= 27d567bc2d48d9f40e9ccc20ea370b15)
jasonmcdowell comments on The elephant in the room, AMA - Less Wrong Discussion
You are viewing a comment permalink. View the original post to see all comments and the full post content.
= 783df68a0f980790206b9ea87794c5b6)
Loading…= b715d02e85f7b3b4ae65ca3d3e450868)
Subscribe to RSS Feed
Powered by Reddit
= f037147d6e6c911a85753b9abdedda8d)
You are viewing a comment permalink. View the original post to see all comments and the full post content.
Comments (428)
The beginnings of older religions are lost in myth and so are somewhat protected from scrutiny.
Newer religions like LDS and perhaps Scientology have much more detailed historical information available. For these newer organizations, there are verifiable primary sources for many historical details. The public record (internet accessible) tells a different story than church doctrine on some of these details.
The question: Have you done a due diligence study of the roots and founding of your faith?
If you'll forgive me for answering a question not directed at me...
I myself have done so, and have been quite satisfied at what I've seen. I think that you're in error here:
Many of these public records have been slanderous or self-protections by individuals who did not want to lose faith. An example of the former is the allegation that Joseph was a "money-digger" (an allegation he actually answers by his own hand, in his own time, in (Joseph Smith - History)[http://lds.org/scriptures/pgp/js-h/1.56?lang=eng#55]); an example of the latter would be the differing testimonies of Martin Harris and Professor Charles Anthon; the story of the latter has been shown to have numerous inconsistencies, not to mention that Anthon would have had a reason for denying the story, if true, and Harris would have had no reason to believe Smith and continue giving him money if the story were false.
I'll also correct this misconception:
We believe that the LDS faith is a continuation of the religion established anciently by Jesus, and revealed Even More Anciently to Adam. This is why we call Joseph Smith's work the "Restoration", not the "Birth". :3 But it is true that much of our work has happened rather recently, and so is available for closer scrutiny. I encourage you to scrutinize.