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Seekers of truth,

If you peruse the Free Republic religion forums you will notice a pattern. There's an anti-Mormon group of people here that spends a great deal of their time attacking the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. They post regurgitated propaganda on an almost daily basis.

They have a misguided obsession. You can witness many different tactics employed that you might find quite interesting. The straw man argument is a big favorite and is frequently preceded by cherry-picking quotes or other material. After the "quotation" the attacker will misrepresent what has been said or what was meant and then attack their own interpretation.Later they will have the audacity to claim they were "only" quoting our own material.

They will of course insist ad nauseum that they are merely using our sources and are therefore innocent of any deceptive practice. LDS persons have no issue whatsoever having our scriptures or leaders quoted as long as it is presented fairly and accurately. This is rarely (if ever) done.

Another favorite is posting scripture or statements which on their own really present no dilemma. They make something out of nothing while never bringing up a single objection that hasn't been addressed a hundred times before.

You might note a couple of other tactics used to try to antagonize is the use of disrespectful or insulting terms or language and/or pictures. That's a Christlike thing to do right? Yeah I don't think so either. It does speak volumes about them though.

Sometimes they cruise the headlines of the day seeking any story that might be twisted into making the Church look bad. Anything will do, just watch the progression of posts following it and see what I mean.

After reading their posts, I invite you to seek the truth about whatever "issue" they seem to be "revealing" or "exposing". I promise that if you do so with honest intent, the "ahah" moments you will have will be many and frequent. You will start to recognize the tactics employed to cleverly twist and attack and will likely chuckle the more you see. In actuality, there's nothing new here. It's all been addressed many times before.

The latest twist in the anti-Mormon propaganda machine is to actually go to the links provided, but then they cherry pick what they want, then quote and straw man attack that. Clever. It almost appears that they are helping you, the seeker of truth out by doing some footwork for you. Not so much. Don't be insulted, look for yourself. It's not the haystack they want you to think.

Here's a few links to get your started from a different viewpoint. I have found that the vast majority of the "issues" brought up can be found and addressed at http://www.fairlds.org/ but here's more:

http://scriptures.lds.org/
http://www.lds.org
http://www.fairlds.org/
http://www.mormonapologetics.org/
http://www.mormonwiki.com/Main_Page
http://www.lightplanet.com/response/index.html
http://www.jefflindsay.com/LDS_Intro.shtml
http://www.answeringantimormons.com/index.htm
http://promormon.blogspot.com/

Now you will likely notice the "you never address our points" posts pop up as usual. All after providing the answers just as you have here.

Sometimes it is claimed that these sites present a needle in a haystack. Far from it. But if you give up before you try you won't know will you?

Will you wear blinders too? Seek truth. Find out for yourself. Want to chat with someone on any topic? A few of these sites provide just that. So do your homework sincere seeker of truth. Listen and read from both "sides". Make up your own mind.

I witness to you of these truths and wish you the best, in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Disingenous, duplicitous and deceitful is how I would characterize the aspersions contained in that post directed at FReepers who question the doctrine of mormonism. Not unexpected.

"You might note a couple of other tactics used to try to antagonize is the use of disrespectful or insulting terms or language and/or pictures."

Uh huh, sure. Anti's and any who question mormonism accused of being accessories to murder and arson? Compared to Gadianton robbers? Compared to pigs? Being Atherosclorotic? Sociopaths? Behaving like swine? Being dishonest? Yammering mocking demons? Spewers of hate? Vermin? Twisted thinkers? Slanderers? Liars?

No antagonizing, no disrespect or insulting going on here is there? And each time a mormon poster is called on their comment, silence. No admission of responsibility. Nothing.

"That's a Christlike thing to do right?"

"Yeah I don't think so either."

"It does speak volumes about them though."

Yes, yes it does.

Btw, thanks for giving me another in a long list of opportunities to post these.

Here are some ex-mormon sites for perusing...

For any "lurkers" or "seekers of truth", by all means, "DO read this stuff" (mormonism) and then sit with your pastor, preacher, etc. and discuss what you have read with them and have them show you the "Truth" or at least explain things in their proper context.

Why do I bring up context? Unlike the vast majority of Christian pastors, many mormons, mormon leaders, bishops, stake presidents, etc., have no formal education in theology or the scriptures, especially the Bible, outside of their BoM. As evidenced numerous times here on FR, when a mormon has been presented with Biblical scripture in proper context, the discussion dies or is deflected. Mormons are taught to rely upon the "burning in the bosom" for affirmation.

A few of us on this board have escaped mormonism. But to say we "misrepresent", "twist" or "lie" in regards to our experiences as mormons without providing evidence or proof, well, I would say that just about says all you need to hear about how ex-mormons are treated by some mormons.

If you have any questions, just ask one of us and we'll do our best to answer your questions.