Comments on: The Chronicles of Joseph: JS’s Journals in the Ensign http://www.juvenileinstructor.org/the-chronicles-of-joseph-jss-journals-in-the-ensign/ Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:20:29 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: SC Taysom http://www.juvenileinstructor.org/the-chronicles-of-joseph-jss-journals-in-the-ensign/comment-page-1/#comment-3184 SC Taysom Fri, 29 Feb 2008 14:59:11 +0000 http://www.juvenileinstructor.org/the-chronicles-of-joseph-jss-journals-in-the-ensign/#comment-3184 Spencer, I'm sorry to hear about your Dad. We all owe him a professional debt of gratitude for his work. Spencer,
I’m sorry to hear about your Dad. We all owe him a professional debt of gratitude for his work.

]]> By: Spencer Faulring http://www.juvenileinstructor.org/the-chronicles-of-joseph-jss-journals-in-the-ensign/comment-page-1/#comment-3181 Spencer Faulring Fri, 29 Feb 2008 12:42:35 +0000 http://www.juvenileinstructor.org/the-chronicles-of-joseph-jss-journals-in-the-ensign/#comment-3181 Scott Faulring is my dad, and they haven't contacted him on this at all. My dad has been ill for a while. He suffered several strokes and having multi health problems now. The reason he didn't go up to Salt lake City is because BYU was trying to force my dad to give up his private collection of records containing Joseph Smith and others. U of U now owns those records that my dad collected. Scott Faulring is my dad, and they haven’t contacted him on this at all. My dad has been ill for a while. He suffered several strokes and having multi health problems now. The reason he didn’t go up to Salt lake City is because BYU was trying to force my dad to give up his private collection of records containing Joseph Smith and others. U of U now owns those records that my dad collected.

]]> By: Jettboy http://www.juvenileinstructor.org/the-chronicles-of-joseph-jss-journals-in-the-ensign/comment-page-1/#comment-746 Jettboy Sat, 01 Dec 2007 15:35:07 +0000 http://www.juvenileinstructor.org/the-chronicles-of-joseph-jss-journals-in-the-ensign/#comment-746 Ensign lost a lot of interest for me when it stopped printing historical information in the 90s. That seemed to have had an affect on the theological and devotional articles, making them way too basic. I never did understand why they became so few, although I have a hunch it had to do with the "intellectual" battles of that era. The problem with Mormon history is not, as its critics and the exed-bunch apologists believe, that it has a history. Rather, as recent historians Richard Bushman and Terryl Givens have shown, it is how the history is approached. I believe strongly that typical Latter-day Saints can appriciate and not be scandalized by the more complex past. However, that can only happen if the history is presented in a way that is (I won't say the obnoxious and horribly false "objectively") less critical and more informational. Those who oppose such an approach can call it apologia. Fine enough, but all history is apologia. All arguments made are only the creation of the historians putting often desperate material together in a cohesive presentation. I look forward to the renewed emphasis on the history of Mormonism in the Ensign. It is ironic that some of those who started it earlier contributed to its end by politicizing history rather than just researching it. Now, I hope that LDS History can return to what it was in the "golden years" before the ignoble rebellion of a few. Ensign lost a lot of interest for me when it stopped printing historical information in the 90s. That seemed to have had an affect on the theological and devotional articles, making them way too basic. I never did understand why they became so few, although I have a hunch it had to do with the “intellectual” battles of that era.

The problem with Mormon history is not, as its critics and the exed-bunch apologists believe, that it has a history. Rather, as recent historians Richard Bushman and Terryl Givens have shown, it is how the history is approached. I believe strongly that typical Latter-day Saints can appriciate and not be scandalized by the more complex past. However, that can only happen if the history is presented in a way that is (I won’t say the obnoxious and horribly false “objectively”) less critical and more informational. Those who oppose such an approach can call it apologia. Fine enough, but all history is apologia. All arguments made are only the creation of the historians putting often desperate material together in a cohesive presentation.

