Did Elder Uchtdorf Plagiarize Howard Hunter?

[_Dwight Frye]

Inspired by Kimberly Ann's Palm Sunday thread to go to LDS.org and do a search for the phrase to see just how often it appears (relatively few, as it turns out - see the search results for "Pioneer Day" for comparison), and in my search I found that Elder Uchtdorf appears to have plagiarized the introduction of a talk given by Howard with. Hunter back in 1993, word for word in some cases, with no attribution given.

The Uchtdorf article is available at, "The Way of the Disciple," and appeared in the May 2009 Ensign and Liahona. The Hunter talk was published in the May 1993 Ensign and is available at, "Jesus, the Very Thought of Thee."

I understand that one's telling of a famliar story should obviously be expected to have points of similarity with another's telling, but it appears to me that Uchtdorf relied on the Hunter talk while failing to provide proper attribution.

The following excerpts parallel each other exactly as to their placement in the two articles. In other words, no text has been omitted or rearranged to bring emphasis to the instances of similarity; what follows is the entire text of the introductions of the two articles exactly as they appear at LDS.org.


Hunter: Today is the day the Christian world traditionally calls Palm Sunday.

Uchtdorf: Today is the day the Christian world traditionally calls Palm Sunday.


Hunter: It is the anniversary of that momentous occasion nearly two thousand years ago when Jesus of Nazareth, the very Son of God himself, began the ultimate declaration of his divinity and entered the holy city of Jerusalem as the promised Messiah that he was.

Uchtdorf: You will remember that it was on that Sunday nearly 2,000 years ago that Jesus Christ entered the city of Jerusalem during the final week of His mortal life.


Hunter: Riding on a young donkey in fulfillment of Zechariah's ancient prophecy (see Zech. 9:9),...

Uchtdorf: In fulfillment of Zechariah's ancient prophecy, (footnote referencing Zech. 9:9) He rode in on a donkey,...


Hunter: ...he approached the temple on a path that the jubilant crowd lined for him with palm leaves, flowering branches, and some of their own garments, thus carpeting the way properly for the passing of a king.

Uchtdorf: ...and as He did so, a great multitude came out to greet the Master and carpeted the path before Him with palm leaves, flowering branches, and even their own garments.


Hunter: He was their king; these were his subjects. "Hosanna to the Son of David," they shouted. "Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest." (Matt. 21:9.)

Uchtdorf: As He approached, they cried, "Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord" (footnote referencing Luke 19:38) to and "Hosanna to the Son of David." (footnote referencing Matt. 21:9)


Maybe I'm making too much of it, but I have a professor who would definitely raise her eyebrows if a portion of my paper paralleled another student's this closely, even if the topic were one where similarities in content were to be expected.








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[_TAK]

I doubt that you have much of a smoking gun there considering they were afterall telling the same story..

That said I think its been show in the past that GA talks do get recycled ..

[_cinepro]

I don't think it's a problem. There are only so many ways to tell the story of Palm Sunday; it's a pretty simple, unambiguous story.

[_bcspace]

Maybe I'm making too much of it, but I have a professor who would definitely raise her eyebrows if a portion of my paper paralleled another student's this closely, even if the topic were one where similarities in content were to be expected.

I don't see how it matters in this context and I don't think any of the bretheren would mind being copied or quoted by another one of them without reference. They certainly don't stand to make or lose any money or prestige on it.

I seem to recall BRM quoting ETB directly about what falsehoods the Book of Mormon combats without reference, but he added the caveat to the "falsehood" of evolution, "that denies the Fall".

[_Paracelsus]

If TSM may plagiarize himself
see : "They Showed the Way" in Ensign, May 1997
and : "Led by Spiritual Pioneers" in Ensign, Aug 2006
without any comment about recycling, then everything is legal.

1. Members don't read Ensign
2. If they read, they don't understand
3. If they understand, don't remember (nine year is an aeon...)
4. If they remember, don't care
5. Anyway, they say “This is the right place. Drive on.”



Disclaimer: this recycling is not my discovery. I've found this somewhere.

[_moksha]

Here is another one for the intrepid detectives among the body MD: Why is it that despite all the various translations of the New Testament, the story always turns out the same? Let us see if any dare call that reason.