Posted on 11/28/2012 6:00:38 PM PST by Colofornian
http://www.lds.org/church/news/mormonor ... c?lang=eng
How about being straight up and saying that Mormons put on costumes and chant rituals in secret buildings that only 10% of gross earnings paid as "tithes" allow entrance?
Mormonism wants people to think they are normal that they are just Christians like everyone else. Each year they get rid of more and more of their embarrassing doctrines - or doctrines that aren't politically correct anymore. Apologist attack dogs fight any critics on technicalities.
Mormonism has one thing that works for them - and that is the funneling of cash from members to the Cult coffers. This is done through mandatory tithe. And in order to make this tithe work - and make the member believe in the Cult enough to pay - they have to have the secret temple ceremonies. You have to put a ton of make believe in there.
Stephen R. Donaldson is one of my favorite authors. In one of his series of books he explained how a great and noble group of leaders were slowly corrupted through the centuries by simple infiltration of ideas. The ideas changed the group slowly until they went from helping people to human sacrifices. The new leaders of the group knew what was going on - but they surrounded themselves with those who only had faith - not knowledge. Those who had faith were much stronger because they were driven by the new cult. Those who held faith were much easier to control.
Pondering the story Donaldson had written I saw the same manifested in the Cult of Mormonism. If you have members who are so convinced you are the one and only true Cult, they will not hesitate to open their pocketbooks and hand over everything. Mormonism needs this kind of special, secret, garment wearing, new name, pay lay ale - in order to keep the tithes flowing. If the cat is out of the bag, the tithing will stop.
So the reality is there is a certain point where Mormonism must stop moving towards Christianity - it has to because money is ultimately the top priority of the Cult. Money - Power - Control.
Look at all the recovery boards right now - even the NOM boards. What is the #1 topic right now because of upcoming December? Tithing. Tithing. Tithing. Oh and don't forget tithing. Sign up for tithing settlement. And don't forget to sign up for tithing settlement.
All of our messaging is focused on helping people understand that Mormons are Christian,
Naw, Mormonism isn't a Christian church. It's a secretive Cult with very cultish practices and it has to stay that way - or go broke.
Joseph Smith is the heart: It is because the Lord called Joseph Smith that salvation is again available to mortal men. If it had not been for Joseph Smith and the restoration, there would be no salvation, ( Mormon Doctrine, p. 396, 670)
Anti-Christian: What is it that inspires professors of Christianity generally with a hope of salvation? It is that smooth, sophisticated influence of the devil, by which he deceives the whole world
- Prophet Joseph Smith, Jr., Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 270
Anti-Christian: Both Catholics and Protestants are nothing less than the whore of Babylon whom the Lord denounces by the mouth of John the Revelator as having corrupted all the earth by their fornications and wickedness. Any person who shall be so corrupt as to receive a holy ordinance of the Gospel from the ministers of any of these apostate churches will be sent down to hell with them, unless they repent.
- Apostle Orson Pratt, The Seer, p. 255
So when you state that the lds jesus is the heart of mormonISM, whom are you speaking of?
These are your charges, you should own them.
They were that after about the third posting.
Now, simpy another reason to skip over stuff, and go elsewhere for interesting news and activism.
Please see #117 and re-read what I just said.
You are a seer, why didn't I pick up on that before?
As long as they don't dive-bomb unrelated threads, confining it to the threads where the Mormon church is the header topic, I've learned to just relax and watch the entertainment as they get wound up.
In the end of days even the “smartest” and most “spiritual” of us will become fools.
I honestly have a lot of trouble with Mormonism, not so much with the theology as with the authoritarian power structure and the minimal archeological evidence for the BoM.
Having said that, I also think it's incumbent on me to make those challenges in a civilized way without being a screeching, repetitive asshat.
You are quite welcome on FR as far as I am concerned.
So you hate hate?
Hey, you - forgot to pings us reprobates.
So you want us all in a ghetto?
Oops, sorry about that. Wocka-wocka-wocka!!!
No stronger retrograde force exists in the world. Far from being moribund, Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytizing faith. It has already spread throughout Central Africa, raising fearless warriors at every step; and were it not that Christianity is sheltered in the strong arms of science, the science against which it had vainly struggled, the civilization of modern Europe might fall, as fell the civilization of ancient Rome.
Islamic Translation Series-Brigham Young University
The Islamic Translation Series is designed not only to further scholarship in the study of Islamic philosophy, theology, and mysticism, but, by encouraging the translation of Islamic texts into the technical language of contemporary Western scholarship, to assist in the integration of Islamic studies into Western academia and to promote global perspectives in the disciplines to which it is devoted. Islamic civilization represents nearly fourteen centuries of intense intellectual activity, and believers in Islam number in the hundreds of millions. The texts that will appear in ITS are among the treasures of this great culture. But they are more than that. They are properly the inheritance of all the peoples of the world. Brigham Young University and its Institute for the Study and Preservation of Ancient Religious Texts are pleased to sponsor the Islamic Translation Series. In doing so, we hope to serve our fellow human beings, of all creeds and cultures.
