forum.mormonentum.de – Das Exmo-Diskussionsforum

Das Exmo-Diskussionsforum

Beitrag 4 von 6 Beiträgen.

Seite erstellt am 18.4.24 um 11:01 Uhr

der Beitrag:

Verfasser: Gunar

Datum: Dienstag, den 10. Dezember 2002, um 6:55 Uhr

Betrifft: Kirchengericht auf Grund Ã¶ffentlichen Interesses verschoben

Da haben wir es mal wieder: Kaum gewinnt ein persÃ¶nlichkeitsverachtendes Disziplinierungsgericht das Ã¶ffentliche Interesse, schon macht die HLT-Kirche einen RÃ¼ckzieher. Einen Kommentar gibt sie dazu nicht ab. Der Schein ist in dieser Gemeinschaft eben viel wichtiger als das Sein. Es geht nicht um die Person, es geht immer nur um die Organisation. Eben menschenverachtend. Aber das haben ja viele hier am eigenen Leib verspÃ¼ren mÃ¼ssen, mir erging es ja auch nicht unÃ¤hnlich Murphy, nur mit dem Unterschied, dass es damals kein Ã¶ffentliches Interesse gab und die Herren PriesterumstrÃ¤ger und allen voran der PfahlprÃ¤sident ihrer hochherrlichen Art freien Lauf lassen konnten. Gut, dass wenigstens die Presse solchem Treiben noch Einhalt gebieten kann, auch wenn das nur bei einem Fall von Tausenden mal passiert. Aber meine BrÃ¼der haben ja auch nicht mit Austritt im Falle meines Ausschlusses gedroht. Vor so viel Zivilcourage muss man schon den Hut ziehen.

The Salt Lake Tribune
MONDAY December 09, 2002

Scholar’s LDS Tribunal Postponed

einige Sympatisanten demonstrieren gegen Murphys drohenden Ausschluss
The Mormon church has indefinitely postponed a disciplinary council hearing scheduled for Sunday night that was expected to result in the excommunication of a professor whose writings question the Book of Mormon.

Supporters of Thomas W. Murphy, a University of Washington doctoral student, decided to continue a rally on Salt Lake City’s Main Street Plaza. About 15 supporters carried signs and marched around the exterior of the crowded plaza before stopping in front of the LDS Temple to talk to a gathering crowd.

Murphy, 35, did not attend, but said in a Saturday letter to supporters that the church proceedings were canceled due to the publicity his case has received. His ecclesiastical leader also cited Murphy’s statements that being excommunicated would hurt his relationship with his southern Idaho family, descendants of the first Mormon pioneers.

Murphy said Matthew Latimer, president of the Lynnwood (Wash.) Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, "wants to take some more time to get to know me and invited me to have some more private discussions before taking any further action."

In a written statement, Latimer said he thought it "best not to proceed at this time," and said Murphy has the right to ask that his name be removed from church rolls. Murphy said he had not made that request -- and will not.

"I do value my Mormon heritage. I would rather make a constructive contribution to the church’s abandonment of its racist beliefs about American Indians than to leave the church," Murphy said.

Murphy’s trouble with the church grew from an article published in the May 2002 Signature Books anthology, American Apocrypha, that used genetic data to discredit the Book of Mormon claim that American Indians are descendants of ancient Israel. The conclusion also is the thesis of his doctoral dissertation.

Church leaders have declined to comment on the details of Murphy’s case.

"The church should be like other churches and allow a loyal opposition," said Temple Square rally coordinator Kathy Worthington. "We’re asking the church to put more value on free speech."

Murphy’s brother, Brandon, also an anthropologist, attended the rally. "You are told to tell the truth -- unless it contradicts the church," he said. He plans to leave the church in protest of the expected excommunication.

Thomas Murphy, who is chairman of the anthropology department at Edmonds Community College in Lynnwood objects to Mormon scriptural teachings that American Indians are descendants of Middle Easterners known as Lamanites, the heathen antagonists in the Book of Mormon. The "keystone" scripture of the Mormon faith relates how a group of Lamanites who decided to forgo violence and war then became white Christians.

Murphy employed DNA research to refute those claims, and says the depictions of American Indians as Lamanites is racist and hurtful.

Shane Whelan, the author of a book on plural marriage titled More than One: Plural Marriage A Sacred Heritage, was excommunicated in August and attended Sunday’s rally. Whelan said church officials thought his book was an embarrassment. They requested that he take down billboard advertisements and dissolve his business. Whelan refused, though he still believes in the tenets of the Mormon faith.

"I feel we have a right to study and say what we like," he said. "As Latter-day Saints, the right to exercise our free agency is paramount."

http://www.sltrib.com/2002/dec/12092002/utah/9535.asp