Posted on 02/13/2012 9:11:14 PM PST by Colofornian
The question is not whether it was persecution - it was! - but whether the persecution was unjust. Christians are being persecuted in Nigeria right now for no other reason than they worship Jesus as the Son of God. This is unjust persecution.
On the other hand, Texas happens to be persecuting the FLDS right now by incarcerating their “prophet” Warren Jeffs and several of his key henchmen. This is a perfectly just persecution given Warren Jeff’s given the immoral and illegal trafficking and prostitution of women and children under the guise of “plural marriage”.
“But, the issue that concerns many of us is how the weirdness of Mormonism will be used against Romney as our candidate. When people find out what Mormon’s believe (not just historically but NOW) it will destroy Romney’ credibility. We can’t take that risk in this crucial election.”
To put things into perspective. There is one area along the Utah/Arizona border considered the most lawless area in the United States. This is the twin towns of Colorado City and Hillsdale. Local law enforcement on both sides of the border are controlled by the FLDS - that is, Mormon fundamentalists who are more loyal to their convicted and incarcerated prophet Warren Jeffs than to the courts or the Constitution. In fact, one teenaged girl attempting to flee polygamy (read statuatory rape) was reportedly returned to the sect by local police and threatened with blood atonement (honor killing) if she attempted another escape. If do a little googling, you will discover that the area is even more lawless and politically corrupt than many of the ghetto areas of New York or Chicago, even under Democrat mayors and state governors.
Having said that, Arizona is now moving to disband the local police and replace it with non polygamists. Utah, on the other hand, keeps dragging its feet on its side of the border.
One would think that in a state that is something like 70 percent Mormon and which is controlled politically by the Republican Party, Utah would want to act quickly to re-establish law and order. Especially when Mormon fundamentalists in the area are on the verge of gaining national media attention through their antics and those of their incarcerated leader Warren Jeffs.
Utah, on the other hand, keeps dragging its feet.
No; it is merely PROSECUTION: enforcement of law.
‘persecution’ implies an action outSIDE of the law.
Marrying a stepdaughter?
Well, I guess Mormons overlook that "little" offense, eh? Anything in the "name" of "love"-lust
ALL theology is weird???
That's a very weird, strange, & peculiar notion to export.
FR used to have a pretty good LDS caucus.
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Are you referring to the anti-Christian articles that the Mormons used to post and then bar Christians from commenting on the heresies mentioned as thought they were tenets ???
Yes...But, hey, Mormons get a special pass, doncha know?
What goes with Mormons being able to get away with this in this day and age?
Having Mormon polygamists in my own family line, I can tell you that contemporary Mormons are extremely ambiguous when it comes to polygamy.
Public relations wise, they find that they MUST find ways to both separate themselves from the fLDS and their own polygamists ancestors.
Yet, the ambiguity enters in 'cause...
(1) They don't want to throw out the polygamy baby with the dirty bathwater...given that not only their very own relatives but many of their "prophets" & "apostles" were also "eternal polygamists..."
(2) They are taught serial monogamists who sequentially marry become eternal polygamists...so how can they judge polygamy overly harshly? I mean, come on...they think polygamy is practiced widely this very second in the Kolob district!
(3) They were told by "apostle" McConkie that the Mormon jesus would usher in polygamy again when he returned...
(4) If the Mormon "prophet" declared polygamy tomorrow, they would be under the commandment to begin practicing it again!
Hence, yet another reason why Mormon law enforcement officials & grassroots Mormons have been so lax on enforcing bigamy laws in Utah.
No.
The Mormon "prophets" were all polygamists until 1945. George Lyman was a Mormon "apostle" thru most of 1943...and he was a polygamist.
The Mormons solemnized about 250 more plural unions 'tween 1890-1910...the last of these unions were intact thru the early 1960s before the last of them died off.
Look, Mormonism is weird, but ALL theology is weird to someone else.
ALL theology is weird???
Of course all theology is weird to someone else. It all depends on which religion you just happen to belong to, or more likely where in the world you happened to be born, which is the most likely indicator of what you happen to believe in.
1. Hindus believe that avatars of Vishnu show up at critical moments in history, except when the check arrives.
2. Snake handling Christians. That’s what happens when you can’t get decent TV reception in Appalachia.
3. Kaporot. Yep, it includes a live chicken. Those wacky Jews.
4. Digambar monks wear no clothes. They say they aren’t nude, but are wearing the environment.
5. Ritual cannibalism anyone? Virgin births? St. Fiacre?
6. Mormons believe in Kolob, which is close to God, which explains the outrageous rental rates there.
Weird or not?
So. God is love.
