Thursday, February 20, 2014

#925: Wayne May


Wayne May used to run the website ancientamerican.com, which seems to be down at the moment (there is a blurb for it here), though he may still be operating a magazine by the same name (really a Mormon rag) and has indeed written a number of books. May defends a hypothesis that really must count as capturing the quintessence of all things loon, the claim that really makes for the perfectly idiot wingnut lunacy. Wayne May argues that:

Jesus was really American.

That is, Jesus did start out in Galilee; but of course, Galilee wasn’t really the place for Jesus to spread his wings and fulfill his potential. So he set for America and ended up in Michigan (it is unclear whether he visited anywhere else in America, however).

Ok, so his whole thing is really a defense of Mormonism, since at least the crazier segments of Mormons tend to believe these kinds of things. But still. And May’s efforts are directed toward showing how “thousands of Native American archeological sites support the Book of Mormon” because of “parallels between two distinct ancient cultures of North America” that “match them with the Jaredites and the Nephites.” It is of course absolute garbage pseudoarchaeology (discussed by a sympathetic commentator here), but still.

Diagnosis: Just fabulous. We should be grateful that there are people like Wayne May out there, even though what he confuses for reality is rather far removed from anything resembling it, to the extent that one must wonders to what extent he is really able to navigate the more mundane challenges of everyday life.

1 comment:

  1. "Jesus was really an American?"
    Come on!
    We all know Jesus Christ was a Jew. The Old Testament, New Testament, the Romans, even the wise men from the East called him the King of the Jews.
    But he did tell his Apostles and disciples: "Other sheep I have which are not of this fold." (John 10:16)
    Who and what was Jesus talking about? This was probably a month before he was crucified. So who was he talking about?
    Even if Jesus did have followers from other lands, other than Palestine, I believe he has the power and ability to show himself to whoever he wants too.
    But that doesn't make him a resident of that land. I don't believe Wayne May make such a statement. If he did please provide the document or article with that statement. As an Archeologist he can't make that claim, without proof. His only source is the Book of Mormon and the time lines provided by other Archeologists. But he still leaves it up to you to decide for yourself to believe in his findings, and the findings of his colleagues.
    But if you read in the Book of Mormon, Christ's visit was about a week long, and a day at a time. He didn't eat, drink or sleep with the Nephites, so not really enough time to claim residency.
    Just because May has an hypothesis stating Christ was here, on the North American Continent, doesn't mean he's crazy or he doesn't have a valid argument. The best way to prove a crazy wrong, is to prove your sanity by studying what they believe in. Prove you're not crazy yourself.

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