Mormons Being Proselyted [Sister Wives reality TV show depicts 'double standard' 'tude among Lds]

There was an interesting exchange in Season 3 of Sister Wives. (I know that there are at least 6 seasons, but I don’t have cable and have refused to pay for episodes when I have Netflix already. Netflix has recently added season 3, so I am slowly catching up.) In Episode 6 Kody Brown returned to his hometown of Lovell, Wyoming. The episode mentioned that Kody served an LDS mission, and then he converted to the Apostolic United Brethren soon after his return. (Kody is not a member of the FLDS Church of Warren Jeffs. In fact episode 9 showed they had some really harsh words for Warren Jeffs, comparing him to the wicked King Noah of the Book of Mormon.) Because of his conversion, Kody lost many of his high school friends, and he was nervous to return. I thought it was really interesting to hear how threatening his conversion was to his friends. Kody’s best friend Ken described why he was threatened by Kody’s conversion:

Ken (high school best friend), “We can be tolerant of you, you doing your own thing, but if we saw you proselyting and bringing in others of our friends into your faith, that would bring back all of the hard feelings again.”

Kody Brown, “I don’t want them in my faith. If Ken wanted to become a fundamentalist Mormon and become a polygamist, I’d tell him he was stupid. I would. ‘You’re in your faith. You know it and you believe it. Why do you want to come over here?’”

Robin (Kody’s 4th wife), “Can I say something too Ken? Our church does not really condone us going out and preaching.”

Robin, “We don’t. In fact, anybody who comes to us from the LDS, the mainstream LDS is usually searching, and they have to do a lot of really hard work to find us.”

JakiJaki (high school friend), “I’m just going to kind of play the devil’s advocate here. I’m not picking one side versus the other side. I find it interesting that you say that you would be offended if they tried to teach you about their belief system, when you sat here and said ‘while I was on my mission,’ so obviously you think it’s okay for you to go out and tell people about your theological beliefs, but what I’m hearing from you is that you don’t think it’s okay for someone else to go out and talk about their theological beliefs.”

Ken, “Kody can come to me and use information that I grew up with, tweak it a little bit, confuse me, and get me to decide he’s right. That is much more dangerous than two totally different foundational beliefs. So him leaving our religion and then trying to drag more people with him is much more threatening than if a Catholic convinced me to become–or a friend of mine to become Catholic. That’s not as threatening.”

Jeanine, (Kody’s 2nd wife), “It was this double standard that was making me angry, because it’s like I could be a Catholic and come tell you about my belief, but I can’t tell you about my belief, because, what, it’s too close to yours and I’m gonna confuse you? You don’t know your own religion, so I’m gonna confuse you with my interpretation of your religion?”

What do you think of this exchange? Is there a double standard going on here? Does this help you understand why other religions take exception to Mormons proselyting Protestants or Catholics?

From the article:

Mormons are known for proselytizing other faiths, rather than being the subject of being proselyted. I hadn’t considered why Protestants get upset at Mormon missionaries, or even why Mormons get so upset when evangelicals try to proselyte during General Conference weekend. I also hadn’t considered Mormons proselyting or getting upset as being a double standard. There was an interesting exchange in Season 3 of Sister Wives...In Episode 6 Kody Brown returned to his hometown...Kody served an LDS mission, and then he converted to the Apostolic United Brethren soon after his return. (Kody is not a member of the FLDS Church of Warren Jeffs. In fact episode 9 showed they had some really harsh words for Warren Jeffs, comparing him to the wicked King Noah of the Book of Mormon.) Because of his conversion, Kody lost many of his high school friends, and he was nervous to return. I thought it was really interesting to hear how threatening his conversion was to his friends. Kody’s best friend Ken described why he was threatened by Kody’s conversion...

Also in the episode (and cited here):

JakiJaki (high school friend), “...I’m not picking one side versus the other side. I find it interesting that you say that you would be offended if they tried to teach you about their belief system, when you sat here and said ‘while I was on my mission,’ so obviously you think it’s okay for you to go out and tell people about your theological beliefs, but what I’m hearing from you is that you don’t think it’s okay for someone else to go out and talk about their theological beliefs.”

We've seen this Mormon double standard operatin' aplenty here on FR!

In fact, I gave a very specific post on this back in July 2011, which I'll repost to a large degree in my second post for this thread...

I posted this July 17, 2011 on an FR thread...just slightly edited to fit a broader readership:

There's a 5-volume work from the Lds 10th "prophet," Joseph Fielding Smith...called Answers to Gospel Questions ...published by the Lds-church owned Deseret Book Company. I own this series -- and have read all 5 small books.

