MG 2.0 wrote: ↑Wed Jan 19, 2022 11:31 pm
canpakes wrote: ↑Wed Jan 19, 2022 10:19 pm
You’ve provided the Joseph Knight situation to help the reader process this question… which, basically, can be distilled down to this:
Smith:
I have golden plates that I’m going to translate into a new record of Christ in America!
Knight:
Astounding! Here, let me help take care of you while you do some translating. I’ll give you free provisions, room and board, foodstuffs, transportation and other aid so that you can spend time simply doing what you want to do with those plates that you won’t let me see!
Smith:
Sweet! ::
high fives all around ::
… Did I miss anything?
Just God.
And yes, that’s the BIG bugaboo in all of it.
God or no God.
I think that Smith was perfectly capable of doing what he did without a prompt from any God. Besides, as Dr. Exiled has mentioned, this scenario would only come from the mind of a trickster God.
By the way, canpakes, your posts have been an interesting and thoughtful read. I do see where you’re coming from as an outsider/critic. From your vantage point you make some good points that need to be acknowledged and thrown into the mix.
If I was looking at it from the outside without the life experience I’ve had and what I know for myself I would possibly jump on board with you. It is interesting, is it not, that there are so many options and choices that make sense for different people depending on how they’re built and the environment they’ve been brought up in?
I think we are ALL subject to that. Comparatively speaking, I think I’ve tried to step out of my own ‘bubble’ of existence and tried to view things ‘as they are’. And my hope is that others make the effort to do the same. But the thing is, we can still (obviously) end up on opposite sides of the track.
I do enjoy reading/observing your point of view.
And thank you for your basic humanity/civility.
Regards,
MG
You’re welcome. I’m sure that I come across as jaded, snarky or irreverent at times, but I don’t mean any disrespect.
I suspect that you’ve lived a life populated mostly by good and decent folks. If so, your experiences expectedly guide your analytic process accordingly. On the other hand, I’ve seen my fair share of people who’ve claimed to love God - or love another person - with all of their heart, mind and intent, yet still go on to commit some amazingly egregious behavior, and pain for others, even as they cannot recognize or comprehend that outcome.
People are funny like that, and amazingly complex, be they tainted by environment or upbringing, demons or mental illness. And this is why I disagree with what I interpret as your attempt to place Smith and his actions squarely and only into one of two tidy little boxes - Fraud, or Prophet - while ignoring the vast sea of grey that simultaneously exists between, envelops and overlaps the two.
It’s a choice that makes the decision simple, if that’s what is desired - after all, who wants to see their faith leader as a Fraud? And if he’s a Prophet, then what need is there for one to think past what (he) says?
But I do feel that such a dogmatic equation can subconsciously squelch some appreciation of the world and the wonders within that surround us all … so I tend to reject it.
In any event, I enjoy the conversation. And not because I’m trying to change your mind. Because I’m not. : )