Chiasmus

Chiasmus is an ancient linguistic pattern that exhibits inverted parallelism, where the first clause is the same as the last, and the second clause is the same as the next to last, and so on. If numbers represent a word or phrase, chiasmus would look like this: 1 2 3 4 4 3 2 1. This sort of thing was common in poetry in the ancient Middle East. For example, in Genesis we read:

Whoever sheds the blood of man,
by man shall his blood be shed.

Similar examples are found in the Book of Mormon, and this has often been used by "scholars" to argue that the Book of Mormon was written by ancient Hebrews, as is believed by most Mormons.

Maybe someone out there watched the PBS documentary on Mormons. The show had mixed reviews from Mormons and non-Mormons alike. That's a sign of a good documentary. I highly recommend it.

While perusing letters to the editor of the Deseret News, a friend and I noticed distinct linguistic patterns indicating that some of the letters were actually written by ancient hebrews.

A letter from Shawna to the Deseret News:

"As an active member of the LDS Church, I was disappointed in the documentary, "The Mormons" that aired on PBS. I felt it was way too negative and relied on too many interviews from former members whose views were definitely tainted, and possibly inaccurate. The interviews represented ONE person's experience and did not accurately represent the whole church. I don't feel that it represented the church well at all. It was not balanced and dwelt on too many negative issues, when there is so much good. People who don't know anything about our faith who watched this show will definitely come away with a narrow, negative view. What a shame! — Shawna, California"

MormonMudphud's analysis:

(1) As an active member of the LDS CHURCH, I was disappointed in THE DOCUMENTARY, "The Mormons" that aired on PBS.

(2) I felt it was way TOO NEGATIVE and relied on too many interviews from former members whose views were definitely tainted, and possibly inaccurate.

(3) The interviews REPRESENTED ONE person's experience and did not accurately represent the whole church.

(3') I don't feel that it REPRESENTED the church well at all.

(2') It was not balanced and dwelt on TOO many NEGATIVE issues, when there is so much good.

(1') People who don't know anything about OUR FAITH who watched THIS SHOW will definitely come away with a narrow, negative view.

Therefore, Shawna in California is probably an ancient Hebrew.

I say this only because I think many of us Mormons are intellectually dishonest, and that's sad. It's OK to be realistic and still be a Mormon. Shawna probably isn't an ancient Hebrew, and for all we know, Shawna (or one of her ancestors) could be responsible for Book of Mormon chiasmus.

It sort of ticks me off that I had to attend lectures on fake chiasmus at BYU to get my diploma. On the other hand, it's fun to consider why some (or all?) humans have a natural tendency to write with chiasmus.