a couple of years back I was having a discussion on Joseph Smith being a polygamist with my mother in law, a devout social and historical mormon.

She said Smith was not a polygamist becuase once her stake president in Wyoming said Smith was not and it was a filthy lie.

Never mind she is smith "stock", a direct descendant of Hyrum.

When I told her that is was a matter of fact and that the church has published an article about it she said: He is not and I believe it, a Mormon just believes"

She stated it with such emotional pride, she was in tears, as if this was a reasonable and logical statement to make.

She has said this since, a few times, and in a way this is what Mormons, through their contradictions, anti-science and fact denial, gas-lighting and white washing has boiled down to:

They practice denial with all of their heart, soul, strength and essays. They can't even be on the internet for 10 minutes reading history, becuase their solid testimony will crumble.

They can't even talk about doctrine their church is based on without being formally disciplined. They call this denial "Faith" and it is the only way to make any of it bearable.

I would guess She likely has received a lot of social benefit from her association with the church. She maybe one of the many privileged ladies that benefit off of cultural patriarchy. Questioning the past would bring disruption for her prosperity. Which is counter productive to the teaching that prosperity is from "keeping the commandments in the land." And those that aren't prospering are sinners.

The title of your post says it all. I never thought about it that way but with Mormons faith and denial are interchangeable words often---if not always.

And, you just described my mom as well.

Does she also believe that there are Quakers living on the moon?

There aren’t? :)

In other words they are cultural appropriators -- up there with their telescopes, scanning for new things to copy and appropriate from various Earth peoples.

But that was way back when they were dressing like Quakers. Last I heard, they were dressing like people in a Bollywood movie. Those damn Moon people. The only original thing they've ever done was moon walking (which Michael Jackson then appropriated from them after a long night playing with his telescope at the Neverland ranch).

So true, sb.

I feel like a constant state of denial is in fact the very definition of faith.

Science adjusts its views based on what's observed. Faith is the denial of evidence so that belief can be preserved.

Exactly.

I would posit that Mormon faith is especially focused on denial, why other ways toward viewing God are more flexible to observation and change.

It is definitely hard to find it in most organized religions, but more people and churches are realizing that they cannot live by denial alone.

As hard as these people who are in denial are to be around, another way to look at them is that they are some of the people most victimized by the cult.
Though they will never admit it, and probably never know it, just think how sad and limited their world view really is and how they will never know the true joy of discovery and thinking for themselves.

“a Mormon just believes"

Yeah, but she’s right. She has a particular set of skills. Not everyone can believe in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary. You go, girl.

with them as soon as it becomes clear that they make no distinction between words/concepts like hope, belief, faith, confidence, certainty, truth, testimony, correctness and knowledge.

They use all those words carelessly and without examination.

They know with every fiber of their being that their faith is true and that the knowledge that the gospel gives them is constantly increasing their understanding and strengthening their testimonies of the truthfulness of the gospel and the gospel fills them with hope and confidence that they are on the correct path and that all of their beliefs are based on certainty--a certainty that has been given to them by the Holy Ghost, and if they ever feel like they are wavering in their belief or beginning to doubt their testimonies, they know that they need to pray to be more worthy of the promptings of the Holy Ghost to set them back on the path of certainty and knowledge.

How can you argue against something like that? There is no room for facts or logic in any of it. It's a perfectly impenetrable titanium bubble of indoctrination.

" . . . make no distinction between words/concepts like hope, belief, faith, confidence, certainty, truth, testimony, correctness and knowledge."

It's like as they converted each of those words you listed to Mormonism. All words now must obey the prophet. The prophet, the Mormons will now give those words meaning.

Mormons relinquish control of their very intellect as reason is dependent on words that have irrevocable meanings otherwise there is no point to language. Mormonism is just one big game of semantic borrowing.

"When it becomes clear they can make no distinction between words/concepts. . ."

I was in shock when I was talking to 2 women in this neighborhood at separate times and they both said, "When he chose to be gay" about my ex.

I don't talk to my daughter about mormon stuff at all anymore. AT ALL.

My daughter used to be anti. As my therapist put it, when she has a little doubt slip into her virtual reality helmet, she goes and does something like baptisms for the dead or read scriptures or something of that sort. I wonder how she gets off to work at 8 a.m. now considering she has to study scriptures for an hour every day. I know my daughter has ISSUES with the church, but she does live in denial and eventually the denial will catch up with her. She suppresses everything. I fear what will happen when it all hits her.

+100
The song tells it all.

That's because Mormonism is not a religious faith.

Mormonism is a cult.