Posted on 01/10/2006 4:14:51 AM PST by Quester
No one is "bashing" Mormons here. This is just a rational discussion. So far there has been no name calling.
Let's keep it that way.
There are people on this site that do not believe in the Christ of the Mormons. It is their right to argue the point, as it is your right to defend it.
How old was Joseph smith in 1820. 14 years old? Not many people would give a whole lot of precedent, even today for what an inexperienced 14 year old has to say. Smith wrote about the sectarian wrangling many years after 1820, and his memory could very well have been corrupted through the lens of time. From the time he announced the Book of Mormon to the world, his life did contain a lot of sectarian wrangling.
Perhaps in our ferver and our wrangling over religion here on FR, we will all have a vision or epiphany of religious insight like unto Joseph Smith. Had he not "wrangled" he would not have searched for answers....it's part of the process.
I don't know how you define "bashing," but there is no shortage of denigrating language and distortion or outright misrepresentation. And people using all the "reason and sophistry" at their command -- which sometimes isn't much.
Why don't these people just spend their time explaining the merits and rationale of their own belief system, instead of running down the beliefs of others?
I think it's more important for believers to identify what unites them.
No one is "bashing" Mormons here. This is just a rational discussion. So far there has been no name calling.
You have an interesting definition of bashing.
How do you answer it....or do you just say (as you suggest we do) that it is okay that they die in the misbegotten belief.
See?
Im sorry, but that is just PC crap. You're saying that by me saying their belief is misbegotten, that I have somehow bashed you or called you a name?
Don't Mormons believe, by there very scripture, that no other religion on earth is correct. Isn't that part of the vision Joseph Smith recieved...So in essence are you not saying that you believe Catholics, Protestants, or followers of Islam are "misbegotten," or would you prefer a more politically polite term like "mistaken."
You are very sensitive. Oops, was I calling you a name?
You didn't answer me. How do you speak to the modern day polygamists that believe they are living the fullness of the gospel in this dispensation?
Would you proselyte to them? Would you send the missionaries? Or would you ignore them.
Do Mormons proselyte to Catholics or Protestants by telling them that they do not have the entire gospel....in essense that their religion is incorrect. Of course they do! Do we here at FreeRepublic call the missionaries "basher" for this? (yes, some do.) This is HOW discussion takes place.
Do we call Democrats names and say they are misbegotten? - YES.
Do we say Communism is an agent of the Devil?...ON OCCASION.
Do we call Bill Clinton an adulterer? OFTEN (because in our opinion it is true.)
When someone says Mormon's are a joke, it is their opinion. This is not bashing or name calling. It IS discussion.
I especially like the bit about 'the Bible contradicts the Book of Mormon and therefore the Book of Mormon is false'. The sophisticated part (at least, it passeth my poor understanding) is where they don't denigrate the Book of Mormon, they just imply it was authored by Satan.
I have not only implied, but stated openly that I believe the Book of Mormon is a work of Satan.
This is bashing, denigrating, disrepectable....and the like. But it is my fervent belief.
What do you tell prospects. That their religion is just as good as yours?
Or do you tell them that yours is the only one that is true. Making theirs false. (the politically correct way of saying - YOU'RE WRONG.)
The angel Moroni failed the biblical miserably because it denied that Jesus had come in the flesh. In the book of Mormon, Jesus is said to only have appeared "in the spirit" to the disciples. Yet the New Testament said that Jesus held up His hands to his disciples and that Thomas put his finger into the nail hole in Jesus's wrists to prove that Jesus had been nailed on the cross and ressurected in the flesh. So the book of Mormon fails the schoolyard test in 1 John.
As you note, the Bible teaches unequivocally that Jesus appeared in the flesh to his disciples in the Old World. Likewise, the Book of Mormon teaches that Jesus appeared in the flesh to his disciples in the New World:
13 And it came to pass that the Lord spake unto them saying:14 Arise and come forth unto me, that ye may thrust your hands into my side, and also that ye may feel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet, that ye may know that I am the God of Israel, and the God of the whole earth, and have been slain for the sins of the world.
15 And it came to pass that the multitude went forth, and thrust their hands into his side, and did feel the prints of the nails in his hands and in his feet; and this they did do, going forth one by one until they had all gone forth, and did see with their eyes and did feel with their hands, and did know of a surety and did bear record, that it was he, of whom it was written by the prophets, that should come.
A question: Have you actually read the Book of Mormon?
The Book of Mormon quote is from 3 Nephi 11:13-15.
This is bashing, denigrating, disrepectable....and the like. But it is my fervent belief.
You and I have disagreed over Mormonism in the past. That did not bother me then; it does not bother me now. Nor am I offended when someone says that the Book of Mormon is the work of Satan, that the "Mormons" aren't Christian, etc., etc.
One thing does bother me, however. I dislike it when someone misrepresents what Latter-day Saints believe -- especially when the person should know better. The article by Wilson that started this thread is a perfect example of what I mean.
You seem to be bothered by our claim that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the only "true" church. Do you understand precisely what we mean when we say that?
17 ¶ Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
-Matthew 5:17-18
Now the Pharisees and the Sadducees chose to see this as an attack but was it? No. He was teaching His word. In the same spirit, we do not attack anyone. It is only those who do not like or understand our message that perceive an attack.
NO
Yes, my great-great grandfather (John D. Lee) murdered 150 immigrants from Arkansas at Mountain Meadows.
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.