Really? REALLY?

[bill4long]

I haven't been a Mormon for over 40 years. I find it amazing that anyone with a lick of sense believes the Mormon story.

The historical sources are astonishingly revealing of the fraud that is Joe's religion.

It's easy to prove the Book of Mormon is bogus.

It's easy to prove that the Book of Abraham is bogus.

It's easy to demonstrate that Joe was a narcissitic con man... clever, yes!... but a lying liar con man.

Even David Whitmer said so.

It's so easy.

So why do people still believe the poppycock? Some mystical experience? A burning in the chest? Or something else?

Boy, suck people need to be introduced to eastern mysticism, and/or, various psycho-actions substances, where the subjective experiential octane level is much higher.

It will knock yer socks off, my friends.

You want an experience? You got one! At a very low low price.

Folks, lemme tell ya, while they can be quite interesting, mystical experiences are no pipeline to "truth" writ large.

Others around here probably know about I'm talkin-about.

Humans are strange. (Me too.) And "God" is a weirdo.

That's all for now.

--Bill

[dastardly stem]

That's the case with religion generally. You look into its origins, find out about those who started it and its all a big hoax in a very real way. But believers accept the myths...not because they are dupes, so much. But because they want to believe them. It makes them feel better about themselves, their lives and all of that. I think that's an added hoax. I don't think they need religion. But its been framed for them their whole lives that they need it, without it they are doomed, lost, nihilistic, empty...you name it. Its hard to fill the holes when those types of thoughts and feelings hit.

That's kind of where I've landed when I try to understand how people maintain belief. I can't make much sense of it otherwise.

[Kukulkan]

To go along with what dastardly stem has said, I think to a degree that there are people who are and will be happier being in Mormonism. I have also spent a decent time outside of Mormonism and it has been interesting over the years to see those who eventually leave and those who choose to stay. The ones I see that choose to stay all seem to be the kind of people I could never imagine outside of the church. They crave it and need it and are happy there. Most if not every one of these people are aware of the faith destroying evidence that exists against Mormonism but make a conscious decision to push that aside in order to stay in a place where they find themselves very happy and comfortable.

As to mystical experiences with psycho-active substances, it has always been a dream of mine to partake.

If you are interested in the subject I have two great books for you on it. The first is The Road to Eleusis: Unveiling the Secret of the Mysteries and the second is The Immortality Key: The Secret History of the Religion with No Name. Both delve into the mystery of Eleusis, which was an ancient town and site of Greek cults that seemed to have mixed what was a very primitive form of LSD and religion. Where it gets interesting is where connections start to be found between these LSD driven Greek cults and the introduction of Christianity. Without major spoilers, think two words. Hallucinogenic sacrament.