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My dad hated Mormons with a passion, thanks to his Baptist upbringing He always made mention of how much of a con-artist Joseph Smith was, which is well documented. Of course, in typical fundy hypocrite fashion, he could not see that the Baptist pastor he worshiped at the time, Bill Weber, was also a known and proven con-artist, he did not want to hear that. Religion can do bad things to the mind.
Back during that 1959 or 1960 trip, when we stopped in Salt Lake City simply as tourists, and parked adjacent to Temple Square, we were approached by 2 Mormon missionary boys, especially interested because at that time you could tell the county in NYS by the license plate (e.g., WYN for Wayne County...where Palmyra is located, along with Hill Cumorah and the Joseph Smith farm). They kept following me and my grandparents, and my grandmother was polite but adamant that they should leave us alone. They didn't Then one of them asked my grandfather, "What do you know about Joseph Smith?" My grandfather replied, "Well, I know he was a horse thief". They left us alone after that. I felt bad about it; it was clearly just a case of religious prejudice, although that was the common story in Palmyra back in the 1950s. I've always found Mormons to be very nice people, and as a group they suffered so much in their journey. Not one of America's finer hours.
Back during that 1959 or 1960 trip, when we stopped in Salt Lake City simply as tourists, and parked adjacent to Temple Square, we were approached by 2 Mormon missionary boys, especially interested because at that time you could tell the county in NYS by the license plate (e.g., WYN for Wayne County...where Palmyra is located, along with Hill Cumorah and the Joseph Smith farm). They kept following me and my grandparents, and my grandmother was polite but adamant that they should leave us alone. They didn't Then one of them asked my grandfather, "What do you know about Joseph Smith?" My grandfather replied, "Well, I know he was a horse thief". They left us alone after that. I felt bad about it; it was clearly just a case of religious prejudice, although that was the common story in Palmyra back in the 1950s. I've always found Mormons to be very nice people, and as a group they suffered so much in their journey. Not one of America's finer hours.
As far as the Mormons' suffering, I'm reading several books right now on the Mountain Meadows massacre and the subsequent cover-up by the Mormons. It's really skewed my attitude about THEIR suffering.
As far as the Mormons' suffering, I'm reading several books right now on the Mountain Meadows massacre and the subsequent cover-up by the Mormons. It's really skewed my attitude about THEIR suffering.
Yes, they were guilty of some bad stuff, too. And the Mountain Meadows Massacre is probably the worst of it. But, wrong as that was, I do wonder if it was the result of all the oppression they had felt for years and in almost every place they went. Not that that excuses it.
This thread reminds me about the fact that good people can get behind the strangest of beliefs...
As many a people have become followers of all variety of very strangely different beliefs. Significantly affecting their way of life. The good in these people really has nothing to do with the merit or validity of their beliefs, but there is no doubt it's sometimes hard to justify these beliefs with the rationale behind them. Hard if not impossible, except for those who come to believe in the same thing of course. Funny how that works.
Their nonsensical claims about Jesus living in the Americas, and then Joey Smith's death by his own people is already plenty. But throw in their secrecy and secret oaths, superpower underwear, cosmic Kolab silliness etc. and you've really got a crazy stew!
Their nonsensical claims about Jesus living in the Americas, and then Joey Smith's death by his own people is plenty alone. But throw in their secrecy and secret oaths, cosmic underwear, etc. and you've really got a crazy stew!
Their nonsensical claims about Jesus living in the Americas, and then Joey Smith's death by his own people is already plenty. But throw in their secrecy and secret oaths, superpower underwear, cosmic Kolab silliness etc. and you've really got a crazy stew!
How is it anymore nonsensical than believing a spirit made a young girl pregnant, only to bear a child that was not hers, that child grows up to sacrifice itself to itself, and that is the reason that humanity is not burdened with living in a burn bit because a naked woman listened to a talking snake that entice that woman to eat a fruit, which fruit allowed that woman and her mate to understand why they were not suppose to eat that fruit. Oh, and then after the self-sacrifice, the spirit-person turns into a zombie, and floats away into the clouds.
Or is it anymore nonsensical than another writer of a fairy tale book sitting on a winged horse, and flies into the clouds and beyond?
How is it anymore nonsensical than believing a spirit made a young girl pregnant, only to bear a child that was not hers, that child grows up to sacrifice itself to itself, and that is the reason that humanity is not burdened with living in a burn bit because a naked woman listened to a talking snake that entice that woman to eat a fruit, which fruit allowed that woman and her mate to understand why they were not suppose to eat that fruit. Oh, and then after the self-sacrifice, the spirit-person turns into a zombie, and floats away into the clouds.
Or is it anymore nonsensical than another writer of a fairy tale book sitting on a winged horse, and flies into the clouds and beyond?
It's amazing how smug people are when talking about Mormons when the rest of the story is just about as crazy.
I've always given Joseph Smith credit because he at least tried to address the idea that other people in the world needed to be exposed to Jesus as opposed to a select few in the middle east and Mediterranean.
If God truly cared about anybody but the Jews back then he would have had Jesus flying all of the world Santa Clause style.
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