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Can somebody please explain to me why mormons are the way they are?
Here's my experience with them:
I've read some about their religion several years ago, so I know a little about them.
A couple of young guys stopped by my house, tried to tell me about their religion, I told them that I read about it, I'm happy with my religion and my church, thanks anyway.
Well, these 2 guys acted like the most Moderator cut: inappropriate language aggresive sells people that I ran into when I went shopping in Colombia's poor markets.
My other experience...
In my previous job, there was a guy that is a mormon. I like learning about other people's religions, so we talked a little about religion.
Early this year I was laid off, luckily I found a job in only 1 month.
Non of the people I used to work with called me after I was laid off.
About 2 months after I got my new job, "J" calls me to see how everything is going.
I was happy to know that 1 person was thinking about me and I told him about how lucky I was to find a job, I told him about my new job, my new city, etc, etc, etc.
At one point, when it seemed like the conversation was over he tells me:
"To tell you the truth, I called you because I wanted to tell you about my religion and how I think it could be good for your family"
Talk about a f....ing slap in the face.
Right away I got a sense that he thought it sucked that I got a job, because he can't say that his religion could help me.
I told him that I needed to go back and finish something and "J" told me that he'll call me in a few days to talk about religion.
Can somebody explain me why mormons are so aggresive promoting their religion?
After my experience, you can just imagine how I feel about them.
I used to be a Mormon. I was a missionary and I taught young missionaries how to be missionaries in a Missionary Training Center, and I held a number of leadership positions within the church, so I understand the religion pretty well.
Mormons are taught that every member should be a missionary. They feel like God has commanded them to spread his word and bring others to Christ. Although Katzpur may disagree with me, generally it is not good enough for you to just be a Christian, they want you to accept Christ's restored gospel (aka Mormonism) and be baptized by one holding the authority from God to baptize (aka only Mormon priesthood holders). It doesn't matter if you were baptized as a Christian, because it doesn't count since it was not performed by someone with the authority of God (again Mormon priesthood holders). Only a Mormon baptism can get you into the celestial kingdom (aka the highest degree of heaven where God dwells). So, they are concerned for you and want you to know the "joy" they have found in the "Gospel" (aka Mormonism), and they want you to qualify for the celestial kingdom.
Also, in many Elder's Quorum meetings (Sunday School meetings for the men), the guys are pressured into finding contacts for the missionaries to teach. They are either supposed to hand out a "Book of Mormon" or tell people about the church, or invite people to meet with the missionaries. The guys often report on their efforts to "spread the gospel" at the next Elder's Quorum meeting. Also members of the Mormon Church often feed the missionaries a meal, and at the conclusion of the meal, the missionaries ask for referrals from the members of friends the missionaries could teach.
"Sharing the Gospel" is one of the three-fold purposes of the Mormon Church, so there is a lot of pressure put on the members to talk about their religion with their friends, etc. So, that is why they can often come across as pushy, because of the pressure that is put on them.
Now, we have a number of unconventional Mormons on this message board who don't much worry about the social pressures put on the members, but it is there.
Can somebody please explain to me why mormons are the way they are?
Sorry about your experiences. About all I can say is that there are 14 million Mormons worldwide today. For this reason, it would be literally impossible for me to tell you "why Mormons are the way they are."
I used to be a Mormon. I was a missionary and I taught young missionaries how to be missionaries in a Missionary Training Center, and I held a number of leadership positions within the church, so I understand the religion pretty well.
Mormons are taught that every member should be a missionary. They feel like God has commanded them to spread his word and bring others to Christ. Although Katzpur may disagree with me, generally it is not good enough for you to just be a Christian, they want you to accept Christ's restored gospel (aka Mormonism) and be baptized by one holding the authority from God to baptize (aka only Mormon priesthood holders). It doesn't matter if you were baptized as a Christian, because it doesn't count since it was not performed by someone with the authority of God (again Mormon priesthood holders). Only a Mormon baptism can get you into the celestial kingdom (aka the highest degree of heaven where God dwells). So, they are concerned for you and want you to know the "joy" they have found in the "Gospel" (aka Mormonism), and they want you to qualify for the celestial kingdom.
Also, in many Elder's Quorum meetings (Sunday School meetings for the men), the guys are pressured into finding contacts for the missionaries to teach. They are either supposed to hand out a "Book of Mormon" or tell people about the church, or invite people to meet with the missionaries. The guys often report on their efforts to "spread the gospel" at the next Elder's Quorum meeting. Also members of the Mormon Church often feed the missionaries a meal, and at the conclusion of the meal, the missionaries ask for referrals from the members of friends the missionaries could teach.
