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Posted on 05/08/2008 5:04:47 PM PDT by Grig
I am posting this on behalf of many LDS freepers. They will post their own 'signature' to this in the comments below. --- Some of you have noticed lately a lot of LDS (ie: Mormon) threads here on FR. I'm going to tell you why.
For many years there have been several active LDS freepers here. We post to all the forums on relevant issues, and were happy to have a site where conservative values were so openly welcomed.
Those conservative values include faith in God, and freedom of religion. We fully respect the rights of all posters to express their opinions and views on religious matters, even when people choose to use those rights to express criticism of our own faith. We also support the ideas embodied in FR rules against religion bashing. There is no need for hostility and there should be no room for bigotry on FR. Every religion has it's miracles and mysteries. Every faith has things in it that are not or can not be proven, and things that run contrary to what secular science would have us believe. Someone mature and confident in their own faith generally doesn't feel the need to belittle the faith of others.
We have, to the best of our ability, conducted ourselves with civility and dignity. We do not feel that that respect has been returned by some posters (putting it mildly).
When Mormon missionaries were murdered, the moderators were kept busy pulling jubilant posts off the thread. When Elizabeth Smart was abducted from her home, we contended for months with posters who appeared to be motivated by religious bigotry doing all they could to smear the family and accuse the father. Several posters openly admitted their religious motivation in opposing Mitt Romney and confessed that no matter how conservative any Mormon was, they would never vote for one for President of the USA. When the Pope died, I don't think any Mormon poster posted anything unkind, yet the thread about the passing of our President recently needed many comments removed.
Nearly every thread having any connection with Mormons, or Utah winds up being hijacked by anti-Mormon activists who copy and paste the same false accusations over and over even when it has been clearly and factually pointed out to them on multiple occasions that they are bearing false witness against our faith. Everything possible is done by these activists to make FR a hostile place for Mormons, and for at least some of them, bashing Mormonism is all they do here. Their most recent project is trying to blur the fact that the polygamous FLDS is a separate and distinct religion from ours, just as Lutherans are a separate and distinct religion from Catholicism.
In our opinion, such poster do a great disservice to FR and to their fellow freepers by spreading disinformation and promoting hostility towards a people known for walking the walk of conservative values.
Why the moderators here don't see the behavior of these anti-Mormon activists as religion bashing is a mystery to us, but it is the moderators call to make and we respect their right to do so. That doesn't mean we have to be passive however. We have all spent many hours refuting the accusations leveled at our faith, but these wind up buried deep in a flood of comments, effectively shouting us down.
Recently some of us have decided to take a more proactive approach. Rather than try to wrestle the pig into taking a bath, we are just going to hose it down. We will actively define our faith here rather than just respond to accusations.
So expect to see lots of Mormon threads, now and for as long as we see fit to keep posting them (although probably not as many as there are Catholic threads). They will be about our basic doctrines and responses to common accusations. If you want to know what our faith is about, read the articles we post. We will post them as open threads and I encourage you to compare the difference in tone and spirit between what we post and what our critics say.
Well, maybe when one bring “Liberal Cafeteria” Catholic into the mix, I can get a bit strong but throwing the words “Liberal Cafeteria” before the word Catholic leaves a sour taste in one's mouth.
I'm not saying that Catholic Church accepts anything but the right of a person to have free will. Unlike many of the “My Bible is better than yours” people, Catholics don't push our belief system.
So while the Vatican makes a stand, whatever it may be, the average Catholic will stay with our own beliefs and not condemn yours. We actually did progress past that silly Spanish Inquisition stuff.
“Do you need to know the origins of Jesus to confess him as Lord? “
You need to know enough about Jesus to make a commitment. If you don’t know Jesus from Adam’s housecat and you “confess Him as Lord”, you have not confessed him. You don’t want to confess Jesus only to find you think he was your lawn guy.
That’s why deathbed conversions are so tricky. The person may not know what they are confessing.
Don’t you know yet?
I have faith. Faith that the Devil can come as an Angel of Light. That the message I am getting may not be as clear as it is supposed to be. I’m actually pretty simple.
And if you know by your Faith that you ARE getting the message, that’s fantastic! I have no problem with it at all.
Blessed are the Meek. I can be pretty meek.
>>The LDS see Purgatory simular to our Telestial path its not the best place to be but it beat hell!<<
I would say!
"Are you saying that the Catholic church accepts Mormonism as Christian?"
"You clearly seem to be implying that the Pope includes Mormonism among the other denominations but I think that he was only speaking of Christian denominations." ============================================================
I was hoping to learn something about Catholic beliefs, but you are only leaving me more in the dark and some of it seems on purpose.
Can’t you answer?
Are you ashamed?
No, I have no purpose. You’ve looked up the Vatican’s teachings on Mormons. You know what they say.
If you truly want to learn about Catholics, this is what you need to find out. We believe that WE are right in what we believe. Whether a person is another denomination, or non-Christian at all, it does not make them a lesser human. We are taught to pray for people and live a good example. The Pope himself has said that other Christians and non-Christians who, whether knowing Him or not, tried to walk in the steps of Christ, can make it to Heaven. Not you, nor I nor any other living person can say otherwise, including the Pope, because it is Our Lord’s call.
That’s what I’m trying to say. Everyone who gets a bit of a superiority complex, telling another human being that his/her way will lead them to final damnation, is not doing things the way Catholics do.
That’s all I’m trying to say. It’s not hostile, it’s not evasive, it’s just how it is.
Also posted his pirate name, and his harry potter character. There is a few others in there too.
You guys really reach some times.
I would hesitate calling it hatred, Radix. Some of us object to their calling themselves Christian when they so obviously are not. If they’d stop doing that, you’d see less people objecting.
The only post in this whole thread worth reading.
Prayers of that kind should always be in the religion forum. You’re right.
How come it is that I never see you pushing this hard on one of the Jewish threads, Colorcountry?
They are not Christians, yet I never see you questioning their beliefs. I’m on three of the ping lists. Salem’s Judeo-Christian ping, Alouette and SJackson.
Will you be so demanding of the Jewish FReepers on why they don’t believe that Christ is the messiah?
Well for one thing, the "father of LDS", Albert Hofman, died recently at the age of 102.
Also posted his pirate name, and his harry potter character. There is a few others in there too.
You guys really reach some times.
In case you haven't figured it out by my pirate name, I'm not a HIM!
Jehovah’s Witnesses don’t like it either. I had a friend who was hounded so much he left the state.
The “When the leaders speak, the thinking has been done” policy is much more current than WWII, it is still taught openly today. I am certain it has been spoken exaclty like this in general conferences in the last few years. Most 4 and 5 year old mormons can recite this phrase from memory.
“Youve looked up the Vaticans teachings on Mormons. You know what they say.”
Yes I can read, but I was wondering if a Catholic would have the street courage to say it out loud, especially when they announce themselves as Catholic and then proceed to defend the Mormon church.
Just once I would like to see a Catholic speak out for their faith and it’s belief on Mormonism but it seems to never happen, I am trying to figure out how deeply the members of different denominations are affected by the teachings of their church and how willing those members are to stand up for Christianity.
This is the United States of America. That flag flies for everyone, even women and children that apparently aren’t taught the truth of what this country stands for. Get your State’s elected officials off their scared little hineys and end the slavery you have that is being winked at now, and don’t deny that the Mormon church has the influence and the responsibility to end it. Everybody does.
Yes, they do. We don’t go running to the rel. mods. about it either, as protestants.
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