Anti-Mormon: The Mormon N-Word (Open)

Mormonism Research Ministry ^ | Bill McKeever

[Zakeet]

Speaking at its annual conference held in Detroit in July 2007, NAACP Chairman Julian Bond called on the American public and the entertainment industry to stop using the “N-Word.” Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick added, “Today we’re not just burying the N-word, we’re taking it out of our spirit.” I applaud this effort, and with it I offer my own challenge to Mormons everywhere to bury their own infamous “N-word,” that being the word “anti-Mormon.”

As with the word “[snip],” the word “anti-Mormon” is meant to be nothing more than an ugly pejorative. It is usually slapped on anyone who questions or disagrees with the teachings of the LDS faith and implies that the perceived critic is somehow “against” (anti) Mormons (as individuals). I’m certainly not against Mormons; in fact, I personally feel I have something better to offer them than what they already claim to have. Technically, that makes me “pro-Mormon,” though I admit I am against Mormonism.

Far too many Mormons automatically assume that Christians who wish to challenge LDS presuppositions are somehow motivated by hate. Such an assumption seems to be borne more out of laziness on the part of the accuser rather than the result of critical thinking skills. It is easy to accuse someone of hatred; after all, that word gets a lot of mileage in our dumbed-down culture. The intellectually indolent person somehow feels no need to evaluate what has been said once he has successfully assassinated a person’s character. However, when Mormons flippantly throw down the hate card, they certainly run the risk of bearing false witness.

I would be the first to admit that this disparaging label had some real meaning during the early and mid-1800’s, but it certainly does not fit the great majority of people Mormon apologists have attached it to in modern days. Articles from LDS apologetic groups such as FAIR and FARMS (now the Neal Maxwell Institute) are peppered with this word, sometimes to the point of monotony. The irony is that while such organizations desperately want to be recognized for their “scholarship,” they fail to realize that true scholarly material tends to refrain from such ad hominem. This behavior has not gone unnoticed by those known for their thoughtful contributions to this subject. In their book Mormon America, Richard and Joan Ostling note, “The FARMS team is particularly shrill in its rhetoric, an odd pose for an organization that seeks to win intellectual respectability for the church. All too often Saints use the label ‘anti-Mormon’ as a tactic to forestall serious discussion” (p. 376).

Modern Mormons who equate questions and disagreement with persecution need to do some serious rethinking. In my opinion, Mormons who lump those who challenge the truth claims of Mormonism with the persecutions of the past actually bring dishonor to the Mormon pioneers who truly suffered. Considering what some of the early Mormons went through, I am sure they would view with contempt a modern Mormon who whines about being “persecuted” simply because someone challenged their faith.

Thankfully, some Mormon thinkers disagree with fellow members and have chosen to refrain from using this unnecessary language. They recognize that even though some folks have sharp theological disagreements with Mormonism, their purpose is not at all to bring harm to the LDS people. “Anti-Mormon” is an overused moniker that needed to be jettisoned long ago, and I call on every Mormon to bury their own “N-word,” once and for all.

[svcw]

Ok, what?

[ejonesie22]

Give it time, you’ll learn how to translate “Resty Tongue”...

Sadly I have grown so used to it I hardly notice...

[svcw]

No that was the democrats.

[greyfoxx39]

However, when criticism is offered in anger and hate, it is a very different animal and is glaringly obvious and recognizable in tone and intent from the former. There is no obvious concern for the person being criticized. And when the critic has a history of antagonism, no criticism, no matter how sincere the critic may be, will not be received well by its intended target.

This holier-than-thou preaching from the self-proclaimed lofty perch by some people on this thread is getting REAL tiresome....some of you must think there is no record of your OWN words on this site. For example.....

"Do as I say, not as I do" seems to be the word of the day as sent down by Salt Lake.

In response to your little homily at the end, try Matthew 7:3

[svcw]

Amen sister!

[Zakeet]

Criticism is all well and good and frequently necessary but the spirit in which it is offered is a key factor.

Agreed.

However, when criticism is offered in anger and hate, it is a very different animal.

Agreed. And if anyone will provide me with an example where I have done this, intentionally or otherwise, I will promptly apologize to the injured parties.

Our Lord went through far worse than any of us will ever experience, are we greater than he that we can get so worked up about doctrinal differences? Shouldn’t we follow His example?

Our Lord "got worked up over doctrinal differences" many times, and was never bashful about speaking out (e.g. Matt. 23:27). And we are commanded to be wary of and confront false doctrine (e.g. Matt 7:15; 24:24, Rom16:17, 1Ti 1:3-10, 4:6-16, etc.)

