Seven Sub-Topical Samples Proving Mormonism's Occultic Origins [The OTHER WORLD Series]

The so-called 'premortal' world Mormons claim they had as alien spirits on a distant planet, supposedly located near the star they call "Kolob":

"Before the foundations of this earth were laid, WE were ALL in the presence of the Father as spiritual children. Lucifer was one of us..." (Joseph Fielding Smith, Jr., Religious Truths Defined: A comparison of Religious Faiths with the Restored Gospel, Bookcraft, Salt Lake City, p. 67, 1959/1962)

2. Per a Mormon Seminary and Institute teacher in Salt Lake City, the so-called 'First Vision' of unnamed entities who appeared to the lad, Joseph Smith, a mere age 14, 'came AFTER his being seized and overcome for a time by Satan. The attack was a powerful one.'

Mormon seminary/institute instructor John K. Challis contributed a chapter to a Salt Lake City published book in 1993 (Aspen Books; title: Riches of Eternity). Challis' chapter title was: "The Reality of Satan." Allow me to quote directly from Challis (pp. 37-38 of book), who himself highlighted the word "after" in the following excerpt:

'Attack of a powerful 'unseen' being...Joseph spoke of a thick darkness'

"In two of the four published recitals of the First Vision (the 1835 account and the 1838 account, which is now JS-H:1:5-20), the attack of a powerful 'unseen' being is recorded... His glorious theophany came AFTER his being seized and overcome for a time by Satan. The attack was a powerful one. Joseph said in 1835 that my toung [sic] seemed to be swolen [sic] in my mouth, so that I could not utter, I heard a noise behind me like some person walking towards me, I strove again to pray, but could not, the noise of walking seemed to draw nearer, I suprung up on my feet,...and looked around, but saw no person or thing."

The citation of what Smith reported was footnoted as coming from Dean C. Jessee, compiler and editor, The Personal Writings of Joseph Smith (Deseret Book Co, 1984, p. 75. (Note: Deseret Book Company is owned by the Mormon Church)

Challis added: "In his 1838 recital of the events, Joseph spoke of a 'thick darkness' gathering around him and said that it seemed for a time he was 'doomed to sudden destruction' (JS-H 1:15)." (p. 138)

3: In the early 1820s, at the start of each Fall, a ghostly personage appeared to Mormonism founder Joseph Smith engages in follow-up occultic activity with Joseph at ages 17, 18, and 21 to ensure the introduction of The ghostly false Gospel of Mormonism

Lds "apostle" Mark E. Petersen, speaking at one of the bi-annual Conferences the Salt Lake City Mormon church hosts for its entire church, April, 1952:

"And then read of his [Joseph Smith's] visits with...Moroni, a personage who came back from the dead and ministered to Joseph Smith, gave him direction, and helped him in the production of the Book of Mormon." (Lds "apostle" Mark E. Petersen, Conference Reports, April 1952, pp. 106-107).

4: Joseph Smith had plenty of occult books to influence him. See former BYU History professor D. Michael Quinn's Occult Origins of Mormonism: Availability of Occult Books to Joseph Smith (1999)

5: Mitt Romney's Great-Great Grandpa (Lds 'apostle' Parley P. Pratt) said Joseph Smith was a 'medium' and Mormonism itself is founded entirely on the practice of necromancy, and that the spiritualist movement of the Nineteenth Century, which had begun only five years earlier, actually aided the cause of the LDS church

Who communicated with our great Prophet, and revealed through him as a medium, the ancient history of a hemisphere, and the records of the ancient dead? Moroni, who had lived upon the earth 1400 years before....Who revealed to him the plan of redemption, and of exaltation for the dead who had died without the Gospel and the keys and preparations necessary for holy and perpetual converse with Jesus Christ, and with the spirits of just men made perfect?...Those from the dead!...Shall we, then, deny the principle, the philosophy, the fact of communication between worlds? No! verily no! Editors, statesmen, philosophers, priests, and lawyers, as well as the common people, began to advocate the principle of converse with the dead, by visions, DIVINATION, clairvoyance, knocking, and writing mediums, etc., etc. This spiritual philosophy of converse with the dead, once established by the labors, toils, sufferings, and martyrdom of its modern founders, and now embraced by a large portion of the learned world, show a triumph more rapid and complete — a victory more extensive, than has ever been achieved in the same length of time in our world.

