Posted on 11/11/2014 4:27:47 AM PST by Zakeet
Mormon leaders have acknowledged for the first time that the churchs founder and prophet, Joseph Smith, portrayed in church materials as a loyal partner to his loving spouse Emma, took as many as 40 wives, some already married and one only 14 years old.
The churchs disclosures, in a series of essays online, are part of an effort to be transparent about its history at a time when church members are increasingly encountering disturbing claims about the faith on the Internet. Many Mormons, especially those with polygamous ancestors, say they were well aware that Smiths successor, Brigham Young, practiced polygamy when he led the flock in Salt Lake City. But they did not know the full truth about Smith.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
The Bible teaches me to have discernment. Your mileage may vary ... you may be incapable of discerning the scams of the demons.
Just because Smith was a sinner that doesn’t make all Mormons unworthy.
I have not and do not intend to address that issue. Your effort to put words and notions in that I have not posted is duly noted. Nice try ... you need more practice.
Oh my, honey, that is not exactly what I had in mind... I was thinking more along the lines of the NY skyline or the Powder River Basin mining community... something more...mechanical...in nature. ;>)
Just because Smith was a False Prophet; MormonISM is a heresy.
It mattereth not.
Well...
In Salem?
It says so!
Right HERE!!!
THE BROTHER OF NEPHI
25 Wherefore, thus saith the Lord, I have led this people forth out of the land of Jerusalem, by the power of mine arm, that I might raise up unto me a righteous branch from the fruit of the loins of Joseph.
26 Wherefore, I the Lord God will not suffer that this people shall do like unto them of old.
27 Wherefore, my brethren, hear me, and hearken to the word of the Lord: For there shall not any man among you have save it be one wife; and concubines he shall have none;
28 For I, the Lord God, delight in the chastity of women. And whoredoms are an abomination before me; thus saith the Lord of Hosts.
29 Wherefore, this people shall keep my commandments, saith the Lord of Hosts, or cursed be the land for their sakes.
30 For if I will, saith the Lord of Hosts, raise up seed unto me, I will command my people; otherwise they shall hearken unto these things.
31 For behold, I, the Lord, have seen the sorrow, and heard the mourning of the daughters of my people in the land of Jerusalem, yea, and in all the lands of my people, because of the wickedness and abominations of their husbands.
32 And I will not suffer, saith the Lord of Hosts, that the cries of the fair daughters of this people, which I have led out of the land of Jerusalem, shall come up unto me against the men of my people, saith the Lord of Hosts.
1 Timothy 3:2-3
2. Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,
3. not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.
A deacon must be the husband of but one wife and must manage his children and his household well.
An elder must be blameless, the husband of but one wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient.
DOCTRINE AND COVENANTS
OF THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS
What is it so imperfect about Christianity that you feel Mormonism adds something that it is lacking?
Unless?
It appears that NON-Mormons know more about MormonISM than Mormons do!
...aaaaand my first thought was that getting shot to death by a lynch mob probably came as a welcome relief.
Ha haaaaa! Good stuff. I never was much of a fan of the Kirstie Allie years but that was a pretty funny scene.
I allowed this lds apologist's blog to have his own voice...and then I offered an in-depth point by point commentary ... on the whole thing...
"Unworthy" of what? godhood? ('Cause isn't that what at least married temple Mormons are pursuing?)
Well, here's an interesting thought:
Joseph Smith's banking scam: Joseph Smith's Mormon Banking Scam
Lds members have fleeced over 1 & 1/2 billion from fellow Mormons the past few years alone! Guess what? They initially didn't regret "doing business" with them, either!!!
(2010 Source puts it at over $1.4 billion...and MORE has been uncovered since then!) : Mormons Now Losing Billions to Affinity Fraud
Can you fill me in any other religious sect that has less than 2% of the overall population (1.7%) -- that has launched at least $1.4 billion worth of fraud schemes vs. fellow sect members the past two or three years?
If you only have time to click on one article link below...read this one: JOHN L. SMITH: Thieves in the temple: How 'affinity fraud' hurts LDS church members
Source: Las Vegas Review-Journal, Sept. 12, 2010 Be sure to read the comments of FBI special agent Cameron Saxey (who is Lds)...the article mentions how the Utah jurisdictional Securities Fraud Task Force was working on 100+ cases...meaning that $1.4 billion total doesn't tell it all!
