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The Problem with Presentism: Judging the Past by the Present

  You and I and everyone else are sometimes guilty of   presentism , which Merriam-Webster defines as “an attitude toward the past dominated by present-day attitudes and experiences.”   Presentism can be an innocent mistake. I am a docent at the Church History Museum in Salt Lake City, at least I was before COVID-19 hit and the museum closed. A few years ago, a Church historian came into the museum. He told me he came to correct an information label. I interrupted his work and asked him a question about Hyrum Smith’s watch that is on display in the museum. As I said the word “watch,” I unconsciously looked at my left wrist as though checking the time on a wristwatch. “No,” he said, abruptly. Then he mimed taking a pocketwatch out of a vest pocket to look at the time. I was embarrassed. I knew Hyrum’s watch was a pocketwatch not a wristwatch. Timepieces are just one of thousands of tangible artifacts that have changed over time. But the greatest value in learning about the past comes in
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Are These Really Unprecedented Times?

  Journalist and news anchors reporting on COVID-19 use phrases such as “unprecedented times” and “uncharted territory.” The implied message is that pandemics and plagues haven’t happened before and that quarantine is a modern invention to “stop the spread.” But like almost everything else, history has lessons to teach. This is only half of the story, however. COVID-19  is unprecedented and uncharted to individuals who become ill with the virus, to their caregivers, and to those who lose family or friends. A few days ago, I had an experience that highlights the inequality of who stays well, who gets sick, and who dies. I went to a small home improvement store and through my mask asked a young employee where to find a craft item. She took me to where it was and, through her mask, gave me options and ideas. Making small talk while paying for the item, all the while social distancing, I asked her if she knew anyone with the virus. Her eyes fell.   Finally she spoke: “You probably can’t te
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A Prophet's Example of Surviving Severe Adversity

A couple of months ago, I wrote about   how the prophet Moroni worked through depression . His firsthand account, documented in the Book of Mormon, is a template for survivorship. The prophet Alma, son of Alma, was also well acquainted with adversity and grief. Like Moroni, Alma recorded his emotional low points, tribulations, and patterns of healing in the Book of Mormon. A study of Alma’s trials shows the extent of his suffering. •      He experienced psychological abuse.  He and his mission companion, Amulek, were brought out of prison “to the place of martyrdom, that they might witness the destruction of those who were consumed by fire” (Alma 14:9). Believing women and children, perhaps including Amulek’s wife and children, were “cast into the fire” (Alma 14:8). Can you imagine the sights, smells, and sounds, let alone the excruciating reality? The persecutors also burned personal records and scriptures. Insult to injury. (Destroying personal histories wiped away all tangible memor
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A Secret Combination Hypothesis

Like many of you, my Book of Mormon reading last month was Helaman and 3 Nephi 1-7. Never before have these chapters caused me anxiety, real heart-pounding anxiety. I felt as though I were reading current events rather than ancient history. These chapters seemed to shout: “Hey, wake up to the clear and present danger of secret combinations.”     As far as I know, secret combinations started here on earth when Satan encouraged Cain to give a substitute offering, rather than the one the Lord commanded. From this rebellious beginning, Cain was led to envy his brother’s good works and his possessions. Satan then introduced the concept of murder for gain. “From the days of Cain, there was a secret combination, and their works were in the dark” (Moses 5:51). Moses’ account paints a frightening picture of Cain’s anger, how he and his wife loved Satan more than God, how Satan swore Cain to secrecy, and how Cain gloated: “Truly I am Mahan, the master of this great secret, that I may murder and
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