Posted on 07/06/2004 7:42:15 AM PDT by jtminton
There is only one Mormon Church - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Just because these loons want to name themselves after an established religion and play pretend does not mean that they have any legitimate connection. In fact, they have no legitimate connection. These "offshoot" groups are, simply, way off.
This is a ludricrous statement. You cannot separate internal faith from the object of that faith.
If I decide to worship tulips in my backyard, you might conclude, "Wow, whatever spiritually turns you on." But the sincerity and convictions of my faith that tulips are worthy of worship does not lead to the conclusion that such a faith is "as valid as anyone else's."
The Sci-Fi channel had its Twilight Zone marathon during the weekend. One of the episodes was a spaceship that crashed into a pond, and footprints leading out to the nearby diner where 6 bus passengers were waiting a snowstorm. The policemen came in, having been informed that the bridge was structually unsound and was being given a review to see if it was passable.
The Martian arranged an illusion--a phone call from the bridge's phantom architect-- to a policeman to assure that it was okay to go on, when it wasn't. The bridge collapsed, killing both policemen in their car and all of the bus passengers.
The cop had faith in the illusionary architect. The bus driver was very leary of the condition of the bridge, and had much less faith, but was stupid enough to follow the cop car too closely.
I suppose your conclusion would be that this cop's personal faith in the architect "was just as valid as anyione else's."
No. But the problem lies in determining which one is the most valid. Since it ultimately comes down to a subjective leap of faith based on incomplete information no matter how you slice it, we need to leave it up to otherwise law abiding people to pick which one they thinks is valid. That doesn't mean that I personally think they are all equally valid or correct. In fact, where they are mutually exclusive, some must be more valid than others.
When you put a male bunny and a female bunny together, but then (eventually) keep them forever apart, it's a little late to say, when are these generations of bunnies going to stop reproducing?
Good point. Today's Mormons constantly have to reinvent the history of their religion, including its racism.
Did the Mormons not abandon polygamy as a condition of obtaining statehood?
Can it not then be argued that being coerced to do so was a violation of the Constitution?
That would then make the splinter groups that still practice polygamy more faithful to the original teachings, would it not?
Bolting is something animals do if you approach them. First they eye you warily, and if you get close they bolt. Missionaries don't bolt, they leave, unless you try to approach them, then they may bolt if they think you are a threat.
David Berkowitz, Son of Sam's protege, is a professing Christian who says he's been forgiven of all of his sins. It's very likely he has been forgiven; but there are still consequences to his acts, and he doesn't even request to be released on parole even tho he comes up for parole every few yrs.
There are consequences to Son of Sam. And there are consequences to Son of Joseph (the spiritual sons of Joseph).
Huh?
What happened to Islam?
The only proof, outside of the New Testament, that Jesus lived, the only historical record, is a few lines in the writings of Josephus. And Noah's Arc has yet to be identified, despite any satellite photos.
Where's the proof that John the Baptist baptized Jesus? Where's the proof that Jesus walked on water? Where's the proof that Jesus raised himself from the dead, and walked away from his own tomb? Where's the proof that the Apostle Peter denied Jesus three times, or that he was crucified upside down at his own request? Where's the proof that the pope is infallible? Where's the proof that God has given his approval and blessing to any protestant church?
I submit that if you showed an atheist the writing of Josephus, the photos of the location of the arc, the Shroud of Turan, and the archeological findings of Sodom and Gomorrah, and then you said; "see, proof of God's existence" they'd laugh in your face. All true religion demands faith. The New Testament has dire examples of what happens to people who demand proof from God. The only proof you will ever get is a burning in your heart when you are touched by the Holy Spirit.
I have hesitated to discuss the Elizabeth Smart incident because the Mormon defense team on FreeRepublic immediately takes offense at any discussion of possible faults involving Mormons. But, I felt that the public were taken in by the Smart family and the Mormon church, who obviously were aware of what had happened to Elizabeth and covered it up to avoid attention on this fundamentalist sect, despite the fact that the sect has no affiliation with the mainstream LDS. We all thought that the Smarts were weird and couldn't get over the pleas to the kidnappers that sounded so strange an overly optimistic. All along, they knew something that the public didn't know.
My faith say is does. But I have no physical proof of its existence.
This is a fundie sect that has NOTHING in common with the majority of Mormons.....regular Mormons want NOTHING to do with the Polygamist/fundies as they are a constant source of embarrasment.
And yes, I am speaking from experience. I have family members who are mormon (although very "jack" for the most part) and my best friend growing up was Mormon and her family was not more screwy then any other.
Excellent point. Statehood was HUGE. But it wasn't the final straws. The final straws for LDS' general authorities in the 1880s were the Edmunds Act (1882) and the Edmunds-Tucker Act (1887). The Edmunds Act kept polygamists from voting or holding office. The Edmunds-Tucker Act expanded that in many ways, with the biggest threat being that it dissolved the LDS church as a legal entity (and seized much of its property).
The LDS "prophet-prez" buckled under such a threat, and therefore, had God repent over polygamy and do a u-turn.
I agree with the last statement. The Shroud of Turan is not a good proof. This is about Mormons and they have is poor at best.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.