Gordon B. Hinckley died yesterday. For those unfamiliar with the man, who live outside of Utah’s 24/7 coverage of the event, Hinckley was the living profit, er prophet, of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints – also known as the Mormon Church. (I still think there’s one “M” too many in that name.)

For a prophet and a seer, as Hinckley was known to the church, his track record was abysmal. By far there’s too much to summarize here, so I’ll provide links to one of the better resources out there. Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.

The largest of the “prophet” scandals has to go to the entire Mark Hofmann “Salamander Papers” hoax and subsequent denial that the Church was even involved, because the forged papers were purchased with a “hidden” account outside of the church’s holdings. The fact still remains that Hinckley ignored several warnings from various people that the papers were likely forged and bought them up anyway – a strange act for a “prophet” to engage in. It can only be concluded that the Mormon Church was afraid that if the documents were true, it would show Joseph Smith for the fool and liar he was and tarnish the already shaky reputation of the religion. The legal wrangling that the Mormon Church attempted after Hofmann murdered two people and blew himself up in a failed third attempt, exposing the entire charade, is something else to behold.

Again, there is so much to read on this topic, this is just a tidbit.

Hinckley was to the Mormon Church’s adherents, a man to be revered, the same as the Pope is revered by Catholics. As such, you won’t find a believing Mormon who won’t ignore all of the data against Hinckley’s prophet status, nor will they believe he was willfully deceitful at any point. As faith in their religious beliefs support them, so does faith in their religious leaders. This shows, yet again, the power of faith over reason – the ability to ignore data which doesn’t support or contradicts the tenants of the faith. Faith is blind, after all.

For all of Hinckley’s issues, I cannot hold him in the same ire or contempt that I held men like Jerry Falwell. Hinckley lied, he avoided answering difficult questions which paint the Mormon Church in very poor light and generally acted as a well trained media man in public relations (which he was, by the way,) but he did not preach the fire-and-brimstone rantings that others with similar audience have. Whether or not he did so in the secret sessions of the Mormon Church, I don’t know, but he never did so publicly, and I have to give him some credit for that. Even his rantings against homosexuals was soft spoken, putrid as it was.

In any case, his legacy is over and once his funeral is done with, the church will announce the next prophet and so it continues. Maybe God will choose to be more accurate with the next one.