Ray A wrote:These categories are too simplistic. The definition attempts to make clear differences, when in real life the variety of beliefs among Mormons is far more complex
Precisely.
I love the idea of Joseph Fielding Smith as an "internet Mormon," by the way.
It would be difficult to choose a single example that would demonstrate more clearly the absurd (and Procrustean) character of Shades's excruciatingly simple-minded dichotomy.
Joseph Fielding Smith wasn't the only one who said that his teachings should be measured against the scriptural canon, and he didn't only say it to Eugene England. Both he and Harold B. Lee made similar comments on the topic, publicly. More than once. I don't have the time at the moment to find appropriate quotations, but I doubt that they will be difficult to locate.
It's transparently obvious that Shades uses his ridiculous dichotomy as a weapon with which he thinks he can beat the Church (and, of course, "apologists") -- and this is especially clear when, as he often has, he exits earth's atmosphere with such ludicrous hyperbole as "two entirely different churches," "two completely distinct faiths," and the like. Such nonsense simply cannot be taken seriously by any reasonable, fair-minded person, though I can easily understand its enthusiastic reception in certain other quarters.
