Why so many LDS threads?

08-May-2008 | Grig

[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.

[restornu]

CC I really care not to have doctrine discussions with you after you are the X Mormon with the 7 generation pedigree and you know it all any ways right!

So you preach your version which is not mine!

[aMorePerfectUnion]

“...after you are the X Mormon with the 7 generation pedigree and you know it all any ways right!”

Translation: “after all, you are the former Mormon who descended
from 6 previous generations of Mormons - and you know the
truth from living it. I can’t trick you, so I won’t try!”

Truer words never spoken.

ampu

[MEGoody]

Its not our religion & its darn rude.

Okay. I guess I figure there's enough real stuff in my life to be concerned about, I don't need to worry about someone doing something that really doesn't have an impact on me. (Like if someone were to get baptised on behalf of my dead relatives.)

[netmilsmom]

>>Talking about Catholicism or Mormonism should be considered a good thing, as long as the truth comes out. Don’t you think?<<

It depend’s on the viewpoint. I can’t talk about the Mormon threads, but I can give you an example from the Catholic threads.

Poster-Catholics worship Mary
Us -no we don’t, we pray to the Saints in heaven to intercede for us
Poster - yes, you do, I’ve seen it
Us - No truly, here is a reference
Poster - My Catholic cousin (aunt, neighbor, friend etc) does. I’ve seen it
Us - really, you are telling us what we are doing that is not what we do.
Poster - Yes you do, I’ve seen it

On and on. That’s not a conversation. So you tell me, which is the truth?

[Invincibly Ignorant]

weak

[tomkat]

Helps to have the Religion Mod in your pocket, evidently.

Legitimate questions, framed within forum guidelines, were recently deleted from one of your threads, questions as to the inordinate numbers of doctrinal harangues appearing under the News/Activism banner.

Kept in the Religion forum where they belong, y'all can obviously post all the 50,000 word nonsense the Robinsons and/or your ISP will tolerate.

But the deluge of this stuff in the 'News/Activism' forums seems to me not only to be a flagrant disregard for the very same forum guidelines the rest of us are supposed to operate under, but also diminishes the credibility and integrity of FreeRepublic as one of the few legitimate forums for the conservative political thoughts/views of the average joe.

If this post gets me banned from the site, so be it.

I've been around this site since '98 under a long forgotten login, and since '00 under this one.

I've logged a couple thousand miles and a couple dozen hours helping man the barricades against the marxist scum in DC.

I've also contributed financially to this site over the years.

I've never aspired to be one of prolific pens of FR because frankly my other interests and work keep my time too limited to allow it, but this is where I've chosen to get my NEWS for some time, posting random thoughts as they struck me, most often in a (hopefully) humorous vein, as God knows we've needed some smiles the past couple decades for sanity maintenance.

Having been a loyal and supportive FReeper for a long time, it's my considered opinion that the tacit policy decision to allow so much religion spamming in the News/Activism section works to the detriment of this site in particular, and conservatism in general.

If I had any inclination to find out more about LDS, there's a whole Internet out there and I can do my own damned research.

But if I'd had no previous exposure to FR and got here by whatever circuitous route and saw 14 threads about mormon stuff on my first visit, it'd be a real good bet I'd think I'd stumbled into a big mistake and would NOT be back.

If the Robinsons have chosen to take a different tack re the religious/secular, it is of course their site and their right; I do however find oddly 'coincidental' the timing of this apparent policy shift in the midst of Jim's recent hospitalization/recovery.
(which I hope is quickly better, Jim :)

This wasn't/isn't intended to be an opus, but if that's the way it plays out, life will go on and I'll find something else to take it's place and/or just burrow deeper into the ol' bunker.

Cuz in the end I'm just one old guy who works with his hands out here in flyover; and folks like me have gotten kinda used to being ignored, and I've never been under any delusion that FR or the RightFight in this country can't manage without me.

And not that it's anybody's business, but I do believe in a God, but certainly not the one represented by these LDS threads/adherents.

/10yrs ?

[pandoraou812]

(Like if someone were to get baptised on behalf of my dead relatives.)

I hope that your dead relatives are never bothered by another religion. You have a great day...~P~

[netmilsmom]

>>There isn’t a ball in a court, you announced yourself Catholic and you will not state your churches view on Mormon baptism or if Mormons are Christians.<<

You have asked me over and over what the Catholic Church has said. I pointed you back to your own reference.
You asked me what I think. I have told you that I agree with the Pope on Non-Christians and Non-Catholics and gave you a reference. Now, tell me exactly what you want me to say and I will cut and paste it for you. That is all you seem to want.

Again, Show me my championing Mormon beliefs. You CAN'T. I don't. I champion Mormons to be strong in their own beliefs and have the freedom to be Mormon.

[restornu]

Mormons do not believe in Hell. Mormonism teaches that after this life we all continue to progress, and that everyone gets to a certain level of heaven because Christ atoned in the Garden of Gethsemene (Universal salvation).

