No, Ma'am; our chosen religious organization does NOT consider 49,998 more of us on your doorstep to be an onslaught.
After all; we are ONLY doing it for a year of so of our lives; 6 days a week.
Posted on 04/15/2012 9:22:28 AM PDT by Kaslin
“Being a Mormon isn't an easy path.”
Heather Beeseck, a sophomore secondary education major at Potomac State College, would know. She has been involved with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints for two years and was baptized into the faith on August 6, 2011.
The Church, according to the National Review, is the fourth largest religious organization in the United States. Its numbers expand at 2.5 percent higher rates than the Roman Catholic Church and may soon pass the United Methodist Church in size.
Matt Slick of the Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry published estimates that 800 people per day joined the faith. Just under 12 million worship in it worldwide.
Despite their growing strength of numbers, Mormons face a unique challenge of perception. Media coverage is usually the first time that non Mormons are exposed to the faith. As Beeseck explains, “Many people have never met a Latter-Day Saint. Five years ago, I hadn't. The media is all some people ever know about the church, and even once those individuals meet a Mormon, they don't always revise their opinions.”
This can be problematic, as when Lawrence O’Donnell of MSNBC claims that Mormonism was “invented” to excuse “Joseph Smith’s infidelity.” Or when the Huffington Post’s Andrea Stone implies that Mitt Romney has some power to change Church doctrine.
Tom O’Neill, vice chair of the West Virginia Republican Party, has been a Church member for 20 years and active in it for almost a quarter century. He does not see most media coverage as overtly malicious, but says that negative stories “are more often than not the products of misunderstanding.”
Beeseck agrees and states that “for or the most part, the media tries to get its facts right, or at least be believable for their audience.” She then warns that, “when they do get it wrong, the average person believes them.”
Misconceptions stem from salacious accusations about the faith, especially coverage of renegade polygamist cults. Covering these stories without mentioning that the Church does not condone polygamy leaves a false impression in the public mind. For example, Mike Taibbi narrated a segment on NBC’s Rock Center that highlighted an ancestor of Romney’s from the 1800s who fled to Mexico to escape prosecution for polygamy. For some reason, NBC considered this a relevant story to run on the eve of the New Hampshire primary.
Media coverage also tends to describe Mormons as systematically oppressing minorities, homosexuals, and women. They also imply that there are mysterious “secretive rituals.” Some outlets on the fringe of, or outside, the mainstream media do blatantly attack Mormonism. As National Review deputy editor Kevin Williamson writes “there are few if any websites dedicated to ‘unmasking’ the Presbyterian Church U.S.A., but there are dozens dedicated to Mormons.”
The Stone story, featured in the Huffington Post last February, took the Church to task over posthumous proxy baptism of Jewish victims of the Holocaust. O’Neill explains (which is necessary, because Stone does not) that the baptisms are not conversions and that recipients are not considered members of the Church. “The practice is based on a biblical understanding that baptism is a rite essential for salvation, together with the Church’s belief in the inviolate ability of a person to choose for themselves whether or not to accept and ratify, in the hereafter, the baptism performed on their behalf.” Stone did quote a Church spokesman as saying that the practice did not have official sanction.
The story also describes how Mitt Romney refused to respond to calls that he try to force the Church to halt the practice, which is akin to demanding that John F. Kennedy over a half century ago convince the Pope to allow clerical marriage.
One of the largest misconceptions is that Mormons are a single unit of voters that will automatically line up behind one of their own. Media types generally, and falsely, assume that groupthink predominates (or should predominate) over individual choices. Traditional teachings of Mormonism frown upon unthinking acceptance of a political leader. One verse from the Mormon Book of Mosiah states, “Now I say unto you, that because all men are not just it is not expedient that ye should have a king or kings to rule over you”
Beeseck speculates that many Mormons, because of the importance of free agency to their faith, may tend to support Ron Paul. She also says that fear of ramped up intolerance might drive some believers away from voting for Romney. The media often demonstrates a fatal analytical flaw in their analysis of religion, race, and gender in politics. They assume that all members of a group will, or should, vote as s single collective bloc, regardless of individual beliefs. These assumptions also reveal the most important misconception held by political types, that everyone is as obsessed with politics as they are.
