Excerpt #32 from my book, Religion, An Obstacle to Human Progress
“Science is expanding, and with it our vision of the universe.
“Although this new and constantly changing view may not always give us comfort, it does have the virtue of truth according to our most effective resources for acquiring knowledge.
“No philosophy, moral outlook, or religion can be inconsistent with the findings of science and hope to endure among educated people. – Heinz R. Pagels
Thomas Murphy, a Mormon doctoral student in anthropology, claimed the sacred Book of Mormon is “a piece of 19th-century fiction.”
Mormon scripture, which church founder Joseph Smith said was given to him by an angel, holds that many American Indigenous peoples are descended from ancient Israelites.
Murphy checked the church’s own vast DNA database and concluded that the first Native Americans came from across the Bering Strait — as other anthropologists believe — and not from the Middle East.
Church leaders, who want to excommunicate Murphy, say his findings don’t prove anything and amount to abandonment of the faith.
Nonsense, says Murphy, “It’s time to openly discuss the possibility of viewing the Book of Mormon as fiction.”
TRUTH HAS NO MERCY.