The sad individual accounts [Indeed: Pray for the victims, most Lds]:
* All in the Mormon Family Mortgage Fraud [Re: Idaho fraud]
Source: Conservative Babylon.com, June 27, 2012
* Episode Detail: The Mormon Madoff - American Greed: Scams, Scoundrels and Scandals
Source: TV Guide.com re: series American Greed: Scams, Scoundrels, and Scandals, June 20, 2012
* Former LDS bishop gets jail, probation for massive fraud
Source: Provo Herald, June 7, 2012
* LDS Bishop Pleads Guilty To Fraud
Source: Kutv.com, June 7, 2012
* Utah investors caught up in alleged $170M fraud: SEC says 2 men committed fraud as they raised $170M to build Caribbean resorts, and that 250 of the 1,700 alleged victims are from Utah
Source: Salt Lake Tribune, May 31, 2012
* Beware of affinity fraud predators who exploit trust, LDS spokesman warns
Source: Fraud College.org, April 2, 2012
* Former LDS bishop charged with fraud, pleads not guilty
Connecticut Criminal Defense Blog, March 29, 2012
* Former Mormon Bishop In Trumbull Charged With Investor Fraud
Source: Hartford Courant, March 27, 2012
* The LDS Church Issues a Strong Position on Affinity Fraud
Source: Utah Securities Fraud.com, March 7, 2012
* Affinity Fraud Called a Destructive Crime at Conference
Source: Lds.org, Feb. 20, 2012
* Church Representative to Address Fraud College [From the official Lds Web site]
Source: Lds.org, Feb. 15, 2012
* Affinity Fraud statement
Source: Official Mormon Newsroom.org, Undated (Early 2012)
* Father, son used Mormon connections to commit $220M Ponzi scheme (Utah case)
Source: Mormon church-owned KSL.com, Dec. 16, 2011
* Former LDS bishop cons elderly man out of life savings, police say
Source: Provo Daily Herald, Oct. 19, 2011
* Tag archives @Utahsecuritiesfraud.com: LDS Church
* Provo councilman Steve Turley charged with felonies [LDS High Council Member]
Source: Provo Herald, July 27, 2011
* Feds arrest St. George business man, philanthropist for mail fraud
Source: Mormon-church owned KSL.com, June 11, 2011
* Former LDS leader charged in fraud against Ute football coach, others
Source: Salt Lake Tribune, June 8, 2011
* Suspected Mormon Con Artist Pleading Guilty to $78M Scam
Source: Streetsweeper.org, May 31, 2011
* Mormon Madoff? Source: Financial Fraud Law.com, May 27, 2011
* A Fraud Played Out on Family and Friends
Source: New York Times, May 26, 2011
* St. George investor ordered to jail [ex-Lds bishop]
Source: MidUtahRadio.com, April 15, 2011
* Using trust to steal (Utah affinity fraud)
Source: Ogden (UT) Standard Examiner, Feb. 3, 2011
* JOHN L. SMITH: Thieves in the temple: How 'affinity fraud' hurts LDS church members
Source: Las Vegas Review-Journal, Sept. 12, 2010
* Local political gadfly arrested for exploiting elderly woman
Source: Provo Daily Herald, May 4, 2010
* Preying on the faithful: Though Mormons often victims, LDS church skips fraud-prevention event
Source: Salt Lake Tribune, May 2, 2010
* Kaneohe swindler is sentenced
Source: Honolulu Star-Bulletin, April 6, 2010
* Investors with troubled firm have Mormon ties
Source: Austin American Statesman, Jan. 16, 2010
* Man Who Defrauded Fellow Church Goer Pleads Guilty
Source: www.connect2utah.com (KUTV) Jan. 7, 2010
* Lindon Man Accused of Trying to Kill Witnesses to Alleged Scam
Source: MidUtahRadio.com, Nov. 19, 2009
* KSL 5 News investigates affinity fraud
Source: KSL.com Nov. 9, 2009
* Mormon victims are caught up in $50M scam to sell gold bullion
Salt Lake Tribune, Sept. 18, 2009
* LDS Church returned $200K in Southwick Tithing
Source: AP, Sept. 14, 2009
* Merriman's church donations may be tained [Momon Ponzi schemer's tithe monies ill-gotten?]
Source: Denver Post, April 24, 2009
* Man Who Defrauded Fellow Church Goer Pleads Guilty
Source: Fox News, April 8, 2009
* Calif. Man Charged with $40 million Ponzi scheme
Source: AP, March 20, 2009
The bottom line here is that you would expect a church that has 2% of the nation's population to have about 2% of affinity fraud cases -- even if they were as criminal as the atheists and agnostics! [You would expect them to have less than 2% if there was a true higher moral standard at operation here]. You don't expect cases involving $one and a half BILLION!
Well, I'm sure you've met many "fine (Jewish) people," too right?
So, hey...go ahead & generalize away on every tribe, be it ethnic, religious, or socio-political (like I've met several "fine people" liberals...or several "fine people" Democrats).
(Now what point does any of the above make again?)
*****************
So...let me talk about a specific group of Jews from Jesus' incarnational days...perhaps including one or some who "bought" out Judas to commit betrayal vs. Christ.
Question for you: Did Jesus ever overtly compliment the Pharisees?
Answer? Yes!
Per Matthew 5:20, we see Jesus giving a great compliment to the outward "assets" of legalistic Pharisees...telling people that unless their righteousness exceeded that of the Pharisees & the teachers of the law, "you will certainly NOT enter the kingdom of heaven." (Matt. 5:20).
Now that was a tremendous compliment. But you see, it wasn't meant to be a complete profile of them.
We find Jesus' words in Matthew 23...giving an internal assessment of the Pharisees:
25"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean. 27"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. 28In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.
You see the parallel I am presenting here?
Here you wanted to focus only on the externals of the legalistic group of the day.
But what does Christ do? He acknowledges those fine externals; but He isn't fooled by them.
You see, anybody -- Mormon or non-Mormon, Jew or non-Jew, Pharisee or non-Pharisee -- seeking to try to change God's mind about who they are inwardly by doing good works in order to get to heaven has a message from Jesus they need to be aware of:
Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. 2 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice 7 Therefore Jesus said again, Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. 9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. (John 10:1-3, 7-9)
Jesus Himself is the Way (John 14:6); and only knowing the true Jesus is eternal life (John 17:3)
(143 was written by MHGinTN)
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