[Please note: The above isn't very surprising given that the very Mormon "scriptures" say that The primary focus of the Mormon church is on serving the dead! (Doctrine & Covenants 128:15; 138:27)]

Ye are assembled...and have laid these Corner Stones, for the express purpose that the living might hear from the dead, and that we may prepare a holy sanctuary, where "the people may seek unto their God, for the living to hear from the dead"...

Excerpt C: Pratt claimed that the spiritism culture of the 1840s and 1850s was introduced by Joseph Smith

(the) "spiritual philosophy of the present age" (spiritism had been introduced in the U.S. about five years prior) "was introduced to the modern world by Joseph Smith." And, he claimed, the real reason that Smith was killed was because Smith acted as "a medium of communication with the invisible world,whereby the living could hear from the dead."

"ONE OF THE LEADING OR FUNDAMENTAL TRUTHS OF 'MORMON' PHILOSOPHY, viz. - 'That the living may hear from the dead' commenced thru Smith acting as a "medium." + "..How do the Saints expect the necessary information by which to complete the ministrations for the salvation and exaltation of their friends who have died? By one holding the keys of the oracles of God [allegedly a Mormon prophet], as a medium through which the living can hear from the dead."

It would be “easy” to conclude that modern-day Mormonism has shed such “medium” vocabulary. That would be a false assumption.

The Salt Lake City-based Mormon church routinely produces massive curricula documents for their high school seminary and college Institute coursework. The course manual published in 1978-1979 for their Religion 211-212 requirements included this note on p.418 of The Life and Teachings of Jesus & His Apostles: "'Speak by inspiration, not of yourself, but simply as a MEDIUM through whom the mind and will of the Lord is revealed..." (Bruce McConkie, Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, vol. 3, p. 317) .

6. History of Mormon temple paranormal activity and how communication with the dead is STILL encouraged by the Mormon Church hierarchy

7: Mormon occultic phenomena continued to literally "haunt" the Mormon Church throughout the 19th century

In fact, after the above was posted last year, I came across a few other examples of evil spirits "hanging out" with future Lds "prophets" (like Lorenzo Snow, a "prophet" of the 1890s who served as an Lds missionary in England in the 1840s:

"As they had with other church leaders, evil spirits sought to confound Lorenzo [Snow] in his efforts. One night in his London apartment, he was awakened by loud noises. 'It seemed as though every piece of furniture in the room was put in motion, back and forth against each other in such terrible fury that sleep and rest were utter impossibilities.' Accompanying the commotion was an oppressive feeling that filled the whole room. The disturbance came again the next night, and several more nights after that..." (The Presidents of the Church: Biographical Essays, by Heidi S. Swinton, 1986 Deseret Book Co, 1986, p. 154...Deseret Book Company is owned by the Mormon Church).

Another prominent Lds general authority of the 1950s and 1960s – Hugh B. Brown -- serving as one of the top three-ranked Mormon leaders from 1961-1970 after being designated an "apostle" in the 1950s, described how an attack by demonic entities was intertwined with his call to be a church leader:

"We were in Canada. I was...an attorney for an oil company and manager of it...I drove to the city of Edmonton...I went into the bedroom alone and there, through the night, I had the most terrible battle with the powers of the adversary. I wanted to destroy myself. Not in the sense of suicide; but something within me was impelling me to wish that I could cease to be...It was terrible. The blackness was so thick you could feel it. Sister Brown came in later in the night, toward morning in fact, wanting to know what was the matter. And when she closed the door, she said, 'What's in this room?' And I said, 'Nothing but the power of the devil is in this room...That night at 10:00 o'clock, October 1953 – the telephone rang. Sister Brown answered. She called me and said, 'Salt Lake's calling,' and I wondered who could be calling me from that far away. I took the phone and said, 'Hello.' This is David O. McKay calling. The Lord wants you to give the balance of your life to Him and His Church..." (The Life & Teachings of Jesus & His Apostles, Course Manual Religion 211-212, 2nd edition 1978-1979, p. 133).