---

Now, recall that Joseph Smith was a "prophet" who taught:

1. That Jesus and Satan are brothers

2. That God had incestuous sexual relations with His daughter, Mary, impregnating her with Jesus

3. That Christian pastors are "dimwitted hirelings of Satan"

4. Of sacred scriptures based on pagan works such as prayers to Egyptian gods for dead spirits – which were supposedly translated using occult devices such as peep stones

5. That God is a polygamous celestial stud married to our Heavenly Mother, whose name is so sacred we are not to say it out loud

6. Of Kolob and of other worlds named Planet Oblish and Planet Enish-go-on-dosh ruled by a governing power through the medium of Kli-flos-is-es, or Hah-ko-kau-beam

7. Of prominent display of Satanic symbols such as pentagrams, baphomets, earth stones, and saturn stones on his churches' religious buildings and literature

8. Of portraying Satan as the god of this world and having him teach church doctrine in the Mormon temple ceremony

9. Of the wearing a fig leaf apron in temple ceremonies to symbolize Satan’s power and priesthoods

10. Of offering prayers to the devil in the temple ceremony – Oh God, hear the words of my mouth – and of praising him in the sacred rites by chanting Hebrew words whose translation is Marvelous Lucifer

11. That husbands can resurrect their wives from the grave

12. Of having special grips and clasps in order to tell ghosts from angels and the devil

13. Of practicing baptism for the dead

14. Of wearing magic underwear to protect from physical harm – with symbols so sacred that they must be cut out and buried and the garment burned when it wears out

15. That the Ten Lost Tribes and the apostle John will be discovered living in cement houses in a tropical land adjacent to the North Pole separated by a high mountain range

16. That men about six feet tall, dressed like Quakers, will be discovered dwelling on the moon where they live for about 1,000 years

17. That science will prove the earth has knobs on each end

18. That he was commanded by God to retranslate the Bible because the existing translations contained errors – eventually devising an Inspired Revision completed in 1833 – which was rejected by his church who still uses the King James Version

19. That his followers are not saved by grace, but instead are burdened by a complex series of rules and regulations which determine their progression as gods of their own planets and the ultimate size and quality of their harem of goddess wives

20. That he was greater than Jesus

Is is not Biblically correct to confront people who espouse such terrible blasphemies and heresies, to point out their errors, and demand they cease making the ridiculous claim that "we're Christians just like you?" Wouldn't our Lord Jesus do the same?

[svcw]

What tongue is that? Sometimes it just boggles the mind. But she did tell me once that it is up to me to understand what she is trying to say. Didn't the caterpillar say that to Alice?

[Godzilla]

Are you again teaching that you have no responsibility to return to God’s presence?

Never said that F, don't try to mind read - its not good for your witness. The key point is all those wishing to become gods in mormonism must pay their tithe to maintain their temple recommend. If that is not doctrinal, please cite me where I'm wrong.

[svcw]

Oh come on now. Remember we have been warned not to use ldsers words to show what ldsers believe. /sarc/

[ejonesie22]

I think that was what they said to Alice...

Interesting we have a Wonderland reference in a Mormon thread. Fantasy begets fantasy...

[Godzilla]

What you posted is not accurate Tennessee Nana, but that should not matter to those whos only purpose is to drops stink bombs even if it is disinformation.

Resty, what you've posted so far does little to bring credability to your arguement. If TN is wrong, post real data not personal attacks - thought you have been argueing against them throughout.

[ejonesie22]

Pay to play...

Very Chicago democrat....

[Godzilla]

I am sorry but the manifold grammatical and spelling errors, missing words, incomplete thoughts, sentence fragments, and erroneous thinking make post #69 an all-but incomprehensible mass of non-cogency.

Not suprising. Many who've read the bom have seen the same as well as tried to work through their doctrines - especially when their prophet is only prophetic when it is convient to public opinion.

[Godzilla]

His love for all mankind was still there even as they murdered him. Our Lord went through far worse than any of us will ever experience, are we greater than he that we can get so worked up about doctrinal differences? Shouldn’t we follow His example?

Yet when Jesus shows up in america, he destroys multiple cities and thousands upon thousands of his other sheep. If mormons want to believe in that Jesus - fine. But when mormons want to call themselves Christians - especially when they say they are the only true Christians - then their doctrinal differences can and should come under review. Seems some of the mormons here vent their spleen because we have the audacity to stand and say - from mormon sources - that the teachings of mormonism are not those of Christianity and represent the false gospels and Christs warned about by Jesus and the Apostles.

[restornu]

Yet when Jesus shows up in america, he destroys multiple cities and thousands upon thousands of his other sheep

Please give chapter and verse where Jesus did that?

[restornu]

Seems some of the mormons here vent their spleen because we have the audacity to stand and say - from mormon sources

so you are saying this thread is a LDS source?

[count-your-change]

“And when the critic has a history of antagonism, no criticism, no matter how sincere the critic may be, will not be received well by its intended target.”

Means WILL BE rec’d well?

[restornu]

Where have you been living under a rock there are folks who have various kinds of dyslexic.

In my day they did not have clue unless you were Rockefeller
so by the time I self discover what it was (21) from than on I was self taught.

Seems your tolerance is only for those who function like you!

[greyfoxx39]

“And when the critic has a history of antagonism, no criticism, no matter how sincere the critic may be, will not be received well by its intended target.”

That's assuming that the "intended target" is known. Who knows what our intended target is on a site that has thousands accessing it daily?

[greyfoxx39]

Seems your tolerance is only for those who function like you!

LOL...preaching "tolerance" now!