(Yeah, we know -- the typical Lds philosophy we hear: "Speak softly and carry a big Pearl of Great Price stick")
Definition of a 'big Pearl of Great Price stick':
"You Christian sects are 100% wrong;
100% apostates;
100% creedally putrid;
100% corrupt as believers...
...Signed: Cordially, your "nice" Mormon neighbor
P.S. "Of course, we'll be polite & use Lds missionary doorstep language like 'universal apostasy' instead of pointing our fingers right @ you..."
"...and we'll fund the outer darkness out of hundreds of different Pearl of Great Price translations which mention ALL of the above...so our 'big stick' will seem once-removed..."
"...But make no mistake about it, we've sent out literally over 1 million Lds missionaries who've carried this 'Big Stick' around the world!!!"
The fact is, Grig, that you have probably tithed to the Lds church and therefore your $ has been enjoined toward the translating/re-publishing of the Pearl of Great Price, right?
Otherwise, I like to know how you might frame this as if almost to say: "Well, it 'twas the Lord Himself whose 'renounced' the entire Christian church. It wasn't me. I just adhere, believe, subscribe to the First Vision like it was a creed. I just adhere, believe, and subscribe to the Mormon creed that the entire Christian church bodies are a bunch of apostates. I just adhere, believe and subscribe to the Mormon creed that Joseph was right when he labeled ALL Christian professing believers as 'corrupt.'"
I mean, c'mon, Grig...I don't think I've seen any canonized Bible add-on books like the "Book of Irish - History, verses 18-20" labeling ALL the Protestants or ALL the Catholics as "corrupt" -- or ALL their creeds as putrid -- like the Pearl of Great Price.
Fact is, Joseph Smith regularly damned other religionists to hell and even went so far to say "...they cannot escape the damnation of hell.":
"But say you, What will become of the world, or the various professors of religion who do not believe in revelation & the oracles of God as continued to His Church in all ages of the world, when He has a people on earth? I tell you, in the name of Jesus Christ, they will be damned; and when you get into the eternal world, you will find it will be so, they cannot escape the damnation of hell." (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 272)
"Compare this principle once with Christendom at the present day, and where are they, with all their boasted religion, piety, and sacredness while at the same time they are crying out against prophets, apostles, angels, revelations, prophesying and visions, etc. Why, they are just ripening for the damnation of hell. They will be damned, for they reject the most glorious principle of the Gospel of Jesus Christ...Yes, I say, such will be damned, with all their professed godliness." (pp. 298-299)
***************
So...to wrap this up...
#1 I know what that average true-believing Mormon believes about me. I know...
...they don’t tolerate my creeds (their ‘good book’ & their leaders tells them we’re automatically abominable on that basis).
...many don't seem to perceive Christ’s righteousness in me (their ‘good book’ tells them I’m automatically ‘corrupt’).
...they don’t respect our faithfulness to Christ and His church (their leaders & ‘good book’ tell them we’re all "apostates" and that the Mormon church is the "only true and living church on the face of the earth" (D&C 1:30)
BUT, BUT...despite knowing all these walls Mormons have had in place for 182 years…does it keep me from linking up with a Mormon to...
...oppose abortion,
...the homosexual agenda,
...nationalized healthcare,
...higher taxes,
..working with youth on behalf of a Scout program?
(No!)
So, yes I and other Christians are able to work around Mormon-built slander and walls thrown up at Christians in all kinds of interactive scenarios living life among Mormons.
#2 I guess what I don't comprehend...
...is how a few electronic posts from concerned Christians and ex-Mormons on a given Web site...
...are perceived as somehow so "threatening" to the political stability of conservative Christians and conservative Mormons...
...especially given the above-mentioned crescendo of daily slander coming from the Mormon side!!!
Ask yourself this, Grig:
* Have I ever labeled 100% of Mormon creeds to be an "abomination" to my God? (No; yet that is the reverse position Mormons have toward Christians...look at Joseph Smith - History, verses 18-19 for that)
* Do Christians send out 55,000 missionaries every year with one of their top four messages telling all minority new religions that they are "apostates?" (No; yet that is the exact case with Mormons as the "universal apostasy" is one of their top four messages drilled in them to focus upon...and they cover this in their Web sites, their books, their curricula, their multi-media as well).
So it seems the underlying messages coming from those who argue from your angle is that Christians have to 100% stomach this Mormon daily onslaught as we work with grassroots Mormons to some agree – but they can’t do the same in reverse when it comes to a few articles, a number of Web sites and electronic posts?
Oh, please. Start looking at things with less lopsided eyes.
Bottom line: Hey, if I can get along with Mormons who reference me as an...
..."apostate" "corrupt" believer
...who belongs to the "church of the devil" (1 Nephi 14:9-10, Book of Mormon)
-- a supposed member of a false and dead church
-- who embraces 100% "abominable" creeds
-- then Mormons can begin to (for once) thicken their skin over what is by comparison a few handfuls of posts and threads that have no worldwide audience with $billions of budget $ like the Mormon church can garner.
Your let's not rock-the-boatitis political vanity is plain silly in light of Mormon pirates who've been trying to capsize the Christian church for over 180 years (by claiming we're all infidel-like 'apostates').
If you want to take it as a personal insult that we think your religion is not a 100% match for the gospel of Christ (just as every religion thinks of every other religion), be my guest, but it is kind of childish to act like that.
If you want to exaggerate your grievance by falsely saying we hold the rest Christianity as 100% wrong when we see a lot of common ground, you can do that to, but it makes you look dishonest.
If you want to believe that a person can spit in the face of a true prophet of God and reject the word of God that comes through him and still legitimately claim to be a follower of Christ, you have that option, but be too surprised when those who do that and don’t repent of it wind up damned.
Take a look at many of the posts here, non-Mormon poster after non-Mormon poster saying how sick they are of the kind of crap you are pulling right here.