A strange way to try and ‘expose’ Mormonism, when what is mentioned here is found in the Bible...As far as people coming back from the dead... “The graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.” (Matthew 27:52-53) I wouldn’t consider that occult — it’s part of the miraculous power of the resurrection.

We do lack some specifics...yet the assumption I think all Bible interpreters have is that those resurrected that you cite were ones who followed the footsteps of Lazarus, who Jesus raised in John 11. Lazarus didn't walk out of the grave only to shun his family and bounce to and fro Kolob. Right?

He was resurrected unto an earthly life to finish the earthly life God gave.

Since you, Normandy, are the one now introducing Matt 27 as a "parallel," you would have a hard time attempting to Biblically conclude that those resurrected in Matt. 27 elected only to EACH appear to ONLY one man and then charter a flight on AirKolob, ne'er to be seen again! And actually, Matt 27 contradicts the appearing to a parallel "one man scenario" that we see in Moroni. Right?

We ARE indeed given a few key details by Matthew: Matthew CLEARLY elaborates that those resurrected "went into the holy city" and "appeared to MANY".

Bottom line here...what you seemingly fail to grasp is that when & where God miraculously resurrects someone, they
(1) reabsorb back into the same community;
(2) since Lazarus has not been seen walking around here of late, they physically die again yet spiritually NEVER die (John 11);
and (3) they appear to MANY simultaneously and thoroughly and are not fleetingly hidden...tucked away.

The very word "occult" simply means "hidden" (Latin). IoW, "occult" is referenced as hidden initiatives not spelled out to the proselyted recruit.

Mormon Factoid: Moroni has ALWAYS been a "shadow" personage. A hidden tuckedaway "personage."

This is all in stark contrast to...
...the Lazarus who was out in the open...
...versus the people in Matthew 27 who came out into the open in the holy city, appearing to many...
...versus Jesus who came out into the open...appearing even to five hundred+ at a single time!!!! see 1 Corinthians fifteen, v. six below...

Moroni is this fleeting tuckedaway hidden "personage" who appears now & again to ONE man...wasn't reabsorbed back into earth...and didn't appear to MANY. Ghostly activity is fleeting. Most Often appearing to one person at a time.

As far as people coming back from the dead, we know that Jesus did — and also after his resurrection:

The "many" re: simultaneous appearing applies here as well. When Jesus was resurrected, He appeared to a GROUP of disciples (John 20:19to 22) & then again to His disciples (John 20:24ff) and then 1 Cor. fifteen , verse six tells us ...
After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.

Jesus also ate fish with His disciples ... John 21... I think it's fairly safe to rule Him out as a mere "spirit" or phantom of the night, don't you? (Unless you want to move over to the Jehovah's Witnesses, who claim Jesus was only resurrected spiritually and not bodily)

So there ya go...let me know when Moroni pops up to five hundred people at one time...versus backroom sheltered shenanigans.

****************************

Oh...and btw...If the Book of Mormon & D&C 7 is right...and if the apostle John and the Nephite disciples are all still walking the earth and never died...please tell us why Moroni had to either pop up or at least pop up alone to JoeySmith anyway?

Didn't the Mormon gods ALREADY have their authoritative "general authorities" STILL ON earth???

Did this group somehow apostatize too?

How could an apostasy be "complete" or "universal" as your prophets and gen authorities have consistently claimed with a high and mighty verbal edict...if these men NEVER died?

Did the Mormon gods remove their authority?

Did the Mormon Jesus "fail" in His mission to train, equip, raise up, set apart these men for lifetime leadership?

So your Moroni batted 1.000 in establishing a leader, yet the Mormon Jesus batted .000 as ALL of His Jewish and Central/South American apostles all eventually went to the wayside?

Do you realize how dishonoring it is when you and Mormons promote a Smith who proclaimed the following?

Come on! ye prosecutors! ye false swearers! All hell, boil over! Ye burning mountains, roll down your lava! for I will come out on the top at last. I have more to boast of than ever any man had. I am the only man that has ever been able to keep a whole church together since the days
page 409
of Adam. A large majority of the whole have stood by me. Neither Paul, John, Peter, nor Jesus ever did it. I boast that no man ever did such a work as I. The followers of Jesus ran away from Him; but the Latter-day Saints never ran away from me yet.

