As you may have
previously surmised, I am not into rock music. Classical is more my style. So, prior to a
few days ago, if someone had dropped the name Brandon Flowers while conversing
with me, I would have been completely clueless.
Not so today. Although I’ve not listened to him sing, and I cannot name
any of his hit songs, I will now call myself one of Brandon Flowers’ fans. Why?
While on a
concert tour this summer, Brandon was being interviewed on a Norwegian TV show when
the host asked him questions about his Mormon faith. After Brandon responded
with positive remarks about prayer, the Church, etc. the host brought out another
guest, the famous atheist Richard Dawkins. Dawkins, true to form, launched into
an attack on Joseph Smith, whom he called a “charlatan,” and the Book of Mormon,
which he called “an obvious fake.”
It was apparent
that Brandon was surprised by this deliberate and cynically planned ambush. The
goal of the show seemed to be: Let’s humiliate this Mormon guy -- and don't give him a real opportunity to respond.
So, after
Dawkins spewed forth his huge disdain for the Mormon faith (looking directly at
Brandon as he did so), Brandon responded: “The book's been studied and torn apart and looked at — and I am not one of
the professors that have done it — but to call this man a charlatan, I take
offense to it.” He also told Dawkins that he (Dawkins) “needed to do his
research” (on the Church and the Book of Mormon). Dawkins huffed that he had done his research, “obviously.”
Brandon, of course, was absolutely right.
Real scholars who have actually done honest research on the Book of Mormon, undoubtedly would agree that there were tell-tale signs that Dawkins had done no
true research. His argument against the Book of Mormon was a "straw man" argument that would earn Dawkins a C-minus in any college logic class. Dawkins, in fact, is himself the charlatan -- a person who pretends to have expert knowledge or skill that he does not have. He specializes
in sound bites, and he has no real interest in the truth. Obviously!
