Watching:
BY said = we don't have brothels in Salt Lake city.
Bridger said = Well that's pretty easy when you have, what, 22 wives

(something like that - haha)

My $.02. I grew up in AZ which has the second highest Morman population of any state so I knew plenty. Very good and moral people, for the most part. As a kid I always respected their commitment to avoiding anything with caffeine. This was before decaf sodas were common so while the rest of us were enjoying Coca Cola they were hoping for a Sprite. A very committed group. When I was a parent I was on the board of a local private school. The hiring of a Mormon became an issue so I did some research. I still contend that they are good and very moral people usually, but some of the ideas that separate them from mainstream Christian religions are way out there, I mean wayyyyy out there. I do know that there have been some recent crimes committed by organized Mormons but I don't think that is at a higher rate than the general population. I would venture to guess it is probably less due to the morality compared to that of the general population. There are offshoots that have strayed from the mainstream and still practice polygamy and in the extreme child molestation, but those are shunned by the Salt Lake City governance of Latter Day Saints.

FYI, despite trepidations the guy was hired by the school but didn't last long at all because he ended up being a lazy drunk. He was not a good Mormon at all.

Bottom line, I respect their right to practice their religion but it is not for me. I certainly don't believe that an angel named Moroni visited Joseph Smith and gave him extra books to be included in the Bible, nor do I believe that good Mormons are rewarded with their own planets to rule over when they die along with other strange tenets of the religion.

As mentioned before the fellows you pointed out Dustin were not part of the modern LDS church they broke off and formed their own when polygamy was banned. They are right up there with the snake handlers, holy rollers and folks speaking in tongues associated with other more mainstream religions, nut jobs that are in no way representative of the church as a whole. At the time polygamy was in place it was largely a solution to a practical problem, a lot of dead men and a lot of widows and children and the practice was not that wide spread, because the man had to be able to support that family.And really, do you actually think the sex would off set trying to deal with day to day life around multiple women. Remember they all have snakes in their head and you would be living in a vipers nest. Did Joseph Smith decide to cook up his own religion just so he could live the rest of his life being persecuted and ultimately murdered. No clue. But it bears a mighty strong correlation to what most prophets experienced in the Bible. Is the Book of Mormon true? No clue. But I am not sure how someone with basically no education could create it. It is my understanding there is archeological evidence that supports some part of it, but that would be Skinny’s domain. Also it is fact that Gospels have been discovered that were not included in the Bible because they did not fit the narrative of the writers. The idea that the Bible is the direct word of God is delusional. It was written by man and man is fallible. In my opinion it is a guideline of Gods will for us. Which is really all the BOM is. In the broad context it describes what we are living right now. A people is in hardship and turns to God.They follow Gods commands and are blessed with prosperity. Hardships go away and people turn away from God. God removes blessings and people fall back into hardship. Rinse and repeat.

Anyway, I have blathered on enough. I am bored to death in the middle of the Caribbean with rut literally kicking off today at my place so forgive me. I will note that I have been around a lot of Mormons for a looonng time and have never heard one criticize or demean another religion. Jawbone you sound like a guy I would love to hunt with. Believe what you want to believe and respect others right to do the same. And I am still waiting on specific examples of modern day organized LDS violence.

I ain't disparaging or demeaning the religion. I'm just saying that they had some violent tendencies. Catholics did / do as well. Baptist, Methodist, and just about all of them have some dark side. If we had been on the discussion of Catholics we could have talked about IRA bombings or something.

Just be glad you are in the Caribbean. I'm stuck in Mexico, but it's Mexico, New York and I'm staying in a camper covered in 3 or 4 foot of snow.

If you go to Cozumel, stop by La Choza. Great Fish Tacos -