The Mormon Church is in the process of disclosing
religious artifacts that have been talked
about for years within the LDS community,
but never actually seen.
The reasons for this are not clear, but the
phrase “Let’s just get this over with”
comes to mind since the broader American public,
whether secular or religious, has often mocked
aspects of the Mormon faith.
The latest item is a brown egg-shaped rock
known as the “seer stone.”
It is said to have been used by Joseph Smith
as a tool for translating the Book of Mormon
from a set of gold plates that subsequently
disappeared.
Even some Mormons express doubts about the
authenticity of these stories and relics,
while others claim that they are no more fantastical
than stories of the Bible accepted by modern
fundamentalist Christians.
Acknowledging that these items once photographed
and circulated to the press will lead to mockery
of the church, one LDS author argues that
these are things that the church needs to
confront, both internally and when they attempt
to explain their faith to those they interact
with.
There may be less killing in the name of God
in the modern world than there was hundreds
or thousands of years ago, but we still see
examples play out in the news every week,
and even every day if we look closely enough.
These senseless acts infect every country,
and seemingly every religious persuasion.
In Israel this past July, a gay pride parade
in Jerusalem was disrupted by an ultra-Orthodox
man with a knife who had just been released
from a 12 year jail sentence for a similar
crime committed in 2005.
The man, Yishai Shlissel, is thought to have
written a letter that was circulated on Twitter,
wherein the upcoming parade that drew 5000
participants was threatened.
In the attack, several people were injured
before Shlissel could be subdued, and one
16-year-old girl subsequently died from her
wounds.
Authorities have been criticized for allowing
a right-wing group to stage a protest near
the parade route; however, it is not clear
that this would have had any impact on the
actions of a loan zealot such as Shlissel.
