Comments on: Mr. Deity was Mormon?

Comment by: outclassed

2009-06-28T08:53:03Z

I believe it is the edition of the bible that Mr. Deity keeps swinging around that might prove he may have been Mormon. Do I win?

Anyway, I have not dug too deep into your blog but I think I understand a bit where you are coming from. My question/comment for you revolves around stories that where always told to me growing up or shared in Church regarding faith and miracles etc. Were these stories simply made? For example, I was told about a male member whose house was on fire but he did not burn because he was wearing the special underwear…he lost everything else. Or what about all of those other stories from faithful members in the service during WWII who didn’t smoke or drink coffee or whatnot and everything seemed to turn out well? And on and on…

Do these stories not provide empirical evidence of some type of higher power….or are they simply manifestations of the human psyche – a person’s way of interpreting or expressing their experiences?

I am not really sure where I am going with all this, but just wondering. It is difficult for me to swallow that normal experiences from by grandpa or every other day people where all just a bunch of lies. I agree that Church history is rife with misleading and whitewashed information.

Just curious,
Thanks

Outclassed and rethinking everything…

Comment by: Jonathan

2009-06-28T13:52:47Z

Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!!1! 50 points to outclassed.

Interesting question. I think there are many reasons for these stories. And I have my reasons for not putting too much stock in them.

People have experiences that confirm in their minds their beliefs. I don’t think the original story tellers are lying about them. I think they are telling the truth as they see it. Then, of course, the stories get amplified in the retelling until we have a full blown urban legend.

I question the the original story teller’s interpretation of the facts. Their interpretations seem rife with confirmation bias, the tendency to focus on evidence that confirms our beliefs while neglecting evidence that refutes them.

QualiaSoup has an excellent video about how ordinary experiences with natural explanations can be misinterpreted and become the source of faith-promoting stories of divine intervention.

Comment by: Mr. Deity

2009-06-28T15:56:31Z

Outclassed is correct. I am a Formon. And that was my extremely marked-up KJV Bible from my Mormon days. People have written me, disappointed that I didn’t have a quad (I saw too many of the bindings not hold up). If I had a prize to give away, you would get it. The only other Mormon reference I’ve made in the series is in part one of this two-part series (Mr. Deity and the Book).
We have an episode coming up later in season three where Joseph Smith pitches his ideas for the Latter-Day to an awe-struck Mr. Deity. I think you’ll love it! B

Comment by: Jonathan

2009-06-28T20:38:06Z

I don’t know why, but knowing that you were Mormon makes the episodes funnier to watch.

That Joseph Smith episode sounds great! Can’t wait.

Comment by: outclassed

2009-06-30T10:28:27Z

@Jonathan,
That is a very good explanation, although I must admit that humans tend to simply function this way. Nobody likes to be told they are wrong. Is it such a bad thing to be so irrational?

Prayer is another one of those things that deals with “how ordinary experiences with natural explanations can be misinterpreted and become the source of faith-promoting stories of divine intervention.” I have had a difficult time with prayer/praying my entire life. It just doesn’t make sense. When people say their prayers’ have been answered it drives me crazy. Why yours and not mine? Then the grand-wizards tell you, “it is because you are not praying for the right things….you must pray to know what to pray for.” What the hell does that mean, it is easy to see how this is a never-ending cycle, I mean how does one ‘pray harder’? Who am I really even talking to, myself?

Anyway, sometimes all these disagreements seem silly. Either you have faith or you do not. Obviously most Churches simply function off of faith and faith is so difficult to refute with any zealot. Why do you need evidence if you have faith and so on…

What I cannot reconcile is how +one-billion people could be so wrong or duped for so long? Are all souls not created equal, are some just smarter than others, are we all so easily mislead?

@Mr. D
Can’t wait for the Joseph episode…my KJV is marked-up and falling apart as well.

Comment by: Jonathan

2009-06-30T14:35:08Z

Yeah, basically human beings function irrationally and always will to some degree. I think we’ll always have superstitions of one form or another. I don’t think we should be satisfied with that though. If we can have a president who invades Iraq because he thinks God told him to, that’s not some harmless quirk of human nature. Life would be safer and healthier if we could root out such harmful superstitions.

I sympathize with your thoughts about prayer. I never could figure it out either. I tried praying harder, smarter, humbler, more often, etc. Never got any clear answers. It felt like praying to a stone idol. After years of trying with no success, I decided to stop wasting my time.