Yes you do! With all the crazy religions in the world, and all of them are crazy, you have to clap your hands for the Mormon. Nobody gets hurt. And as ridiculous as the Mormon faith is with all its idiosyncrasies, i.e., Joseph Smith and his verifiable criminal record, The Word of Wisdom, which clearly defines a Mormonic diet, the allowance of polygamy, a dead person's spirit in prison, and Jesus visiting the Americas to name a few, still the lasting effects of being a Mormon are nominal at best. In truth the Mormon, and I'm speaking of the Mormons I've encountered in my life, stick to their beliefs. They don't end up on T.V. involved in some homosexual scandal, they don't rape little boys on a global scale, or sneak off and do crank for a weekend in a seedy hotel room with some guy made up like Tammy Faye Baker in a really bad dress.
The point is that we spend too much time saying one thing and doing another. Having come from a religious upbringing I do hold religious people to a higher standard, just as they hold non-religious people to a lower standard. "One without religion is bound to do evil things" is the dogma when all my life its been the opposite way around. The atrocities throughout history fall on the shoulders of the religious. Except for the Mormon, anyone remember the Mormon Wars? Me neither. While, to me, they may be the silliest of all religious systems in America, they are pretty harmless. I just can't get passed the fact that they are always in close proximity to a public school.
Otherwise....Bravo Mormon, Bravo!
No I don't.
ReplyDeleteI understand where you are coming from with this. In the past, I've been tempted to say the same about Jehovah's Witnesses. I tend to give more credit to people who actually live the life they preach.
But, the more I think about it, the less I support this way of thought. If we continued granting credit to individuals or groups who live a certain way based on ridiculous religious beliefs, then soon we have to say, "Bravo Terrorists, Bravo!" As far as proof of religious convictions goes, we have to admit flying an airplane into a building to get to heaven is hard to beat. Now, before you send Charlie Daniels and Toby Keith over to put a boot in my ass, remember, I don't think religious conviction is good. I think it is bad. I think it is ridiculous. I think it needs to end.
Also, to say that "nobody gets hurt" may be a bit of a misstatement. I guess it depends on whom you are referring to as "Mormons". Aside from the Latter Day Saints, many others claim the term "Mormon". The Apostolic United Brethren, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the Blackmore / Bountiful Community, the LDS Kingston Clan, the Righteous Branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and many others. It is important to note that most of these still support the practice of plural marriage. The practice was first taught by Joseph Smith (the founder / opportunist of the entire movement). To say forced marriages of 14 year old girls to 60 year old pedophiles is "harmless" is irresponsible. And, make no mistake, the only reason every LDS/Mormon is not a supporter of this principle is because of pressure from secularists. To give any member of this organization credit for abandoning this practice would be a mistake.
I’m conflicted over the differences of someone living a peaceful, productive life because they believe it is the right thing for humanity versus a person living a similar life because they believe an imaginary person in the sky will reward them with their own planet to rule over in the afterlife (actual tenet of Mormonism) . Do we really need imaginary carrots in front of our faces to do the right thing? I don’t believe so. I believe therefore that credit should be given to people who live peaceful lives void of ridiculous beliefs.
Don't we all live by a creedo, a belief system, regardless if it is religious in nature or not? And regardless if it is based in truth or not? We all choose a "belief" by which we try to live our lives, show our children and in some way hope that it rings "true" to ourselves.
ReplyDeleteI applaud those who practice what they preach. I still think it is safe to say that. I can respect them. Personal integrity and accountability is a lot like customer service these days...non-existent. Is the pedophile/arranged marriage lifestyle akin to Mormonism? I would say it's not. Arranged marriages are found all over the world and culturally accepted. Pedophiles are everywhere....
This topic lends itself to question what is right and what is wrong. A ridiculous belief is determined by what or whom? If I say, "I think killing is wrong, unless someone is breaking into my house, then its not." Do I think killing is wrong?
Killing people or harming children is a crime regardless of your religious beliefs. Flying planes into a building doesn't garner respect for having conviction. These things take away from humanity and won't allow you to get your laminated humanitarian card.....but I would like to have my own planet.
Wow, good stuff. You got me thinking...
ReplyDeleteFirst, I'm not certain I live by a specific credo. I’m sure I don’t live by any belief “system”. If I do, I’m unaware.
What does it mean to believe something? I guess we can all believe anything we want. But I tend to hold that there is some scale of belief out there where beliefs of larger consequence require larger evidence. Consider: I can say with a degree of certainty that I believe apple pie is the best dessert. My evidence for this belief is the smile and pleasant feeling I get when I eat it. Compare to someone saying, I believe the Jews are the chosen people of God and are thus entitled to occupy the Holy Land, by force if necessary. Because the implications of accepting a certain belief increase, so should the requirement of evidence. Truth? Who knows? Truth is our best interpretation of the evidence provided. Everything else is faith.
Do you applaud religious fundamentalist? Suicide Bombers? Terrorists?
I don’t think it’s fair, and I didn’t intend to imply, that pedophilia and arranged marriages were exclusive to Mormonism. They are not. But it is fair to say that Mormonism was founded with the entangled belief that those things were okay, even encouraged. And, as I said before, they’d still support that crap if not for outside pressures. That to me highlights the absolute absurdity of religion. That someone can found a religion with outlandish beliefs of great consequence and not be required to show one piece of evidence.
The question of what is right and what is wrong is intriguing. I don’t think we’ve come to a complete understanding of that yet as a species. I think we will continue to move closer and closer the more we move away from belief in gods. My hunch is that arranged child marriages don’t represent our best guess at “right”. I doubt the Girls Gone Wild: Spring Break Edition DVD does either. Though, when I picture my own planet…
Girls Gone Wild: Appalachian Spring....I do not applaud Religious Fundamentalists, Suiciders or asshole terrorists. I don't consider them to be healthy for humanity. Is your average Sunday churchgoer healthy for humanity...maybe. I see humanity as per the Durkheim view (Structural Functionalism), society as a living organism and the suicide bomber and the terrorist are cancers created by the organism (society). I don't take any personal responsibility for the creation of a suicide bomber or terrorist but this is the world in which society and history have helped create and I am here just as they are. Most suicide bombers and terrorists are religious fanatics by nature therefore to me religion is a cancer as well. Since 95% of people on the planet believe in some form of god and I would guess that many of those belong to some sort of church or religion, its arrogant to suggest that they are all a bunch of whackos.....what am I trying to say here?
ReplyDeleteDo people want to be led, do they want someone else to think for them? Do they want to be told what is right and wrong? Or is it that everyone comes to a point in life where the understanding of how little time we get to exist really is? Its funny that someone decided that physical life is too short so instead of saying after you die you get another 50 years to live in heaven or hell, they hit you with eternity. Why not suggest that if you're an asshole on Earth for 80 years you get 10 years in heaven or hell and thats it. If you're Mother Teresa on Earth for 87 years, then you get another 100 or 150 years in Heaven. Someone should have come up with that.
The real question is, is 95% of the population wrong? And then why?....