Jerusalem, Mecca and Palmyra.

As promised, my thoughts on Mormonism:


We all know the significance of Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Mecca and Medina to the world religions, however very few realize that a small town of Palmyra, just 24 miles east of Rochester, New York, is the birth place of the religion that currently has 13 million followers, which approximately is the same as the number of Jews. A fellow, named Joseph Smith was born a son of poor farmers in 1805 in the near by state of Vermont. Shortly after his birth, the family moved to Palmyra, New York, where his folks continued farming with little success. Not inspired by daddy’s sham of a career in agriculture, young Joey choose an exotic and glamorous profession of a “seer”: an ancient art of “seer” involves using a “magic seer stone” to locate lost items and buried treasures. As described by his contemporiaries, Joe would place the “magic stone” in a hat, put his face over the hat to block the light and then "see" the information in the reflection of the stone. Even in the age of simple-minded and uneducated farmers of the 19th century rural New York, Joey’s magic enterprise had not been able to net much income. In theory, the odds of finding the treasure were 50/50: he would either find it or not. However, since not very many ancient kings, tribal chieftans, Spanish conqistadors, Caribbean buccaneers, hedge fund managers or any other men of means barried their treasures in Palmyra, NY, Joseph’s success rates in locating the riches were not very good. In fact business was going so bad that young Joey was charged in the Court of Law with being a “scam artist”, “disorderly person and imposter” and had to flee from Palmyra to Harmony, Pennsylvania. By then Mr. Joseph Smith was married to a Palmyra girl named Emma Hale. Since supporting his young family on the “stone sourcerer’s” income didn’t work out, Joey was in a desperate need of a new gig. The 19th century Harmony was neither a financial hub nor a technological or pharmaceutical Mecca. Joseph’s career choices were limited. But being an enterprising fellow with an ambition and a vivid imagination, Joe didn’t become a shopkeeper, stone mason or dairy farmer. No, sir! His plans were much more grandiose. Joseph Smith decided that he is going to be Prophet. And why the hell not? After all Moses was a mere sheep-shepherd, Jesus claimed to be a carpenter (anyone ever saw a stool or a bookshelf with “made by Jesus” on it?) and Muhammad earned a living as a small merchant. It was obvious that their resume was no match to Joseph’s experience with “magic” and “super natural”. Therefore one day, in 1827, twenty two years old Joseph Smith announced to his wife and a few other family members that he received a “theophany” or an appearance of God to man. The story went as follows: while living in Palmyra, 14 years old Joey went to the near by woods to pray, because he wasn’t sure what religios denomination he wanted to join. Aperrranlty the young fellow was torn apart between Methodist and Presbytarian faith. There he had a vision of God the Father, Jesus Christ and “two separate, glorious, beings of flesh and bone”. They told him that no contemporary church was correct in its teachings, and that he shouldn't join any of them. Instead he will be given a new and correct teaching and will become a Prophet of a new religion - the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, or as some call it, the Mormon church. If you don’t think this is genious I don’t know what is. I clearly remember that when I was 14, I also went to the near by woods. And I can assure you that I did’t pray there. Although I too experienced visions of a “glorious being of flesh and blood” (mine normaly resembed either a girl from my school or a neighbour’s daughter). However it was only one “being”, because at 14 I had no idea that I could have the same fantasies with two “glorious beings” in the same time! Clearly Joey’s sophisticaton with such things at the very young age was an indication that he was destined to accomplish great things. It should be noted that shanannigan in the Palmyra woods is now known to history as Prophet Joseph Smiths’s “First Vision in the Sacred Grove” and is as significant for the Mormons as Mount Sinai for the Jews. (To be continued).