Research Challenges Mormon Doctrine

CTC · Site Admin Joined: 06 Apr 2002 Posts: 121

LOS ANGELES TIMES, 12-8-02

RESEARCH PUTS MORMON AT ODDS WITH CHURCH

Anthropologist Thomas W. Murphy set out to test a key principle of his Mormon faith with the latest technology. He wondered: Would DNA analysis show -- as taught by the Book of Mormon -- that many American Indians are descended from ancient Israelites?

His finding: negative. The result: excommunication -- if a church disciplinary panel today finds him guilty of apostasy, the renunciation of his faith.

The Book of Mormon, made public by Joseph Smith in 1830, is a cornerstone of church doctrine and is taken literally by the faithful. It teaches that many American Indians are descendants of ancient Israelites.

Murphy appears to be the first member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to face expulsion for genetic research.

His case marks "the first biological challenge" of Mormon scripture, said Michael Whiting, authority on DNA and an assistant professor at church-affiliated Brigham Young University.

Murphy's supporters, who include other dissident Mormons, hail him.

"Tom Murphy is the Galileo for Mormons," said Maxine Hanks, a former Mormon who was excommunicated in 1993 for her feminist writings. Supporters say they plan a series of candlelight vigils this evening in U.S. cities, including one outside the Mormon temple in Salt Lake City.

But Whiting, for one, rejects any comparison to Galileo, who was condemned by the Roman Catholic Church in 1633 for correctly claiming that the Earth orbits the sun. "The difference is Galileo got the science right. I don't think Murphy has," Whiting said.