My Book of Mormon Hero
The Book of Mormon that I carried with me for two years as a missionary in Russia is on my desk. It’s the standard edition that all Mormons have: The Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price all in one. (My Bible is its own separate book.) This particular book is tattered and worn from years of use and study. In fact, it’s marked up, cross-referenced, and highlighted so much that no one could honestly tell me that I wasn’t sincere in my studies. I was. I still am. Only now I’m not fed on a diet of skim milk. I want -and get- the meat.
My Book of Mormon is still full of bookmarkers, photographs, and cards I received from Russian friends. As I was flipping through the pages, the book fell open to Alma, Chapter 30. This particular chapter was always hit hard in Sunday school, seminary, and a few times on my mission during conferences. In the chapter summary I have circled “all things denote there is a God” and in the margin of my book is written in my handwriting,“Korihor=antichrist.”
The name Korihor in Mormonism is synonymous with everything evil and vile. So I re-read the story for the first time in years with a fresh outlook and a freethinking mind. (It took about 5 minutes. It’s one chapter.) After I re-read the chapter it made sense that this guy is so hated because he actually makes a logical, valid and crystal clear argument for atheism. After all, Reason is the enemy of faith. And for the first time ever in all my studies of the Book of Mormon, I actually connected with a character.
Korihor is vilified in Sunday School classes because we are taught he was preaching that there was no god. But that’s not what he preaches. He says, “13 O ye that are bound down under a foolish and a vain hope, why do ye yoke yourselves with such foolish things? Why do ye look for a Christ? For no man can know of anything which is to come. 14 Behold, these things which ye call prophecies, which ye say are handed down by holy prophets, behold, they are foolish traditions of your fathers. How do ye know of their surety? Behold, ye cannot know of things which ye do not see, therefore ye cannot know that there shall be a Christ.”
He wasn’t preaching that there was no god. He was preaching, correctly, that when someone makes a claim, they better be able to back it up.
The people he was speaking to, the righteous theists, did to him what they usually do: used force and violence to illegally bring him before the high priest and chief judge of the land. They asked him why he was preaching false doctrine and speaking against the prophets.
Korihor answered brilliantly: “25 You say that this people is a guilty and a fallen people, because of the transgression of a parent. Behold, I say that a child is not guilty because of its parents. 26 And ye also say that Christ shall come. But behold, I say that ye do not know that there shall be a Christ. And ye say also that he shall be slain for the sins of the world 27 And thus ye lead away this people after the foolish traditions of your fathers, and according to your own desires; and ye keep them down, even as it were in bondage, that ye may glut yourselves with the labors of their hands, that they durst not look up with boldness, and that they durst not enjoy their rights and privileges. 28 Yea, they durst not make use of that which is their own lest they should offend their priests, who do yoke them according to their desires, and have brought them to believe, by their traditions and their dreams and their whims and their visions and their pretended mysteries, that they should, if they did not do according to their words, offend some unknown being, who they say is God– a being who never has been seen or known, who never was nor ever will be.”
That’s brilliant! Korihor is so eloquent in his remarks! When I read those words, I feel as if he’s describing the modern day Mormon Church. But the people don’t answer his rational questions. Again, they use force to bind him and take him before Alma.
Not surprising, Alma does not respond with any kind of reasoned answers. He does what Mormons call “bear testimony” which means, Alma merely makes a lot of assertions without any evidence. He says the phrase “I know” frequently then declares that all things denote there is a god. No evidence is provided. Alma does make a statement I find amusing. He asks Korihor: “40 And now what evidence have ye that there is no God, or that Christ cometh not?”
Huh? Wait a second! Alma asks Korihor to prove a negative. No one is ever called upon to prove a negative. The burden of proof always rests on the person making the claim. And then Alma says: “I say unto you that ye have none [evidence], save it be your word only.” Wait another second! Isn’t that all Alma has as well? Alma sounds more and more like a hotheaded teenager than a man of god.
Korihor asks Alma for a “sign” of some kind. I would call this evidence and in fact I ask for it all the time when people make bald-faced assertions. It’s a reasonable request, because believing things for which there is no evidence is not a virtue.
The story then turns into total drivel when Korihor is struck dumb by the power of god and admits that he was wrong and actually always believed in god but that the devil deceived him.
But it all works out in the end because the loving Heavenly Father forgives Korihor, they all make up and bake pies for all the sick people in the village. Oh, wait no, that’s not what happens at all. In the actual story Korihor spends the rest of his days going “about from house to house, begging food for his support.” He is later trampled to death. But remember, god is a forgiving, loving god.
Korihor and Alma are both fictional characters anyways; they never existed. But even so, Korihor, with his sharp intellect and rational thinking, is my Book of Mormon hero.
