>>> By the way, if you are prone to think I am some half educated, deceived, fool, you might want to think again. My degrees include physics, aerospace, law (from Harvard) and a PhD. And I have been a fighter pilot for the USAF.
I don’t recall bringing your intelligence, education, commitment or patriotism into question.
Neither do I recall bringing Beck’s intelligence, etc. into question.
My arguments thus far in this thread have been directed at answering the question of why someone who is so intelligent and scrutinizing (discerning) can be deceived by the claims of Mormonism. Basically, my answer was that it is because those claims simply have not been scrutinized. The same could probably be said of you, without calling into question those things you mentioned which certainly qualify you as an intelligent and dedicated patriot.
Faith is a very powerful force of the mind which is capable of overriding reason and logic. It really doesn’t matter how smart someone is... if they want to believe something is true, they are capable of making that choice. The human mind is quite capable of lying to itself and getting away with it to the point of irreproachable belief.
>>> Believe what you will and who you will. I do recommend, however, careful and prayerful study, analysis and searching when it comes to the Book of Mormon. If you sincerely ask, it will probably surprise you how God will answer.
Why do you presume that I havn’t carefully read and analyzed it?
If I am to be surprised by what some inner voice or feeling has to say in response to my prayer for truth, what is the source of that “surprise”? Would it be contradiction with what truth I have received in the past? or would it be revelation of a NEW truth that does not contradict other things that makes it “surprising”?
If the “surprise” has ANYTHING to do with contradiction, is it not reasonable to first question the source of the information?
In this case, where you direct me to prayer, is it proper to assume that any inner voice or feeling is automatically going to come from God Himself?
If it is proper to assume that Only God can speak to our inner being, then what use do we have of the written Word? Could it really be trusted at all? Does it really matter what anything written down actually says if we can interpret it to mean whatever God tells us it means through prayer and meditation? Is not preference and priority then given to our own hearts through prayer OVER the written word of God when it comes to matters of truth?
Conversely, if it is then IMPROPER to assume that only God can speak to our inner being, then at what point do we question “Who we have heard from”?
How do I verify that what I “heard from God in prayer” actually did come from God?
If the purpose of prayer is to discern truth, then how do I know when the answers I get are coming from my own fleshly desires, or from demonic spiritual influence, or actually from God Himself?