Is the Church of Christ of Latter Day Saints (The Mormons) a religion, or not? Can a book written by a man be considered the basis of a new religion? Can a man with a more generic name than Joseph Smith really exist? Can a new religion be invented by a New Yorker in the early nineteenth century? Can a new religion be invented someone in modern times? Can a religion be based on vague hints that there might possibly have been Jews established in North America thousands of years before Columbus, such as a stone with odd writing by Los Lunas south of Albuquerque, NM? Could Independence, Missouri be the new Zion city? Oh, those Mormons!
I bet it would be fun if someone that’s read up on the man could share some insights. Me, I’ve just hear rumors, but I have known a handful of serious Mormon’s and they sure do spook me pretty good.
Darron can get the popcorn, I’ll get the beer. . . . . . .
Ok ok, guess I’m exaggerating, it was only God’s Archangel Joe saw. But he was nice enough to show Joseph those fabled golden pages of history, although no one else was special enough to be entrusted with seeing them. . .
Sort of like Cheney/Bush’s Weapons Of Mass Destruction I imagine… eh
What’s the difference between believing in ancient mythology and recent mythology? Methodists and Lutherans are also fairly recent, and Scientology is only about 50 years old. If you can get suckers to accept it, no matter what it is, it can be a successful religion.
Agreed: if Mormonism isn’t a religion, then it’s not clear what is. Sure, its background is loony, but so are all religions to one degree or another.
The only one in Occam’s list that I have issues with is Scientology. My feeling is that Scientology was founded as a quack psychology moneymaking scheme by L. Ron Hubbard, and it was only established as a ‘religion’ to escape taxes. (Also Hubbard apparently made a bet with several other SF writers that he could establish a religion). Also its religious credentials have been challenged in several countries, IIRC Germany being one.
(Also Hubbard apparently made a bet with several other SF writers that he could establish a religion).
Like I heard on one of those POI interviews: an anecdote that’s probably apocryphal but too good to fact check.
But, I couldn’t resist procrastinating on the morning duties to do a little web surfing. Found some interesting stuff here http://www.cosvm.org/startit.htm. Unfortunately, the UC at Boulder webpage they link to is down. Considering the litigation happy history of Scientology there’s probably a juicy story behind that one too.
But, the bottom-line seems to be
“It’s also important to note that Hubbard didn’t create a religion—as a result of a bar bet or otherwise. Hubbard created a criminal enterprise based upon his delusional fantasies and only looked in to what he called his “religion angle” as a method of acquiring tax exemption so he and his fellow criminals could hold on to more of the take. His “Volunteer Minister” scam is based upon the fraudulent tax scam.”
Of course anyone can “found a religion” as you may have noticed I am promoting two. The Church of the Corner Bar and the Lord God Moola whose shrine is in my garage.
Of course anyone can “found a religion” as you may have noticed I am promoting two. The Church of the Corner Bar and the Lord God Moola whose shrine is in my garage.
I agree, Doug, about the foundation of Scientology, but now that they have a growing group of suckers and “believers” in the “authority” of it, I feel it fits the definition of religion.
Is the Church of Christ of Latter Day Saints (The Mormons) a religion, or not? Can a book written by a man be considered the basis of a new religion? Can a man with a more generic name than Joseph Smith really exist? Can a new religion be invented by a New Yorker in the early nineteenth century? Can a new religion be invented someone in modern times? Can a religion be based on vague hints that there might possibly have been Jews established in North America thousands of years before Columbus, such as a stone with odd writing by Los Lunas south of Albuquerque, NM? Could Independence, Missouri be the new Zion city? Oh, those Mormons!
What do you think Humanists?
My cousins are Mormons, and yes it is most definitely a religion.
Absolutely “yes” to all of your questions. There isn’t a religion around which is not a human creation, and the case can be made that they were often as not, contrived out of nothing by people who were essentially con-men.
The angel Moroni was either a figment of Smith’s imagination, an alien or an angel from God. The masses of Christians who followed Joseph Smith’s vision were desperate believers without a believable God. The followers of Jesus at that time were simply doing what they are doing today and trying to build an Inquisition of strict laws that punish all who question the Pope or the Church of England.
The human brain seems to be drawn into being a member of some mass system that is growing at any time. It is the same thing that draws kids into gangs. We don’t seem to focus on the individual growth and our kids will gang up for their own security. Too many Americans send their kids to school and Sunday school to learn the rules of survival and when the kids are considered educated they are thrown into a world of their own making. They have learned that they can rape and pillage and then be forgiven. They have no sense of self responsibility. Ayn Rand has some words on self responsibility.
Mormons are as good as any religious group except they want to out-breed the other members of other religions.
the bottom-line seems to be