{Obviously your Mormon leadership thought it was "edifying" to include this Smith quote in your church's history as I have this quote on my bookshelf as part of the 7volume Mormon "History of the Church" that BH Roberts and other Lds leaders put together}

Normandy I gotta say it...thinking of this Smith utterance: How appauling! You Mormons need to repent for elevating this man above Jesus!!! Repent publicly! Openly!

...a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me...

I've had thorns in my flesh. They are all irksome...some more than others. Some... like slivers... can lead to infections. Problematic. But not usually debilitating. Even if not removed...yes...A painful reminder; yes, each time you pick up a shovel or hoe or rake to continuing laboring. But on you labor.

And that's all they are. Irksome. Annoyances.

Not knockdown multinight poltergeist activity like the account I shared involving Lds missionary (tobe a 'prophet') Lorenzo Snow...

Not the "terrible fury" I in the description re: Snow.

A "thorn in the flesh" doesn't seem to match the spirits impelling Lds general authority Hugh B. Brown to "cease to be".

And...speaking of Lorenzo Snow...what spirit got ahold of him to wind up later coining the infamous heretical Mormon couplet...?

"As man is, God once was; as God is, man may become."
As God Is Man May Be?

Btw, The satanic messenger you cite wasn't the only one to annoy or irk Paul:

Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a female slave who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. 17She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.” 18She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so annoyed that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” At that moment the spirit left her. (Acts sixteen, vv. sixteen to eighteen)

The difference, it seems, is that Paul put an end to it in Acts sixteen...yet despite ongoing prayers to be relieved of the thorn, whatever it was, it apparently remained.

I have figured out what is odd about that expression. It is something one man says to another. Are you really a man disguised as a girl, Elsie? Are you a FreeRepublic cross-dresser?

More personal attacks from the one who likes to attack what they deem as "Christian bashing" of cultists they openly defend and sanction, eh?

I don't know Elsie other than what we've exchanged on FR...

...but I always figured "Elsie" was simply another way of sayin' "L.C."

But...hey...if you want to use his screen name as an open attack on his manhood...and the mods think that's within bounds, I'll trust their judgment on this one.

And as for trusting you...I think just as Jesus railed on the church of Pergamum in Revelation 2 for tolerating false doctrines, I think that divine scolding seemingly can be applied to many in today's Christendom...

14 Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: There are some among you who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin so that they ate food sacrificed to idols and committed sexual immorality. 15 Likewise, you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 16 Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth...20 Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols. 21 I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling. 22 So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways. 23 I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds. (Rev. 2:14-16, 20-22

As far as PEOPLE coming back from the dead...

One more note...perhaps to "ALL" as much, if not more, as you personally, Normandy.

I at least want to commend you Normandy for highlighting a key aspect of infrequently discussed Mormon doctrine: That, yes, indeed: Mormon theology deems Moroni as one of the class of "people"...a person.

Now why is that significant in my eyes?

Well, unless you've researched Mormonism indepth...do you know how hard it can be to find Lds leaders who emphasize Moroni the ghost appearing in the shadows to one man...versus the gobs & gobs & gobs of Mormon docs describing Moroni as an "angel?"

ALL: You, see in Mormonism, Moroni is both. He is both...
... a resurrected being in heaven (or near Kolob or wherever);
he is also that "personage" who appeared to Joseph Smith ... whom I reference as such as a "ghost." And...in that "role" he is also deemed an "angel." And not only in the classical sense that "angel" = "messenger" but is really an "angel."

So, when I found a quote like Lds "apostle" Mark Petersen from sixtytwo yrs ago given at THE General Conference of Mormons for that Spring...one that acknowledged Moroni being a personage who came back from the dead..." that is worth highlighting.

Exactly why again...why beyond pointing to some mere trivial nuance in Mormon theology???

