Comments on: Are the Twighlight Books an Apologetic for Mormonism?

By: Daniel O. McClellan

Daniel O. McClellan — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 16:01:01 +0000

Way off base, Arthur. There’s no evidence whatsoever that Young had anything to do with the massacre, although there’s plenty of evidence to the contrary. And comparing faithful Latter-day Saints to poor men, women, and children from Jonestown who killed themselves, were forced at gunpoint to kill themselves, or were murdered, is a reprehensible and depraved analogy. Such vitriolic bigotry has no place in Christianity in any of its manifestations. You do your community of faith a great disservice.

By: Arthur Sido

Arthur Sido — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 15:32:59 +0000

Seth, do you giggle at the idea that your church has a flagship school named after a man who was complicit in the Mountain Meadows Massacre? Of have you had enough of the faith affirming Kool-Aid to think that Brigham Young had nothing to do with it? I will agree that the MMM and the silly Adam-God theory (along with all of the other crackpot theories your “prophets” spouted off over the years) miss the big picture. The blasphemous notion of God and the diminished of Christ are the real dangers of mormonism. The silly teachings about the location of the Garden of Eden and men on the moon are just fluff.

By: Seth R.

Seth R. — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 15:05:06 +0000

That was the impression I got from Granger’s article.

Granger started with a hostile agenda against LDS beliefs, picked a handful of common anti-Mormon themes that are most popular in certain Evangelical circles, and then wrote a book review around them.

I’m still giggling at the idea that I, as a Mormon, am supposed to be having massacre flashbacks every time I encounter a meadow.

As a Mormon of 35 years both inside and outside of Utah, I can attest that only a tiny fraction of the Mormon population even knows about the Mountain Meadows Massacre. And of those who do, even fewer have lingering guilt about it.

As for Adam-God… It wasn’t even a “doctrine” when Brigham Young made his rather vague, confused, and contradictory statements about it. It never really caught on then, and has since faded into utter obscurity in the last 100 years.

The idea that a suburban Mormon housewife writing a teen romance novel would incorporate this doctrine into her stories is just so out-there, that the only explanation I can come up with is that Granger simply wanted to talk about Adam-God and wrote a book review as an afterthought.

By: Mormon Vampires in the Garden of Eden? « Daniel O. McClellan

Mormon Vampires in the Garden of Eden? « Daniel O. McClellan — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 00:00:46 +0000

[...] Granger’s article is discussed on other blogs here, here, and here. Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)Was the Garden of Eden Really in [...]

By: Jettboy

Jettboy — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 16:17:30 +0000

Here is a very good counter argument to this article. The main point of this response is, "Granger’s opinion appears to be informed more by anti-Mormon theories of the motivations for early Mormon polygamy than by a working knowledge of actual LDS belief. If you’re getting the impression this shortcoming may be a pattern in his article, your concerns are justified."

By: Perelandra

Perelandra — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 02:32:09 +0000

John Granger analyzes Meyer’s opus at length in his new book Spotlight (Zossima Press) and has a website devoted to the Twilight mythos at But personally, I think Harry Potter was far worthier of his erudition.

By: Jettboy

Jettboy — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 01:06:37 +0000

There is a Mormon discussion about his writings that should also be read. There are some disagreements about methodology and conclusions.

By: Forks High School Professor · Spotlight Roll-out: Touchstone Article Now Online

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 15:20:32 +0000

[...] the cover story in this month’s hard copy magazine. (Hello to those readers joining us from the First Things weBlog link to that [...]

By: M. L. Martin

M. L. Martin — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 21:11:57 +0000

Collin–Don’t you mean Battlestar Galactica?

By: Collin Brendemuehl

Collin Brendemuehl — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 13:29:18 +0000

I wonder if this will create a bigger market for Bab5 reruns. (Also Mormon)

By: Gary Simmons

Gary Simmons — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 04:42:39 +0000

Hmm. The arguments are somewhat persuasive, but I don’t know enough about either Mormonism or Twilight to make a judgment call.

By: Coyle

Coyle — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 03:11:21 +0000

If nothing else, we have to give Mr. Granger credit for having the courage to be male, over 15, and admit publicly that he’s read and enjoyed not just one but all of the Twilight books…