postulate, verb (used with object)
1. to ask, demand, or claim.
2. to claim or assume the existence or truth of, especially as a basis for reasoning or arguing.
3. to assume without proof, or as self-evident; take for granted.
4. Mathematics, Logic . to assume as a postulate.
Examples of postulates (per Euclid)
1. A straight line segment can be drawn joining any two points.
2. Any straight line segment can be extended indefinitely, to form a straight line.
3. Given any straight line segment, a circle can be drawn having the segment as radius and one endpoint as center.
4. All right angles are congruent.
Euclid’s 5th postulate does start with “if” and was identified by the ancients as different from the others, in need of proof. Of course without it, you get perfectly valid, but non-Euclidean geometries.
I don’t assert that the Mormons are right. My Pratt ancestors had enough contact with Joseph Smith Jr. the convicted fraud, that I am pretty sure they are not.
Still, their use of your or my ancestors’ name in a ritual demanded by their deluded cult doesn’t harm anyone. Put your fingers in your ears and say “na na na”. If they write it in a book, don’t read their book. If it is on television, turn it off or change the channel. Be a grownup.
Now if I was a cult leader, I would want to be a cult leader of a good and inoffensive people. I would make up harmless and inexpensive rituals, stating that the divine powers provided jam yesterday, and would provide jam tomorrow, but would hold as an article of faith that jam should not be expected today. Just as I would offer the blessings of the divine to my followers, in exchange for their tithes, I would suggest that my followers could feel generous if they engaged in rituals that delivered the blessings of the divine to others. And who could prove me wrong?
If I was a fraud, that is what I would do. Of course as a fraud, any true G-d would condemn me, and perhaps the more self aware of those of my followers.
Hey. If you have polluted water come into your neighborhood pipes -- and most of the neighbors know that it's not "A1" grade (or worse), anyway...
Hey. Be a "grownup." Just turn off the faucets & go buy bottled water.
When you think of anybody else drinking that pipe water in your neighborhood...put your fingers in your minds' "ears" and say "na-na-na."
If your neighbor offers you some of that pipe water when you visit with them, don't take the offer.
[And there thine responsibility hath concluded...after all...most of them drink that pipe water with their eyes semi-opened...would they not?]
[Oh, yeah...many of those neighborhood households full of polluted water hath kids daily watering, showering, cooking and drinking that stuff...wouldn't they?]
Oh, well. After all..."neighbors" are kinda tough to define, anyway...