I have no idea what the Mormon church teaches BUT I did live in Idaho and knew many Mormons. They were all good people, very community oriented, helped non Mormons as often as Mormons, were great friends, parents, and neighbors.

Hey, if you were auditioning to become a god, you'd be on your best behavior, too!

I never saw any freaky rituals or cult like activities.

'Twas a certain earlier FR thread on whether Mormonism constituted a cult...and some criteria outlined in that article was compared to Mormonism...

Here...You can compare all these criteria below (+ ensuing posts): CRITERIA #1&2a

The first is behavior control...monitoring of where you go and what you do. The second is INFORMATION CONTROL, such as DISCOURAGING MEMBERS FROM READING CRITICISM OF THE GROUPS.

(Q&A)

QHow does the Mormon church engage monitoring tentacles & info control?

A Well, lookie here. The "lead" of the answer in a nutshell is one key temple recommend question.

Extended explanation:

Mormondom makes a HUGE deal of having access to the Mormon temple. Mormons carry a temple recommend in their wallets, and deem it a sacred document. It gives them access to the temple; without it, there's a huge debate if they could even make it into the highest degree of glory. See 25 posts from this very week where Lds debate the following question:
Source: Ldsfreedomforum.com: 'Is Current Temple Rec. Prerequisite to Get Celestial Glory?

Q Which temple recommend question allows Mormon leaders to "monitor" Mormons and engage in information control" that discourages "members from reading criticism of the group?"

A Temple recommend question #7:

Do you support, affiliate with, or agree with any group or individual whose teachings or practices are contrary to or oppose those accepted by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?

(Ya know, Mormons "affiliate" with FReepers -- and are FReepers themselves! Some Mormons "support" FR. Some "agree" with the worldviews of this site) Temple recommend Qs

From 1991-1995, this was Temple recommend question #6: Do you affiliate with any group or individual whose teachings or practices are contrary to or oppose those accepted by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or do you sympathize with the precepts of any such group or individual?

Source Interview Questions for Recommends to Enter a Temple

Ah. So the Mormon church for five years was even trying to root out all "sympathizers" of people who don't agree with the Mormon church!!! **********