Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that “my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.” Isaac Asimov

The strain of anti-intellectualism among American Latter-day Saints has largely been captured and magnified by Trumpism. Distrust of experts and the highly educated has escalated because the conservative media uses fear, lies, and manufactured outrage to close minds.

Latter-day Saints should know better than to fall for this. The restored Church of Jesus Christ is not anti-intellectual. It is, in fact, quite the opposite. Joseph Smith taught that “knowledge is the power of salvation” (History of the Church 5:403).



It is impossible for a man to be saved in ignorance. Doctrine and Covenants 131:6



The problem is that our modern tools of communication allow the voices of the ignorant and the biased to be just as loud as the voices of the informed and the impartial. Sadly, a strong case could be made that ignorant voices are now louder than informed voices.

One result of this is that the ignorant, the bigoted, and the dangerous can now easily find each other and band together — often reinforcing each other’s worst instincts.

The Flat Earth

A sobering, if not frightening, illustration of empowered ignorance can be found in the film “Behind the Curve” (available on Netflix and elsewhere). The film is a non-fiction documentary about people who seriously believe the Earth is flat. (This is not a joke).

The filmmakers follow several flat Earth believers through their ordinary lives and routines. Director Daniel J. Clark presents them as normal people who just happen to have an extremely radical view of the world.

The film also includes interviews with several physicists, a psychologist, and even an former astronaut. These scientists, of course, use both logic and scientific data to quickly dismiss the flat Earth theory.

During the film, flat Earth believers conduct TWO scientifically valid experiments to PROVE, once and for all, their idea is correct. The first experiment indicated that the Earth is indeed rotating, and the second experiment demonstrated quite clearly that the Earth’s surface is curved. Incredibly, but perhaps unsurprisingly, the results of these experiments changed the mind of no one.

Closed Minds

What I find interesting, and frustrating, is that people who adopt a conspiracy-based belief, such as the flat Earth, become impervious to any further contradictory information on the subject. They seek only information that confirms their belief. They seek out others who share their mistaken belief and form exclusive, like-minded, self-reinforcing, social groups. They take special delight in, and are proud of themselves for, “seeing the truth” that others cannot see.

This smug, self-congratulatory, sense of oneself having superior knowledge is an example of narcissistic pride. When the “true believers” gather together, they feel vindicated and justified in their sense of personal “enlightenment” and self-importance.

What they don’t understand, what they cannot see, is that they are trapped in a cycle of deliberate, self-reinforcing, self-deception and ignorance. By closing their minds to any and all objective, outside, evidence, they have locked themselves into a form of intellectual bondage from which no further learning or growth is possible.

One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It’s simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that we’ve been taken. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back. Carl Sagan

The idea that one “has found the true knowledge” and doesn’t need to listen to, or consider, any further information, is in direct contradiction to the LDS notion that we should always be seeking “greater light and knowledge.” Anytime one stops learning, one also stops growing toward God.

The claim that “I understand reality and no one else around me does,” is a textbook example of the sin of pride. It is also not a bad definition of insanity.

Sources: Isaac Asimov, “A Cult of Ignorance,” Newsweek, January 21, 1980, p. 19.

“Behind the Curve,” Delta-V Productions, World Premier, April 30, 2018.

Brian Ferguson, “The Purpose and Value of Gospel Study,” A Sacrament Meeting Talk, December 20, 2018.

Carl Sagan, “The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark,” Random House, 1995.

Writer’s note: If you get a chance to watch the film “Behind the Curve,” please return to this page and leave a comment. I would love to hear what you think about it.

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