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Grant Palmer Accused of “Apostasy”  Seattle Vigil CanceledDecember 2004 SALT LAKE CITY On Sunday, December 12, Grant Palmer, a three-time director of LDS Institutes of Religion in California and Utah, will face excommunication for publishing his thoughts on Mormon origins. In his book, An Insider's View of Mormon Origins, Palmer offers a frank discussion of the research and controversies surrounding the early history of the LDS church. Palmer has been summoned to a church court at 7:00 p.m. at the Willow Creek Stake Center, 3250 Creek Road, Sandy, Utah, to answer the charge of apostasy. Palmer says he doesn't feel like an apostate. Over the past thirty five-years, historians have learned quite a bit about the life of Mormon founder Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon, the Mormon prophet's visions, and the evolution of priesthood authority. Palmer suggests that most Latter-day Saints are unaware of the significance of these discoveries, and he gives a brief overview for those who want to know more about the issues. He charges the church with having idolized Joseph Smith, while Palmer praises the church's recent re-emphasis on the life of Jesus and Christian living. This has irked some within the Mormon hierarchy. Recently Palmer was approached by stake president Keith Adams (comparable to a diocesan bishop) and told that the Holy Spirit had moved Adams to "push things forward" toward excommunicating Palmer. This would prevent Palmer from partaking of the eucharist, speaking or praying from the pulpit, or attending the temple. Palmer, who for thirteen years taught General Christianity to inmates at the Salt Lake Correctional Facility, has expressed concern over the message his church would be sending: "If they throw me out, they would be throwing out a believing Christian." Adams first approached Palmer a year ago after receiving a dossier on Palmer from the church's "Strengthening Church Members Committee," a bureaucratic watchdog group comparable in some ways to the Taliban's "Department of Vice and Virtue"; but Adams chose not to act on the committee's recommendations until now. This fall marks the eleventh anniversary of the September 1993 purge of six prominent Mormon scholars and extends the tradition of disenfranchising those who fail to endorse the authorized version of Mormon history or whose orthodoxy is not strict enough for the church's hierarchy. If you're interested in expressing your support to Grant, please go to http://www.supportgrantpalmer2.netfirms.com  See also: Grant Palmer Disfellowshipped Story in the Salt Lake Tribune Story in the Deseret News Story in KUTV Channel 2 (For video, go to http://kutv.com/2newsvideo/, and click on "Retired LDS Seminary Teacher Faces Excommunication Over Book").
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CANDLELIGHT VIGIL CANCELLED Out of respect for Grant Palmer's wishes, friends of Grant Palmer are cancelling the candlelight vigil at the Seattle Temple scheduled for the evening of 11 December 2004. For immediate release Dec. 8, 2004 Contact: Dr. Thomas Murphy (425-478-5567) CANDLELIGHT VIGIL TO SUPPORT MORMON SCHOLAR Friends of Grant Palmer announce our intention to host a candlelight vigil the evening of Saturday, December 11th at the Bellevue, Washington temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS or Mormon). We wish to express our gratitude and support for Grant H. Palmer (64), a retired employee of the LDS Church Education System, who is facing possible excommunication on Sunday, December 12th at 7:00 am MST at the Willow Creek Stake Center in Sandy, Utah. He is facing disciplinary action for the publication of his 2002 book, An Insider's View of Mormon Origins (Signature Books). Palmer's controversial book synthesizes several decades of historical, archaeological, and genetic research by Mormon scholars that challenges the ability of the LDS founder, Joseph Smith, to translate ancient documents and produce modern scripture. Among other scholarship, Palmer cites the summaries of genetic research by Thomas Murphy, a Mormon anthropologist at Edmonds Community College in Lynnwood, Washington, and Simon Southerton, an Australian geneticist and former LDS bishop. In December 2002 Murphy faced a similar disciplinary council for his March 2002 publication of "Lamanite Genesis, Genealogy and Genetics" in the anthology, American Apocrypha (Signature Books). His students allied with sympathetic Mormons and former Mormons to organize vigils across the country that led his stake president, Mathew Latimer, to postpone and then halt efforts to excommunicate Murphy. Southerton has not yet faced similar disciplinary action but will be touring the United States in January 2005. He will appear at Edmonds Community College at 7:00 pm PST on January 20th in Triton Union 202. See http://brownbag.edcc.edu/winter05.html. The vigil to support Grant Palmer will be held at 7:00 pm PST on Saturday, December 11th outside the LDS temple located at 2808 148th Ave. S.E.; Bellevue, Washington. Sympathetic members of the community are invited to join in supporting the right of Mormon scholars to speak the truth. |
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