Brandon Flowers

[poliphilo]

Brandon Flowers is a Mormon. Oh, right....

I've believed in some pretty silly things in the course of my life but there are some things- some organised bodies of belief- that are just too silly even for me. 

And Mormonism is one of them. Its prophet? Clearly a con-artist.  Its scriptures? Mark Twain called them "chloroform in print".

And isn't there something about never taking off your underwear? Or is that the Jehovah's Witnesses? I get those two mixed up.

You gotta read up around your beliefs. You gotta ask questions.

And if you're in your mid-twenties and you've seen a bit of the world beyond Utah and you still believe in the angel Moroni and the golden tablets and the green spectacles, it can only mean you're a bit of a fool. 

I don't mean unintelligent. I mean intellectually incurious.

Why should I want to engage with an artist who is intellectually incurious?

I feel the same way about all those Hollywood stars who are into Scientology. Travolta, Cruise: I avoid their films.

I quite liked Hot Fuss, but I think I'll be giving the latest album a miss.

Comments

[solar-diablo.livejournal.com]

I've never read the Book of Mormon, but felt I had a fairly good understanding of their doctrine and theology via secondhand sources, until while reading a book for a seminar (The Americanization of Religious Minorities by Eric Mazur) came an aside the author makes that the Book of Mormon contains a prophecy about the advent of the Constitution of the United States. Well and good, except:

The US Constitution was adopted in 1787.
The Book of Mormon was published in 1830 by a man born in 1805.

Now the cynic looks at that info and immediately the red flags go up. Retroactive prophecy as a basis for belief? My colleague pointed out that if you are a true believer, however, you don't get hung up on the dates, but rather are amazed and comforted that your holy book is reaffirmed by the events in history (seeing as they believe the Golden Plates were obviously around much longer than the Constitution, it's just that Smith didn't get ahold of them until the 19th century). But he smiled wryly and shook his head in full understanding of my consternation over how Mormons can so blithely disregard this and similar difficulties with their doctrines/scriptures.

[solar-diablo.livejournal.com]

Sorry, this was a rather slapdash response. I should point out my colleague in the department is an ex-Mormon with an extensive background in their apologetics, so I find him a credible source to turn to when I have questions about the faith. Moreover, his family (including his wife) are still devout Mormons so he is sympathetic to it and not bitter. He simply could no longer reconcile his Mormon faith with his education.