That's weird?
Designed things indicate a Master Designer. That's weird?
Of course. An equal argument could be made that God is indifferent. Or that God is cruel. Or that God is Easily Amused by Our Terror. Or God has no feelings one way or the other, being the Eternal Clockmaker.
Things are designed? Could be. Of course, things could just be As Things Have Always Been. And there’s always Last Thursdayism, my personal favorite, which is equally possible.
Do you find Last Thursdayism to be weird? You say God is love, which makes you feel good, but couldn’t he just as easily be a Big Liar?
Your mileage may vary.
How about Christians- the idea that God would become you and be killed by humans? Surely, that is a shocking idea.
Okay, so there was some lingering remains of what was going on 100 years ago. Does the LDS support that today?
Yes.
Allow me to use a parallel historical situation.
The United Kingdom -- led by the efforts of evangelical William Wilberforce and the evangelical Clapham sect...finally began to put slavery "to bed" by outlawing it early in the 19th century.
But we all know that the British owned a lot of colonies...and it took a little bit of time for what the Parliament passed to work its way into their extended lands.
So, let's say you were a British citizen circa 1810 & lived in a then-British portion of India, & owned slaves there.
If you were only to look @ British law, you might conclude that the British owned no slaves. But the colonies still had to implement what the Parliament wrought.
I'm sure some of those British slave owners in the colonies simply re-referenced their "slaves" as "servants" and went on with business-as-usual. Otherwise, things didn't change.
Well, how does that compare to modern Mormonism?
Well, Mormonism frowns on polygamy in ModernLand...yet smiles upon it as long as it's properly "colonized" in the Kolob beltway. IOW...
...(1) Mormons believe "marriage is forever"...
...(2) Mormons believe a widower can be "sealed" to a 2nd, 3rd, 4th wife in their temple FOREVER...
...(3) Which means, if Mormon mythology is true, these spouses become eternal polygamists upon death.
Bottom line? When Mormons tell you they condemn polygamy, they actually wink at it when their brothers and sisters gear up for it eternally in their sacred temples!
IOW, Mormons are deceiving you when they claim they outright absolutely condemn polygamy...because they don't...
...they don't condemn it as it's supposedly being practiced right now on the colony of Kolob...
...they don't condemn it as it was practiced historically in 19th and 20th century America...
...and they don't condemn Lds "apostle" McConkie for saying less than 50 years ago that polygamy would be restored on earth when the Mormon jesus returns.
They are ambiguous at best; and hypocritical at worst.
mormonism maintains Doctrines and Covernants Section 132 as scripture to this day. It was this "revelation" that smith based his command to practice polygamy upon. This passage is intact and unaltered by later prophets. Mormon's now choose to interpret it differently from how smith interpreted it - yet it is there and there are some within ldsdom that are ready to resume the practice if it becomes legal again.
In my original post I mentioned the Catholic belief in the miracle of transubstantiation, something that to non Christians must seem bizarre on the face of it. "God eating" is not a universally admired practice, you see. And try explaining the concept of the Trinity to a Buddhist and see how baffled they become. Actually, I'm still baffled myself, and I have been in, out and around Christian churches all my life.
As for other religions? Well, I personally find Islam to be absolutely repugnant in the way it treats women, its intolerance for other faiths, and it's willingness to use any means to advance its interests, but I cannot fault the (misguided) piety, sincerity or commitment of individual Muslims who are only doing what they have been taught and what they honestly in-their-hearts believe God wants them to do.
There's a lot of Hindus in the world, aren't there? I have no idea what their beliefs are, but I'm pretty sure they think Christians, Muslims and Jews are all a bit weird.
Arguments about religion baffle me.
EVERY committed believer in any religion naturally assumes that their religion is THE ONE TRUE FAITH. If they didn't, they'd leave and go join one that was.
In my life I have met a lot of Mormons, and while I have also met some real dickheads (the last JOC at CNFJ before I got out is one I will never forget), I have found them to be (for the most part) hardworking, patriotic, honest to a fault, and extremely generous to those in real need.
Beating up on Romney because of Mormonism is easy, but it's not necessary. There are plenty of things about him to dislike without going that direction.
Well; it's STILL 'scripture!
And there has been NOTHING from GOD to COMMAND them to STOP doing it.
Yup; it's just icing on the cake.
But; since we ARE doing it; we may as well expose the WORLD to the HERESY that is MORMONism while we have a bully pulpit to do it from!
Is Mormonism really heresy? From the classical Christian perspective, I see it as being more of an apostasy. Mormonism is not so much an erroneous form of Christianity as it is a complete renunciation thereof.
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