What?
Do you think we do this time-consuming task for the FUN of it?
The mere fact that we are HERE shows that we 'care'.
I feel what you want is us to be NICE to you.
Sorry, but REBUKING is SUPPOSED to hurt your preconceived ideas and get your attention!
You 'care' about what, exactly? Getting in every Mormon's face on FR, polluting every thread that even hints at mentioning the LDS Church with your hateful, mocking, derisive, and harassing posts? I'm sorry, but FReepers are here for, and I quote, "working to roll back decades of governmental largesse, to root out political fraud and corruption, and to champion causes which further conservatism in America." You, by your own admission and behavior, have a completely different agenda and goal. You will notice that this thread is not in the Religion forum, but in the News/Activism forum yet you've dumped a bunch of anti-Mormon religious argument in it.
I've been here on FR and a supporter for over 10 years. We used to all work together for our common cause. Then Mitt Romney entered the race and the anti-Mormons, like you, took advantage of that to dump a bunch of divisive anti-Mormon stuff all over FR. Most of it was tolerated because you all were hiding behind some weak excuse of it being relevant to the current presidential campaign. The Romney campaign is over yet the anti-Mormon stuff continues unabated. I stopped supporting Free Republic financially for this reason and have scaled back my participation. Why? Because why would I financially support and form strong association with a group where I now experience constant attacks on my deeply held religious beliefs and where behavior is allowed that divides the forum participants and detracts and distracts from the forum's stated goals?
Think about it. If you were a member of the local Republican Party and you worked for years supporting candidates, working the polls, etc. and then one day a bunch of people came into the party meetings and events and started loudly and hatefully attacking your faith - and the local party leaders allowed that behavior to continue - how would your feelings about and association with the local party change?
I've been able to work for 2 decades as a conservative Republican with people of many religious faiths. In order to forward our common conservative goals, we focused on our common ground and did not attack each others' religions. We got a lot of good work done that way. How would that have worked out if there were constant religious battles going on between us, dividing us?
Maybe you should find an online religious forum whose stated goals are to discuss various religious beliefs instead of working, intentionally or unintentionally, to push LDS FReepers (some of the strongest conservatives you'll ever meet) out of Free Republic. Or, at the very least, keep your divisive and hateful anti-Mormon bash fests to the Religion forum here so the LDS FReepers don't have to have it constantly thrown in our faces.
Oh, and this goes for all the anti-Catholic attacks that I see on Free Republic all the time now. I'm sure that Catholics here pretty much feel the same way about this. This kind of stuff has to stop. We just went through a second major election in which Republicans and conservatives, for the most part, lost. Free Republic has been largely ineffective since 2004. Is it the fault of all the religious division here? No, not completely. But I can't help to see that it is a contributing factor. FR's hits are down, site rankings down, etc. We just aren't what we used to be or what we could be. It is things like the constant attacks on fellow FReepers religions and such that serves to disunite us and drag the forum down into ineffectiveness and irrelevance. It is one thing to go after a religious organization because it is championing liberal candidates and causes. It is entirely another to constantly use a conservative forum to attack a religious organization and its members who are one of the strongest forces for conservative causes right now. I hope you understand the negative effect this has - and if you don't, I hope that management here does and makes some much needed changes.
Elsie, good point.
Jesus was toughest upon the religious legalists of his day, the Pharisees -- those who turned faith & faithful living into a series of ritual points of obedience checklisted to be observed outwardly. (Jesus also didn't appreciate the misrepresentation they were to the world, saying at one point that they would travel the world to make a convert twice the son of hell)
The "new checklist" is the temple recommend (tithing, temple endowments, word of wisdom obedience, temple work, temple sealings, etc.) And it doesn't stop there.
Single? (The Mormon god regards you as second or third tier...and for a while in the 19th century, single-wife LDS leaders were frowned upon)
Not a Mormon church member? Then you haven't performed the work of confirmation, nor the ensuing work of ordination (Melchizedek/Aaronic priesthoods)
And, despite Reno's claim @#416 in this thread, it doesn't stop there. [Reno claimed: "Your statement that “all we can do” is 100% obedience to the law, unfortunately shows your complete ignorance of our beliefs & doctrine on the matter. There is only One that has ever been perfect or ever will be during our mortal sojourn here on earth. “all that we can” in these tabernacles of clay is far short of 100%.]
Well, Reno, you keep pouring forth the putdowns...the latest being Now I understand why the whole faith vs. works issue raised in post 551 was so difficult for you. I take it reading comprehension isn't your strong suit.
Based upon the following quotes of an LDS "prophet," I take it, Reno, that church history isn't your strong suit. I leave it up to others to determine who is right. It's not Reno vs. me as he claims -- it's actually in this case Reno vs. Joseph Fielding Smith:
Therefore the words of James are true. Unless a man can abide strictly in complete accord, he cannot ENTER there, and in the words of James, he is guilty of all. In other words if there is ONE DIVINE LAW THAT HE DOES NOT KEEP HE IS BARRED FROM PARTICIPATING IN THE KINGDOM... (Answers to Gospel Questions, vol. 3, p. 26)
And: So in the celestial kingdom, we must be worthy IN EVERY POINT, or we fail to receive the blessing. The kingdom of God must exist in absolute unity. EVERY LAW MUST BE OBEYED, and no member of the Church can have a place there unless he is in FULL accord. (Answers to Gospel Questions, vol. 3, p. 27)
So, whose word do we take as a spokesperson for Mormonism? Its 10th "prophet" or a FREEPER whose not likely to be an LDS general authority?
Reno There is only One that has ever been perfect or ever will be during our mortal sojourn here on earth. “all that we can” in these tabernacles of clay is far short of 100%....
...Or Joseph Fielding Smith: Unless a man can abide strictly in complete accord, he cannot ENTER there...one divine law that he does not keep, he is barred from participating in the kingdom...Every law must be obeyed...