"Sharing the Gospel" is one of the three-fold purposes of the Mormon Church, so there is a lot of pressure put on the members to talk about their religion with their friends, etc. So, that is why they can often come across as pushy, because of the pressure that is put on them.
Now, we have a number of unconventional Mormons on this message board who don't much worry about the social pressures put on the members, but it is there.
The source of the magnitude of your abreaction is becoming clearer, Hueff.
Although Katzpur may disagree with me, generally it is not good enough for you to just be a Christian, they want you to accept Christ's restored gospel (aka Mormonism) and be baptized by one holding the authority from God to baptize (aka only Mormon priesthood holders).
Katzpur's probably going to sit this one out, since she thinks the question is kind of stupid. Questions like "Why are Mormons the way they are?", "Why are women the way they are?", Why are gays the way they are?", and "Why are Asians the way the are?" serve no useful purpose except to allow someone to vent.
Dopo, I think you expect too much from other people.
You expect other people to actually care about you. Well, dream on. Ain't gonna happen.
No one is trying to slap you in the face.
Life is a lot easier and much more enjoyable if you just accept people as they are instead of getting all mad if their actions are not exactly what you want. If some people irritae you, then avoid them, and hang out with the people you enjoy being with. SImple as that.
Well Dopo,I don't know that the three mormons you met are a large enough sample to reach too many conclusions about a group that numbers in the millions.
I'm glad you found a job,I know quite a few mormons in my ward who haven't or went a long time without one......being lds doesn't seem to provide any better job security than being baptist,catholic,or methodist does.
Two of the three mormons you reference are missionaries,for two years of their life its their job they voluntered for,part of which is telling people about the church.Some do a good job....some get a bit carried away and do more harm then good.Some of them come from areas where the lds make up a majority of the population,have spent most of their lives mostly around fellow lds members,and don't really understand how people outside the church think.The mind set among 'some' is that if they can just get you to read the book of mormon and pray about it you will magically 'see the light' and join the church and live happily ever after.This is inspite of the fact that some read it and pray about it and don't reach that conclusion,others join and then quickly drift away,and some who have been in the church their whole lives conclude that it isn't true.....and become something else or abandon religion altogether.Since they have volunteered two years of their lives to this i'm sure some get frustrated when most people they encounter aren't interested in hearing about something they feel is wonderful and I suppose this frustration could lead to inappropriate and ineffective ways of spreading the message.I'm not sure of the numbers but i'm sure that some spend two years on a mission in some areas without getting a single person to join the church.
I started going to the church without having ever met with a missionary or knowing anyone in the church.Most of the missionaries i've been around are pretty good about talking to people about the church who are interested.....while politely moving on to greener pasturers when they encounter those who clearly aren't.I'm quite happy to talk to people about the lds church...or their church if they are interested in such things.If not i'm just as happy to discuss 4x4 trucks,music,movies,etc.
I haven't encountered any real 'pressure' to give contacts to the missionaries,they do ask on ocassion.I am one of the 'unconventional mormons' hueff speaks of but i'm in the same meetings as the 'conventional mormons'.Yes we are encouraged to talk about the church to friends and family but so what?We are also told to invite non-members to things but have been clearly counseled by the bishop to 'not be pushy about it'.The father of one of the boys in my webelos cubscout group is openly atheist and yet is perfectly comfortable being around us and having his son around us.
To be honest most of us aren't much different then anyone else...other then not drinking coffee.....
Anyway I have never dealt with an aggressive Mormon evangelist. The only Mormon missionaries to come here just left some pamphlets and books at the Library. Maybe they had some presentation too, but if so they didn't demand anyone go to it. The one Mormon I met helped my family after a terrible storm.
Still millions of people are Mormon so some of them are likely aggressive and obnoxious. And some are great and most are likely somewhere in between. Now whether they make things that are "fun and exciting not that way", to get back to justifying the video, I have no idea
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.Yes we are encouraged to talk about the church to friends and family but so what?We are also told to invite non-members to things but have been clearly counseled by the bishop to 'not be pushy about it'.The father of one of the boys in my webelos cubscout group is openly atheist and yet is perfectly comfortable being around us and having his son around us.