I look forward to the renewed emphasis on the history of Mormonism in the Ensign. It is ironic that some of those who started it earlier contributed to its end by politicizing history rather than just researching it. Now, I hope that LDS History can return to what it was in the “golden years” before the ignoble rebellion of a few.

]]> By: Left Field http://www.juvenileinstructor.org/the-chronicles-of-joseph-jss-journals-in-the-ensign/comment-page-1/#comment-744 Left Field Sat, 01 Dec 2007 04:43:59 +0000 http://www.juvenileinstructor.org/the-chronicles-of-joseph-jss-journals-in-the-ensign/#comment-744 Back in the late '70s and very early '80s when Lavina Fielding Anderson was with the <em>Ensign</em>, they had some really superb historical articles. The standard practice at the <em>Ensign</em> at the time was to retain original spelling. See for example <a href="http://tinyurl.com/ywz5ys" rel="nofollow">this article</a> that includes the following note: <blockquote>Authors’ original spelling has been retained, following standard historical practice. See reasons for spelling variations in "Nineteenth-Century Spelling", Ensign, Aug. 1975—including uncertain spelling conventions and spelling as an expression of personality. </blockquote> <a href="http://tinyurl.com/yoc8dr" rel="nofollow">Here's an Ensign article</a> on Emma Smith by Valeen Tippetts Avery and Linda King Newell that cites the same note. <a href="http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=9a2461cb2b86b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&hideNav=1" rel="nofollow">Here's the 1975 article</a> on spelling cited in the note. It seems like current articles could maintain original spelling and cite the 1975 article. It may have actually been from the <em>Ensign</em> that I originally learned the historical standard of retaining original spelling. Back in the late ’70s and very early ’80s when Lavina Fielding Anderson was with the Ensign, they had some really superb historical articles. The standard practice at the Ensign at the time was to retain original spelling. See for example this article that includes the following note:

Authors’ original spelling has been retained, following standard historical practice. See reasons for spelling variations in “Nineteenth-Century Spelling”, Ensign, Aug. 1975—including uncertain spelling conventions and spelling as an expression of personality.

Here’s an Ensign article on Emma Smith by Valeen Tippetts Avery and Linda King Newell that cites the same note.

Here’s the 1975 article on spelling cited in the note. It seems like current articles could maintain original spelling and cite the 1975 article.

It may have actually been from the Ensign that I originally learned the historical standard of retaining original spelling.

]]> By: Ray http://www.juvenileinstructor.org/the-chronicles-of-joseph-jss-journals-in-the-ensign/comment-page-1/#comment-743 Ray Fri, 30 Nov 2007 22:26:41 +0000 http://www.juvenileinstructor.org/the-chronicles-of-joseph-jss-journals-in-the-ensign/#comment-743 Amen to the applause - and to Eric's #6. It was exactly what I wanted to say, but worded much better than I would have done. Amen to the applause – and to Eric’s #6. It was exactly what I wanted to say, but worded much better than I would have done.

]]> By: Alex http://www.juvenileinstructor.org/the-chronicles-of-joseph-jss-journals-in-the-ensign/comment-page-1/#comment-742 Alex Fri, 30 Nov 2007 21:29:33 +0000 http://www.juvenileinstructor.org/the-chronicles-of-joseph-jss-journals-in-the-ensign/#comment-742 Oh, and another comment: Please look at Marlin Jensen's article directly before the JS Journal article. The idea of introducing more historical articles in the Ensign is chiefly his idea, and as mentioned above, should be applauded. Oh, and another comment: Please look at Marlin Jensen’s article directly before the JS Journal article. The idea of introducing more historical articles in the Ensign is chiefly his idea, and as mentioned above, should be applauded.

]]> By: Alex http://www.juvenileinstructor.org/the-chronicles-of-joseph-jss-journals-in-the-ensign/comment-page-1/#comment-741 Alex Fri, 30 Nov 2007 21:26:25 +0000 http://www.juvenileinstructor.org/the-chronicles-of-joseph-jss-journals-in-the-ensign/#comment-741 Eric, Many thanks for a well-worded response. Your experience with professional editing for a truly international audience is very much appreciated. Dave, thanks for the kind comments. Eric, Many thanks for a well-worded response. Your experience with professional editing for a truly international audience is very much appreciated. Dave, thanks for the kind comments.

