And this is only natural since the Mormon Church can not be proven false, but it can not also be proven true. Such is faith and doubt mixed together creating a rocky marriage.
This is a great demonstration of Thama’s point. As long as it’s plausible that the massive civilization described in the Book of Mormon disappeared without a recognizable trace, no matter how improbable it is, it hasn’t been “proven false”. As long as it’s plausible that God taught Joseph Smith how to use a seer stone via peep stone treasure hunting, no matter how improbable it is, it hasn’t been “proven false”. As long as it’s plausible that Joseph Smith wasn’t really having sex with his wives, including the young and already-married, no matter how improbable it is, then Joseph Smith hasn’t been shown to be manipulative and willing to abuse power to serve his sexual desires.
I mean, no one has sprouted wings in these scenarios, have they?
The harsh fact is that outsiders – without any dog in the fight – observing these interactions would likely conclude that Mormonism has been proven false. But for believers, as long as it hasn’t been “proven false”, then they “win”. And since it can never be “proven false” by their standards… voila.
Thama really has nailed it – this difference in standards explains the continual frustration, exasperation, and stunned amazement that repeatedly occur between the two sides. It’s like two teams playing volleyball, with each side having entirely different rules for establishing the “winner”. Then, when each side perceives they’ve won by their own rules, they notice in the midst of their celebratory high-fives that the other team apparently believes they’ve won. Each side looks at the other and says “are you delusional??? What in the world is wrong with you???”
I also have my doubts that defenders of the faith use this particular set of rules for anything else in their lives, with rare exceptions. It’s a standard that humans employ when they are extremely emotionally invested in one particular outcome. It’s like the cheated-upon wife who, upon finding lipstick and perfume on her husband’s shirt and a hotel room receipt, will accept his answer that he and a colleague had to rent a room in order to develop a new product, and her lipstick and perfume got on his shirt because she’s clumsy and bumped into him. Ok, it’s not an entirely impossible scenario, just extraordinarily unlikely – but good enough for a wife who is not emotionally able to confront the reality that her husband is cheating on her, and is not ready to face the decisions that will demand. Using this standard makes one vulnerable to manipulation and deception. Hey, invest in this cure for cancer! Sure, sure, the researchers in the field deny it cures cancer, but that’s just because they’re too invested in reinforcing their past beliefs. See? This is plausible, isn’t it? No one has sprouted wings. So hand over ten thousand bucks!!!