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Posted on 05/08/2008 5:04:47 PM PDT by Grig
I am posting this on behalf of many LDS freepers. They will post their own 'signature' to this in the comments below. --- Some of you have noticed lately a lot of LDS (ie: Mormon) threads here on FR. I'm going to tell you why.
For many years there have been several active LDS freepers here. We post to all the forums on relevant issues, and were happy to have a site where conservative values were so openly welcomed.
Those conservative values include faith in God, and freedom of religion. We fully respect the rights of all posters to express their opinions and views on religious matters, even when people choose to use those rights to express criticism of our own faith. We also support the ideas embodied in FR rules against religion bashing. There is no need for hostility and there should be no room for bigotry on FR. Every religion has it's miracles and mysteries. Every faith has things in it that are not or can not be proven, and things that run contrary to what secular science would have us believe. Someone mature and confident in their own faith generally doesn't feel the need to belittle the faith of others.
We have, to the best of our ability, conducted ourselves with civility and dignity. We do not feel that that respect has been returned by some posters (putting it mildly).
When Mormon missionaries were murdered, the moderators were kept busy pulling jubilant posts off the thread. When Elizabeth Smart was abducted from her home, we contended for months with posters who appeared to be motivated by religious bigotry doing all they could to smear the family and accuse the father. Several posters openly admitted their religious motivation in opposing Mitt Romney and confessed that no matter how conservative any Mormon was, they would never vote for one for President of the USA. When the Pope died, I don't think any Mormon poster posted anything unkind, yet the thread about the passing of our President recently needed many comments removed.
Nearly every thread having any connection with Mormons, or Utah winds up being hijacked by anti-Mormon activists who copy and paste the same false accusations over and over even when it has been clearly and factually pointed out to them on multiple occasions that they are bearing false witness against our faith. Everything possible is done by these activists to make FR a hostile place for Mormons, and for at least some of them, bashing Mormonism is all they do here. Their most recent project is trying to blur the fact that the polygamous FLDS is a separate and distinct religion from ours, just as Lutherans are a separate and distinct religion from Catholicism.
In our opinion, such poster do a great disservice to FR and to their fellow freepers by spreading disinformation and promoting hostility towards a people known for walking the walk of conservative values.
Why the moderators here don't see the behavior of these anti-Mormon activists as religion bashing is a mystery to us, but it is the moderators call to make and we respect their right to do so. That doesn't mean we have to be passive however. We have all spent many hours refuting the accusations leveled at our faith, but these wind up buried deep in a flood of comments, effectively shouting us down.
Recently some of us have decided to take a more proactive approach. Rather than try to wrestle the pig into taking a bath, we are just going to hose it down. We will actively define our faith here rather than just respond to accusations.
So expect to see lots of Mormon threads, now and for as long as we see fit to keep posting them (although probably not as many as there are Catholic threads). They will be about our basic doctrines and responses to common accusations. If you want to know what our faith is about, read the articles we post. We will post them as open threads and I encourage you to compare the difference in tone and spirit between what we post and what our critics say.
Yeah - we've noticed.
I wouldn’t blame them for hate, but yes, they do document Mormonism...and the LDS church hates that.
I agree and do, otherwise I wouldn't spend the time pointing out their errors.
a great man once said “Forgive them for they know not what they do.”
You don't have to water down the statement - Jesus said those words to those who had Him crucified. They can only find forgiveness in Him. Does that mean you just let them drive themselves off the cliff into hell? You need to be a little clearer in your presentation.
Praise be to Jesus Christ, now and forever!
That is great news!
I think that some people will be really surprised who they find in heaven. For some, it won’t be a pleasant surprise.
I knew you would recognize that.
Mormonism as a religion? Right.
But Mormonism has a social aspect, and there are great business advantages of being "in the club."
Plus, there are many other positives to Mormonism, even if it's based on false prophecy and suppression of free thought.
I agree!
Oh contrare ... it will all be pleasant in Heaven. Rejoicing at whom we see there will be the operant function as we worship The Lord our God in Spirit and Truth.
Indeed!
I'm sure that The LDS Organization® headquarters; based in Salt Lake City; probably has a little bit more money than JimRob has, and would be able to a really nice website; all it's own to proselyze with.
Of course, it would not be able to inject it's views into all things conservative that way.
“restorted”?
It’s nice to have faith, but, and not to be bashing, but the Mormon church, as with most every human construct, is both flawed and error-prone. And like most, it has tried to make amends and move forward.
I would imagine the Church will find more things to change in the future. My personal belief would preclude the notion that God had to change his mind, so it seems more rational to believe that when a church fundamentally changes a position, it isn’t a new revelation from God, but rather an acknowledgement that humans are a frail, imperfect vessel to express the will of God.
And acknowledging that and the obvious changes in the LDS “culture” over the years, it would be I think illogical to presume that the last change was in fact the last change that will ever be made, or that the last error was in fact the last error to be found. Error being my opinion, and not one you must agree with.
I am not Catholic but I have relatives who are. I know our faiths are different and that is fine with me. I think a lot of things in the Catholic church are beautiful. I am sure if I was born into that faith I would be a Catholic today. Whatever issues or disagreements I have with most other faiths are petty and not worth arguing about.
But when I see people defending polygamy as somehow an ordinance from God, well count me out. I have nothing in common with people like that. It is against everything I was ever taught about marriage and family.
The reason that Mormons are not mainstream to this day is for that reason. Polygamy.
They don't understand how disgusting Protestants think it is and when they go and defend it as somehow from God, well they won't ever win that argument.
Sorry, I can not respect a religion who thinks that polygamy was ever ordered by God.I respect their right to worship as they choose. I do not have to respect their theology.
Some faiths have stuff that CAN be proven, and the mere mention of them upsets the HECK out of the present day leaders of it.
Muslims revere Jesus too. Can I get a big Halleluja?
Oh you mean like this hateful post on the thread about your Prophet Gordon B. Hinckley?
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1960571/posts?page=40#40
I have been accused of being a hater of Mormonism. In fact I am probably one of the most vocal in opposition. I am not a hater. But I stand accused.
Hmmm, then maybe some of the self righteous won’t make it at all.
That’s exactly how I feel about them. Is there a religion forum? Maybe there should be?
Very true, but the LDS church has gotten very polished at being misleading in how they present their religion. Using the old "milk not meat" (I Cor 3:2) excuse for hiding beliefs from recruits, and changing definitions of terminology (e.g., "eternal life" to a Mormon isn't the same as what Christians mean by it--it doesn't mean salvation), they can easily camouflage the distortions.
The TAR brush used here sounds suspiciously similar to the one used on the Flds.
The reason that Mormons are not mainstream to this day is for that reason. Polygamy.
LOL! :-)
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