Mock Trial Assessment

Case 1

Elyse Roberts versus Kevin Murphy (DC)

I had a lot of fun with the Mock Trial experiance. I thought what made this event so memorable and significant was that it was competitive. I participated as a lawyer that directed an examination of a main witness, as well as delievering the closing statment. Both provided the opportunity to expierance unique elements of attoruneys in the courtroom. I believe that the most challenge aspect to the case was making sure the jury was aware and concious of the arguments you were making....

Final thoughts

History of Moron...i mean Mormon....nah i meant Moron.

I am not a religious man, so it does not annoy me when the argument against my contention is "well have you ever read the bible, or torah. It's just as insane." I could agree with that. The only difference however, is the the religion of Mormon began in the 1800's. Almost 2,000 years after the death of Christ. If that isnt harsh enough and maybe it doesnt merit the craziness that we look at Mormons with...then its the new Mormons that can create such dismay. Its the Mormons (fundamentalists) today that can drive me crazy. Like the ones who have 25 wives in which many of them they have raped. I can go on and on but there is a problem that the religion is growing at the rate it is. Its extremely irrational and national media needs to understand the people for what they are. Most are fine, tax paying citizens, who come off as family oriented and kind people. But the problem lies in the fundamentalists.

Post 5

Now I got to the most interesting part of this story. Actually I was reading this book while in the car and once I got to this section, I had to stop and read out loud to to the rest of my family who were intrigued by what I was reading. The section was about The Book of Mormon. If you only heard about Joseph Smith and the polygamists then you haven’t gotten to the best part. Here is what the story of the Mormon people is:

There was an ancient Hebrew tribe which was headed by a man Lehi. In raising his large family, he let everyone understand that to earn God’s love is the most important thing in life. The only way to earn it was to obey every commandment. Lehi and his followers abandoned Jerusalem six hundred years before the birth of Christ, and journeyed to North America by boat. In North America, long family jealousies erupted. Lehi had always favored his youngest son, Nephi, and handed his leadership over to him. But his other son became enraged by the decision, causing the tribe to split into two rival clans after the passing of Lehi. The righteous white skinned Nephites led by Nephi, and their adversaries, the Laminates. God was so annoyed by the creation of the Laminates he cursed the whole lot of them with dark skin to punish them for tier impiety. Whoa whoa whoa, Joseph Smith seems to be a bit racist right there. After the resurrection of Christ, Jesus visited North America to share his gospel on why the two tribes should stop their fighting. They abided at first but then after several hundred years, the Lamintes began to backslide in unbelief and the two tribes fought each other once again and it developed into a full blown war. The Lamanites slaughtered all 230,000 of the Nephites. That fact is supposed to explain why Christopher Columbus encountered no Caucasians when he landed in the new world in 1492. The victorious Lamanites survived to become the ancestors of the modern American Indians, although eventually these “red sons of Israel” lost all memory of both the Nephites and their Judaic heritage. The leader of the Nephites during their final, doomed battles had been a heroic figure of uncommon wisdom named Mormon; and the last son to survive the slaughter by the Lamanites, was Mormon’s son Moroni (the angel who told Smith where the plates were).

 So that’s the story. It’s ridiculous. After reading more of the Book of Mormon, some of the facts have zero evidence and are frankly inconsistencies with the actual history of the world. For example, it makes references to horses and wheeled carts, neither of which existed in the Western Hemisphere during the pre-Colombian era. Modern DNA analysis has conclusively demonstrated that American Indians are not descendants of any Hebrarric race.  

Post 4

Post 4

So we know that Joesph Smith is a “money digger”. Smith met a girl named Sally Chase, who lived near the Smith family farm. Upon learning that she possessed a magical rock , Smith found the girl and used to stone to find hidden treasures. Oh my god. No pun intended. He was doing an illegal practice, and in six years he had never managed to unearth any other actual treasure. When this had come to light, a nephew of the man who hired Smith acused him of being a fraud. The trial and bad press brought Smith’s career to a halt. And one night when he was 17 an angel appeared to Joseph Smith. It was Moroni and explained that he had been brought by God. But  really you have to watch  the South Park  episode , “all about the Mormons”. It does the best job in explaining the revelation that Smith had. The whole idea that people follow this man after the story he tells is what makes it so interesting. He claims that He called me by name, and said unto me that he was a messenger sent from the presence of God to me, and that his name was Moroni; that God had a work for me to do; and that my name should be had for good and evil among all nations, kinds, and tongues, or that it should be both good and evil spoken of among all people. Regarding Moroni, “He said there was a book deposited, written upon gold plates, giving an account of the former inhabitants of this continent, and the source from whence they sprang. He also said that the fulness of the everlasting Gospel was contained in it, as delivered by the Savior to the ancient inhabitants; Also, that there were two stones in silver bows--and these stones, fastened to a breastplate, constituted what is called the Urim and Thummim--deposited with the plates; and the possession and use of these stones were what constituted "seers" in ancient or former times; and that God had prepared them for the purpose of translating the book.”

