When I first read this thread I didn’t pay much attention to the linked article. I focused mainly on the gold statue of Joseph Smith part and I found it amusing, especially in light of the scriptural admonition to avoid idolatry, as I mentioned above. Not that idolatry itself is all that amusing. It was drilled into me as a JW that it is pretty much the height of gross sinfulness.
So now I’ve read the article which describes the ceremony around the statue:
“Elder Christofferson spoke for 15 minutes about the life and teachings of Joseph Smith. One of those key teachings, he said, focuses on friendship.”
My first thought: There are 15 minutes’ worth of talking points about JS’s life and teachings? Second thought: JS was big on friendship? Ask the guys he sent away so he could have their wives.
The article goes on to state: “Friendship is one of the grand fundamental principles of [our faith and doctrine],” Elder Christofferson said, quoting Joseph Smith. “[Friendship will] revolutionize and civilize the world and cause wars and contentions to cease and men to become friends and brothers. Even the wolf and the lamb shall dwell together.”
I haven’t read much about JS promoting friendship. On many occasions his actions would counter that. And JS didn’t originate the thought that the wolf and the lamb shall dwell together – that’s a Bible scripture. The way it’s written in the article, in quotes, makes it seem like Christofferson is giving JS credit for that thought. A small point, perhaps, but it bugs me - trying to make JS out to be a world peacemaker and far more profound than by contemporary accounts and historical study he actually was.
From the article: "The 55 statues at the World Peace Dome — which include the likenesses of Moses, Peter and Aristotle — represent those “who think always [of] the soul and the mind,” Dr. Karad said. “The absolute right path can be shown only through education. What type of education? It has to be a universal, value-based education system.”
Again, I had to laugh. JS is now immortalized alongside Aristotle as some great contributor to humankind? That naked emperor sure gets around. It’s like taking a fairy tale and insisting it’s a real thing. The princess is in the castle. The witch is in her cottage. The three little pigs are busy building their homes.
Article:
“King Husein, chairman and CEO of Span Construction & Engineering, said the Joseph Smith statue was patterned after the one that resides at the Joseph Smith Birthplace memorial in Vermont.
“I am grateful to God for the Prophet Joseph Smith, for his life of sacrifice and for his role in restoring the gospel of Jesus Christ,” said Husein, who helped facilitate the placement of the Joseph Smith statue in the World Peace Dome. “Among many principles that Joseph Smith taught, he also advocated the rights of all human beings, the freedom to worship according to the dictates of their own conscience. … He also encouraged self-reliance and the need to follow the commandment of Jesus Christ to love our neighbor as ourselves.”
His life of sacrifice? He advocated the rights of all human beings?
Wow. The spin is making me dizzy.
“We readily acknowledge [Joseph’s] continuing influence for good in the world, the revelations that he brought forth, his example of service and sacrifice and his devotion to and witness of the living God,” the Apostle said.
I try not to mock or bad-mouth Mormons just because they’re Mormon, especially BICs who have a huge burden to lift in order to figure out how to objectively examine the church and extricate themselves, if they want, from its many tentacles. Each one of us has to go through the general exercise of evaluating what we were taught in childhood and choosing values we want to embrace as adults as well as discarding what doesn’t resonate with it. For people born into closed systems such as Mormonism and similar all-encompassing faiths, it’s a much steeper hill to climb. But. I do not feel bad for being negative about Joseph Smith. What was his “influence for good in the world”? His “example of service and sacrifice?” It’s scary how people can spout such ideas often enough, in enough places that the beliefs and ideas are accepted as fact when they are demonstrably not accurate.
On another note, from the article: “A house of the Lord is being built in Bengaluru.”
This is yet another expensive outward show that Mormonism is a thing - spending astronomical amounts of tithing funds that could do so much real good in the country rather than their choice to erect another white expanse of little intrinsic value.
Lot’s Wife says above: “This statue is situated not at a place with any official status--India's World Peace Dome is a misleading description--but at a small college, the MIT World Peace University, Moreover the "MIT" is not the famous Massachusetts research center but the Maharashtra Institute of Technology, which ranks number 116 according to the Indian government.”
