They do, or at least they are very much supposed to. It’s the interplay between their 7th and 9th articles of faith. To follow on that, they (are supposed to) believe that literally every president of the LDS church is/was a prophet.
The direct line to God is super helpful when, for instance, the whole operation is gonna be shut down due to the feds finally having enough presence in the region to enforce polygamy laws, or when they’re going to exclude your flagship university from the student loan program because you said that black men couldn’t hold any leadership positions due to being descended from the wrong dudes in Old Testament times.
I get that they’re supposed to, I’m more curious if the seemingly smart and sensible people I know who happen to be Mormons sincerely believe that obvious conman was a prophet or if they just let it slide because they value the community and moral teachings.
I haven’t “been Mormon” in decades, and the internet was likely a game changer, but there is a reason they get called a cult from time to time.
There is a powerful taboo against even reading, much less investigating, secular sources of history about the early church. If your friends seem to be true believing, then they likely do believe that Josiah Smith was a prophet, the same way mainstream Christians (and Mormons too, lol) believe a Judean rabble rouser came back to life after he got executed because he was divine.
If they’re intellectually honest, they would probably acknowledge that the “facts” exist but would say they’re incomplete or intentionally shaded, and that their faith is not dependent on contemporary non-Mormon accounts. They will roll out quotes from the leadership among the lines of “doubt your doubts” or that faith does not require perfect knowledge.
Then, factor in that the social aspects of church life are pretty all encompassing and that church discipline is very real within the top-down organization they have, and there are powerful psychological motivations not to dig too deeply.
From my experience as an ex-Mormon, one of two things; the first is that they have it drilled into them from birth to be submissive and inoffensive. They’re not even allowed to swear, least of all criticize their own leadership. Second, they have a mandatory two-year period where they have to actually go out into the rest of the world and make some kind of effort at assimilating into another culture as missionaries. That tends to give them a slightly more worldly perspective in some regards, but not all.
They aren’t bad people. They’ve been tricked into believing something harmful.
I have a few Mormon friends, but I can’t think of a tactful way to ask them if they actually believe Joseph Smith was really a prophet.
They do, or at least they are very much supposed to. It’s the interplay between their 7th and 9th articles of faith. To follow on that, they (are supposed to) believe that literally every president of the LDS church is/was a prophet.
The direct line to God is super helpful when, for instance, the whole operation is gonna be shut down due to the feds finally having enough presence in the region to enforce polygamy laws, or when they’re going to exclude your flagship university from the student loan program because you said that black men couldn’t hold any leadership positions due to being descended from the wrong dudes in Old Testament times.
I get that they’re supposed to, I’m more curious if the seemingly smart and sensible people I know who happen to be Mormons sincerely believe that obvious conman was a prophet or if they just let it slide because they value the community and moral teachings.
They could also just pay lio service out of fear, because being excommunicated as a Mormon is incredibly serious.
I haven’t “been Mormon” in decades, and the internet was likely a game changer, but there is a reason they get called a cult from time to time.
There is a powerful taboo against even reading, much less investigating, secular sources of history about the early church. If your friends seem to be true believing, then they likely do believe that Josiah Smith was a prophet, the same way mainstream Christians (and Mormons too, lol) believe a Judean rabble rouser came back to life after he got executed because he was divine.
If they’re intellectually honest, they would probably acknowledge that the “facts” exist but would say they’re incomplete or intentionally shaded, and that their faith is not dependent on contemporary non-Mormon accounts. They will roll out quotes from the leadership among the lines of “doubt your doubts” or that faith does not require perfect knowledge.
Then, factor in that the social aspects of church life are pretty all encompassing and that church discipline is very real within the top-down organization they have, and there are powerful psychological motivations not to dig too deeply.
compartmentalization, dude. joe smith’s history of being a conman? that’s just the devil’s opposition.
Tell me more about Joseph Smith. I couldn’t find any good info on him and would love your take.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Smith
I think he was posing a hypothetical question I could ask them.
Usually scifi fandoms are a bit toxic, but Mormons seem to be kinda decent people somehow. I wonder what does that.
From my experience as an ex-Mormon, one of two things; the first is that they have it drilled into them from birth to be submissive and inoffensive. They’re not even allowed to swear, least of all criticize their own leadership. Second, they have a mandatory two-year period where they have to actually go out into the rest of the world and make some kind of effort at assimilating into another culture as missionaries. That tends to give them a slightly more worldly perspective in some regards, but not all.
They aren’t bad people. They’ve been tricked into believing something harmful.
I have a weird alternative theory why they’re so cool. It’s because they don’t consume coffee.