Replies

You’ll have noticed that a lot of the religious debate here and elsewhere essentially proceeds from an assumption that everybody is more or less Christian in outlook — the purpose of debate is mainly to settle the doctrinal issues.

- - - - - -
Since I deal with the LDS, I do not proceed from that assumption. I proceed from the opposite one, that most people are NOT Christians until I am told (or shown) otherwise.

Perhaps it is my LDS background, and when I was LDS I THOUGHT I was a Christian, I SAID I was a Christian, but I really wasn’t and it wasn’t until I really surrendered to Christ that I saw the difference, that I assume most people ARE NOT Christian or are only nominal Christians.

The ‘doctrines’ I deal with are the basics, the person work and Nature of Christ (including nature of God). Since Mormons reject these basic Christian beliefs (and the Creeds) it is not a matter of minor doctrinal disputes.

Finally, when I was LDS, the Christians who got through to me were the ones that were combative, the ones who made me mad enough to try to ‘prove’ them wrong. What I discovered is they were right and I was wrong. So ‘combative witnessing’ DOES have its place.

That said, I approach the threads here prayerfully and my responses measured and gentle. However, that does not change the view that the LDS have that ANYONE who in ANY WAY disagrees with Mormons is ‘hateful’ mean, arrogant, a bigot, a bible basher, lying, taking things out of context, etc.

Even though I respond gently and in truth, I am falsely accused of being a hateful mean bigot all the time by the LDS who don’t like the MESSAGE, which is that the LDS church is contrary to the Bible.

My SIL has a shirt that says “I don’t have an attitude problem, you have a perception problem” and that is a rather accurate description. I am accused of having an attitude that is not there, because they perceive ANY question or comment about their history/doctrine/practices as being an ‘attack’.