Quote mining, selective quotation, and distortion

From FAIRMormon

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Like any subject of controversy, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints attracts its share of antagonists. Some of these antagonists are not content to portray the Church and its doctrines fairly; some use quote mining, selective quotation, or outright distortions of public statements or the historical record to create a false impression. This can be done intentionally, or through oversight or carelessness.

In a sermon given February 18, 1855, Brigham Young described quote mining: "In my conversation, I shall talk and act as I please. Still I am always aware, when speaking in public, that there are those present who are disposed to find fault with this people, and to try to raise a prejudice against them; and they will pick up isolated words and sentences, and put them together to suit themselves, and send forth a garbled version to prejudice the world against us. Such a course I never care anything about; for I have frequently said, spoken words are but wind, and when they are spoken are gone; consequently I take liberties in speaking which I do not allow when I commit my sentiments to writing," (Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 2:179. off-site wiki).

This page is an index to pages which list examples of quote mining which readers have noticed. The cited section is placed on the left. The full (or corrected) citation is on the right. Key differences are marked.

Contents 1 Richard Abanes 2 Will Bagley 3 Fawn McKay Brodie 4 Dan Erickson 5 Norman L. Geisler 6 Grant Palmer 7 Institute for Religious Research 8 Jerald and Sandra Tanner 9 Mormonism Research Ministry 10 Simon Southerton

Richard Abanes

• One Nation Under Gods

Will Bagley

• Blood of the Prophets: Brigham Young and the Massacre at Mountain Meadows — A book whose sole purpose is to "prove" that Brigham Young ordered the Mountain Meadows Massacre.

Fawn McKay Brodie

• No Man Knows My History: The History of Joseph Smith

Dan Erickson

Quote used...	The rest of the story...
Erickson quotes Brigham Young as saying "We shall pull the wool over the eyes of the American people and make them swallow Mormonism, polygamy and all."	There is no evidence in Erickson's cited source that Brigham said this.
Dan Erickson, "As a Thief in the Night": The Mormon Quest for Millennial Deliverance (Salt Lake City, Signature Books, 1998), chapter 8, footnote 118; citing "The Manifesto," Millennial Star 52 (24 Nov. 1890): 744.	There is no mention of this quotation anywhere in the cited article. See scan of original at: "The Manifesto," Millennial Star 52 (24 Nov. 1890): 744. here off-site

Commentary

• Erickson seems to have relied on a secondary source without verifying its claim. There is no evidence in the Millennial Star that Brigham made the statement.
• See: Brigham Young—pulling the wool over Americans' eyes?

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Norman L. Geisler

• "Scripture," in The Counterfeit Gospel of Mormonism. — A book which, without attribution, heavily copies the work of the Tanners. For evidence of how Geisler plagiarized the Tanner's work, see Danel W. Bachman, "The Other Side of the Coin: A Source Review of Norman Geisler's Chapter (Review of: "Scripture," In The Counterfeit Gospel of Mormonism)," FARMS Review of Books 12/1 (2000): 175–214. off-site PDF link.

Grant Palmer

• An Insider's View of Mormon Origins — A book which takes every statement by any witness to the restoration, and claims that they simply didn't actually see anything that they said they saw.

Institute for Religious Research

• Institute for Religious Research — Distortion of LDS beliefs on a web site devoted to "educating" people about Mormonism.

Jerald and Sandra Tanner

• The Changing World of Mormonism

Mormonism Research Ministry

• "mormonwiki.org" — A wiki devoted to telling Mormons what it is that they "actually" believe through selective quote mining from past LDS leaders.

Simon Southerton

• Losing a Lost Tribe: Native Americans, DNA, and the Mormon Church — A book which devotes half its pages to DNA research, and the other half to criticizing LDS apologetics.

Critical Works

• Richard Abanes
  • One Nation Under Gods — (Index of claims)
  • Becoming Gods: A Closer Look at 21st-Century Mormonism — (Index of claims)
  • Inside Today's Mormonism (2007 re-issue of Becoming Gods)
• Will Bagley
  • Blood of the Prophets: Brigham Young and the Massacre at Mountain Meadows
• Fawn McKay Brodie
  • No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith — (Index of claims)
• Todd Compton
  • In Sacred Loneliness: The Plural Wives of Joseph Smith
• Ed Decker
  • The God Makers (film)
• Dan Erickson
• Norman L. Geisler
  • "Scripture," in The Counterfeit Gospel of Mormonism
• Hurlbut-Howe affidavits
  • The_Hurlbut_affidavits
• Ronald V. Huggins
  • From Captain Kidd's Treasure Ghost to the Angel Moroni: Changing Dramatis Personae in Early Mormonism
• Charles Larson
  • By His Own Hand upon Papyrus: A New Look at the Joseph Smith Papyri
• Bob McCue
• McKeever & Johnson
  • Mormonism 101
• Christopher Marc Nemelka
  • The "Lost 116 pages"
  • The "Sealed Portion"
• Linda King Newell and Valeen Tippetts Avery
  • Mormon Enigma
• Richard N. Ostling and Joan K. Ostling
  • Mormon America: The Power and the Promise — (Index of claims)
• Grant Palmer
  • An Insider's View of Mormon Origins — (Index of claims)
• D. Michael Quinn
  • Early Mormonism and the Magic World View
  • "LDS Church Authority and New Plural Marriages, 1890–1904"
  • The Mormon Hierarchy: Origins of Power
  • The Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power
  • Same-Sex Dynamics Among Nineteenth-Century Americans: A Mormon Example
• George D. Smith
  • Nauvoo Polygamy — (Index of claims)
• Carol Whang Shutter
  • September Dawn (film)
• Simon G. Southerton
  • Losing a Lost Tribe: Native Americans, DNA, and the Mormon Church — (Index of claims)
• Jerald and Sandra Tanner
  • The Changing World of Mormonism — (Index of claims)
  • Mormonism: Shadow or Reality?