In that series work, JF Smith twice outlined the key mandates of an Lds missionary. In both volumes 1 and 4, Joseph Fielding Smith cited the same Doctrines & Covenants passage: 88:81-82...this is regarded as "Mormon 'scripture'":
"Behold, I sent you out to testify and
WARN the people, and it becometh every man who hath been
WARNED to WARN his neighbor.
Therefore, they are left without excuse, and their sins are upon their own heads.

Joseph Fielding Smith then, after citing these verses in volumes 1 and 4, mentioned the following:

"This commission to go forth which was given in the beginning is still in force and binding on every missionary who goes forth today to declare the gospel of salvation in the world." (Answers to Gospel Questions, vol. I, p. 134, 1957/1979)

And:

"...there are certain commandments missionaries should remember...they are sent not only to preach and bear testimony and bring people to repentance...but to WARN ALL men..." (Vol. 4, p. 55 1963/1979)

Do you know what I took away from reading Joseph Fielding Smith here? What I took away is that I am glad we live in a country where Lds missionaries are free to warn others as they see fit.

Yet...I wonder...
...has it dawned on Mormons yet, that there was a second sentence to this comment that mutually applies?

Would Mormons actually agree that D&C 88:81-82 + Joseph Fielding Smith's application...
...that the responsibility goes beyond testifying???

Would Mormons "amen" me if I said I'm glad to be a member of my church and worship as I see fit (one of Mormonism's articles of faith)...
...and that this also includes the freedom to engage in an exchange of mutual warning with my neighbors, the Mormons???

Mormons wouldn't begrudge me the same freedom they expect to have their Lds missionaries receive, would they?

Joseph Fielding Smith said the very essence -- the commission and commandments -- of an Lds missionary is to warn all men. Right?

So I ask Mormons point blank:
Why is it when Lds missionaries "warn" Christians, that gets an "amen!" by Mormons...But when the reverse occurs, Mormons are quick to the draw to pull out their victim card and screetch, "Anti-Mormon! Anti-Mormon!"

What? Proselytizing for thee, but no witnessing for me?

When Lds missionaries warn us as Christians, is the usual Christian response to those specific comments, "Oh, you're anti-Christian, eh?"

From source:

I tend to prefer discussions where the religious beliefs of all those participating in a conversation are included, in an atmosphere of mutual respect.
--Hedgehog

Well; it's OFFICIAL that 'mainstream Mormonism' (SLC branch) does NOT 'respect' any offshoots that do NOT toe the line from on high over Temple Square.

Those folks that actually try to FOLLOW the commands found in MORMON scripture get EXCOMMUNICATED!!

That is no foundation for 'mutual respect'!

And, since the following quotes are NEVER repudiated by SLC mishies, there is not much 'respect' to build on here; either!

Questions put to Joseph Smith: "'Do you believe the Bible?' [Smith:]'If we do, we are the only people under heaven that does, for there are none of the religious sects of the day that do'. When asked 'Will everybody be damned, but Mormons'? [Smith replied] 'Yes, and a great portion of them, unless they repent, and work righteousness." (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 119).

Joseph Smith: "for the teachers of religion of the different sects understood the same passages of scripture so differently as to destroy all confidence in settling the question by an appeal to the Bible" (from Pearl of Great Price 1:12). "What is it that inspires professors of Christianity generally with a hope of salvation? It is that smooth, sophisticated influence of the devil, by which he deceives the whole world" (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p.270).

Brigham Young stated this repeatedly: "When the light came to me I saw that all the so-called Christian world was grovelling in darkness" (Journal of Discourses 5:73); "The Christian world, so-called, are heathens as to the knowledge of the salvation of God" (Journal of Discourses 8:171); "With a regard to true theology, a more ignorant people never lived than the present so-called Christian world" (Journal of Discourses 8:199); "And who is there that acknowledges [God's] hand? ...You may wander east, west, north, and south, and you cannot find it in any church or government on the earth, except the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" (Journal of Discourses , vol. 6, p.24); "Should you ask why we differ from other Christians, as they are called, it is simply because they are not Christians as the New Testament defines Christianity" (Journal of Discourses 10:230).

Orson Pratt proclaimed: "Both Catholics and Protestants are nothing less than the 'whore of Babylon' whom the Lord denounces by the mouth of John the Revelator as having corrupted all the earth by their fornications and wickedness. Any person who shall be so corrupt as to receive a holy ordinance of the Gospel from the ministers of any of these apostate churches will be sent down to hell with them, unless they repent" (The Seer, p. 255).

Orson Pratt also said: "This great apostasy commenced about the close of the first century of the Christian era, and it has been waxing worse and worse from then until now" (Journal of Discourses

, vol.18, p.44) and: "But as there has been no Christian Church on the earth for a great many centuries past, until the present century, the people have lost sight of the pattern that God has given according to which the Christian Church should be established, and they have denominated a great variety of people Christian Churches, because they profess to be ...But there has been a long apostasy, during which the nations have been cursed with apostate churches in great abundance" (Journal of Discourses , 18:172).

