From the time he was a child in Peru, the Mormon Church instilled in Jose A. Loayza the conviction that he and millions of other Native Americans were descended from a lost tribe of Israel that reached the New World more than 2,000 years ago.
“We were taught all the blessings of that Hebrew lineage belonged to us and that we were special people,” said Loayza, now a Salt Lake City attorney. “It not only made me feel special, but it gave me a sense of transcendental identity, an identity with God.”
A few years ago, Loayza said, his faith was shaken and his identity stripped away by DNA evidence showing that the ancestors of American natives came from Asia, not the Middle East.
And I love this quote:
“The truth is, the Book of Mormon will never be proved or disproved by science.”
The 2+ million living all around me in SLC probably won’t see this as a nail in the coffin, but nice eye catching title.
Now, to get this story off of my drive before they catch me…
Does any really believe the book or Mormon. Its almost as bogus as scientology.
Does this mean I can’t have two wives?
Really, why would someone want that much trouble. That should have been a sign right there.
Chris Vaughn
http://chris@chrisvaughn.net
gquaglia,
almost…. – scientology… tom cruise… what else needs to be said.
Tom Cruise: poster child of hysteria. I honestly love that interview with Matt Lauer, it is so funny!
Chris Vaughn
http://chrisvaughn.org
When the angel that brings you the new gospel is called Moroni, what else can you expect?
Not that all the other religions have any grasp on reality.
Two wives… imagine Valentines… do you get them the same thing? They won’t wear it because the other has one… Get them different things? They’ll argue over which is better.
Already us guys are wrong with just one wife… imagine being twice as wrong.
BTW… you’ve all offended Mormons and Scientologists everywhere… you must be hunted down now… sorry.
“The truth is, the Book of Mormon will never be proved or disproved by science.”
You guys are forgetting something: just because something can never be proved or disproved by science doesn’t mean that it is false.
Truth is truth, whether you believe it or not…
Interesting idea, but WHERe did the Asiains COME from???
Come one, they show 3 developement areas for mankind..But Which was the FIRST…there probably ISNT 3 different species of MAN, ARE THERE??
Guys… a little respect for other people’s beliefs please. Why is the Mormon church being attacked here in this way, for no apparent reason? We might as well start laughing at Jews and Christians for their beliefs.. it’s the same thing. I’m actually rather surprised to find this in John’s blog.
Superstition is superstition, whether you believe it or not…
ECA — you should drop by every day. That question was noted previously: http://www.dvorak.org/blog/?p=4201
This article certainly shed’s a little more light on this subject. It would be naive to think that all American natives came from either the Middle East or Asia, but not both:
http://farms.byu.edu/display.php?table=jbms&id=312
Everyone knows that people were seeded on Earth by the Galarkans of Zenox VI. After their 13 year war with Klags of Zenox V. Internal bickering and acts of sedition, brought the empire to its knees. Seeding planets throughout the universe was their only means of survival. I think.
I’d guess that these guys get attacked during Sundance and just blame the state of Utah as a whole. 😉
There goes the readers from Utah…geez.
I laugh at all religions equally, they are all full of shit.
Humans belong to one species but we all don’t have exactly the same genes. Different populations have different sets of genes (hair color, skin color, blood types, etc.). Genes that are common in one population are rare in others. The natives of the Americas share genes with populations of Asia. If the people who populated the Americas had come from the Middle East, they would share more genes with the polulations of the Middle East, they don’t. Genetic studies prove that the Americas were originally populated by people from Asia and not the Middle East.
Faith by definition ignores facts. The Mormons or any other religion will not change an iota because any set of facts, no matter what they prove. They already believe they have the one and only truth.
“I laugh at all religions equally, they are all full of shit.”
I agree, what makes one religion more correct then another. And how many people have been killed throughout history over their definition of religion. It always amazes me how man thinks he can speak for God. No one who is living or ever lived knows for sure. Anyone who belives the ancients of this planet or that bafoon Pat Robertson spoke with God is just fooling themselves.
Jose, go with the flow. You’ll get over it.
Christians took it pretty hard when they were shown that the Shroud of Turin is a fake. And the Muslims weren’t very happy finding out that their main dude was a caricature. And the Dalai Lama can’t go home any more. And ….
Oh!,, yeah,,, like the bible ! speaks the “truth” !,,, (notice the HEAVY sarcasm).
NONE of the religions have anything even approaching anything close to the truth, and as a former mormon (notice, I DIDN’T write “believer”) we ARE somewhat used to the rest of the country ignoring that one little piece of paper, promising the freedom to believe the way we wish. You MAY have heard of it, it’s called the Constitution?
Anyway, it’s no more annoying that haveing to listen to people yack about the idiocy of genesis, or the stupidity of “intelligent design”,,,
( you TOO can confound your friends, and make enemies,,, just REQUIRE the PUBLICLY-FUNDED school teach what YOU believe)
As a former mormon, I was taught the principal “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all”. Too bad a lot of other people can’t follow the same advice.
All ya REALLY have to keep in mind is, The Bible, The Book of Mormon, The Teachings of ANYBODY who has to use some sorta god, or “supreme being” is just teaching that the teacher is just too weak to survive life on their own. That SOMEBODY else has to take the blame of the way life turned out (but, I DO notice that most people take the credit).
Soooo,,, laugh it up, funny boy, your turns coming.
In the case of the bible, you turns coming, AGAIN.
(mutter)sounds like the taliban(mutter)
(mumble) anybody else’s belief is fair game, just don’t you say anything about mine (mumble)
that is old news and no longer accurate science actually. You should look at what jewish geneticists have to say about jewish DNA as an interesting parallel discussion. Also, chromosomal research which is also taking off offers some interesting counterpoints to mDNA results.
I love how one persons misunderstanding of religious doctrin can turn into the final nail in the coffin for a religion as a whole.
If this guy needed his “Hebrew lineage” to feel special and have a relationship with God, then I think he had bigger issues, and his faith could be challenged more easily than a very old DNA analysis. I know that these types of articles usually make the rounds for a lot of people to demean and belittle people and laugh at those who believe in something different.