Posts: 23918
Threads: 300
Joined: June 25, 2011
Reputation:
151
RE: Throwing in the towel consequences for LDS ??
May 5, 2015 at 5:30 pm
(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 ??
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.
What do we do with them ?
Gawk at them in wonder? Are they in need of having anything done with them. Probably best to just back away quietly and find less twisted souls to hang with.
Posts: 290
Threads: 3
Joined: April 15, 2015
Reputation:
8
RE: Throwing in the towel consequences for LDS ??
May 5, 2015 at 6:21 pm
(May 5, 2015 at 11:40 am)Neimenovic Wrote: *raises hand* throw them in a lake of fire?
They don't believe in the lake of fire. At least not the one in the Jack Chick comic books where the tormented souls are thrashing around in a pool of flaming kerosene. It'd have to be the "telestial kingdom" instead, where the wan glory is less than that of the moon. But hey, it beats eternity at the U of U burn ward.
(May 5, 2015 at 2:28 pm)robvalue Wrote: It seems like a fine line between fraud, and coming up with some garbage religion which then earns you money...
That's right about on the nailhead. And never a better salesman for the 1830s "digger era" was there, than Joseph Smith Jr. with his sidekick Martin Harris. Since the LDS Corporation's books are secret, no one knows how much it's worth today; NBC News cites an analysis stating their annual income from member tithes as $7 billion. But they own a lot of companies like Beneficial Life Insurance and KSL-TV as well, from which funds flow in.
(May 5, 2015 at 5:23 pm)Jenny A Wrote: I lived in Utah for a mercifully brief period and I had that same thought every time I opened the newspaper which had a whole religion section devoted almost entirely to LDS.
Ahh...the famous Deseret News, mouthpiece of the Church, but the largest paper in Utah is the Salt Lake Tribune, a decidedly non-Mormon affair. Both papers are going down the drain I think. They've shrunk to just a few sheets on most days and no longer have full in-house local reporting.
Posts: 25314
Threads: 239
Joined: August 26, 2010
Reputation:
156
RE: Throwing in the towel consequences for LDS ??
May 5, 2015 at 6:34 pm
(May 5, 2015 at 11:45 am)Minimalist Wrote: Load them in a rocket and fire them towards Planet Kolob.
It's always amused me that they chose a name that's essentially a backwards bollock. I can imagine that brainstorming session, going through the suggestions of "mutorcs", "elcitset" and "castun".
At the age of five, Skagra decided emphatically that God did not exist. This revelation tends to make most people in the universe who have it react in one of two ways - with relief or with despair. Only Skagra responded to it by thinking, 'Wait a second. That means there's a situation vacant.'
Posts: 30129
Threads: 304
Joined: April 18, 2014
Reputation:
92
RE: Throwing in the towel consequences for LDS ??
May 5, 2015 at 6:57 pm
(This post was last modified: May 5, 2015 at 7:30 pm by vorlon13.)
Don't forget Baneemy.
The granting of a pardon is an imputation of guilt, and the acceptance a confession of it.
Posts: 6843
Threads: 0
Joined: February 22, 2014
Reputation:
15
RE: Throwing in the towel consequences for LDS ??
May 5, 2015 at 7:00 pm
The granddaddy of all religious scams is Judaism because it convinced billions of people in its BS claim about being some silly invisible sky deity's chosen people and that he gave them some dirt in the Middle East for all time. All of the subsequent religious con games were spun off of that BS and even if you know that they are all pure BS you are still affected by them, usually for the worse.
People are gullible and they will believe any religious fairy tale no matter how insane it is if it promises them a sufficient reward for their stupidity. Rmember how the crazy old coot Abraham was eager to gut and roast Isaac for his own personal fame and fortune.
The Mormon guys are promised that they will become gods, each with his own personal planet and harem. So why wouldn't guys like Romney and Reed sign up for that? Everything they have done in their entire lives has been for their own personal benefit. The cult appeals to people with that character flaw.
Posts: 25314
Threads: 239
Joined: August 26, 2010
Reputation:
156
RE: Throwing in the towel consequences for LDS ??
May 5, 2015 at 7:10 pm
(May 5, 2015 at 6:57 pm)vorlon13 Wrote: Don't forget baneemy.
How could I? I don't even understand it. Or should that be overstand..?
At the age of five, Skagra decided emphatically that God did not exist. This revelation tends to make most people in the universe who have it react in one of two ways - with relief or with despair. Only Skagra responded to it by thinking, 'Wait a second. That means there's a situation vacant.'
Posts: 30129
Threads: 304
Joined: April 18, 2014
Reputation:
92
RE: Throwing in the towel consequences for LDS ??
May 5, 2015 at 7:31 pm
Quite a bit of LDS folderol reads like really bad sci-fi.
But with more polygamy . . .
The granting of a pardon is an imputation of guilt, and the acceptance a confession of it.
Posts: 29107
Threads: 218
Joined: August 9, 2014
Reputation:
155
RE: Throwing in the towel consequences for LDS ??
May 5, 2015 at 9:45 pm
(This post was last modified: May 5, 2015 at 9:45 pm by robvalue.)
I wonder if Mormonism started as a joke:
"Wow, I know right? Christianity has to be the stupidest story ever, yet they swallow it whole. What nonsense do you reckon we could add to it and people would still believe it?"
Posts: 2610
Threads: 22
Joined: May 18, 2012
Reputation:
17
RE: Throwing in the towel consequences for LDS ??
May 5, 2015 at 9:55 pm
(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 ??
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.
What do we do with them ?
I'd have them become Christians if they wanted.
But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin.
Posts: 30129
Threads: 304
Joined: April 18, 2014
Reputation:
92
RE: Throwing in the towel consequences for LDS ??
May 5, 2015 at 10:07 pm
Seriously, amongst the LDS records (and early on God commanded them to be record keeping people) of their early days, there are so many variations and versions of their early years that it will never be known where or when most all of their formative events occurred.
Joseph Smith told, wrote, and approved so many versions of his first visitation that we don't even know to within 5 years of when it actually occurred. And most bizarrely, although it is an event of importance to Mormons nearly as great as Jesus resurrection, the church will actually excommunicate you for professing sincere belief in the one version that was penned entirely by Joseph Smith himself.
As for a 'grand conspiracy', just my take on human nature, but at the beginning I think old Joe was looking for an easy indoor job with no heavy lifting, and would say and claim anything in furtherance of that goal. I think over time, Joe started to believe his own lies. Now, he didn't go whole hog there, any time a prior pronouncement turned out to be inconvenient for him in some way, he wasn't above doing a quick ret-con. Joe never made a revelation that he didn't change at least once, and there weren't very many revelations, if any, that the LDS didn't also modify later on too. And their reasons for doing so had damn little to do with sincerity of belief, but rather increasing the bottom line, increasing membership, or a few times attempting to fix a contradiction, but of those instances, they frequently made it worse and/or were still caught doing it.
And note, from day one, ALL revelations were advertised as being received entirely correctly in their first transmission, direct from a perfect God.
The granting of a pardon is an imputation of guilt, and the acceptance a confession of it.
|
