Religious faith is an answer to the problems of life... The majority of mankind want or need some all-embracing belief system which purports to provide an answer to life's mysteries, and are not necessarily dismayed by the discovery that their belief system, which they proclaim as "the truth," is incompatible with the beliefs of other people. One man's faith is another man's delusion...
Whether a belief is considered to be a delusion or not depends partly upon the intensity with which it is defended, and partly upon the numbers of people subscribing to it.ā€¯
- Anthony Storr, Feet Of Clay
Great quote.
I just finished Jon Krakauer's excellent "Under the Banner of Heaven" about the Mormon religion. Mormons would not like it.
Not only does it discuss the many foibles of the religion and its founder, it also details the religion's extraordinarily violent history. Most of you know that Joseph Smith, the Mormon prophet who spoke to the angel Moroni, created a religion that was immensely unpopular with non-Mormons. Many Mormons were killed, with the violence peaking when the imprisoned Smith was murdered, along with his brother, while held in a Carthage jail. Chaos ensued until Brigham Young negotiated a ceasefire with the Federal government, at the end of which he and his followers exited the United States.
I bet you hadn't heard, though, of the Mountain Meadows massacre which happened later, in which Mormons obtained their revenge by slaughtering an entire wagon train with 120 men, women, children and infants as they attempted to cross Utah on the way to California. The men in the train were persuaded to surrender, then were executed with a bullet to the backs of their heads as they were led away. '"Due your duty!" the colonel shouted.' The others either had their throats cut or were clubbed to death. The LDS church then covered it up, accusing the relatively docile Indians of having done it even though it was clear to all who the real culprits were. Decades later, under pressure by the U.S. government, the church changed its mind about this and tried ONE individual (who had fallen out of favor with Young) in a kangaroo court, convicting him for the heinous crime committed by fifty.
It's a fascinating piece of history and Krakauer is an excellent writer. You guys would enjoy it.
| 