is there a place for heavenly mother in mormon theology?

S U N S T O N E
Sullivan, which address was followed by a brief talk by
Helen Keller herself. I feel there is no exaggeration in this
statement that Helen Keller is in many respects one of the
most interesting personalities upon this planet. She became
totally blind and deaf when but nineteen months
old, and was taken in charge by the teacher, who has
made both the pupil and herself famous, when Helen
was about six years old. The mind of this blind, deaf, and
dumb child has been developed so that now she is in
touch with the world through the medium of raised type
for the blind and manual alphabet for the deaf. In answering
questions from members of the audience, which
questions were repeated to her by her teacher while she
held her hand with fingers on the throat, lips and nose
showed her unusual quickness of perception and her
mental grasp. While her speech is of necessity somewhat
mechanical she is exact and in all she says, as also indeed
in her writings, one does not find an ungrammatical sentence.
The quickening and fine development of some
senses through the suppression of others was well illustrated
in her recognition of the vibrations incident to applause
by the audience. At every outburst she ceased to
speak and awaited until silence had again resumed; and
in answer as to how she knew of the applause of the assembly
she stated that she could feel the vibrations
through her feet.
Among the great lessons to be learned from this case
not the least perhaps is this: That the mind can be lifted
even from the depths of darkness, but an external saving
power is requisite. To Helen Keller her teacher stands as a
savior much as the Savior of all men stands to the race.
Without the up-lift of His ministry and redeeming
sacrifice man would ever have remained in the darkness
of sin.
JAMES P. HARRIS
Saugerties, New York
Cybersaints
KOLOB’S DOMINION
OF DESERET
CYBERSPACE: THE NEXT FRONTIER. These are the voyages of
NetMo, whose continuing mission is to explore strange new worlds;
to seek out new life in which the seeds of Mormonism have born fascinating
fruit; to boldly go where no cybersaint has gone before.
TO THE ATTENTIVE AND DEDICATED CYBERSAINT,
the Internet reveals the myriad of ways in which
Mormonism has influenced American culture—
ranging from the beautiful to the bizarre. Nowhere is the latter
more in evidence than at http://business.gorge.net/
zdkf/kufol/kol-ran.html. This website advances the belief that
alien beings from the planet Kolob invaded the earth some
time ago to become the aboriginal Ainu of Japan. These are the
RANI (Resident Alien Nation Invasion), and in various other incarnations,
the RANI have been trying to conquer earth ever
since. As the Axis Powers of World War II, they came closer to
succeeding than they ever had before. And today they are
making one last attempt at world domination through the
Mormon Church, otherwise known as Kolob’s Dominion of
Deseret.
Mix Star Trek with Plan 10 from Outer Space. Stir in a cup of
evangelistic Pentecostalism. Add a dash of Danites. Shake liberally,
and you will have just a glimpse into the mind of one
David Shaddox, creator of the labyrinthine ZDK Foundation
website, the mirror of which can be found at
http://veldantia.com. Veldantia is, apparently, a Viking word
best translated as “The Kingdom of the Viking Princess.” With
these two websites, Mr. Shaddox represents himself as at the
head of a large organization dedicated to gathering the children
of Abraham from the ends of the earth in preparation for
the human colonization of outerspace.
With identical graphical links being used to take you to
completely different pages, navigating both websites is a bit
like stepping through the looking glass. Given the multitude of
names that may or may not be synonyms, and Mr. Shaddox’s
penchant for acronyms, the content of the twin website is
mind-numbingly confusing. Don’t dally too long trying to
clear up your confusion. It is a fool’s errand.
Having spoken liberally of such things as Kolob and
Danites, I wondered what connection Mr. Shaddox might have
with Mormon theology. On the Veldantia FAQ (Frequently
Asked Questions) page, I found strongly worded assertions
that “they” were neither Mormons nor even “secret Mormons.”
Veldantia, it said, denies membership to any and all “cultists
and lodge members.”
So, I wondered if Mr. Shaddox might not be a fringe
member of anti-Mormon Evangelism. I communicated
through email with a person who may or may not have been
David Shaddox and asked a few questions about his background.
Before answering my questions, the respondent demanded
that I prove my identity by mailing him a letter of introduction
from SUNSTONE and a hard copy of some picture
ID. He ignored my request that he send his bona fides as well
and then countered with the implication that I was an agent of
some nefarious government conspiracy. Hoping to soothe his
paranoia, I directed him to the Sunstone website. He soon responded
with the demand that I delete his emails from my
computer and with the advice that I watch out for Danites. But
this he did only after asking how many of my wives were
RANI.
I have come to realize that by merely typing the word
“Kolob” into an Internet search engine, I had traveled into another
dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound, but
of mind. A journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries
are that of imagination. My next stop. . . .
NETMO
Third Moon, Oliblish
[If you have a suggestion for NetMo’s next cyberdestination,
please direct it to netmo@neatniks.com]
JULY 2004 PAGE 7