Moved: Posts on LDS in Utah that Have Morphed into General Mormonism Comments (Mormons, America)
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"We Have Just Enough Religion To Make Us Hate, But Not Enough To Make Us Love One Another".
I don't really care about "Religion" that has been formatted and structured for only to benefit one purpose. My question is "How Can You Compare A Religion That Has Been Around For Thousands Of Years Before The Mormon Religion Came About?" It's very difficult for me to believe in a religion (like the LDS) that was structured by a little 14 year old boy who said he saw God and then went off and slept with many married woman and showed men that this was what God said to do???
There Is A Higher Divine Calling For Me Then To Believe In The Mormon Or LDS Religion. Why not might as well accept the Muslim Religion and live like the Middle East...it's the same thing, the same belief. Religion that is made up and structured is not enough for me to accept no matter what anyone says.
However, Since the moment I've moved here I've met some Very Nice Mormon People, but the only thing I disagree with that makes my stomach turn...is when Mormons/LDS Believers Drink, Do Drugs, Marry So Young Just To End Up Divorced with a load kids and just to marry again and again....and then they proudly say "I'm LDS I don't drink coffee?" What's so wrong about drinking coffee? All I'm saying can't we all get along and be good to one another?
Last edited by The Casselli's; 11-06-2007 at 12:38 AM..
Reason: corrections
"we Have Just Enough Religion To Make Us Hate, But Not Enough To Make Us Love One Another". I Don't Really Care About A Religion That Has Been Formatted And Structured For Only The Benefit Of One Purpose. My Question Is How Can You Compare A Religion That Has Been Around For Thousands Of Years Before The Mormon Religion Came About? It's Very Hard For Me To Believe In A Religion That Was Put Together By A 14 Year Old Boy Who Said He Saw God And Then Slept With Many Married Woman And Show Men This Was Is What God Said To Do??? There Is A Higher Divine Calling For Me Then To Believe In The Mormon Or Lds Religion. Might As Well Accept The Muslim Religion And Live In The Middle East...it's The Same Thing. I'm Sorry Religion That Is Made Up And Structured Is Not Enough For Me To Accept No Matter What Anyone Says. (sorry About The Caps) However, Since I've Lived Here I've Met Some Very Nice Mormon People But The Only Thing I Disagree With That Makes My Stomach Turn...is When Mormons/lds Believers Drink, Do Drugs, Marry So Young Just To End Up Divorced And Have Lots Of Children And Marry Again And Again....and Then They Proudly Say "i'm Lds I Don't Drink Coffee" Very Strange Indeed.
Frankly your complaints against the Mormons, sound alot like other religions in the US today.
You have to either make the choice that people have the freedom and right to worship how they see fit or they don't. If you say they don't then you risk becoming one of those people who is worshiping the wrong religion.
I find that if you can give people respect for their way of life, they are more likely to do the same for you.
Did any of you watch the PBS show about history of the Mormons a couple of days ago? I learned a few things about the time in Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois that I didn't already know. (I'm not a Mormon.)
Among the ideas presented that I hadn't seen presented before:
* Mormonism had attractiveness in the mid-1800s because it brought a sense of God's activity in the world up to that present time in that place (North America). This gave Mormonism a sense of immediacy to the experience of God's presence that the older Christian communities cannot duplicate.
* Persecution of the early Mormon communities in Ohio and Missouri had the result of making their faith and committment stronger.
* Even before the Nauvoo Expositor incident, Joseph Smith probably went too far in his actions while leader of the settlement in Nauvoo. He was preparing to run for President of the United States. He issued a drawing with himself in military uniforms and holding a military sword over his head. This was implying that he was taking on leadership of a separate state, which was understandably seen by non-Mormons as a political threat. The fact that, later, Brigham Young took his people outside the U.S. to resettle is consistent with the assessment that Mormons saw themselves as intending to establish a separate political body.
* Resentment at Mormons was fed by the idea that because Smith had a "revelation" about the Independence, Missouri, area being the location of a new Zion, this gave his church the "authority" to force existing settlers off that land. Stupid on his part. He should have been prepared to buy the existing settlers out, for instance.
* The "revelation" about plural marriage was quickly interpreted by many in the Mormon community at Nauvoo as an abuse of church authority.
* The existence of the Book of Mormon as a publication and physical object was a key tool for evangelizing during the earliest decades of the church's existence. The obviously dubious provenance of the book's manuscript was not a handicap to the growth in numbers of the new faithful. This is another case, IMO, of a new religion becoming successful due to its "telling people what they want to hear."
Last edited by ParkTwain; 11-06-2007 at 10:37 AM..
[quote=ParkTwain;1926265]Did any of you watch the PBS show about history of the Mormons a couple of days ago? I learned a few things about the time in Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois that I didn't already know. (I'm not a Mormon.)
Among the ideas presented that I hadn't seen presented before:
* Mormonism had attractiveness in the mid-1800s because it brought a sense of God's activity in the world up to that present time in that place (North America). This gave Mormonism a sense of immediacy to the experience of God's presence that the older Christian communities cannot duplicate.
* Resentment at Mormons was fed by the idea that because Smith had a "revelation" about the Independence, Missouri, area being the location of a new Zion, this gave his church the "authority" to force existing settlers off that land. Stupid on his part. He should have been prepared to buy the existing settlers out, for instance.
Excellent breakdown of the attractiveness of Mormonism. What bothers me though is that Mormons don't seem to get it at all that all of us who were born here in America are part of a new dispensation and that we all have a blessed path because of that. As an aside, I have read that Smith also considered Gillespie County, the place where my ancestors settled, in the heart of the Hill Country in Texas, to also be one of the "places". What makes Salt Lake so special? Are the people here really purer or better?
I actually have not felt any type of equal respect from the Mormons and feel much of their social system is based on hierarchies, group matrices, etc. It is all a big network. You are either in or out. I do not feel I could ever socialize with people who view me as "non Mormon". So how is that respect?? Mormons do not really respect outsiders, and especially not non Mormons. I wonder where this is coming from. I am not married to a priesthood holder, was not sealed in the Temple and never plan to be, am female and childless, and though I share some of the Mormon beliefs (yes, imagine that) I am not going to join a cult.
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