0 Votes
Its about the message, not the courier.
is Mormonism a bunch of fables / parables to you or do you really believe it?
I think that is a false dichotomy.
All the holy books of the great religions are full of fables or parables. The intent is not that you should believe that they actually happened. Only young children (and millions of other guileless, ingenuous, naive, innocents, mostly living in western and southern USA) could do that.
No, the intent is that you should absorb the messages in the fables and parables as if it is your God talking to you and guiding you in the proper way to lead your life.
I think it is the same with Mormonism. A highly intelligent dude like our Brandon could not believe the account of the founding of his sect given in the Book of Mormon as historical fact. He would see it as a literary device that was necessary to kick start a new cult in 19th century America. He takes the message very seriously, if not the earthly messenger.
RE: Its about the message, not the courier. by Brandon
I think it’s kind of funny the way the VnutZ worded the original question, but I surely “really believe Mormonism” – if by that you mean I accept as truth the central claims of the religion, including the story of the restoration (i.e., Joseph Smith was a prophet, was inspired to translate (in a way) the Book of Mormon from actual golden plates he found after seeing in vision God the Father, Christ, and the Angel Moroni, etc.)