(May 5, 2015 at 11:30 am)vorlon13 Wrote: Let's say the Mormon poobahs finally tire of all the bullshit and folderol, and admit Joseph Smith pulled a fast one and the entire edifice of LDS is built upon the mass gullibility of some really, really flawed people.
Would they be subject for criminal prosecution for persisting in their scam for decades after it became obvious to them they were furthering a criminal enterprise ??
Well, I strongly doubt they would be prosecuted, as to whether they could be prosecuted, that's a very interesting and tricky question. Religious leaders have been prosecuted for embezzling donated funds. But I've never heard of one being prosecuted for fraud on the grounds that he didn't believe what he was preaching. I suspect a huge separation of church and state problem there. Even in the case of a faked miracle like those weeping statues, the church hasn't been prosecuted for fraud the way it certainly would have been if it were an inventor claiming perpetual motion machine while superstitiously spinning it under the table with his toes. After all, every religion makes unprovable, and often impossible claims. And many pastors leave the faith. Presumably they all went through a period where they preached something they didn't believe.
(May 5, 2015 at 11:30 am)vorlon13 Wrote: Also, we all know human nature well enough to realize even if all the poobahs fess up, there might yet be a willing majority of Mormons that do not care, and desire to persist in their error.
I'm very sure, human nature being what it is that there would indeed be such a group of Mormons. And there's nothing to do with them, except roll your eyes. It would be no different than the Christians who believe the earth is 6000 years old.
If there is a god, I want to believe that there is a god. If there is not a god, I want to believe that there is no god.
