Mormonism in pcitures

[porphyry]

I am, fortunately or unfortuantely, engaged in writing a political analysis of Brigham Young's rhetoric, in which I cannot possibly express my true fellings on the matter, but here are some images I came across colatteraly:

Smith receiving the Golden tablets from the Great Angel Moron:





And a series of lovely illsutrations from the Book of Mormon:


http://www.lds.org/hf/art/0,16812,4218-1-3,00.html

I could say a great deal bout this, but what would be the point? For instance that the real reason Young beat it out of Nanuvoo was that federal agents were on the way to arrest him for counterfeiting...

Comments

[benicek.livejournal.com]

Is there such a thing as 'genuine' religion, then?

[malkhos.livejournal.com]

Hmmm. Well, from your perspective, I suppose the answer ultimately would be no. All Christian faiths, as I'm sure you're aware--and I don't care how many variants exist--trace their foundations back to the belief that a man died and came back from the dead. If you believe this could not possibly be true, then there is no such thing as a genuine faith; of necessity, it would be a big trickery like Santa Claus.

If, on the other hand, one takes that leap of faith that this could be true, then the question of which derivatives of this belief are more authentic than others. Having been steeped in Catholic theology from the moment of my birth, I can no longer take the objective view. Even Malkhos, pagan atheist that he is, believes Roman Catholicism ("the best of a bad lot" he says) is the most genuine because it can trace its roots to ancient tradition. And then, of course, all the innumberable offshoots of Roman Catholicism, too many to count, believe their own is the only one that's authentic and true.

So I guess the answer is no. Damn it, you've backed me into a corner! :)

[benicek.livejournal.com]

I see. 'Genuine' in the sense of 'most faithful to the earliest traditions'. Though surely protestants, especially puritans, would argue that Catholicism is the least genuine because it is so weighed down with practices and laws that accreted after the original disciples died.

As you point out, as far as I'm concerned all supernatural religions are false, because they claim to be above natural laws.

[malkhos.livejournal.com]

About your first point--absolutely you're right. It's an impossible question to answer, really; everyone thinks they've attached themselves to the one "true" faith and so therefore everybody else is wrong.

As to the second point, the rational part of me agrees entirely with you: nobody can rise above the natural law of death. Logic tells you this is true. But then, given my upbringing, that superstitious Catholic in me finds it impossible to believe that... which is irrational--and I hate to be called irrational!

Religion messes up one's mind, doesn't it?