]]> By: Jared http://www.juvenileinstructor.org/the-chronicles-of-joseph-jss-journals-in-the-ensign/comment-page-1/#comment-740 Jared Fri, 30 Nov 2007 20:38:10 +0000 http://www.juvenileinstructor.org/the-chronicles-of-joseph-jss-journals-in-the-ensign/#comment-740 #3 My understanding is that Scott Faulring has been ill for quite some time and has not been actively participating in any of this. I also understand that he was not invited to join the crew that moved up to the COB when the Smith Institute was disbanded, so he was probably out of the loop on the Papers after that. I understand he had a job involving technology before he fell ill. #6, Good points about translating material, as pointed out above, given the venue... #3 My understanding is that Scott Faulring has been ill for quite some time and has not been actively participating in any of this. I also understand that he was not invited to join the crew that moved up to the COB when the Smith Institute was disbanded, so he was probably out of the loop on the Papers after that. I understand he had a job involving technology before he fell ill.

#6, Good points about translating material, as pointed out above, given the venue…

]]> By: Eric http://www.juvenileinstructor.org/the-chronicles-of-joseph-jss-journals-in-the-ensign/comment-page-1/#comment-739 Eric Fri, 30 Nov 2007 20:15:13 +0000 http://www.juvenileinstructor.org/the-chronicles-of-joseph-jss-journals-in-the-ensign/#comment-739 Before anyone gets too fired up at the <em>Ensign</em> for modernizing quotations, keep in mind that the very same <em>Ensign</em> article in English was also published this month in the <em>Liahona</em> in numerous languages, where all the spelling, punctuation, grammar, and other errors and idiosyncracies disappear anyway in translation. How would you translate a misspelled word or ungrammatical construction into another language? You couldn't without taking great poetic license--doing so would create a strange version that was even more removed from the original than the cleaned-up English version is removed from the original English version. You might argue, then, that the <em>Ensign</em> should get all the raw, original language, with cleaned-up versions allowed in translation in the <em>Liahona.</em> But keep in mind also that the whole point of the new "correlated" magazine concept is that members across the world are getting much of the same content month after month (identical articles in the <em>Liahona</em> as in the three English magazines)--with no one language preferred over another. With this in mind and given that the audience of the church magazine is a lay, not scholarly, audience and that the magazines are primarily devotional in purpose, I think the decision to modernize spelling and other features is completely defensible in church magazines and most other church materials, so long as it is noted. Before anyone gets too fired up at the Ensign for modernizing quotations, keep in mind that the very same Ensign article in English was also published this month in the Liahona in numerous languages, where all the spelling, punctuation, grammar, and other errors and idiosyncracies disappear anyway in translation. How would you translate a misspelled word or ungrammatical construction into another language? You couldn’t without taking great poetic license–doing so would create a strange version that was even more removed from the original than the cleaned-up English version is removed from the original English version. You might argue, then, that the Ensign should get all the raw, original language, with cleaned-up versions allowed in translation in the Liahona. But keep in mind also that the whole point of the new “correlated” magazine concept is that members across the world are getting much of the same content month after month (identical articles in the Liahona as in the three English magazines)–with no one language preferred over another. With this in mind and given that the audience of the church magazine is a lay, not scholarly, audience and that the magazines are primarily devotional in purpose, I think the decision to modernize spelling and other features is completely defensible in church magazines and most other church materials, so long as it is noted.

]]> By: David Grua http://www.juvenileinstructor.org/the-chronicles-of-joseph-jss-journals-in-the-ensign/comment-page-1/#comment-738 David Grua Fri, 30 Nov 2007 20:11:05 +0000 http://www.juvenileinstructor.org/the-chronicles-of-joseph-jss-journals-in-the-ensign/#comment-738 The normal length for an <em>Ensign</em> article is four pages, so the fact that Mark and Alex got six pages is exceptional. The normal length for an Ensign article is four pages, so the fact that Mark and Alex got six pages is exceptional.

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