Thanksgiving. I have been reading about Joseph Smith and the history of The Book of Mormon. I stumbled (via Google) onto a fascinating site with lots of documentation at the "Institute for Religious Research. I’ve read all I need to confirm my original gut feeling that Joseph Smith was one hell of a con man. I think I was about 14 years old when my young inquiring mind picked up and tried to read The Book of Mormon. At that age I could wade through The Bible, Jules Verne, When Worlds Collide, and the novelized version of Forbidden Planet. I read some Churchill, William L. Shirer’s Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, and even gave Plato and Gibbon a shot, but my BS filter saw The Book of Mormon as badly written fiction. It amazes me that so many people take it seriously, and I have recently gotten concerned because one of that cult’s members, Mitt Romney (an attractive candidate, who is currently the Governor of Massachusetts), is pursuing a run for President of the United States as a Conservative Republican. And, as much as I have come to admire Glenn Beck I have to question the sanity of anyone claiming to believe that crap. It is a cult as far as I am concerned. I've always felt that way, but one afternoon’s research has me convinced. What is it? A tool for career advancement as people always say about secret societies like the Masons?

Truly it is nice to feel belonging with a group of like minded individuals, but to profess belief in a Joseph Smith, for crying out loud--the guy was in arrested, tried and found guilty of fraud for using his "seer stone" to help people find buried treasure in Bainbridge, New York (1826)...give me a break! This is the same "seer stone" he put in his hat to "read" the interpretation of his golden "plates"--which no one but him ever saw!

I can understand taking things on faith. I, myself, am a Christian. But I trust Christ's diciples over Joseph Smith's any day. The latter were not really witnesses. They served as stenographers and "witnessed" his creative writing, which I am sure was done in the most solemn of settings. One of those "Witnesses" David Whitmer eventually left the church. I could go on, but I've made my point. At any rate, I hope the links point the way.

I must say it has been nice having a topic to center on for a change. I wish I could dicipline myself to do this sort of thing on a regular basis. Who knows? If I could, I might have the makings of a hack writer.