Posted on 07/20/2008 9:36:13 PM PDT by Graybeard58
Mormons focus on accessible, social aspects of their religion. Although the Mormon system of doctrine is genuinely attractive to many of its members, many have argued that the primary "glue" of Mormonism is the heritage, culture, and family ties, not the doctrine and theology.
In other words, the typical allegiance to the Mormon organization primarily stems from something other than doctrinal concerns. The average Mormon sitting in a pew does not care how or why their religion works, they only care that it works for them.
They are not concerned with the real character of Joseph Smith or how the LDS scriptures coincide with biblical teachings. A common element often overlooked when Christians share their faith with Latter-day Saints is that many Mormons are not Mormon merely for doctrinal reasons. This view of not being concerned with theology is considered to be atheological. If a person does not care about their theology, they miss the importance of rooting their entire life in the true knowledge of God and a coherent, rational, theological worldview.
A person's relationship with God is built on the foundation of what one believes about God and what it means to be right with God. This is the most important determining factor in shaping the way a person lives.
An atheological person does not seriously reflect on their own foundational worldview assumptions (e.g., what is truth, who is God, does this matter?), nor do they see how doing so would be relevant to everyday life.
South Park, a fictional, satirical cartoon, depicted a Mormon named "Gary" with the following words:
"Look, maybe us Mormons do believe in crazy stories that make absolutely no sense. And maybe Joseph Smith did make it all up. But I have a great life and a great family and I have the Book of Mormon to thank for that. The truth is, I don’t care if Joseph Smith made it all up. Because what the church teaches now is loving your family, being nice and helping people. And even though people in this town might think that’s stupid, I still choose to believe in it."
Grey Echols, a Mormon, writes the following in a review of By His Own Hand Upon Papyrus:
"This is a well written book which manages to not push an 'anti-Mormon' agenda. However as an LDS I do not think others should read it. Why? Because it could destroy your faith in the church. I am not trying to be clever. If you enjoy all of the good things the church has brought into your life, do you care where it came from?
No other church has so short a history that it can be examined so closely by science. Otherwise we would find that they are all created on the backs of con-artist. I am willing to bet every religion was founded by a fraud. So who cares. Does religion bring us together? Does it bond a nation, a town, a family? If so then let it be.
The truth is fleeting, and life is short. If believing in Santa makes children smile then believing in God makes adults smile. When children find out Santa isn't real, you kill a certain spark you can never get back. When you expose a church as a fraud, you kill a little spark in all of us."
F - since the facts are presented a few posts prior to this, the internal and external contradictions between the two are sharp. Smith's accounts make the two events separate yet the same - that is the nature of the contradictons in his story.
The hard facts are that the mormon church is the one doing the misleading. They had buried in the vaults the 1832 diary and it was revealed by accident by a mormon scholar researching the first vision accounts. How come the 1832 account by smith's own hand didn't become the 'official' one. Since they didn't use it, but another version writen by a scribe - who's misleading who on purpose?
Given the number of mis-representations posted in this thread, I have opened a new post with answers to the many criticism.
forgot the link.
First Vision accounts (of Joseph Smith)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/religion/2050682/posts?page=1
Once upon a time, there were three little apologists nd their names were Pinky, Pokey and El Lardo. The three little apologists lived in a tiny hovel in the shadow of Y mountain, and they made their living by thinking up new excuses.
“North could really mean west”, said Pinky.
“The word sword may refer to a club”, said Pokey.
“I think people used to ride tapirs”, said El Lardo. “I would love to ride a tapir some day!”
Every day the three apologists would come up with excuses which they would share with the local villagers.
“It’s not a lie if you try really hard to believe it”, said Pinky.
“True knowledge comes from what you feel inside. Evidence isn’t important”, said Pokey.
“My work *is* peer-reviewed”, said El Lardo. “Pinky and Pokey are my only peers and they review everything.”
The local villagers loved the excuses that the three little apologists made up, and would buy their books and proudly display them on bookshelves. The villagers usually didn’t read the books, because it was only important that they knew that the excuses were there. Whenever an outsider would come into the village telling strange tales, the villagers would all cry with one voice, “You’re lying! Our three little apologists have proved that you are wrong. You can read it in one of those books on that shelf.”
One day, a honcho from Capital City, to the north, came to visit the three little apologists. “You must do something about our greatest enemy: the world calls him ‘Reality’, but we know him by his true name of ‘Antimormonet’. Many of our people have been beguiled by his words and are leaving their villages. You must stop him!”
“We can stop Antimormonet!”, said Pinky.
“No one can beat our excuses!”, said Pokey.
“We are the world’s best apologists”, said El Lardo. “We will squash Antimormonet flat as a pancake!”
As the three little apologists sat around a table in their hovel, thinking up great excuses, Pinky had an idea.
“Wait here. I’ve got an idea!”, said Pinky, and he rushed off to the workshop. Pokey and El Lardo began to hear strange noises coming from there.
They heard rustling noises. [rustle, rustle, rustle]
They heard scratching noises. [scratchy, scratchy, scratch]
And they heard banging noises. [bangity, bangity, bang]
Just as Pokey and El Lardo were starting to get worried, Pinky opened the doors of the workshop and called out to the entire village, “Behold, here is Antimormonet. I will destroy him.” All the villagers gathered around and admired the giant figure made of straw which they saw before them.