The blogger “Ablayn” on MormonPerspectives.com states that even sympathetic coverage misses the mark. “In an attempt to seem evenhanded, they never reach understanding. They never talk about what Mormonism means to the heart of the believer.”
Some of the problems encountered by Mormons in media perception of their church might originate in how the Church evolved in its dealings with the public and the press. O’Neill describes how violence and legal assaults against the Mormon church in the 19th century created “a culture within the Church of introversion.” Threats of violence drove believers out of Missouri and Illinois before the Civil War. In 1903, the US Senate refused allow Reed Smoot (no known relation to the author) to take his seat for four years because he also served in the Church.
This difficult history means that, although the last half-century has seen strong attempts at outreach, the Mormon church has traditionally been turned inward. This contributes to an unintentional air of mystery seen by the general public.
Possibly some pundits have read the Mormon holy writings, which do contradict typical liberal and left wing ideologies. The writings in some cases portray excessive authority and taxation as leading to a breakdown of civil society. Another verse from Mosiah, for example, reads, “and thus they were supported in their laziness, and in their idolatry . . . by the taxes which king Noah had put upon his people; thus did the people labor exceedingly to support iniquity.”
The media often misses positive Mormon stories, such as former NBA player Shawn Bradley’s involvement in a school for troubled youth. Bishop Daniel Peterson described in the Deseret News how his work often focused on helping “people suffering the consequences of drug and alcohol abuse, mental illness, emotional problems, dysfunctional families, poverty, various chronic limitations, joblessness and despair.” Nearly 50,000 missionaries serve somewhere in the world at any given time.
A news media that deigns to preach fairness, diversity, and tolerance to Christians needs to practice the same when it comes to Christians.
O’Neill emphasizes the similarities between Mormons and other Christians. “We are not out to ‘convert the world,’ but to offer an invitation to those who are looking for something. We’re pretty normal, regular people, and we just want to help make our communities better places.”
Beeseck offered her own personal insight, saying “My faith is my life.”
>>Did Jefferson consider Catholicsim to be tyranny?
"History, I believe, furnishes no example of a priest-ridden people maintaining a free civil government,"
-- Thomas Jefferson; Letter to Alexander von Humboldt, December 6, 1813
"In every country and in every age, the priest has been hostile to liberty. He is always in alliance with the despot, abetting his abuses in return for protection to his own."
-- Thomas Jefferson; Letter to Horatio G. Spafford, March 17, 1814
Did he, Super Genius?
Is Romney proposing to force us all to convert to Mormonsim at the point of a gun? No, he isn’t.
You are a bigot. And I take back that “one step above” statement. You arent one step above. So go ahead and don’t vote for the Mormon. Enjoy four more years of Obama. You’ll deserve every single day of it.
>>Did Jefferson consider Catholicsim to be tyranny?
“History, I believe, furnishes no example of a priest-ridden people maintaining a free civil government,”
— Thomas Jefferson; Letter to Alexander von Humboldt, December 6, 1813
“In every country and in every age, the priest has been hostile to liberty. He is always in alliance with the despot, abetting his abuses in return for protection to his own.”
— Thomas Jefferson; Letter to Horatio G. Spafford, March 17, 1814
Did he, Super Genius?
>>And I take back that “one step above” statement.
But nobody gives a rats arse what you take back; and your ignorance regarding Jefferson’s articulated reasoning regarding the 1st Amendment prohibition against state establishments of religion - such as Mormonism and Catholicism - doesn’t change that FACT, either.
Have a nice (Latter) day.
Your incorrect inference says a lot about you, too. Nothing is inevitable except death and taxes.
