God is a Dick – Part X: Korihor
This week, we turn away from the Bible (which everyone should do) and look to the Book of Mormon (which I advise against). The incident in question is much simpler and far less dramatic than many of the others I’ve examined in this series, but it applies directly to my core audience. It is a tale about how the god of the Mormons deals with atheists.
In chapter 30 of the Book of Alma, we meet a man named Korihor, “and he was Anti-Christ.” (Alma 30:6). The next few verses self-consciously remind us that it’s not illegal to disbelieve. Korihor moves through the land preaching that no Christ will come.
Ye look forward and say that ye see a remission of your sins. But behold, it is the effect of a frenzied mind; and this derangement of your minds comes because of the traditions of your fathers, which lead you away into a belief of things which are not so. And many more such things did he say unto them, telling them that there could be no atonement made for the sins of men, but every man fared in this life according to the management of the creature; therefore every man prospered according to his genius, and that every man conquered according to his strength; and whatsoever a man did was no crime. And thus he did preach unto them, leading away the hearts of many, causing them to lift up their heads in their wickedness, yea, leading away many women, and also men, to commit whoredoms — telling them that when a man was dead, that was the end thereof.(Alma 30:16-18)
I like this guy already, don’t you? When he had wreaked enough havoc amongst the Nephites, he moved on to the land of Jershon. We are told that these people are smarter, because they decide to tie Korihor up and bring him to the high priest, who has him expelled from the land. Korihor gets the message and moves on to the land of Gideon (site of the hotel Bible factory – maybe not). In Gideon, it’s deja vu all over again when Korihor is bound and taken before the high priest, Giddonah. I bring you Korihor’s entire speech to Giddonah, because I couldn’t have said it better myself.
And Korihor said unto him: Because I do not teach the foolish traditions of your fathers, and because I do not teach this people to bind themselves down under the foolish ordinances and performances which are laid down by ancient priests, to usurp power and authority over them, to keep them in ignorance, that they may not lift up their heads, but be brought down according to thy words. Ye say that this people is a free people. Behold, I say they are in bondage. Ye say that those ancient prophecies are true. Behold, I say that ye do not know that they are true. Ye 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. 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— 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. 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. (Alma 30:23-28)
Damn right. You tell him. Unfortunately, that’s enough to get him hauled in front of the chief judge, Alma. When asked directly whether or not he believes in god, Korihor says “nay,” and challenges Alma to show him a sign of god’s existence. Alma argues that the scriptures, the testimony of the prophets and the world around them is evidence enough, but Korihor still denies god. Alma decides to give him a sign after all.
But behold, it is better that thy soul should be lost than that thou shouldst be the means of bringing many souls down to destruction, by thy lying and by thy flattering words; therefore if thou shalt deny again, behold God shall smite thee, that thou shalt become dumb, that thou shalt never open thy mouth any more, that thou shalt not deceive this people any more. (Alma 30:47)
Unable to speak, Korihor states in writing that he now believes in god. Furthermore, he writes that he was tricked by the devil into speaking against god. Satan had appeared as an angel and taught him what to say. Having seen the error of his ways, he requests that the curse be lifted, but Alma decides to leave him dumb and send him out to beg for food. The affliction of Korihor is used as evidence to undo the damage that had been done to the faith of the people.
The story seems to be over, but there’s one more little detail. Korihor is trampled to death for no apparent reason. The stated moral of the story is that even if the devil uses you, he won’t watch out for you and can’t wait to take you to hell.
Let’s review. The devil (god’s creation) appears as an angel of the lord and tells Korihor to speak against the existence of god among the people. He follows instructions, thinking he is doing god’s will. Despite the fact that disbelief is legal, he keeps getting tied up and dragged in front of high priests. God strikes him dumb and refuses to give him back his voice even after he has seen the light and repented. Then, just for good measure, Korihor is trampled to death. Dick.
~I AM~
P.S. Carnival of the Godless XXII is up over at Autin Cline’s About Atheism. There are two posts from yours truly (which I didn’t even know was allowed). I only submitted one, so thank you to whoever sent in the other one.
September 4th, 2005 at at 1:41 am
Um…now, it may just be me, but if my atheist beliefs were delivered to me via ANGEL…well, uh…I’d be really conflicted. And confused.
See, I’ve always suspected that most of these guys that run around preaching to the point they claim they’re profits – oops, prophets (silly me) – are just straight up hustlers. That or a couple epistles short of a New Testament, if ya know what I’m sayin’. As so, I’ll bet most are atheists. How else can you recognize the power of religion and use it to your own exclusive benefit?
Well, this Korihor guy seems to be Joseph Smith’s conscience. Even though he was spewing all this garbage, he just HAD to write some truth.
