Waning Subject of Interest--Book of Mormon Geography

I've always been intrigued with Book of Mormon geography. I've read just about every scholarly book on the subject, and even many non-LDS books on Mesoamerican archeology and found myself fascinated that theories that some Yale or Harvard archeologist would pop off fit in perfectly with LDS theories about the origins of the Book of Mormon.

However, I've concluded that this subject has lost an extraordinary amount of vigor in the last decade. Although the field attracted many LDS scholars with PhDs in the 70s and 80s, the 90s--and especially the current decade--has seen the number of PhD-type studies in this field drop off to almost nothing. The reason? Fear of man.

There's really no other way to interpret it. The problem is that many non-LDS scholars began to notice the likes of John Sorenson and Richard Hauck writing books which, to them, were nothing more than LDS apologetics, supporting geographical and anthropologic theories that seemed too rooted in religious theology. Therefore, their books or papers or studies on the subject were quietly and vocally ostracized. LDS scholars began to feel the pressure to either lay off these kinds of subjects face being black-balled by their scholarly non-Mormon peers. In my opinion, the first organization to experience this pressure was F.A.R.Ms. FARMS began to abandon research into Book of Mormon geography soon after the publication of John Sorenson's landmark work "An American Setting for the Book of Mormon" in the 1980s. Even Sorenson himself began to shy away from his own theories in public settings, and seemed reluctant for more than a decade to discuss such matters. His motivations for a loss of interest were unclear. But the likes of John Clark at FARMS certainly stoked this lessening of interest when he began to seriously question the legitimacy of any claims that the Tree of Life stone in Tapachula, Mexico had any relevance to the Book of Mormon. Simple logic and common sense dictate otherwise, but Clark was persuasive enough among his peers that only PhD scholars like Garth Norman, Joseph Allen, and Bruce Warren were willing to put up any kind of valient defense saying that Clark was missing the obvious.

The cumulative effect of all this conflict in the scholarly community at BYU-
FARMS and among LDS archeologists and anthropologists in general is that they would rather study the Near East or Mesoamerican subjects with no (or few) Book of Mormon ties whatsoever. Even BYU's New World Archeology Foundation is something that the non-LDS scholars who work for it will snicker at behind BYU's back, and make it a point to steer clear of anything that suggests that their object (because they work for BYU) is trying to prove that Nephites once walked the land. There seems to be a very real effort among the newest batch of LDS scholars to divest themselves from being associated with any theories that try to place the Book of Mormon in MesoAmerica. Only the likes of Joseph Allen continued to keep up the clarion call in the 90s. Now, with Brother Allen in his waning years, there seems to be few LDS scholars eager to replace him.

I'm hoping by posting this blog that someone will point out to me that I am wrong. That, in fact, many Latter-day Saints with PhDs are still actively pursuing this subject. But I've seen no new major publications on this subject from legitimate sources in many years.

My movie, "Pasage to Zarahemla," was the first production ever to attempt to film a Book of Mormon story in a legitimate Book of Mormon location. And yet it was in the southernmost recesses of what many would consider Book of Mormon lands--Costa Rica. Nevertheless, my hope is that this film, as well as my Tennis Shoes books, somehow finds its way into the minds of a new generation of LDS scholars who do not fear the backlash of the world's scholarly community. My hope is that this new generation will bravely build upon the mountain of evidence that was created by LDS scholars of the past. Many of the Book of Mormon connections are so obvious that it makes one want to shout it from the rooftops. But the truth is, in the LDS educated community, there are now a whole host of individuals who would desperately want to put a hand over such mouths for fear that shoddy scholarship and Mormonism will be percieved as going hand in hand. The truth is the truth. I say let it shine through, and forget about losing face among peers.

This is a battle to be waged only by the honest in heart. So my question is: Do we have any such scholars left? Only time will tell.

Chris Heimerdinger