Hahaha – At first I thought wow, it’s at the World Peace Dome, mighty heights for the Mormon Church, but yeah, you have to check out reality – I confess to falling for it at first, thinking that the World Peace Dome was a thing, a big thing, because it sounds like it would be. Bad research effort NG!
LW: “Thus the statue sits among over 50 other monuments of prophets, scientists, and--literally--"messiahs" in an obscure corner of what would in the US be Fairfield University, the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, or the University of Kansas. The odds that any visitor to that school would even know the name of Joseph Smith are vanishingly small.
“The most surprising aspect of this farce is that apostles apparently had nothing better to do with their time than fly to Maharashtra and sit through tedious ceremonial meetings for the sole purpose of justifying the erection of that gold monstrosity. Sure, some Mormons may think the church has achieved something here, but the idol's greatest import lies in the incremental growth it has produced in Todd Christofferson's frequent flyer account.”
I’m torn between laughing and wincing because yeah, if people don’t know, including BICs, repetition of these ideas gives a false impression to outsiders and reinforces the teachings BICs have heard from birth.
“Gold monstrosity”. That about sums it up. To me, the whole thing seems like a fairy tale gone wild. You want to yell “People. It’s only a story! Bears don’t really eat porridge. Wolves don’t talk. And Cinderella doesn’t always make it to the ball.”
So saying all that, I then came across another article about the “gold monstrosity” from LDS Living.
https://www.ldsliving.com/statue-of-joseph-smith-joins-54-other-messiahs-of-peace-in-indias-world-peace-dome/s/11160“Messiah of Peace”? Gag. Outrageous.
I can never get over the malignancy JS spawned with his doctrine of plural marriage. Ask any “wife” of a plyg how peaceful her life is. How blissful. How fulfilling. How free.
The article states: “A statue of Joseph Smith Jr. was unveiled in the World Peace Dome in Pune, India, on November 22, 2022, joining the bronze statues of 54 other religious leaders, scientists, and philosophers—including Jesus Christ, Gandhi, Aristotle, and Max Planck.”
Including Joseph Smith Jr. in such company as Gandhi and Aristotle would make you gag with laughter if it didn’t just make you gag. And including Jesus Christ in a group of “religious leaders, scientists and philosophers” instead of in his own category, as one would tend to do if their teachings recognized him as the Son of God, is bizarre.
From the article: “The World Peace Dome’s website calls Joseph Smith and the 54 other figures “Messiahs of Peace,” who are honored because of their significant “contribution[s] to the thought of peace, science, and prosperity.” The site says they are “jewels of humanity who have helped create civilization and forward thought as we know it.”
What on earth could possibly be Smith’s contribution to “peace, science and prosperity”? As for him being a “jewel of humanity”, it’s hard to know whether to splutter with laughter or cry in despair for the way in which people can twist the truth so reality is lost in a fairy tale and a dark one at that.
The article continues: “Addressing an audience of 3,000 gathered at the event, Elder Christofferson said, “I am gratified that you would honor us as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as you honor the Prophet Joseph Smith with his statue in this majestic hall built to promote world peace…”
Joseph Smith is to world peace what food storage is to world hunger. Empty. Useless. A world away from reality.
From the Church News: “How did a Joseph Smith statue end up in India?”
https://www.thechurchnews.com/2022/11/25/23478102/elder-christofferson-statue-of-joseph-smith-world-peace-dome-indiaGood question.
I was going to call the whole Joseph Smith thing a mirage or a hallucination - a mass hallucination, resulting in honouring a charlatan who was without honour himself. But the Mormon phenomenon doesn’t quite fit the literal definitions of either concept. So I’ll settle for an original conspiracy that metastasized widely and grew into the spectacle today of vast white (empty) temples throughout the world and the bronze statue of a man who doesn’t deserve the plaudits he’s receiving. He was not a man of peace or honour. I would even question his personal faith. How much did he believe and how much was for personal gain would be my question.
It wouldn’t even matter except the charade continues.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/03/2022 04:18PM by Nightingale.