...if not, why this one in particular?"

As I peel back the layers of absurdity in Mormonism the discovery continues at an increasing rate. As I have been looking around at other religions, I have been realizing that many of the other claims are just as absurd.

The list of absurdities is immense and spans all belief systems that I have encountered thus far. Here is a small sampling from our own upbringing:

1. A talking serpent. Genesis 3:1

2. The Israelite population went from 70 to several million in a few hundred years. Exodus 1:5,7, 12:37, 38:26

3. The birth story of Moses is suspiciously similar to that of the birth of Sargon, an Akkadian monarch from the 3rd millennium BCE. Exodus 2:3

4. God appears to Moses disguised as a burning bush that is not consumed Exodus 3:4 - 4:17

5. A rod turning into a snake. When the snake was grabbed by the tail into became a rod. Exodus 4:2-9

6. God made Moses' hand appear leprous, and then he cured it. Exodus 4:2-9

7. Moses poured water on the ground and it turned into blood. Exodus 4:2-9

8. Lot's wife is turned into a pillar of salt. Genesis 19:26

9. God killed Egyptians and their livestock by smashing them with huge hailstones mixed with fire. Exodus 9:24

10. God tells the Israelites to smear some blood on their doors. That way when he's going around killing Egyptian children, he'll remember not to kill their children too. He probably said to himself when he saw the blood, "Oh yeah, I remember now. I not supposed to kill the children in this house." Exodus 12:7, 13

11. The Egyptians chased after the Israelites with "all Pharaoh's horses." But according to Exodus 9:3-6 there wouldn't have been any horses, since God killed them all in "a very grievous murrain." Exodus 14:23

12. God kills all the cattle in Egypt Exodus 9:6
But a little later (Exodus 9:19-20, 12:29), God kills them again a couple more times.

13. God wants to be remembered forever for the mass murder of little children. Exodus 10:2

14. God appears to the Israelites and speaks from a cloud promising to rain lots of food (quails and mana/bread) from the sky. Exodus 16:10-12

15. A magical trumpet played loud while God came down in smoke, fire, and earthquakes onto Mt. Sinai. Exodus 19:16-18

16. God gives detailed instructions for performing temple ceremonies in the form of ritualistic animal sacrifices. Leviticus Chapters 1 - 9

17. Six chapters of Leviticus on divine instructions for making tables, candlesticks, snuffers, etc. 25 - 30

18. God gives instructions for making priestly breeches (garments). "And thou shalt make them linen breeches to cover their nakedness; from the loins even unto the thighs shall they reach." Leviticus 28:42

19. God's magical Urim and Thummim Exodus 28:30

20. Priest must wear holy breeches or die! (hmmm...temple garments for the priests) Exodus 28:43


Deja vu...been on that bad ride before and I have no interest in going for a second spin.

If you hadn't grown up Christian or Jewish, the Bible would appear pretty absurd to you. Read some Hindu tales and they see like ancient mythology. The Romans, Greeks, Egyptians and Swedes all believed their religious tales that we know view as fun stories.

The only different between mythology and religion is belief. You don't feel at all guilty for rejected beliefs that billions of people hold dear because your parents didn't tell you to. They are all attempts to create some anthropomorphic understanding of the world without scientific knowledge.

The biggest disadvantage that Mormonism has is that it is so recent we have documentation of its fabrication. Christianity isn't that hard to trace but most people never bother. Hebrewism, the foundation for Islam, Christianity and Judaism, is very old and hard to unravel, but it's just as mythical as its older peers from Egypt and Mesopotamia.

you might even be amused to know that there is more than one biblical scholar now contending that the whole Israelites-in-Egypt story is one grand propaganda-piece, cobbled together by a thuggish little pack of shepherds with a monstrous Napoleon Complex.

IOW: it never happened.

Moral to the story: don't believe everything you read.

A similar thought occurred to me while reading a recent post regarding the 1000-year-old folks living on the moon.

http://exmormon.org/phorum/read.php?2,38505

This absurd claim spurred a number of questions in my mind:

1. Am I justified in disregarding this claim because it was published in the 19th century?

2. Should I disregard this claim because it was not written in an "official church publication?"

3. If disregarding this claim because of age, at what point in time ought I begin to regard claims with full confidence?

4. Since this claim (and others in this article) appear to have been debunked, which other 19th century claims are also untrue, and what is the method for determining veracity of those claims?

5. Does it fall upon me to pray for a confirmation regarding the veracity of all teachings found in church publications? Shouldn't I have complete faith in whichever publication has been provided by the church?

6. Are all claims published before the advent of "correlation" subject to error? If so, which ones?

What are the chances any of these questions might be addressed during an upcoming General Conference?

Have you looked at the skeptic's guide to the bible? It's full of this stuff.

That someone was killed and burried, and in three days he walked out of his burial cave and talked with people and walked around and ate things.

Yes.