President John Taylor stated: "Christianity...is a perfect pack of nonsense...the devil could not invent a better engine to spread his work than the Christianity of the nineteenth century." (Journal of Discourses , vol. 6, p.167); "Where shall we look for the true order or authority of God? It cannot be found in any nation of Christendom." (Journal of Discourses , 10:127).

James Talmage said: "A self-suggesting interpretation of history indicates that there has been a great departure from the way of salvation as laid down by the Savior, a universal apostasy from the Church of Christ". (A Study of the Articles of Faith, p.182).

President Joseph Fielding Smith said: "Doctrines were corrupted, authority lost, and a false order of religion took the place of the gospel of Jesus Christ, just as it had been the case in former dispensations, and the people were left in spiritual darkness." (Doctrines of Salvation, p.266). "For hundreds of years the world was wrapped in a veil of spiritual darkness, until there was not one fundamental truth belonging to the place of salvation ...Joseph Smith declared that in the year 1820 the Lord revealed to him that all the 'Christian' churches were in error, teaching for commandments the doctrines of men" (Doctrines of Salvation, vol. 3, p.282).

More recent statements by apostle Bruce McConkie are also very clear: "Apostasy was universal...And this darkness still prevails except among those who have come to a knowledge of the restored gospel" (Doctrines of Salvation, vol 3, p.265); "Thus the signs of the times include the prevailing apostate darkness in the sects of Christendom and in the religious world in general" (The Millennial Messiah, p.403); "a perverted Christianity holds sway among the so-called Christians of apostate Christendom" (Mormon Doctrine, p.132); "virtually all the millions of apostate Christendom have abased themselves before the mythical throne of a mythical Christ whom they vainly suppose to be a spirit essence who is incorporeal uncreated, immaterial and three-in-one with the Father and Holy Spirit" (Mormon Doctrine, p.269); "Gnosticism is one of the great pagan philosophies which antedated Christ and the Christian Era and which was later commingled with pure Christianity to form the apostate religion that has prevailed in the world since the early days of that era." (Mormon Doctrine, p.316).

President George Q. Cannon said: "After the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized, there were only two churches upon the earth. They were known respectively as the Church of the Lamb of God and Babylon. The various organizations which are called churches throughout Christendom, though differing in their creeds and organizations, have one common origin. They all belong to Babylon" (Gospel Truth, p.324).

President Wilford Woodruff stated: "the Gospel of modern Christendom shuts up the Lord, and stops all communication with Him. I want nothing to do with such a Gospel, I would rather prefer the Gospel of the dark ages, so called" (Journal of Discourses , vol. 2, p.196).

“I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion,
and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book.”

-- Joseph Smith, Jr. -- History of the Church, 4:461

http://www.lds.org/ensign/1984/06/the-most-correct-book

(However, your mileage just might vary a bit with the Doctrines and Covenants)

Portions removed from the LDS edition

In 1876, Section 101 from the 1835 Edition (and subsequent printings) was removed. Section 101 was a Statement on Marriage as adopted by a conference of the church,^[9]^[10] and contained the following text:

Inasmuch as this Church of Christ has been reproached with the crime of fornication and polygamy, we declare that we believe that one man should have one wife, and one woman but one husband, except in the case of death, when either is at liberty to marry again.^[11]

It was superseded by section 132 of the modern LDS edition, recorded in 1843, which contains a revelation received by Joseph Smith on eternal marriage and teaches the doctrine of plural marriage, the principles of which can be dated to as early as 1831.

In 1921, the LDS Church removed the "Lectures on Faith" portion of the book, with an explanation that the Lectures "were never presented to nor accepted by the Church as being otherwise than theological lectures or lessons".^[12] The Lectures contain theology concerning the Godhead and emphasize the importance of faith and works.

Until 1981, editions of the book used code names for certain people and places in those sections that dealt with the United Order. The 1981 LDS edition replaced these with the real names, relegating the code names to footnotes. The Community of Christ edition still uses the code names.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctrine_and_Covenants

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So I ask Mormons point blank: Why is it when Lds missionaries "warn" Christians, that gets an "amen!" by Mormons...But when the reverse occurs, Mormons are quick to the draw to pull out their victim card and screetch, "Anti-Mormon! Anti-Mormon!"

What? Proselytizing for thee, but no witnessing for me?

When Lds missionaries warn us as Christians, is the usual Christian response to those specific comments, "Oh, you're anti-Christian, eh?"

(However, your mileage just might vary a bit with the Doctrines and Covenants)

Portions removed from the LDS edition

So I ask Mormons point blank:
Why is it when Lds missionaries "warn" Christians, that gets an "amen!" by Mormons...But when the reverse occurs, Mormons are quick to the draw to pull out their victim card and screetch, "Anti-Mormon! Anti-Mormon!"