[Paragon Defender]

Seekers of truth,

If you peruse the Free Republic religion forums you will notice a pattern. There's an anti-Mormon group of people here that spends a great deal of their time attacking the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. They post regurgitated propaganda on an almost daily basis.

They have a misguided obsession. You can witness many different tactics employed that you might find quite interesting. The straw man argument is a big favorite and is frequently preceded by cherry-picking quotes or other material. After the "quotation" the attacker will misrepresent what has been said or what was meant and then attack their own interpretation.Later they will have the audacity to claim they were "only" quoting our own material.  

They will of course insist ad nauseum that they are merely using our sources and are therefore innocent of any deceptive practice. LDS persons have no issue whatsoever having our scriptures or leaders quoted as long as it is presented fairly and accurately. This is rarely (if ever) done.

Another favorite is posting scripture or statements which on their own really present no dilemma. They make something out of nothing while never bringing up a single objection that hasn't been addressed a hundred times before.

You might note a couple of other tactics used to try to antagonize is the use of disrespectful or insulting terms or language and/or pictures. That's a Christlike thing to do right? Yeah I don't think so either. It does speak volumes about them though.

Some of them claim being some sort of special witness to you as being supposedly former Mormons. So someone who is an ex-member of any organization would never have an axe to grind or have reason to try to justify their actions by any means? Perhaps not but perhaps so. The LDS Church gains members from other denominations as well as others faiths all the time. This doesn't make them an expert on anything and you certainly won't hear them attacking their former Church.

Frequently they cruise the headlines of the day seeking any story that might be twisted into making the Church look bad. Anything will do, just watch the progression of posts following it and see what I mean.

After reading their posts, I invite you to seek the truth about whatever "issue" they seem to be "revealing" or "exposing". I promise that if you do so with honest intent, the "ahah" moments you will have will be many and frequent. You will start to recognize the tactics employed to cleverly twist and attack and will likely chuckle the more you see. In actuality, there's nothing new here. It's all been addressed many times before.

The latest twist in the anti-Mormon propaganda machine is to actually go to the links provided, but then they cherry pick what they want, quote and straw man attack that. Almost without fail you will see examples of this following this post.

Clever. It almost appears that they are helping you out by doing some footwork for you. Not so much. Don't be insulted, look for yourself. It's not the haystack they want you to think. So again, seek the truth. They aren't providing it. Use your God-given brain and discernment.

Here's a few links to get your started from a different viewpoint. I have found that the vast majority of the "issues" brought up can be found and addressed at http://www.fairlds.org/ but here's more:

http://scriptures.lds.org/
http://www.lds.org
http://www.fairlds.org/
http://www.mormonapologetics.org/
http://www.mormonwiki.com/Main_Page
http://www.lightplanet.com/response/index.html
http://www.jefflindsay.com/LDS_Intro.shtml
http://www.answeringantimormons.com/index.htm
http://promormon.blogspot.com/

Now you will likely notice the "you never address or answer our points" posts pop up as usual. All after providing the answers just as you have here.

Sometimes it is claimed that these sites present a needle in a haystack. Far from it. But if you give up before you try you won't know will you? They often state that these sites provide no answer. They just don't want you looking. It is as simple as that.

Will you wear blinders too? Seek truth. Find out for yourself. Want to chat with someone on any topic? A few of these sites provide just that. So do your homework sincere seeker of truth. Listen and read from both "sides". Make up your own mind.

I witness to you of these truths and wish you the best, in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

 

[Yet_Again]

Seekers of Truth, If you peruse the Free Republic religion furms you will notice a pattern. there's a Mormon group of people here that spents a great deal of their time promoting the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. They post regurgitated propaganda on an almost daily basis. They have a misguided obsession. You can witness many different tactics employed that you might find quite interesting. The straw man argument is a big favorite and is frequently preceded by cherry-picking quotes or other material. After the "quotation" the promote will misrepresent what has been said or what was meant and then attack their own interpretation. Later they will have the audacity to claim they were "only" quoting their own material. They will of course insist ad nauseum that they are merely using their sources and are therefore innocent of any deceptive practice. Christian persons have no issue whatsoever having members of other faiths enter the marketplace of ideas as long as it is presented fairly and accurately. This is rarely (if ever) done. Another favorite is posting scripture or statements which on their own really present no dilemma. They make something out of nothing while never bringing up a single false doctrine that hasn't been addressed a hundred times before. You might note a couple of other tactics used to try to antagonize is the use of the censorship button the minute they begin to lose the argument. That's a Christlike thing to do right? Yeah I don't think so either. It does speak volumes about them though. Some of them claim being some sort of special witness to you as followers of a polygamous New Yorker who found some golden plates. Some used to be Christians. So someone who is an ex-member of any organization would never have an axe to grind or have reason to try to justify their actions by any means? Perhaps not but perhaps so. Christianity gains members from other denominations as well as others faiths all the time. This doesn't make them an expert on anything and you certainly won't hear them admitting anything positive about their former religion. Frequently they cruise the headlines of the day seeking any story that might be twisted into making Mormonism look good. Anything will do, just watch the progression of posts following it and see what I mean. After reading their posts, I invite you to seek the truth about whatever "issue" they seem to be "revealing" or "exposing". I promise that if you do so with a thorough study of the Holy Bible, the "ahah" moments you will have will be many and frequent. You will start to recognize the tactics employed to cleverly twist and attack and will likely chuckle the more you see. In actuality, there's nothing new here. It's all been addressed many times before. The latest twist in the Mormon propaganda machine is to provide links which misrepresent and distort their point of view in an effort to gain more converts. Clever. It almost appears that they are helping you out by doing some footwork for you. Not so much. Don't be insulted, look for yourself. It's not the haystack they want you to think. So again, seek the truth. They aren't providing it. Use your God-given brain and discernment. Here's a thorough link to get you started: http://www.saintsalive.com/ Will you wear blinders too? Seek truth. Find out for yourself. Want to chat with someone on any topic? A few of these sites provide just that. So do your homework sincere seeker of truth. Listen and read from both "sides". Make up your own mind. I witness to you of these truths and wish you the best, in the name of the real Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (not the spirit brother of Satan). Amen.

[John Locke]

If you peruse the Free Republic religion forums you will notice a pattern.

Yes, I've noticed a pattern.

There's an anti-Mormon group of people here that spends a great deal of their time attacking the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

Yes, but this is not spontaneous. It is almost always preceded by a pro-Mormon posting a huge hunk of Joseph Smith's ridiculous nonsense, within which is concealed a truly poisonous lump of Satanic doctrine. As in this instance: the doctrine of sealing the dead is necromancy, and necromancy, however cunningly disguised, is unalloyed evil.

[T Minus Four]

Oh nuts, you changed your schtick so I have a whole stack of "gasping in shock" images going to waste. Here, I'll show you one:

[T Minus Four]

Oh wait, I spoke to soon! You did say it!

The latest twist in the anti-Mormon propaganda machine is to actually go to the links provided

My bad :-)

[T Minus Four]

...the use of disrespectful or insulting terms or language and/or pictures. That's a Christlike thing to do right?

Well, how bout this - is this Christlike enough for you PD?

"Woe to the people in Salt Lake City" (Mt. 11:21-24)

"Your elders and bishops are vipers and they are Evil." (Mt. 12:33-37)

"Woe to you, teachers of the law, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean" Mt 23:27

"You are an evil and adulterous people (Mt. 12:38-39)

"Your teacher and leaders are hypocrites who are teaching wrong man made doctrines." (Mt. 15:1-9 and Mk 7:1-13)