I think it all could have been handled better, too. But Leonard Arrington remained a faithful and committed Latter-day Saint, as did his close associate in the Church Historian's Office and my very dear friend Davis Bitton, as does his close associate in the Church Historian's Office and my very dear friend James Allen. They did not become corrosive cynics or unbelievers.
Dan, Just so we're clear, what exactly is a corrosive cynic? It that your default term for people who are skeptical toward fantastical claims that can neither be proved nor disproved?
Morley wrote:No, Simon. That metaphysical conundrum is uniquely yours.
Not really, Morley. If you asked 1,000 people to "prove, beyond any doubt, that we exist," how many of them would be able to do so?
Percentages are acceptable.
If you asked one thousand people to "prove, beyond any doubt, that we exist," none of them would be interested in trying to do so. (People know they exist, so why would they wish to prove it to a stranger?) The largest part of the thousand would think that you were either crazy or an idiot. Or they'd be looking for the hidden camera.
Simon, the apple in your hand is an apple in your hand.