Sympathy toward unusual Religious Practice

[TlalocW]

19. I got to thinking about Mormonism tonight

Especially after watching the video some people have posted about their secret practices, and I kind of got pissed off about it - moreso than usual.

Let me begin with saying that I was raised Christian; I nominally am still one, and I'm more likely to give them a pass - to a point because secondly, I'm an entertainer on the side - mostly balloon animals but also a healthy amount of magic - and I fall in with the Penn and Teller (not necessarily their politics) and James Randi (I think he's more liberal) subsection in that I hate people who use "magical thinking" to scam people - priests who claim statues of the Virgin Mary cry, faith-healers, palm readers, people who talk to the dead, etc. are all shitstains on humanity. Most of them never make it to the big time, but some do.

And it really pisses me off that this asshole, Joseph Smith, was able to make up this story about golden plates and looking in a hat at some stones to write a "holy" book and create a new "religion." It's like Creed on, "The Office," said, "I've been involved in a number of cults, both as a leader and a follower. You have more fun as a follower. But make more money as a leader." And I'm sure Smith had no idea how far it would go, although he was going to milk it for all it was worth obviously. And now, it's an incredibly rich and powerful (and unfortunately becoming more respectful) church filled either with people who believe all these crazy things about Kobold, magic underwear, etc. combined with another belief that if they want all that stuff to keep working for them, they HAVE TO tithe, and either the leaders are as delusional as the laity, or the leaders are all just modern Joseph Smiths and know they've got a good thing going on - money, prestige, and power - and are going to continue the scam. I'm not sure which is worse.

So I agree with you about the line. Christian, Jew, Muslim, Buddhist, Taoist, Hindu, Sikh, etc. I have no problem holding office for the most part (I of course would prefer more liberal members of the religion who can separate their religion from their secular duty), but I have to say - with apologies to Harry Reid - wouldn't want a Mormon or Scientologist in charge of a bake sale.

TlalocW