Also, I hope that Kovana doesn’t really think atheists “have all the answers”. Nobody has all the answers. In fact I’d go so far as to suggest that what we know for sure is that a lot of the time we don’t have the answers, because “God did it all” is not an acceptable answer (nor is “It must be a ghost”, “It must have been in a past life”, or “It must be Mercury in retrograde”.) What I personally believe as an atheist is that I want to know the actual answers, and that the way to do that is through science.

So, atheists don’t have all the answers; but we do actually ask the questions.

I’d have to disagree with your assertion that Mormons don’t refer to Joseph Smith as a prophet. The following scriptural quote is often cited both by general authorities and in congregations: “Joseph Smith, the Prophet and Seer of the Lord, has done more, save Jesus only, for the salvation of men in this world, than any other man that ever lived in it” ( http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=84010fd41d93b010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&query=%22save+jesus+only%22&bucket=AllChurchContent&submitSearch=Search ). Also, Mormons continue to sustain members of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve by the title “prophet, seer, and revelator” ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prophet,_seer,_and_revelator ). The reverence/sacredness given him here is a bit extreme, but he’s profoundly respected as one of God’s chosen mouthpieces.

Good advice for a tricky situation. This is not like someone from the developed world trying to get out of their parents’ home. It’s a little more complicated than getting a job and an apartment and Richard’s advice takes that into consideration. We often take for granted how easy it is for us to defy authority when there are people all over the world for who it is deadly.

I’d say Kovana needs to proceed with extreme caution and that is what Richard is advising. Proceed but with extreme caution. There’s a reason Atheists don’t tend to make martyrs of themselves. When you don’t belive in eternal life, you treat the one life you have as the precious commodity it is.

I, too, was thinking as I read it that the religion may have been changed. It felt more realistic if all references to Mormonism and Joseph Smith were switched to Islam and Muhammed. Nonetheless, the letter writer could very well have made this alteration of facts in order to further obscure his or her identity. On the other hand, while the particular observation of Mormonism described here would seem a poor fit for what we know as Mormonism in the US, it may be that the religion has changed and adapted as it migrated to other parts of the world. That seems to happen quite a bit with religions, as can be seen in some of the remote African tribal practices of Christianity where missionaries have converted a tribe and then left for some time.

Richard’s advice was probably as good as advice could be under these circumstances.

If the exact letter is not all it seems to be, either because it is a hoax or because the writer was afraid or has a poor grasp of English, that’s okay with me. The important thing is to let people know that they are not alone and that their beliefs do not make them the demons that some religious folks would have them believe.

Mormons are quite aggressive in conversion. My understanding is that LDS youth are expected to convert on “mission” for a few years each, within and outside the U.S.