And then watch these stupid followers digest it and still not see its merit. He had to be laughing his ass off.
September 4th, 2005 at at 2:59 am
As an ex-mormon, I very much enjoyed you bringing the highly coveted, highly enjoyable book of Mormon into this. Kudos, and your post is a great read
September 4th, 2005 at at 5:24 am
The lesson here is that smart, outspoken people question god(s) and seek to inform others of the idiocy of religion. To some, that’s a bad thing. So, they take all the best logic provided by the skeptic, and use supernatural powers to subdue the champion of reason. Oh yeah, and they remind folks to be ignorant, fearful, and docile, so that the church officials can lord it over them. I don’t see how Americans can call themselves free when the heavy shackles of religion have them chained to the whims of corrupt politicians/religious leaders/media propagandists. How can a person be free if they are unaware of and powerless against the forces that shape their behaviours?
September 4th, 2005 at at 8:46 am
Seems odd to talk about Christ in a book writtten before Christ, no?
September 4th, 2005 at at 11:45 am
Another awesome post, I Am, series ever.
[Warning, what follows is a blatant self advertisement. Those of you who are against this should look anyway, becuase I command it.]
Cool that you got into COTD I Am, I got in too. First time ever, thanks for the picture (don’t worry, I credited you for it). I feel happy. . . for myself. . . that’s awesome.
September 4th, 2005 at at 11:46 am
woops, typo. *best series ever.
September 5th, 2005 at at 12:05 am
If anyone ever needs some ammo against Mormons, remember this:
Recent DNA research proved that Native Americans are of ASIAN descent, not ISRAELI/MIDDLE EASTERN descent. This basically rips the spine out of the cadaver that is Mormonism.
Good one I Am. I loved where you said, “This week, we turn away from the Bible (which everyone should do) and look to the Book of Mormon (which I advise against).” It made me laugh so hard!
September 5th, 2005 at at 12:11 am
SWEET!
I just went to the latest GOTG over at atheism.about.com, and I saw that the first one mentioned is my post over at the Goosing the Antithesis blog where I brought up the irony between Katrina, Churches, and Insurance companies.
I have no idea who submitted it, but Im glad it was. Thanx to whoever you are. May God bless you LOL
September 5th, 2005 at at 12:12 am
I typed GOTG but I meant to type COTG.
September 5th, 2005 at at 12:38 am
I’m shocked any sacred text based on faith would allow such an honest and compelling attack to faith to be in it.
It’s also kind of funny. There were many signs they could have done against this man, but silencing him is quite telling. God didn’t know how to respond to the arguments of the atheist, so he just shut him up… lest he reveal that god does not exist.
I’d hate for someone else to prove that I don’t exist… danm, that’d suck
September 5th, 2005 at at 12:47 am
Korihor is a cool dude. As C Ray said, it’s surprising that they would let something like that into the book. It says some things I dislike about religion. Does that part of the book help someone go from Mormonism into a non-religious belief?
September 6th, 2005 at at 5:31 pm
A little fun game I play with myself is wondering “What really might have happened” that lead to the description of these events in religious context. What actual event could have prompted this interpretation and subsequent record of events?
Say for example when Jesus feed the throngs by providing bread and wine to all, could the text recorded it as his divine ability to mass produce food when in actuality he might just have managed to get the masses of people with food to share with the less fortunate via an extraordinary appeal? Simpletons record this event as a miracle, but it might simply be misconstrued compassion. Perception affected my hunger, by position and the recollection affected by interpretation.
Anyways I wonder if in the actual events, if this poor atheist was literally silenced by having his tongue cut out, horrible yes, but practiced historically to silence blasphemers. It gets recorded as “God” did it, but it might have been the hand of God, i.e. the priests. He can no longer talk even after his confession because his freaking tongue is missing. The hand of man attributed to the hand of God.
Ultimately we are the dick trying to pawn off our own savagery as acts of God.
September 9th, 2005 at at 1:37 pm
Book of Mormon.
Yikes.
I lived in Utah for several years as a teenager… Did you know (maybe you do) that Mormons believe that if a man lives piously, goes on a mission, marries a pious mormon girl in the temple, has several children and is sealed to them in the temple that he himself will become a god and get his OWN world to reign over?
As a reward to the good mormon girl, she will join him in his new position as the god of this new world, and she will be eternally pregnant, creating populations for the new world.
Um.
No thanks. (being a good mormon girl & eternally pregnant consort to the new god).
The questions really start getting interesting when discussing good mormon men who get married & sealed & divorced & remarried & sealed & etc. Who gets to be his goddess then?
If one eventually becomes a god, then who are mormons worshipping. And does that really even qualify as a religion, if you’re actually perhaps worshipping your great-great-grandfather in this world?
Makes my head hurt.