Here's why:

Reason #1

When we turn to Joseph Smith's personal polygamy apologetic to his first wife Emma ... one he wrote well AFTER the polygamous fact to try to get Emma to submit to his sleeping around... he included these four verses...please note the highlighted portions:

15 Therefore, if a MAN marry him a wife in the world, and he marry her not by me nor by my word, and he covenant with her so long as he is in the world and she with him, their covenant and marriage are not of force when they are dead, and when they are out of the world; therefore, they are not bound by any law when they are out of the world. 16 Therefore, when they are out of the world they neither marry nor are given in marriage; but are appointed angels in heaven, which angels are ministering servants, to minister for those who are worthy of a far more, and an exceeding, and an eternal weight of glory. 17 For THESE ANGELS DID NOT ABIDE MY LAW; therefore, they cannot be enlarged, but remain separately and singly, without exaltation, in their saved condition, to all eternity; and from henceforth are not gods, but are angels of God forever and ever. (d&c 132:fifteen to eighteen)

Did you all catch v. sixteen's highlight? Smith is referencing beings...angelic beings...who "did NOT abide my law."

Question: What do Christians call angelic beings who failed to abide God's law??? Yup. That's right! Demons!!!

Yet...Joseph Smith says the spiritual schematic for the Mormon gods is that they are indeed served by these angelic beings (read demons) who "failed to abide" God's law!!!

(I think when God sovereignly allowed spiritual competition as found in the Book of Mormon, he made the demons insert a few "truth in advertising" clauses imbedded into the Mormon "scriptures")

So...Guess what? Moroni is an angelic being of this camp of angelic beings who failed to abide God's law! A demon of demons!

And, btw, leave it up to demons to wind up playing down to the hilt a failure to "abide" God's law...thinking they can somehow continue to serve eternally as servants of the divine! D&C 132 has demonic hands written all over it!!!

Reason #2

My personal belief after studying paranormal activity indepth is that most socalled appearances of "ghosts" are merely demons in disguise. The fact that Samuel's spirit was brought up in the Old Testament means I don't believe anybody can speak with certainty on this subject to apply to all cases...

Yet if Mormons believe that Moroni is both a ghostly (resurrected) figure and an angel, why is that of import?

Simply this: There's a motto in consumer buying: "Buyer, beware."

Most of the world will be a bit (or a LOT, depending upon where you are culturally) more skeptical of messages portending to come from ghosts.

Historically, people have been more open to receiving messages from angels ... both for better (biblical angels of God), or worse (occultism at large).

So when the Mormon PR machine ramped up, 'twas much easier for the Mormon church to literally TRUMPET Moroni as his "angelic" side...
...vs. Moroni the suspected ghost...
...or even the weird Mormon theology of Mormon the Book of Mormon prophet who died who resurrected who became an eventual angel. (Sounds like pop "angelogy" like "It's a Wonderful Life" of angels getting wings after having been men on earth)

On that latter note, it seems always the cults that "weirdify" angels. JWs say Jesus was Michael the Archangel who became a man who became God's son...becoming a "sort of" quasi demigod...but who isn't Jehovah God.

Mormons say men were...
...eternal intelligences (D&C 93)
...who then underwent a birth in the beyond as "spirits"
...who then were transferred to this earth to become men and women
...and then some become gods (married temple Mormons);
...and some become angels;
...and others remain men and women.

And the above description, btw, includes the Mormon Jesus. Like the JW God, the Mormon Jesus doesn't become God Himself...but his spiritual evolution in Mormon eyes was the same up to "son of God" status as Lucifer's...hence the first part of this occultic article. But Lds do think He is the "Jehovah" of the OT.

...how could I have possibly missed such obvious "sincerity."

Deconstructing Linus: Portrait of a True Believing Pumpkinist as a Young Man

What does the Great Pumpkin offer Linus? Why does Linus spend every Halloween in the pumpkin patch, waiting for the Great Pumpkin to appear? Is it about the toys?

"Each year on Halloween night, the Great Pumpkin rises out of the pumpkin patch that he thinks is the most sincere and flies through the air with his pack of toys for all the good little children in the world."

No. This is about sincerity, a subjective standard by any definition.

I wonder if Linus blames himself every year for not picking the most sincere pumpkin patch for his vigil?

I wonder if other Great Pumpkinists castigate Linus by asserting if he were more in tune with the Spirit of the Great Pumpkin, if he were more prayerful, if he read the Holy Writ of the Great Pumpkin with a greater sincerity, that he could indeed rise to the challenge and, via the Spirit, be lead to choose the most sincere pumpkin patch?

I wonder how many years Linus will feel guilty for this failure and blame himself for receiving no answer no matter how sincere he believes himself to be?

