well, I got to tell you, after reading your breakdown review of the frequent posters here, yes there are two sides....
one side looking at all scenarios and one side looking at only ones that make the Smart's look good
somehow people have got the Smart's mixed up with the credibility of the LDS church...as if the church's honor would be disparaged if the Smart's are accused of anything....I guess acccusing Angela or Rick or any of the other numerous Mormons in that trailer park is A-OKAY because they are low class....
the Smart's DO NOT equal the LDS church....
furthermore, if you had read any of the tributes given Ricci and Angela, or if you read any other sites on crime then you know there are plenty of people, LDS included that don't necessarily believe the "RickRicci/all the time" program....they are open to all views and possibilites...
But you Devil...you even are questioning the integrity of one of the Utah DA's....basically accusing him of being a LDS hater....
tell me....does everyone have to be LDS to have any credibility in your book....the book you started as of Sept 5th?
I agree with you on this.
I have never been without some suspicion of the family. Furthermore, it is possible to suspect that it was someone in the family, AND to also suspect Richard Ricci. That is how I have felt for a large part of the last 3 months or so. That is why I have said I wish I knew more about Ed Smart's relationship with Ricci. In my mind, I have really not ruled out some member of the family--or Ricci, or one of his associates, or some person that none of us have heard of.
Yes, Angela is reportedly a Mormon; I heard that Rick was brought up Catholic. Since I believe that he continued to commit crimes from time to time, I could hardly consider him a practitioner of any of the religions I have heard of--since they generally advocate honesty, and certainly do not officially approve of criminal activity. (No, religious institutions are not perfect.)
I often read other forums, and some of the posters I consider friends on one other forum in particular, are advocates for Ricci. They try to be fair about this, and it is obvious that they try to retain some objectivity. They do not seem to have an unrealistic view of what Ricci was.
I'm sorry to say that I feel nothing but contempt for Angela and Rick--except that I do feel sympathy for Rick having died at a comparatively young age, and consider it a sad waste. I have met too many people like Angela and Rick to have any pie-in-the-sky notions about them as noble victims. (I'm not saying that you have such notions.)
I have also met many people who lived similar lifestyles to that of the Smarts--or at least what we know of the Smarts. Frankly, I have found this second group to be more reliable than the people I've known who more closely resembled the Riccis. This is not to say that people in the same "class" as the Smarts are perfect, or that some of them are not doing some very wrong things, and hiding it.
I don't know, really, what that Deputy D.A. thinks of the Mormon church, I just found his remarks to be sort of glib, and I wonder why. I am sure if he has been a Deputy D.A. for any length of time (and I think he has), he has no illusions about any citizen being incapable of crime. Certainly, you can guarantee, he would probably have the same view I have of the Riccis. You won't find many prosecutors who have much liking for people who have criminal records.
I'm sure all members of the LDS church are not perfect; some may be out-and-out criminals, and be hiding it--but I do not believe, OTOH, that the majority of them are a bunch of hypocrites, either.