What the??????? Here is my question for you. If there is no god, and god doesn’t exist…. why would you care about what others think or believe in…….if we all die and their is NOTHING after death? This doesn’t make any sense to me at all. It shouldn’t matter to you if you were a true atheist because once one is dead, and their existence doesn’t matter to them any more because there in a state of nothingness…..what is it to you? Your not out anything at all. If I were to worship Bozo the Clown but only on leap year and offer him up dog crumpets….what does that matter to you? Once I die, I don’t go anywhere except the ground. All of my knowledge, arguments and experiences were all for naught. There was no point to my existence at all because I will die and not exist at a later time. So…..why do you give a flying leap if you will be having the same fate? Would’t it be better for you to go rock climbing, tour the country, get drunk out of your skull and eat lots of chocolate? I’d really like to hear this one my friend! Bring it on Bro!
You conflate two VERY distinct issues into one: that religious belief is benign and causes no harm. How wrong you are. If the scenario you present was true (i.e. worshiping Bozo the Clown) you ask why it would matter to me. The answer is it wouldn’t if your belief was kept to yourself. HOWEVER (and this a big however) when people who worship Bozo the Clown force those who do not to believe the same way under the threat of violence, then there is a problem. When people who worship Bozo extort tax payer money (from people who don’t believe in Bozo) to fund “faith based initiatives” to promote Bozo, when people who believe in Bozo refuse to let science be taught in schools and instead replace science with the holy words of Bozo, when parents refuse to take their children to doctors and instead pray to Bozo for healing and their children die even though medicine could have prevented it, when parents marry their 12 year old daughters to older men because Bozo said so, and when people fly airplanes into buildings because Bozo is going to reward them in some mysterious afterlife, then there is a MAJOR problem and I absolutely care.
If you can’t see how those ridiculous beliefs cause actual harm to actual people, then I feel sorry for you. I feel sorry that your belief in unverifiable fairytales has polluted your mind to the point that you can’t see the suffering caused by it.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/5357002/Manhunt-for-mother-after-she-refuses-cancer-treatment-for-son.html
http://www.childbrides.org/carolyn.html
http://www.au.org/issues/faith-based-initiatives/
http://firedoglake.com/2009/03/29/creationists-on-texas-school-board-prevail-watered-down-science-coming-to-your-kids-textbooks/
I also feel sorry for you that you seem to think there has to be a god for you to have a “point to your existence.” Is that really how you see your life? That these is no meaning or value to it without a magical and invisible man who lives in the sky? I’ll let you in on a big secret: the purpose of life, is life. Live it. Love it. Learn. Experience the beauty of the world, of cultures, of others. Take care of your life, do the things which are necessary to maintain it. Don’t cause harm to other people, look for ways to intensify the happiness you feel. This life is wonderful, and it’s the only one I know I have, so I intend to live it free of delusions.
I do go rock climbing, I go hiking, I go to the zoo, the desert botanical gardens, I write, I hang out with friends, I’m active in my community, I volunteer with an animal shelter, I teach Russian. I do many things that give my life meaning. And when I’m gone, my influence will be remembered in those people whos lives I touched. And whether or not there is nothing after death does not matter to me. I didn’t exist for billions of years before I was born, and that fact hasn’t impeded me.
Your final sentence concerns me: “Bring it on Bro!” Are you picking a fight with me? I’ll tell you right now, I don’t fight and I don’t argue. If you disagree with my positions, that’s fine. Make your case using logic and reason, not spite and vengeance, and we can discuss anything.
Regards.
I am not a political person at and dont ever care to be but I just feel soo sad for you!!When you talk about Alma and Korihor and you say that Alma bears his testimony and says “I know”, thats because he has faith. Nothing else is required to feel the way we do. When you went on your mission you obviously felt the spirit and knew the things you were doing were right. I dont see how you can just discount all those feelings and act like you dont care at all. YOu also wouldnt be able to teach russian to people if it wasnt for your mission so maybe take that into consideration when you are enjoying your awesome life that has no meaning. I dont care what religion someone is but we are all striving to be better in our lives and I can honestly say being a mother and birthing my children and feel life inside of my belly that there has to be a God to provide that for us. That is truly a miracle and God is the only one that could make that happen.
You don’t have to feel sorry for me at all. I have a great life! I love life and I live it. And who said my life has no meaning? That’s quite a leap to make and it concerns me that you do.
Feelings are not tools of cognition, you can’t know something because you feel it. All you can know is that you feel something, but you can’t make claims about truth based on feeling. The funny thing is you know this already and live in accordance with it. For example, I’m sure you don’t go to a guy who “feels” he is a doctor; you go to the guy who has a diploma and a license to practice medicine.
You presented an epistemological contradiction, made some assertions and failed to answer the problem you raise. If you feel that your religion is correct (I’m assuming your Mormon) and my Catholic friend feels his religion is right, and my Muslim friend feels that his religion is right, who is right? They can’t all be, can they? And if only one is, what standard are you using to determine it?
My loyalty lies only to truth, truth that I can know and justify. The real work of inquiry, scientific exploration, questioning, and rigorous testing has given the world more transcendence and beauty than “feelings” ever have.