>>24662477
>CES Letter
With how many times I have heard this letter thrown around with regard to members leaving the church, I thought it would be some rock-solid anti-Mormon literature. I read it last night because of your post and was immensely disappointed. In my estimation the entire work to basically boils down to two core arguments, being archeological/historical evidence and “If Mormon church good, then why bad?”
To combat the first point, archeology has fought a losing battle against Mormonism since the beginning, assuming the Americas are the setting for the Book of Mormon. First archeological deboonks were based on the claims that the hebrews never recorded on metal plates, and that Egyptian hieroglyphs had never been transliterated. Both of these claims were later shown to be false with new discoveries. Mind, these claims are not the only two that have outpaced archaeological scrutiny, just the ones I can think of off the top of my head.
Secondly, whoever wrote the CES letter has laughably a poor understanding of Mormonism. Multiple CES arguments are iterations of “How come if X was supposed to be a prophet he did/didn’t do Y?” Mormonism does not believe in leadership infallibility. Brigham Young’s headcanon does not mean the church is not led by God. Joseph Smith having connections to masonry and esotericism does not mean he wasn’t a prophet. Another poignant example of this is the account of Heber C Kimball being asked to wed his daughter to Joseph Smith. The letter mentions that Kimball went without food or water for three days, seeking a confirmation from the Lord. The author then turns around and asks why Kimball was so troubled as to turn away from food. To the untrained eye that might be a valid question, but to anyone who has ever been familiar with Mormonism, we call that fasting. Mormons often refrain from food or water and turn to God to seek answers to tough spiritual questions like “Can I trust the guy who is asking me to give him my daughter”, but the author knows so little about the process that he/she mistakes fasting for starving due to emotional turmoil.
I could go on, but I think I’ve rambled enough for one post. Thanks for listening.