“Get him!”, shouted the villagers.
“Destroy Antimormonet!”, cried Pokey.
“Beat the stuffing out of him!”, yelled El Lardo. “Let’s see that straw fly!”
So Pinky grabbed a rod of iron and beat the straw figure with it, all the while calling out excuses:
“He was only speaking as a man!”, cried Pinky as he lopped off the figure’s arms.
“There could be two hills with the same name!”, yelled Pinky as he stabbed the figure in the gut.
“Nobody understands Egyptian anyway!”, Pinky shouted. And with a final blow, the figure was smashed and the straw blew away with the wind.
“Hurray!”, cried the villagers. “We are saved from the evil Antimormonet!” Pokey and El Lardo congratulated Pinky on a job well done, and the three little apologists retired smugly to their hovel.
The next day the honcho came back with bad news. “Antimormonet is back and still poisoning the minds of our villagers with his evil Reality. Do something!”
Pokey said, “I’ll take care of this”, and he ran off to the workshop. Pinky and El Lardo began to hear strange noises coming from there.
They heard clattering noise. [clatter, clatter, clatter]
They heard scraping noises. [scrapy, scrapy, scrape]
And they heard cracking noises. [crackity, crackity, crack]
Just as Pinky and El Lardo were starting to get worried, Pokey opened the doors of the workshop and called out to the entire village, “Behold, here is Antimormonet. I will destroy him.” All the villagers gathered around and admired the giant figure made of sticks which they saw before them.
“Get him!”, shouted the villagers.
“Crush Antimormonet!”, cried Pinky.
“Break his back!”, yelled El Lardo. “Let’s see those sticks splinter!”
So Pokey grabbed the rod of iron and beat the stick figure with it, all the while calling out excuses:
“This stella has a representation of the Tree of Life!”, cried Pokey as you crushed the figure’s feet.
“Everything took place in a limited geography!”, yelled Pokey as he split the figure’s head in two.
“Look at all the chiasmus!”, Pokey shouted. And with a final blow, the figure was smashed and the splinters and pieces of stick were scattered by the wind.
“Hurray!”, cried the villagers. “We are saved again from the evil Antimormonet!” Pinky and El Lardo congratulated Pokey on a job well done, and the three little apologists retired smugly to their hovel.
The next day the honcho came back with even more bad news. “Antimormonet is back again. You must stop him from spreading the horrors of Reality!”
El Lardo stepped forward and said, “I’ll take care of this, once and for all”, and he ran off to the workshop. Pinky and Pokey began to hear strange noises coming from there.
They heard spattering noise. [spatter, spatter, spatter]
They heard slippery noises. [slippy, slippy, slip]
And they heard squishy noises. [squishy, squishy, squish]
Just as Pinky and Pokey were starting to get worried, El Lardo opened the doors of the workshop and called out to the entire village, “Behold, here is Antimormonet. I will destroy him, now and forever.” All the villagers gathered around and admired the giant figure made of manure which they saw before them.
“Oh, he stinks!”, shouted the villagers.
“Kill Antimormonet!”, cried Pinky.
“Splatter him to the four winds!”, yelled Pokey.
So El Lardo grabbed the rod of iron and beat the manure figure with it, all the while calling out excuses:
“We found an inscription that says Nahom!”, cried El Lardo as he battered the figure’s torso. “That couldn’t have been known in the 19th century!”
“Standardized weights of precious metal used for commercial exchange aren’t necessarily coins!”, yelled El Lardo as he bludgeoned the figure’s back. “And anyway, there might be coins that we just haven’t found yet.”
“You can’t prove that it *didn’t* happen!”, El Lardo shouted. “So there!” And he took a mighty swing and the figure of manure collapsed into a heap.
“Hurray!”, cried the villagers. Then they started sniffing. “But wait”, they said. “It still stinks.”
“I’m not finished yet”, said El Lardo. “Everyone plug your nose.”
And the villagers all did as he commanded. “Hurray!”, they cried. “We can’t smell him any more. But we can still see the pile of manure.”
“I’m not finished yet”, said El Lardo. “Everyone shut your eyes.”
And the villagers did as he commanded. “Hurray!”, they cried. “We can’t see him any more. But it’s possible that we could still hear his horrible lies.”
“I’m not finished yet”, said El Lardo. “Everyone shout ‘La! La! La!’ at the top of your lungs.”
And the villagers all did as he commanded. “La! La! La! Hurray!”, they cried. “We can’t hear him any more. La! La! La! We will never again be bothered by Reality. La! La! La!”
Pinky and Pokey congratulated El Lardo on a job well done, and as the three little apologists retired toward their hovel, they were met by the honcho from Capital City.
“We are forever grateful to you, El Lardo, for destroying Antimormonet, for freeing us from the tyranny of Reality. As a reward, we will grant you your fondest wish.” And the honcho opened a crate, and out came the most beautiful tapir that El Lardo had ever seen.
“I get to ride a tapir!”, exclaimed El Lardo. “I finally get my fondest wish!”
And as the sun slowly set, turning Y mountain beautiful colors, the air was filled with the babble of a thousand villagers shouting, “La! La! La!”, puctuated by the agonized shrieks of a crushed tapir.
Reality check.
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