The most well read Mormons are….

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Zeezrom
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The most well read Mormons are….

Post by Zeezrom » Thu Jul 28, 2022 1:55 pm

Ex-mormons.

I think it’s more pronounced in Mormonism than any other religion and it speaks to the nature of the con men that created it. You don’t see many ex-Catholics that know the catechism or whatever better than an archbishop, you don’t see ex-Jews that know the history of the Torah better than a rabbi, and you don’t see too many ex-muslims more expert in the Quran than an imam.

But just poke around this site or ex-Mormon Reddit etc and you’ll read essays from hundreds of ex-mos that know the standard works, Journal of Discourses, history of Joseph Smith, LDS theology in general ten times better than any TBM including Bishops, Stake Presidents, or even General Authorities.

Maybe that’s the genius behind having a mostly unpaid lay clergy. The people supervising the sausage making and selling the sausage don’t actually know how the sausage is made.

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moksha
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Re: The most well read Mormons are….

Post by moksha » Thu Jul 28, 2022 2:04 pm

Here is a map from an ex-member, Paul Osborne, who has studied Book of Mormon geography and understands it better than LDS leaders or academics:

Image
Good faith does not require evidence, but it also does not turn a blind eye to that evidence. Otherwise, it becomes misplaced faith.
-- Moksha

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Flaming Meaux
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Re: The most well read Mormons are….

Post by Flaming Meaux » Thu Jul 28, 2022 8:21 pm

moksha wrote:
Thu Jul 28, 2022 2:04 pm
Here is a map from an ex-member, Paul Osborne, who has studied Book of Mormon geography and understands it better than LDS leaders or academics:

Image
Truly, I now see why the Book of Mormon is only as interesting as a trip to Delaware.
"The truth knocks on the door and you say, 'Go away, I'm looking for the truth,' and so it goes away. Puzzling." -- Robert M. Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

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Hagoth
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Re: The most well read Mormons are….

Post by Hagoth » Fri Jul 29, 2022 4:56 am

Here's a map that gets exactly as much endorsement by LDS leadership as any proposed Book of Mormon geography:

Image
“The easy confidence with which I know another man's religion is folly teaches me to suspect that my own is also.” -Mark Twain

Jesus: "The Kingdom of God is within you." The Buddha: "Be your own light."

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Obadiah_Dogberry
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Location: Calgary, Canada

Re: The most well read Mormons are….

Post by Obadiah_Dogberry » Sun Aug 21, 2022 11:52 pm

moksha wrote:
Thu Jul 28, 2022 2:04 pm
Here is a map from an ex-member, Paul Osborne, who has studied Book of Mormon geography and understands it better than LDS leaders or academics:

Image
The chiasmas in this map are obvious.

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nibbler
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Re: The most well read Mormons are….

Post by nibbler » Mon Aug 22, 2022 10:41 am

Flaming Meaux wrote:
Thu Jul 28, 2022 8:21 pm
Truly, I now see why the Book of Mormon is only as interesting as a trip to Delaware.
Image
We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are.
– Anais Nin

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deacon blues
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Re: The most well read Mormons are….

Post by deacon blues » Thu Aug 25, 2022 8:54 am

The most well-read Mormons have at least read Rough Stone Rolling. I don't recall any TBM's who seem to have read it. :shock:
God is Love. God is Truth. The greatest problem with organized religion is that the organization becomes god, rather than a means of serving God.

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græy
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Re: The most well read Mormons are….

Post by græy » Thu Aug 25, 2022 9:56 am

deacon blues wrote:
Thu Aug 25, 2022 8:54 am
The most well-read Mormons have at least read Rough Stone Rolling. I don't recall any TBM's who seem to have read it. :shock:


Missionaries surprised me at my house the other day when I was the only one home. They saw RSR on my bookshelf and asked about it. One said he wanted to read it when he got home. I told him it was a really good book, but Bushman is skims some topics, especially some of the major happenings in Nauvoo era (polygamy). I mentioned that I like Vogel's book on JS better. He said he'd never heard of Vogel but would definitely look it up when he got home in ~5 months.

I wonder if that will come back to bite me in the butt?

In all likely hood, he's not going to read either of them anyway.
Well, I'm better than dirt! Ah, well... most kinds of dirt; not that fancy store-bought dirt; that stuff is loaded with nutrients. I can't compete with that stuff. -Moe Sizlack

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