So what other major predecessor religion would you say Mormonism is most like, Zoroastrianism?
Remember that LDS claims to be the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and that the historical Christian churches had lost the bubble on what God wanted them to do. Their restatement of Christianity is still clearly based on Christianity vice Taoism. If you look at it from a neutral position you would have to acknowledge that at a macro level their claim of being a Christian sect/having Christian roots has some validity.
>>>>If you look at it from a neutral position you would have to acknowledge that at a macro level their claim of being a Christian sect/having Christian roots has some validity
The similarity that Mormons have with mainstream Christians, stems from the fact that Mormons are mostly descended from Anglo-Saxon Protestants, who revered the King James Bible. Clearly, some of the Protestant culture of their ancestors, remains with them. The fact that many Mormons are Nordic white people with ethnic British names, makes them less strange to Americans than Hindus. Mormons pay a great deal of attention to genealogy, and many Mormons trace their roots in America to colonial times, before the American War of Independence.
The National Review editor, Rich Lowry, recently wrote an amusing column describing the WASPish mannerisms of Mitt Romney. The column was titled, The Last Wasp: http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/289433/romney-last-wasp-rich-lowry
I would not mind voting for a Mormon with a consistent pro-life record. I would even prefer to vote for a pro-life Hindu, rather than a pro-choice Episcopalian.
But if Mormons have the right to say that other Christian denominations are “in error”, then I have the right to say that many aspects of their religion are “strange”. I do not consider Mormons to be bigoted, when they say other Christian denominations are “in error”. Therefore, non-Mormons who feel that some aspects of Mormon theology are “strange”, are not being bigoted.
“If you look at it from a neutral position you would have to acknowledge that at a macro level their claim of being a Christian sect/having Christian roots has some validity. “
Again, meaningless distinction.
If we don’t look at Christianity from a Christian perspective, we are simply making Christianity into something it is not.
Thanks for the interaction. I appreciate that you are a conservative, but we will have to continue to disagree on this.