I wonder if Linus ever gets frustrated because there is no objective way to measure sincerity? And if he realizes there is no objective standard for such a thing, I wonder if it ever creeps into his mind that his annual mission is nothing more than mindless busywork?

I wonder, does Linus ever has doubts?

For the time being, however, Linus will put aside his doubts and, perhaps as a means of proving his sincerity, begins to proselyte among his friends for converts. Most shrug him off. But Sally, who has a crush on him, believes Linus and agrees to spend Halloween in Linus’ Pumpkin Patch.

Linus then explains that by using positive language and positive thinking, they may be able to attract the Great Pumpkin to their Patch. He also cautions Sally that negative language and negative thinking will cause the Great Pumpkin to pass them by.

There is no room for doubt when one is a Great Pumpkinist. One should never say if the Great Pumpkin comes but always when the Great Pumpkin comes. "One little slip like that, can cause the Great Pumpkin to pass you by!" It’s hard to imagine a benevolent icon such as the Great Pumpkin punishing TBPs (True Believing Pumkinists) for such a minor infraction, but there you have it.

Sally: The Birth of an Ex-Pumpkinist

Because Sally loves her “sweet baboo” Linus, she sets aside her own Halloween plans of trick-or-treating and a Halloween party in order to spend the evening in the Pumpkin Patch. She converts to Great Pumpkinism because she loves Linus. She respects his opinion. And she wants to make him happy and be supportive. And besides, if it’s really true, WOW! Wouldn’t that be fantastic?

But in the end, the only Being that shows up in the Pumpkin Patch is Snoopy. Linus, believing Snoopy to be the Great Pumpkin, swoons into an ecstatic faint, happy in the knowledge that he has finally deciphered the Great Pumpkin’s standard for sincerity. But, alas, it is a misplaced hope, and when Linus regains consciousness, there is not only no Great Pumpkin there to reward him, there is one upset little girl.

"I was robbed! I spent the whole night waiting for the Great Pumpkin when I could have been out for tricks or treats! Halloween is over and I missed it! You blockhead! You kept me up all night waiting for the Great Pumpkin and all that came was a beagle!"

"I didn't get a chance to go out for tricks or treats! And it was all your fault! I'll sue! What a fool I was. And I could have had candy apples and gum! And cookies and money and all sorts of things! But no, I had to listen to you! You blockhead. What a fool I was. Trick or treats come only once a year. And I missed it by sitting in a pumpkin patch with a blockhead. You owe me restitution!"

Luckily for Sally, she only missed one Halloween. And though she is demanding restitution, because her participation was voluntary, she will never receive said restitution. She’ll simply have to accept the experience as one of life’s absurdities and move on.

However, one can hope that this experience has made Sally a more skeptical person, so that the next time she is presented with such fantastic claims, she’ll perhaps be inclined to do her research before committing any time, money or emotion.

After all, fantastic claims should be supported by fantastic evidence, right?

The question now becomes, has this experience made Linus a skeptic? After yet again not having his Pumpkin Patch recognized as sincere and after having endangered his friendship with Sally, will he continue to believe?

In spite of a complete and utter lack of evidence pointing to the existence of the Great Pumpkin, and a complete and utter lack of the Great Pumpkin’s Promise ever having been fulfilled, Linus is a True Believing Pumpkinist to the core. To even admit the possibility that he may be wrong would be to negate all those years of hard work and sincere belief. Linus simply cannot turn his back on his belief.

So if Linus doesn't become an ex-Pumpkinist, what is his strategy? Well, he’s going to keep on trying, isn't he?

"What do you mean, 'stupid'? Just wait until next year. I'll find a pumpkin patch, and I'll sit in that pumpkin patch and it'll be a sincere pumpkin patch, and the Great Pumpkin will come! Just you wait and see! I'll sit in that pumpkin patch, and I'll see the Great Pumpkin. Just wait until next year!"

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1: 'Lucifer was one of us...'

2. Per a Mormon Seminary and Institute teacher in Salt Lake City, the so-called 'First Vision' of unnamed entities who appeared to the lad, Joseph Smith, a mere age 14, 'came AFTER his being seized and overcome for a time by Satan. The attack was a powerful one.'