On the thread about the pioneer celebration, it made me think about the miracles that are proclaimed from the handcart companies as well as the misery.

In the movie 17 miracles, it shows multiple times when God miraculously provided food. Once it was a pie on the trail. Another time it was in the form of miraculously growing bread in a dutch oven. There were other examples.

I hate this definition of God that mormons believe in. He has the power to help you find your keys, but can't find an abducted girl.

He has the power to drop in food at will. But he is willing to allow dozens of people die a painful death of starvation and exposure. But why? It wasn't their fault they were out there. Church leaders made selfish decision and put them in harms way.

He has the power according to those miracles, yet he is only willing to give the tiniest bit of help before they die a painful death.

I can never believe in such an F'ed up definition of God.

Mormons just can't see how crazy this is. They only celebrate it.

I think we all believed in this definition of god at one time. That's the definition of god people derive from the bible. One of those people was Joseph Smith.

Yes it's silly. Yes it's sad.

Mormons can't seem to help building a body of miracle myths just as had been done anciently. No doubt they'll eventually have a set of legends like the Catholics and go on to venerate saints, etc.

IMHO, this is a mistake. Childish magic thinking and the idea that God suspends natural law in special circumstances while allowing nature to randomly run rampant everywhere else is utterly ridiculous to modern thinkers. Miracles are so easily debunked that only the most gullible will believe these things today. They are going to lose everyone who allows their brain cells to talk to each other.

I suppose that I always just assumed that God was equally
manifest, both in tragedy and triumph, and that it was
our purpose as human beings to participate in and reflect
upon those phenomena.

The only miracle I can fathom is existence itself.

But, a god who brings relief from Great Salt Lake City to
the starving, half-frozen survivors of a hand cart company?
That is a cartoon god, suitable for posting on the office
bulletin board next to the Dilbert clippings.

UD

Pie in the road and food in a oven? Most people would call that stealing someone else's food. Mormons call it a blessing from god.

And he couldn't give a pie to the starving people in Africa who have done nothing to deserve starvation while the pioneers intentionally put themselves in that position?

It's just more self-importance. Look, we're deserving of miracles because we're speshul!