stemelbow wrote:thews wrote:This analogy is ridiculous. First we have Joe Smith using his peepstone to find buried treasures and "see" the evil treasure guardians so he could perform his occult magic to appease them (before the Book of Mormon). Then God chooses Joe Smith to unlock the secrets of the gold plates, and with the plates he gives him the Nephite spectacles. But when evil doers supposedly stole the lost pages, God punishes Joe Smith by taking the Nephite spectacles back, forcing Joe to use his occult magic rocks placed in hat... just as he did when he was a glass-looker (before the Book of Mormon). Now, when Martin Harris attempts to fool Joe Smith with a switcheroo of the rock, it was God who stepped in to teach Harris a lesson? You actually believe this is critical thought based on sound logic, which I find tragically sad.
Your contentious pose bores me, to be honest. If I was speaking to a child I might feel a little more likely to respond with patience.The only thing you knocked out of the park was common sense.
Seriously, you seem to have reached the maturity level of an 11 year and decided that was enough.I realize you don't like to answer questions Stem (you do respond to them), by what power did Joseph Smith use to find the pin for Martin Harris using his seer stone and old white hat? Was it done by using the power of God?
I'm surprised you don't realize that its not that people don't like to answer your questions as much as it is people just plain don't care for your contentious, arrogant style. I'm here to discuss things with people who intend to teach me more about life, not to quibble about stupid little jabs, while the other is doing nothing but trying to make me feel small because I'm Mormon. Sorry dude. I get why you want the "attack the person" thing to stick in the terrestrial forum now. Its your MO. I'll pray in hopes you get that dark spot out of your heart. Sound good?
Wow Stem... just Wow! Look at the effort you put into explaining all the reasons you can't answer a simple question (instead of just answering it). I see you've adopted the old Simon Belmont ploy of shooting the messenger. First you claim you don't believe in Joseph Smith's doctrine requiring polygamy as an everlasting covenant, you flee from answering who said the words regarding the descendant of Ham, followed by refusing to admit Joseph Smith was lying about polygamy, and now this... are the questions just too hard to answer? Is voicing an honest opinion regarding by what power did Joseph Smith use to find the lost pin of Martin Harris with his seer stone and old white hat too hard? Does it fringe on your cognitive dissonance that maybe, just maybe, all the things you were told about Joseph Smith were wrong?
You can run Stem, but you can't hide. Once you dipped your toes in the pool of truth Plato's cave opened up and you were thrust into the light. Stick with your dancing shadows for as long as you can take it, but the truth is Joseph Smith was into occult magic (before the Book of Mormon) when he learned the tricks from Luman Walter http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luman_Walter . The old magic rock-in-hat trick is evidenced in the question you can't answer, but you know what the question is Stem. Don't worry, I've got your back. Once you decide to acknowledge the truth I'll be here for you.