[Is Romney proposing to force us all to convert to Mormonsim at the point of a gun?]
Got any more straw in your bunker, err, “lair” (LOL)?
The dishonest nature of Romney’s coercive religion is a reflection of his own dishonest character.
Maybe you don’t think the character of the POTUS is relevant. Others disagree.
If you’ve got some evidence to support the alleged “Truth” of Mormonism then spit it out?
{crickets}
So you ADMIT that you try to usurp the place of Christ?!?! There is ONLY ONE HIGH PRIEST AFTER THE ORDER OF MELCHIZEDEK - Jesus Christ.
To claim you hold the same priesthood as Christ is to demote Christ. You need to take a hard look at the book of Hebrews in a non-LDS KJV.
Hebrews 7:24, “But He, on the other hand, because He abides forever, holds His priesthood permanently.” The Greek word for permanently is ajparavbato” (aparabotos) meaning unchangeable, unalterable, inviolable.
[or just admit you don’t know diddly about what you’re spewing forth about. ]
Unlikely. It’s self-evident from his posting history that he lacks sufficient data with which to render even that simple diddlyficient Truth.
Meanwhile, I consider exposing the lies of Mormonism, and using the 1st amendment to do so, to be a practical educational exercise for what must be accomplished in order contain the cancer that is Islam.
It can only be eradicated by self-evident Truth from within.
Huh? Personally, I am not going to die. I am going to dwell in the Glory of God for eternity.
Should you ever get water pollution coming into the pipes of your home, then just shut off the water faucets. Don't mention it to your neighbors. Even you should be able to grasp that, with the aid of a grownup of course. So should that water pollution come, go find some bottled water & leave your neighbors alone. [I mean, who needs to know 'bout neighborhood pollution?] /sarc...
Right, because, taking the time to share such discernment might interfere with...
“immediate gratification, delayed gratification, hedonism, love, sex, family, firearms of all types, food, good beer, good wine, fine bourbon, cigars, and single malt scotches.”
At least “family” is ahead of “good beer”, but discerning the wolves for ones Sheeply neighbors...from within one’s “lair”?
Hmmm, for some reason that didn’t even make the list.
“Woof Woof” {says the sheep dog}
Boo hoo!
No, Ma'am; our chosen religious organization does NOT consider 49,998 more of us on your doorstep to be an onslaught.
After all; we are ONLY doing it for a year of so of our lives; 6 days a week.
But it sure is broad!
"Only about 15% of all MORMONs will live with my Father.", Mr. False Christ.
When can we see an entire series of apologetics for the cults @ Townhall.com?
Perhaps tomorrow they can run a piece encouraging people to be Scientologists; then JWs on Tuesday...Hare Krishnas on Wed...etc.
So you were there when the 'church' was REALLY big on the following:
"You see some classes of the human family that are black, uncouth, uncomely, disagreeable and low in their habits, wild, and seemingly deprived of nearly all the blessings of the intelligence that is generally bestowed upon mankind.
The first man that committed the odious crime of killing one of his brethren will be cursed the longest of any one of the children of Adam. Cain slew his brother. Cain might have been killed, and that would have put a termination to that line of human beings.
This was not to be, and the Lord put a mark upon him, which is the flat nose and black skin. Trace mankind down to after the flood, and then another curse is pronounced upon the same race--that they should be the 'servant of servants', and they will be, until that curse is removed."
Brigham Young-President and second 'Prophet' of the Mormon Church, 1844-1877- Extract from Journal of Discourses.
Here are two examples from their 'other testament', the Book of Mormon.
2 Nephi 5: 21 'And he had caused the cursing to come upon them, yea, even a sore cursing, because of their iniquity. For behold, they had hardened their hearts against him, that they had become like unto a flint; wherefore, as they were white, and exceedingly fair and delightsome, that they might not be enticing unto my people, the Lord God did cause a skin of blackness to come upon them.'
