Posted on 01/31/2009 9:48:29 AM PST by Zakeet
Edited on 01/31/2009 11:43:32 AM PST by Admin Moderator. [history]
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.
"In the days of our fathers." When would that have been and from what document would they have record of the days of their fathers? The Old Testament, right? He also stated numerous times "it is written (and words to that effect)," what do you think He was talking about when He said that? Citing scripture can mean far more than giving chapter and verse.
I will answer this anyway, given your track record of not answering questions put to you. The only path to salvation and spending eternity with heavenly father is accepting Jesus' sacrifice by faith. There is nothing else that I can do to pay the debt of sin, nor nothing else that is a precursor to the grace of Christ.
It could have come from multiple sources - oral, talmud as well as scripture.
Citing scripture can mean far more than giving chapter and verse.
Your arguement is from silence on the passage. As I said, there are multiple sources from which the disciples would and could have been familiar with beyond the scriptures.
Is faith something you do, or do you have to depend on God deciding to give it to you?
Yes
But were those scriptures “as far as they were correctly translated” Mormon fashion? ;-)
LOL
Faith is something you do because God has you do it.
You have no say so in it. Is that what you are saying?
That is not what you asked, this is what you asked -
Is faith something you do, or do you have to depend on God deciding to give it to you?
Think about it somemore F.
Lies and class envy. Perhaps you would feel more at home at some other DUmb website.
If the church was anything like your portray, it would neither be growing nor prosperous. Nor would faithful members tent to be successful, prosperous, well-educated people respected in their communities. We have the fruit on the tree, and it makes you mad.
What..are anti-christs? Little devils? Little satan’s?? LOL!! “”
They are people who behave toward Christianity as I described. The apostles labelled such people as anti-christs too. Modern day examples would include Bill Mahr, Christopher Hitchens, and Richard Dawkins.
same same
class envy
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CLASS ENVY !!!!
Joe Smith was less than trailer trash...
Perhaps you would feel more at home at some other DUmb website.
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I’m sure the folks here will be interested to know you think that their website is dumb...
I dont happen to think its dumb... ...
I love Free Republic...
And I wont be run off by threats from any of mormonism’s “hounds for hire...
Danite anti-Christian tactics dont work on me..
***We have the fruit on the tree, and it makes you mad.****
So did the Marcionites, Manachees and Paulicians. Seen any lately?
What..are anti-christs? Little devils? Little satan’s??
They are people who behave toward Christianity as I described
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You left Joe Smith and Brigham Young out of that list ...
No, dont move...
My treat...
That would be Bill Mahr, Christopher Hitchens, and Richard Dawkins, and Joe Smith and Brigham Young...
Are we talking of the Islamic faith??
If the church was anything like your portray, it would neither be growing nor prosperous
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Well, that’s true its not...
Stealing sheep from other churches and padding the membership rolls with millions of dead people is not church growth...
And theivery and cheating members and then misusing “church” funds just to build $2 BILLION malls for an elite few to benefit from is not prosperity...
God is not in that...
Oh???
NIV 1 John 2:18-29
18. Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour.
19. They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.
20. But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.
21. I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth.
22. Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist--he denies the Father and the Son.
23. No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.
24. See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father.
25. And this is what he promised us--even eternal life.
26. I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray.
27. As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit--just as it has taught you, remain in him.
28. And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming.
29. If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him.
NIV 1 John 4:1-3
1. Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
2. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God,
3. but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.
NIV 2 John 1:7
Many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist.
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