They weren't smart enough to figure out the church was false but I remember a guy on my mission who said he had declared himself sovereign from the US and based it on the floating building in Nephis dream since it never touched the ground somehow this related to constitutional law or something. Does anyone recall people like this who were smart but trapped within the church's doctrine so they had to twist their brains around making the teachings intellectual.

Ummm, unless he resided full-time in Nephi's floating building, his ridiculous declaration makes no sense.

He doesn't qualify as an intellectual from what you've shared.

I do know some extremely bright people (never converts, mind you) who manage to compartmentalize their intelligence and ability to reason when it comes to church.

Their ability to rationalize, which can also be a component of intelligence, made up for their lack of reason.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/07/2015 03:36PM by leftfield.

It sounds almost cartoonish for me to say, but I've never met a rational, independent thinker who was active in the church.

Of course, my definition of 'rational, independent thinker' is someone who isn't TBM.

Being smart and being sane are not the same at all.

Some VERY smart people are TBMs. They use their smarts to
rationalize away the problems that would plague normal smart
people. Often the rationalization is in the form, "I know the
Church is true so there MUST be an answer to this problem
somewhere, either here or in the afterlife, so I won't worry
about it."

My former ward in Alpine counted among its members the co-founder of a company worth billions, a dean of one of University of Utah's colleges, and at least a dozen multi-millionaires, many of whom were entrepeneurs.

It's all about compartmentalization. The word 'algebra' stems from the Arabic 'al-jabr.' There are lots of very talented Muslims that are very, very, good at engineering and math, but who still adhere to Islam. It doesn't make them any dumber; it just means they're good at compartmentalization. Mormons are no different, and to look down on them as somehow dumber because they're good at compartmentalization is a mistake.

N/A

I don't know, when i meet a new person that turns out to be mormon, i automatically adjust my logic and speech patterns to accommodate them. They may be able to compartmentalize, but comparing one's belief in Islam, with the LD$ sham, is a very long reach.

Early Mormonism wasn't much different from contemporary radical Islam. Multiple child "wives", fatwas demanding the deaths of infidels, attempts to seize political power and "establish the Kingdom of God upon the Earth". They had to tone it down a shade because their neighbors weren't particularly happy with it, but once they got to the Salt Lake Valley, it was full-on theocracy, with religiously sanctioned slitting of throats (with Bowie knives), ridiculous clothing in the name of "modesty" (pants incorporated with a full dress... and a top hat, but I've not figured that bit out), forced subservience of women, secret mass murder of blasphemers, etc.

Seriously, Mormonism has been a crime against humanity from the beginning. Only the gradual liberalization of society and the leaders' desire for broader political power have tempered it over time.

This is actually the sad thing that there definitely smart and even intellectual people trapped in the cult.
My last ward for example: Psychiatrist, Lawyer, Physicians, Neurobiologist, Engineers, Teachers, Software developers, Economist, Philosophers. ... all smart people, all intellectual as long it doesn't come to moronism. Pointless to say that they're all BIC honorable returned missionaries I never met an intellectual convert nor a smart one. Not one I ever taught on my mission was a healthy AND/OR bright mind.

Just a few examples from my experience as a Nevermo:

Nearly 50 years ago in the AF I knew several LDS types. A couple were pretty "Jack"--alcohol but not tobacco, IIRC--but some others seemed to adhere to the tenets as far as I could tell and were competent, articulate stand-up guys. At the monthly squadron party/dinner in Korea the wine was served in carafes placed down the center of the table, and the saying was "always try to sit next to a Mormon," so you had to share the carafe with fewer people.

Later I worked with two college professors (at different schools) who were active LDS, fully observant AFAIK. Both were chemists, competent and respected by their colleagues, and excellent instructors. I suspect rationalization played a major role here.

My father was a Medical School Biochemistry professor, and a Presbyterian. Presbyterians are allowed to drink and smoke, even though some of them frown on it, so that wasn't a problem. When I was young he was quite active and read and discussed a great deal of theological material. Later he drifted away and was inactive--but still a pledge-paying member--for many years. He had a full Southern Presbyterian funeral service.

I share genes with many Mormons, and they are generally as smart as I am.

There are lots of intelligent, successful, even wealthy people in my area. My stake (old stake, I should say) is full of business owners, doctors, lawyers, etc.

My bishop from my last ward is an MD and celebrity in his field of oncology and gynecology, appearing for interviews on news shows, YouTube vids, awards, etc.
This bishop's next door neighbor is the owner of a fairly large company here in this town. They recently came back from a stint as temple president in a foreign country.
Down the street from them lives a very successful patent attorney.

I have an old ward member who is so intellectual as to be socially stunted. He is fairly liberal.

(Oh, and speaking of liberal, the most liberal couple in our ward, who drove around with an Obama bumper sticker and were very outspoken in their liberalism, were the first people to shun me when I left the church. I considered her my friend, and she will now barely even meet my eye, when we meet, which is pretty frequently because we have kids in the same grade and school. She has a PhD, too, btw)

Brains and intelligence have nothing to do with believing in mormonism, in my opinion.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/08/2015 11:42AM by claire.