There. Proof that the "prosperity gospel" didn't start with a few TV preachers! It goes back at least 180 years to Joseph Smith and his Book of Mormon!
From the article: I have known many people who had difficulty making ends meet. To me, these people seemed to be righteous and pious people who had deep and abiding faith in God. And yet these people were slighted, marginalized, and given menial callings at [the Lds] church.
Hmm...I wonder how many "poor" general authorities there are in the Lds church were picked as paycheck-worthy general authorities?
From the article: Do we really believe that just because one is rich one is blessed by God? According to a study published in 2004 which researched the Mormon Wealth Attribution (MWA), we do. The MWA can be defined as the tendency of LDS individuals to perceive those who are wealthy as more righteous or pious than their less wealthy neighbors. The randomized empirical study reported that Church members are more likely to attribute righteousness to a wealthy church member than to a poor one and that (in general) wealthy members of the church are seen as being better people, both secularly and spiritually than poor people.
Well. How would movies like A Christmas Carol and the Utah-based movie, The Ghosts of Dickens Past go over in Mormonland based upon the MWA?
What about George Bailey vs Mr Potter in “It’s A Wonderful Life.”?
Consider that many wealthy are agnostic, atheist or ambivalent to all things religious, the blessings of G-d ... no. G-D may bless with wealth, poverty or something in between. All conditions are G-d's will.
Stoopid premise and a warped view of “worthiness” which doesn’t exist:
There is none worthy, no not one.
And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
George Soros is a mormon ???
Who nu ???
The survey needs be taken that would corelate ALL types of individuals - unchurched, churched, how LONG they've been a believer in that church, etc.
It would be almost a 3D matrix of data to be mined.
At least; but it is found in the BIBLE as well: Jesus pointing out the widow and her two mites, Job's 'friends' lamenting how he MUST be unrighteous for all these bad things to have happened to him...
If you peruse the Free Republic religion forums you will notice a pattern. There's an anti-Mormon group of people here that spends a great deal of their time attacking the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. They post regurgitated propaganda on an almost daily basis.
They have a misguided obsession. You can witness many different tactics employed that you might find quite interesting. The straw man argument is a big favorite and is frequently preceded by cherry-picking quotes or other material. After the "quotation" the attacker will misrepresent what has been said or what was meant and then attack their own interpretation.Later they will have the audacity to claim they were "only" quoting our own material.
They will of course insist ad nauseum that they are merely using our sources and are therefore innocent of any deceptive practice. LDS persons have no issue whatsoever having our scriptures or leaders quoted as long as it is presented fairly and accurately. This is rarely (if ever) done.
Another favorite is posting scripture or statements which on their own really present no dilemma. They make something out of nothing while never bringing up a single objection that hasn't been addressed a hundred times before.
You might note a couple of other tactics used to try to antagonize is the use of disrespectful or insulting terms or language and/or pictures. That's a Christlike thing to do right? Yeah I don't think so either. It does speak volumes about them though.
Sometimes they cruise the headlines of the day seeking any story that might be twisted into making the Church look bad. Anything will do, just watch the progression of posts following it and see what I mean.
After reading their posts, I invite you to seek the truth about whatever "issue" they seem to be "revealing" or "exposing". I promise that if you do so with honest intent, the "ahah" moments you will have will be many and frequent. You will start to recognize the tactics employed to cleverly twist and attack and will likely chuckle the more you see. In actuality, there's nothing new here. It's all been addressed many times before.
The latest twist in the anti-Mormon propaganda machine is to actually go to the links provided, but then they cherry pick what they want, then quote and straw man attack that. Clever. It almost appears that they are helping you, the seeker of truth out by doing some footwork for you. Not so much. Don't be insulted, look for yourself. It's not the haystack they want you to think.
Here's a few links to get your started from a different viewpoint. I have found that the vast majority of the "issues" brought up can be found and addressed at http://www.fairlds.org/ but here's more:
http://scriptures.lds.org/
http://www.lds.org
http://www.fairlds.org/
http://www.mormonapologetics.org/
http://www.mormonwiki.com/Main_Page
http://www.lightplanet.com/response/index.html
http://www.jefflindsay.com/LDS_Intro.shtml
http://www.answeringantimormons.com/index.htm
http://promormon.blogspot.com/
Now you will likely notice the "you never address our points" posts pop up as usual. All after providing the answers just as you have here.
Sometimes it is claimed that these sites present a needle in a haystack. Far from it. But if you give up before you try you won't know will you?
Will you wear blinders too? Seek truth. Find out for yourself. Want to chat with someone on any topic? A few of these sites provide just that. So do your homework sincere seeker of truth. Listen and read from both "sides". Make up your own mind.
I witness to you of these truths and wish you the best, in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
lds must have been the original “name it and claim it” group.
Stuff does not make one wealthy.
From the article: I have known many people who had difficulty making ends meet. To me, these people seemed to be righteous and pious people who had deep and abiding faith in God. And yet these people were slighted, marginalized, and given menial callings at [the Lds] church.
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It's time for tithing settlement in the mormon church. Once a year mormons are called in to report to their bishop whether they have "paid an honest tithe".
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