grindael wrote:I really thought you were above this kind of crap, Bot.
Srsly? That is exactly the kind of crap he is into.
grindael wrote:I've had some tell me that it would be better off if I were dead, but that is simply empty posturing. And driven off by "one tactic or another"?" Rather, they left because their apologetics are simply inane and stupid and they don't like others pointing this out with actual evidence.
Well, yes. I think that, in the main, that is true. I have yet to see an apologetic for Joseph Smith's polygamy that worked for me. Every time you post in response to Brian Hale, it looks worse and worse for the apologetic position. The myth of Joseph Smith, middle-class family man, would be thrice dead and buried if people had half an inkling of the material you have quoted here.
And, what can one really say in response to this? Is there any kind of defense of Joseph Smith's behavior that looks the least bit sympathetic from the perspective of your average, respectable 20-21rst century man or woman? I don't think so.
And one can go down the list: the traditional views of Joseph Smith's revelations, scriptures, moral behavior, polygamy rationale--the whole thing--just crumble in the face of the facts. Sure, one can imagine a new way of seeing these things, but it would take a major reimagining of Mormonism to square any of these factual revelations with a sustainable, modern faith.
I don't see that happening. I see the LDS Church slowly responding as the first-world numbers continue to crater. The LDS Church has no clue whence it came and it has no workable plan for where it is going, other than to hope that their convert baptisms in the third world replenish their numbers, and that their investments pan out well.
"Petition wasn’t meant to start a witch hunt as I’ve said 6000 times." ~ Hanna Seariac, LDS apologist