence of Lehi's journey in the Middle East, I thought to myself: "Why spend so much time looking for evidence of a journey made by like 14 people when you could just drive down to southern Mexico and find evidence of 1,000,000 people?"

Even better, why try to foist upon the descendants of the Mayans and other native folk the insipid Book of Mormon fake history of their ancestors, when there is a real history that is gradually being unfolded that is a hundred times better, more interesting, and, last but not least, real?

I see videos like this as cultural vandalism. The Mormons who make these videos are trying to hijack the real history of millions of people who actually existed to prop up a fairytale story of a group of people who existed only in someone's imagination. What is the potential impact on people nowadays, whose ancestors' real history is being sidelined and morphed into this Book of Mormon cartoon?

Do you honestly think these "32 scholars" care about the real history of the natives? If they did, they would start with the evidence and follow it wherever it took them. They are starting with the conclusion "The Book of Mormon is true" and working backwards. They don't care about the native people and their real history. The natives are just pawns in the never ending battle of "proving" the Book of Mormon is true to the ever shrinking population of people who care.

[_jon]

Does this film add credence to the rumour that 'Elf' is based on real events...?