The book has its built-in audience and the author knows this. So beyond airing the Mormons’ obvious and odious dirty laundry, Fitzgerald provides arguments on conversing with followers of this American-based denomination, which is a generous designation.
It kicks off with some history to provide context on how Joseph Smith got his faction off the ground. In the early 19th Century, America was undergoing the Second Great Awakening or another wave of religious fervor. The established churches were losing their appeal as they became entrenched alongside the political class. A wave of Irish immigrants bringing Catholicism with them wasn’t helping neither. Enter a con artist and treasure hunter named Joseph Smith. He decided to get into this as a money-making venture plus he discovered it got him extra tail outside of his marriage. Nothing pisses off a diehard Mormon like reminding them about Smith’s criminal record! I know from firsthand experience with one who constantly dished out shit talk about what he disagreed with yet he couldn’t take it. The court record of his shenanigans from 1826 arrest were discovered in New York around 1971. Watch their verbal gymnastics regarding that. Martyrdom is often the Mormon go-to defense.
History aside, Heretics covers the hilarity regarding their “religious texts.” It’s mostly rewording the King James translation of the Old Testament, poor grammar and liberal usage of “adieu” in the conversations. I find most materials from Christianity and Judaism to be utter crap but the Mormons have an incredible amount of chutzpah given the trail of documented facts against them. Smith also took advantage of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics not being widely decoded by Champollion to prop up his infamous seer stones and prophet powers.
The big surprise I should have known better about was Salt Lake City/Provo being Ground Zero for financial fraud. Scores of Mormons are ripped off by fellow members over shaky or fictional investments. Why the naiveté? Well, this guy was an upstanding elder, how could he be so dishonest? Hey, when somebody belongs to sect founded by a treasure-hunting counterfeiter who forced teen girls into having sex with him, they’ll believe anything. It certainly explains Bain Capital’s long trail of job destruction.
I don’t expect Fitzgerald’s book to make any Mormons realize they’re swallowing a load of crap. His book’s point is to educate the non-members on what they’re about, their controversies (Mountain Meadows and why Joseph Smith was really killed) and to let you know there’s a silver lining. Contrary to them having armies of kids like those Duggar turds, Mormonism suffers from similar levels of disaffection as other denominations and religions (the Islamic world has more Atheists amongst them than they’re willing to admit too). The term cultural Mormon comes up near the end. Similar to what American Jews call themselves now and to be fair, I would say the same applies to me with Catholicism; I was raised in it but I’m comfortable with my Atheism.
Despite Romney being defeated in 2012, I still recommend reading this. Many Americans don’t realize what a bullet the nation missed. The magic underwear stories were just the beginning.