Alma 3: 6 'And the skins of the Lamanites were dark, according to the mark which was set upon their fathers, which was a curse upon them because of their transgression and their rebellion against their brethren, who consisted of Nephi, Jacob and Joseph, and Sam, who were just and holy men.'
August 27, 1954 in an address at Brigham Young University (BYU), Mormon Elder, Mark E Peterson, in speaking to a convention of teachers of religion at the college level, said:
"The discussion on civil rights, especially over the last 20 years, has drawn some very sharp lines. It has blinded the thinking of some of our own people, I believe. They have allowed their political affiliations to color their thinking to some extent.I think I have read enough to give you an idea of what the Negro is after."
"He is not just seeking the opportunity of sitting down in a cafe where white people eat. He isn't just trying to ride on the same streetcar or the same Pullman car with white people. It isn't that he just desires to go to the same theater as the white people. From this, and other interviews I have read, it appears that the Negro seeks absorption with the white race. He will not be satisfied until he achieves it by intermarriage."
"That is his objective and we must face it. We must not allow our feelings to carry us away, nor must we feel so sorry for Negroes that we will open our arms and embrace them with everything we have. Remember the little statement that we used to say about sin, 'First we pity, then endure, then embrace'...."
(Rosa Parks would have probably told Petersen under which wheel of the bus he should go sit.)
1967, (then) Mormon President Ezra Taft Benson
said,
"The Communist program for revolution in America has been in progress for many years and is far advanced. First of all, we must not place the blame upon Negroes. They are merely the unfortunate group that has been selected by professional Communist agitators to be used as the primary source of cannon fodder."
We are told that on June 8, 1978, it was 'revealed' to the then president, Spencer Kimball, that people of color could now gain entry into the priesthood.
According to the church, Kimball spent many long hours petitioning God, begging him to give worthy black people the priesthood. God finally relented.
Sometime before the 'revelation' came to chief 'Prophet' Spencer Kimball in June 1978, General Authority, Bruce R McConkie had said:
"The Blacks are denied the Priesthood; under no circumstances can they hold this delegation of authority from the Almighty.
The Negroes are not equal with other races where the receipt of certain blessings are concerned, particularly the priesthood and the temple blessings that flow there from, but this inequality is not of man's origin, it is the Lord's doings."
(Mormon Doctrine, pp. 526-527).
When Mormon 'Apostle' Mark E Petersen spoke on 'Race Problems- As they affect the Church' at the BYU campus in 1954, the following was also said:
"...if the negro accepts the gospel with real, sincere faith, and is really converted, to give him the blessings of baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost, he can and will enter the celestial kingdom. He will go there as a servant, but he will get celestial glory."
When Mormon 'Prophet' and second President of the Church, Brigham Young, spoke in 1863 the following was also said:
"Shall I tell you the law of God in regard to the African race? If the white man who belongs to the chosen seed mixes his blood with the seed of Cain, the penalty, under the law of God is death on the spot. This will always be so."
(Journal of Discourses, Vo. 10, p. 110)
Yeah; Native Americans are althroughout the Book of MORMON; too.
“I saw a striking contrast in the progress of the Indian people today ... they are fast becoming a white and delightsome people.... For years they have been growing delightsome, and they are now becoming white and delightsome, as they were promised.... The children in the home placement program in Utah are often lighter than their brothers and sisters in the hogans on the reservation.
At one meeting a father and mother and their sixteen-year-old daughter were present, the little member girl-sixteen-sitting between the dark father and mother, and it was evident she was several shades lighter than her parents—on the same reservation, in the same hogan, subject to the same sun and wind and weather.... These young members of the Church are changing to whiteness and to delightsomeness.
One white elder jokingly said that he and his companion were donating blood regularly to the hospital in the hope that the process might be accelerated.
(Improvement Era, December 1960, pp.922-23). (p. 209)
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.