Another Meso-American "hit" in the Book of Mormon.

[_Gadianton Plumber]

The Great Dr. Shades invited me to pull any posts from Planet MAD that interested me and plop them here for comment. I finally found on that is worthy of attention.

http://www.mormonapologetics.org/topic/ ... servation/

According to Science Daily, 3000 years ago the Mayan were using forest conservation.

Forest Conservation among Maya

Quote
ScienceDaily (July 23, 2009) — As published in the July issue of the Journal of Archaeological Science, paleoethnobotanist David Lentz of the University of Cincinnati has concluded that not only did the Maya people practice forest management, but when they abandoned their forest conservation practices it was to the detriment of the entire Maya culture.

“From our research we have learned that the Maya were deliberately conserving forest resources,” says David Lentz, a professor of biological sciences at the University of Cincinnati and executive director of the Cincinnati Center for Field Studies. “Their deliberate conservation practices can be observed in the wood they used for construction and this observation is reinforced by the pollen record.”


This reminds me of three points made in the Book of Mormon. First among the Jaredites, where they set aside forest areas as hunting preserves. Second, when the Nephites moved into the land of Desolation and avoided using the sparse trees in the area so as to let them grow. Finally, the destruction of the Jaredites and Nephites were accompanied by "pollutions" according to Moroni, and the land of Desolation was left with few trees.
K'aya K'ama

Now, I am not interested in trees and their relationship with us bipedal apes, I submit this post as a classic example of Bullet Proof Mopologetics. Apparently, anything that is mentioned in the Book of Mormon and is found in the real world, no matter how absurd, counts as a "hit." For example, Jaredites and Nephites had a relationship with their forests. The Maya had a relationship with their forest, ergo the Book of Mormon is true! How could the boy prophet had known? Forget the things that clearly contradict the story, like flocks, grains, coins, swords, horses, Christianity, language, or DNA; just focus on the good things.

Morons. There is no other word for them. Morons.

Or..

Really, my favorite goes like this:

There are horses in the Book of Mormon, there were no horses in the Americas before European intrusions. Joseph Smith, of course, knew this fact before he translated the Book of Mormon. Now he is clearly not a moron, so therefore this counts as a "hit" as well. No person faking a story would put such an obvious falsehood in their fraud! Therefore the Book of Mormon is true! There WERE horses in the Americas! Boo-ya!

Morons, all Morons.

Do you have a favorite? Am I being unfair?

[_DarkHelmet]

Wow. That is an amazing parallel. I found some other hits on the website The Mysterious Mayas for Kids. Check this out.

Gods of Nature: The Mayas worshipped the gods of nature every day. Worshiping their gods was a huge part of their daily life. Some of their gods included the God of Rain, Lady Rainbow, the God of Maize (corn), and of course, the God of Sun. Without the help of these important gods, there would be no crops and everyone would starve.

Afterlife: The Mayas believed in an afterlife. Commoners buried their dead inside their homes, under the floor. That way, they could live with their ancestors and keep their ancestors easily posted on their daily life. The Mayas believed they would be compensated. If they had a rough time or a rough life, this would be made up to them in their afterlife. Nobles were buried in tombs.

The Underworld: Maya religion was far more complicated than the simple worship of gods of nature. The Maya world was composed of 3 layers - the Heavens, the Earth, and the Underworld, sometimes called the Otherworld or the Place of Awe. The Mayas conducted many ceremonies to keep the demons, creatures and gods in the Underworld, where they belonged.

Masks: During certain religious ceremonies, priests dressed up like jaguars. Priests wore scary masks as they faced the inhabitants of the Underworld. Priests wanted to present themselves as equally scary and powerful.

Mirrors: All of the men, but none of the women, used mirrors. In the ancient Maya world, looking into a mirror was an act of courage. The Maya believed that monsters from the Place of Awe could reach through the mirror, and yank you into the Otherworld.

Priests: Maya daily life and culture was wrapped around their religion. The priests decided nearly everything in the Mayas daily life. The priests decided when to plant, when to marry, and who to sacrifice.

As you can see, the Mayans worshipped God. They believed in an afterlife. They believed in 3 layers, just like the 3 degrees of glory. They had religious ceremonies. They used mirrors, like the mirrors in the temple. Their religion was very important to them. These are all huge hits.