Mormon Apologies

I meant to put this as a comment on Cameron's post soliciting an opinion on Under the Banner of Heaven, but I couldn't figure out how to do a hyperlink in the comment section and I wanted to make this look cool.

There is an article that gives a rebuttal to the book and much of the history that the author uses to support his theories. Obviously there are always two sides to every story and if the author's is one side, this represents the other side. Since the article is lengthy and you probably won't read it all (although you should, I did and it helped me understand the story better), suffice it to say that there is an army of people that have become more than experts on Mormon history. These people prey on authors like Krakauer because they obviously haven't spent their entire lives researching the history of the Church and often times come to hasty conclusions. These experts are pretty knowledgeable and believe it or not, do delve into some of the less glamorous facets of the Church's history. They, like Krakauer, do have an agenda in what they write. Reading what they have to say as well as other accounts from historians outside the Church gives the whole picture and you are left to draw whatever conclusions you'd like. Fairlds.org has some of the most compelling information available on Mormon history, doctrine, and beliefs and the fact that they confront some of the issues that most members of the Church and even the leadership of the Church would rather avoid gives them an added measure of validity in my opinion. Anytime you see something that stabs at Mormonism, they have something to say about it - like it or not!