Post 3

Couple of cool notes to point out from the reading in this part III report. First , most non-Mormons think of Salt Lake City as the geographic heart of Mormonism, but in fact half the population of Salt Lake is Gentile, and many Mormons  regard that city as a sinful, iniquitous place that’s been corrupted by outsiders. Here is another scary element. The LDS Church forbids abortions, frowns on contraception, and teaches the Mormon couples have a sacred duty to give birth to as many children as they can support, and explains why Utah Couty has the highest birth rate in the United State and is higher than the birth rate in Bangladesh. You got to wonder how these people feel about the last unit we studied eh? LETS TALK ABOUT JOSEPH SMITH…..Smith was born in Vermont in 1805. Maybe if I go to school there, I can search for his birth place. Smith and his family were broke, so Joseph was reduced to scraping out a meager living from a plot of rocky, barely cultivable farmland. New England was in an extended economic depression and so the Smith’s moved more than five times during his first eleven years of life. During his youth, it is important to understand his parents role in the creation of the religion. His mother, Lucy was devoted to the mysticism so often found among those suddenly released from the domination and discipline of the church. She accepted a highly personalized God to whom she would talk as if he were a member of the family circle.” Here is the first alarm. His parents and his childhood surroundings were a catalyst to upstart this religious creation. It makes sense. All reports show that Joseph had an “astonishing imagination”. I mean come on people. This is the best… “he (Joseph Smith)  could sell a muzzle to a dog.” Smith devoted much time and energy to attempting to divine the location of buried treasure by means of black magic and crystal gazing. So he was a money digger.  That’s all I got for now…..let me come back for more. This is getting crazy.

Post 2

 Uncle Rulon and Colorado city 

The next chapter’s of Under a Banner of Heaven written by John Krakauer, outlines the town of Colorado City. This is extremely fascinating ‘stuff’. Lets talk about Colorado City. The town sits on the Utah-Arizona border and it is home to more than three Mormon Fundamentalist sects, including the FLDS. The city’s members live in strict accordance with the commandments of the ninety two year old tax accountant turned prophet Rulan T. Jeffs, or commonly known as “Uncle Jeffs”. Here is an interesting not on “Uncle Jeffs”….In the book Krakauer quotes a science teacher who lives and teaches in the town by saying “A lot of people here are convinced Uncle Rulon is going to live forever.” Rulan Jeffs died two months after the book was published and released. It was reported that at the time of Jeffs' death at age 92 that he may have had as many as 75 wives and 65 children. Several of his wives were given to him in marriage when they were fourteen or fifteen while he was in his eighties. His sermons frequently stress the need for total submission. One of his speeches reads, “I want to tell you that the greatest freedom you can enjoy is in obedience. Perfect obedience produces perfect faith.” These are United States citizens saying this stuff. I understand that people have their rights and the constitutional amendments protect them, but COME ON! Okay back to the little town of Colorado City. Members of the religion, he explains, are forbidden to watch television or read magazines or newspapers. Krakauer writes “As the TV prohibition suggests, life in Colorado City under Rulon Jeffs bears more than a passing resemblance to life in Kabul under the Taliban.” If that doesn’t help a reader understand members of FLDS then I don’t know what would. One more note and than I’ll leave you for the night. Currently, the residents of Colorado City receive eight dollars in government services for every dollar they pay in taxes. “Uncle Rulon justifies all that assistance from the wicked government by explaining that really the money is coming from the lord,” says Deloy Bateman. Here’s an idea. Stop fucking paying them!  Wait hold on…just read something. Uncle Roulon and his followers believe that the earth is seven thousand years old and that  man has never walked on the moon. Well no, its actually 4.7 billion years. Learned that in Earth Science class. 

Post 1

Post Number 1:

Okay, where is that national media on these people? I am glad this is a reflection and not a book report because I want to speak my mind. What we learn in chapter 1, 2 and 3 are strictly about Church of Latter Day Saints Fundamentalists. So were not talking the Salt Lake City Mormons. Those are the “normal” Mormons. Actually, FLDS (Fundamental Latter Day Saints) consider the LDS (Latter Day Saints) to be worse than non Mormons. They call them Gentiles and believe them to be tainting the religion. But what the chapters outline is what FLDS members believe. Let me elucidate those who don’t know. The primary difference between the mainstream Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) and the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (FLDS) is the practice of polygamy. Since giving up the practice of plural marriage in 1890, the mainstream LDS church has sought to distance itself from this illegal and generally socially unacceptable practice, while the FLDS church continues to live the polygamous lifestyle to this day. Then, Chapter 3 outlines the Elizabeth Smart abduction. Around 1 a.m. on June 5, 2002, a man with a knife entered the bedroom of 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart and her nine-year-old sister Mary Katherine and forced Elizabeth to leave the house and walk into the woods four miles behind her Salt Lake City home to a secluded campsite. Nine months later, Elizabeth Smart was found in nearby Sandy, Utah after spending months at the campsite, traveling to California, and returning to Utah with her captors. Brain David Mitchell and his wife, Wanda Barzee, were charged with aggravated kidnapping, aggravated sexual assualt, and aggravated burglary. Who were these captors? Members of the Fundamental Latter Day Saints church In Mitchell's "manifesto", section four, dated Feb. 17, 2002: He wrote, "And thou shalt take into thy heart and home seven times seven sisters, to love and care for;...and thou art the jubilee of them all, first and last, for all are given unto them, for thou art a Queen, Oh Hephzibah! This was later interpreted to mean that Barzee, who he refers to as Hephzibah, is to accept and care for Mitchell's 49 additional wives but that she will remain his lead wife. Maybe I kind of forgot to add something to this report. The premise, is that there was a murder in 1984, where a woman and her infant daughter were brutally killed at the hands of Mormons who believed that it was the will of god….Oh yeah religion is great!!!!