Replies

i don’t see you telling people to be silent about the facts on any other religion...just this one

and frankly, i have no idea if you’re really a mormon or not...the first thing a mormon on fr does is say he’s not mormon

if there’s an advantage in a mormon lying about his faith, he is COMMANDED by lds doctrine, to lie...

when i was in the church, they explained that if someone questioned you on a matter that put the church in a bad light, you were instructed to lie, because if the church was negatively represented, it could prevent prospective converts from becoming lds, and it was a lesser sin to lie than to let a convert be lost to the church...

i corroborate...”Lying for the Lord”, source: MormonWiki

Lying for the Lord refers to the practice of lying to protect the image of and belief in the Mormon religion, a practice which Mormonism itself fosters in various ways. From Joseph Smith’s denial of having more than one wife, to polygamous Mormon missionaries telling European investigators that reports about polygamy in Utah were lies put out by “anti-Mormons” and disgruntled ex-members, to Gordon B. Hinckley’s dishonest equivocation on national television over Mormon doctrine, Mormonism’s history seems replete with examples of lying. Common members see such examples as situations where lying is justified. For the Mormon, loyalty and the welfare of the church are more important than the principle of honesty, and plausible denials and deception by omission are warranted by an opportunity to have the Mormon organization seen in the best possible light. This is part of the larger package of things that lead many to describe Mormonism as a cult. “Lying for the lord” is part of Mormonism’s larger deceptive mainstreaming tactics, and conversion numbers would drastically lower if important Mormon beliefs were fully disclosed to investigators.

(source: mormonwiki.org)

For what it’s worth, I have attended a United Methodist Church for the last 18 years or so, where I teach Sunday School (my adult class), serve on the stewardship committee and help lead our early Sunday morning service. (But I guess that could be part of my secret Mormon disguise.)

I’ll try to defend any person’s right to his own faith. And I have no problem with people describing anyone else’s religion, and drawing attention to any facts about it. I just have problems with calling people’s faith “wrong” as a factual matter when it is a matter of faith.

I leave open the question as to whether an adherent to any religion ACTUALLY believes what he says, but that, too, is not for me to question.

Even though I disagree with the tone of some of what has been said on this thread, I absolutely support the posters’ right to say it.