***

Hell
An English translation of the Hebrew word Shoel, hell signifies an abode of departed spirits and corresponds to the Greek Hades. In common speech it generally denotes the place of torment for the wicked, although it has been often held, both in the Jewish and the Christian churches, that Hades (meaning broadly the place of all departed spirits) consists of two parts, paradise and Gehenna, one the abode of the righteous and the other of the disobedient.

“Gehenna,” or “Gehenna of fire,” is the Greek equivalent of the “valley of Hinnom,” a deep glen of Jerusalem where the idolatrous Jews offered their children to Moloch (2 Chr. 28: 3; 2 Chr. 33: 6; Jer. 7: 31; Jer. 19: 2-6). It was afterwards used as a place for burning the refuse of the city (2 Kgs. 23: 10), and in that way became symbolical of the place of torment (Matt. 5: 22, 29-30; Matt. 10: 28; Matt. 18: 9; Matt. 23: 15, 33; Mark 9: 43, 45, 47; Luke 12: 5; James 3: 6).

Expressions about “hell-fire” are probably due to the impression produced on men’s minds by the sight of this ceaseless burning, and are figurative of the torment of those who willfully disobey God.

In latter-day revelation hell is spoken of in at least two senses. One is the temporary abode in the spirit world of those who were disobedient in this mortal life. It is between death and the resurrection, and persons who receive the telestial glory will abide there until the last resurrection (D&C 76: 84-85, 106), at which time they will go to the telestial glory. In this sense the Book of Mormon speaks of spiritual death as hell (2 Ne. 9: 10-12).

Hell, as thus defined, will have an end, when all the captive spirits have paid the price of their sins and enter into a degree of glory after their resurrection. Statements about an everlasting hell (Hel. 6: 28; Moro. 8: 13) must be interpreted in their proper context in the light of D&C 19: 4-12, which defines eternal and endless punishment.

On the other hand, the devil and his angels, including the sons of perdition, are assigned to a place spoken of as a lake of fire - a figure of eternal anguish. This condition is sometimes called hell in the scriptures (2 Pet. 2: 4; D&C 29: 38; D&C 88: 113). This kind of hell, which is after the resurrection and judgment, is exclusively for the devil and his angels, and is not the same as that consisting only of the period between death and resurrection. The one group are redeemed from hell and inherit some degree of glory.

The other receive no glory. They continue in spiritual darkness. For them the conditions of hell remain.

http://scriptures.lds.org/en/tg/h/63?sr=1

[netmilsmom]

You, my FRiend are very wise!

[ansel12]

“It depend’s on the viewpoint. I can’t talk about the Mormon threads, but I can give you an example from the Catholic threads.”

---

You are on a “Mormon thread” yet you challenge only Christians, sounds like a thread hijack attempt to turn this into an anti-protestant thread.

[netmilsmom]

As I said before, personal experience is the one thing people can’t argue with.

I’m challenging anyone who is feeling a bit superior to others.

And let me tell you, my FRiend, I am the FIRST person to sing the praises of the very kind Protestants on FR. So don’t even go there. Three quarters of my family are Protestant. Married one, thank you very much. Not a good time to accuse of Anti-Protestantism. That horse of yours is pretty high.

[andysandmikesmom]

Thanks for the kind words..dont know if I am wise, just trying to apply a little common sense to what I see on these threads...

[Gatún(CraigIsaMangoTreeLawyer)]

Free Republic is a conservative political forum. It is not a religious forum.

I don’t foist my religious faith on anybody. And I don’t like it when others foist their religion on me.

Again, this is a conservative political form and not a religious forum.

My religion is private. It is practiced at home; and on religious days, I go to my place of worship…and not to some political forum.

There are plenty of religious forums one can go to if one feels the need.

[netmilsmom]

I wish others would.

[Graybeard58]

Do you have links to the denominations that accept Mormonism as Christian?

Still waiting?

[ansel12]

I seems to me that your efforts on this thread are to protect Mormonism against Christian challenge, not that you are promoting their specific beliefs.

I don’t see any effort for Christianity or Catholicism, in fact you seem to me a little hostile to Protestant Christianity in your defense of Mormonism.

Do you think that the Pope accepts the baptism of most of the Christian posters here while rejecting Mormon baptism?

[commonguymd]

I thought this was posted in the FR religion forum. ?

[andysandmikesmom]

I agree completely...

[restornu]

As I said before, personal experience is the one thing people can’t argue with.

Can’t agrue there I have had 38 years experience in the mainstream and 26 years as LDS and I marvel at the many blessings anc changes that have taken place in my life.

My point originally was to show how many similarities
between faiths to find common ground to build bridges instead of pulling us a part!

I have also learn those who are so bitter it is futile to fret over and let them be.

As my tagline says it also could include

The Opposition spends all its time “playing goalie” hoping others will not fine common ground!