Talk:Danite

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Information about the Danites that came out at Avard's court appearance must be a matter of public record. Characteristically, we hear that "Some have argued Avard's testimony was oportunist and his testimony was false" but we don't hear what Avard testified. To the cautious reader, this says as much about the Mormons as anything else in this extremely cautious article. Wetman 09:21, 18 Jan 2004 (UTC)

Good call, I'll add in the information - however, there's not a lot there. -Visorstuff 17:33, 19 Jan 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Excerpt from History of the Church

BoNoMoJo, I think that Smith's condemnation is integral to a NPOV article, but now the article is a lengthy excerpt of Smith himself writting. I think that only the most powerful statements should be quoted from the history, probably, "When a knowledge of Avard's rascality came to the Presidency of the Church, he was cut off from the Church, and every means proper used to destroy his influence, at which he was highly incensed and went about whispering his evil insinuations, but finding every effort unavailing, he again turned conspirator, and sought to make friends with the mob."

A lot of the rest can be dealt with in a quick paraphrase. "Joseph Smith condemned Avard in the official History of the Church, and claims the ill-concieved group disappeared almost as soon as it came into being, ect, ect." This is especially sensible because much of the material in the passage doesn't relate to Smith's condemnation. The first few paragraphs instead give background speculations of why Avard might have had this dangerous idea, something that can be elaborated on without quoting Smith. CHL 02:56, 23 Jun 2004 (UTC)

I agree. I just haven't put time to it yet. Have at it if you'd like. —B|Talk 13:27, 23 Jun 2004 (UTC)

Although Orson Hyde signed the affidavit regarding the Danites on October 24, 1848 after becoming disaffected from the church, by June 27, 1849 he had repudiated the affidavit and rejoined the church.

[edit] Expanding

As part of my general upgrade to Mormon War and related articles, I'm going to be expanding this article. I've attended a panel discussion between the leading scholars on Danites --- Bill Hartley, Steven LeSueur, Alex Baugh and D. Michael Quinn --- I'm going to outline points of agreement and dispute among them. Give me a sec, while I'm working on this. Thanks. --John Hamer 16:53, 11 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Ok, that was a bunch of work. --John Hamer 02:27, 12 Jun 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Poor Changes

I'm sorry to return to see a mass of biased changes to this article. The tone of the apologetic changes is set with the reference: "(For more information and discussion on the Danites (and comparison of the different historical accounts' integrity), see Jeff Lindsay's analysis." Jeff Lindsay is not a historian; he is an amateur apologist whose work is extremely biased.

I can list the rest of the errors at length, but overall, I'd propose that we revert this article to its Sept. 2005 state. --John Hamer 03:24, 14 February 2006 (UTC)

The article is full of POV. A revert or major revision is definitely in order. Mapache 02:59, 13 September 2006 (UTC)