The texts that appear in this series are among the cultural treasures of the world, representing as they do the medieval efflorescence of Arabic-Islamic civilization-a civilization in which works of impressive intellectual stature were composed not only by Muslims but also by Christians, Jews, and others in a quest for knowledge that transcended religious and ethnic boundaries. Together they not only preserved the best of Greek thought but enhanced it, added to it, and built upon it a corpus of scientific and philosophical understanding that is properly the inheritance of all the peoples of the world.
****************************************************
Viewing Muhammad from the understanding of the restored gospel provides greater knowledge of Heavenly Fathers love for His children in all nations.
MORMON OUTREACH TO ISLAM
1 - A LDS perspective on Muhammed (LDS.org)
http://www.lds.org/ensign/2000/08/a-latter-day-saint-perspective-on-muhammad?lang=eng
2 - U.S. Muslims share friendship, similar values with Mormons (LA Times, published in 2008)
http://articles.latimes.com/2008/apr/02/local/me-morlims2
3 - Mormonism and Islam: Commonality and Cooperation Between Abrahamic Faiths (March 10 & 11, 2011 - Utah Valley University)
http://www.uvu.edu/religiousstudies/mormonismandislam/
4 - Ask a Mormon: What do Mormons think of Muslims (March 2010 - MormonWoman.org)
http://mormonwoman.org/2010/03/15/ask-a-mormon-woman-what-do-mormons-think-about-islam/
5 - Mormons and Muslims break fast together (Ramadan 2010 - Deseret News)
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705386347/Mormons-Muslims-break-the-fast-in-Southern-California.html
6 - Islamic Translation Service (Brigham Young University)
http://meti.byu.edu/islamic.php
7 - Muslims attending BYU focus on similarities between Islam, LDS tenets (Deseret News - Dec 2009)
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705353014/Muslims-attending-BYU-focus-on-similarities-between-Islam-LDS-tenets.html
DelphiUser:
I for one HAVE been helped by these threads. Just like anything on the internet, one has to be careful and double- or triple-check sources.
But if I hadn’t found such threads, I wouldn’t have been able to point out to someone I love and care about that the Mormon “Jesus” buried entire cities of people alive. This sounded pretty incredible to me until I actually looked into the matter independently. That person trusted my judgement, listened to me and others, and started on their own path, which resulted in them leaving the Mormon church (thus being immediately shunned by it, but that’s a different discussion).
If you don’t think that Mormon doctrine should be challenged, fine. We disagree. If you would like to discuss Mormon doctrine, please correct me where I am wrong.
This is a religious thread. I am going to respond to you by comparing Biblical scripture with that of the Book of Mormon, and show how they are inconsistent. If you think this is inappropriate for a religious thread, let me know.
Check out 3 Nephi, Chapters 8 and 9 of the Book of Mormon for yourself, and compare it to, say, Luke 9:51-56 NKJV.
In 3 Nephi, Chapters 8 and 9 of the Book of Mormon. the Mormon “Jesus” HIMSELF destroys entire cities. Look it up if you don’t believe me. I didn’t believe it myself at first.
In 9:51-56 NKJV, after being rebuked by a Samaritan city, here is what MY Jesus did:
54 And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?”
55 But He turned and rebuked them, and said, “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. 56 For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.” And they went to another village. Luke 9:51-56 NKJV
I find the Book of Mormon characterization of Jesus to be heresy, quite frankly. I have no problem calling it out for what it is, although I invite counterargument and discussion. That’s why I am posting this on a RELIGIOUS thread.
Again, your opinion may vary. If you think my comments above are hateful, oh well!
thanks
FL
Let me get back to ya in a bit. My popcorn isn’t finished popping.
Notice the lopsidedness of Cricket's "approach"...no call for the 55,000 Lds missionaries to "get over" the non-Mormon "next door" that they're forever ringing the doorbell of...
If we did it Cricket's way, ALL of the Christian missionaries around the world would just come home.
And you have some Magic 8-ball...some hidden urim & thummim or something that enables you to judge inward motives?
Tell you what...the liberals would love your services...tell them you can be a professional "judge" of all crimes to determine if they were "hate crimes" or not!
Not that we aren’t already fools in many ways (just goes with being human) , but there must be some who remain circumspect in their ways all the way to the end (by grace of course), else who are those believers still alive at the return of Jesus, as Paul discloses to us? Or who are the five wise virgins in the parable of the well lit lamps? Some wisdom will be preserved by God, by grace, right up till the sign of the Son of Man appears in the sky. Good thing, too. Gives us something to shoot for.
Now, if you answer that you would warn that loved one, ask yourself, are Christians not commanded to love EVERYONE? Therefore, should we not also warn all of those loved ones away from these damnable cults? Or should we be polite about it so nobody accuses us of bigotry?
“I will merely comment that it is a bit strange to have swarms of people attacking a religion, but the attackers are not themselves fair game.”
Is that the kind of discourse you want to promote on Free Republic?
On your point, I will merely comment that it is a bit strange when the only response to disagreement with Mormonism is a personal attack. IMHO it is quite rare that the Mormon apologists on these threads actually respond on doctrinal grounds. That darn internet.
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