Talk:Morianton's maidservant

'Spy' and general reliability of the source(s)
Is Mormon pious/devotional literature such as 'The Book of Mormon for the Least of These' really a reliable source? In this case, its analysis seems rather outlandish, especially when it comes to the description of the character as a 'spy'. In normal English usage as I know it, just defecting from one side to another and disclosing to the enemy the information that you possess because of your previous allegiance doesn't make you 'a spy'. A spy would be someone who actively infiltrates the opposite side in order to obtain information. For people to be able to reasonably say that she 'became a spy', she would have to sneak back into her former camp at least once, risking her life in order to gather more information there. That would also really be 'brave'; just escaping when you are mistreated seems, well, not all that exceptional, and telling on your former companions once you have joined the enemy doesn't require any particular 'bravery' at all. This looks like Mormon priests/missionaries finding new, 'fresh' fashionable, 'feminist/progressive' ways to praise the 'righteous' characters in their scripture. Naturally, it doesn't make sense, as religious propaganda generally doesn't. Maybe it's hard to find sources on Mormonism that aren't Mormon, but the source should be making at least some attempt at scholarly objectivity. 62.73.69.121 (talk) 22:16, 28 March 2024 (UTC)


 * a reliable source? Writing for Religion News Service, Jana Riess, who has a PhD in American religious history from Columbia University, called The Book of Mormon for the Least of These cutting-edge Book of Mormon Studies.
 * just escaping when you are mistreated seems, well, not all that exceptional This understates the effect of domestic violence and the phenomenon of women staying in violent situations because they feel trapped and fear what will happen if they leave (and lose the costly 'stability' they have with their abusers). It seems reasonable that the authors regarded the maidservant as a brave character for escaping this violence. Injecting our own interpretations into the article, rather than summarizing interpretations from secondary sources, seems like it would be original research.
 * This looks like Mormon priests/missionaries The authors aren’t Mormon priests or missionaries. The Reverend Fatimah Salleh is Baptist. Margaret Olsen Hemming is a Latter-day Saint from what I gather, but she is not a priest for the denomination, which does not ordain women to its formal priestly ecclesiastical leadership positions (like bishop, elder, etc.). Hydrangeans (she/her &#124; talk &#124; edits) 00:42, 29 March 2024 (UTC)