SALT LAKE CITY -- The world's largest association of professional anthropologists delved into the academic side of Mormon culture and history this week examining, among other things, the troubles corroborating archaeology with Book of Mormon geography, the struggle of gay missionaries and historical amnesia about the Mountain Meadows Massacre.
The scholarly studies were presented in Washington, D.C., at the annual meeting of the American Anthropological Association in what was believed to be the first session on Mormonism and anthropology in the organization's 100-year history.
The session organizer, David Knowlton, a visiting professor at the University of Utah, told fellow anthropologists that rapid membership growth in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints makes Mormonism a critical area for inquiry.
"All one has to do is listen to the general conference of the church to hear the confidence, the aplomb, the assurance with which the church presents itself to the world," he said. "They occupy and dominate an entire region of the United States in a way no other denomination does."
The church has not traditionally encouraged secular scientific critiques, said University of Maryland anthropologist Mark Leone, author of the 1979 book, "Roots of Modern Mormonism."
Church spokesman Dale Bills provided a written comment for the Associated Press on Saturday that said the church did welcome "honest and balanced inquiry into its history, doctrine and practices."
But, "any inquiry that ignores the central and powerful role of faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ ... is incomplete."
At the session about 400 presentations were available to 4,000 professional practitioners of anthropology.
Titles included "Active Cognition in Bartending" and "Hidden Bodies: Concealing Female Victims of Homicide."