I'm guessing there are no mormons on here since they can't even drink cofee but i just want to get a mormon persons prespective on mormonism. Also i have a question. My buddys parents are very into mormonism and they shun him for not believiing it, but wouldn't that violate article of faith number 11 which says we have freedom to worship our god let others do the same (paraphrasing) I'll go smoke a doobie and return later.
I grew up mormon, followed it until I was about 19, as that's when i moved outta my parents house and into the real world. What questions do you have besides that one? You see Mormonism has so many contradictions it's not even funny. Regarding your one friend, what's ridiculous is that they actually say that if your kids make terrible mistakes in life, ie leave church, have premarital sex, murder, etc., that the parents are responsible/accountable for those things after death. Which is so stupid, because you'd think if they believe that, that they'd believe in original sin. The mormons also don't like other churches who talk about them, or as they call it bashing, yet the mormons consider it your duty to go out on foot and tell everyone that their religions are wrong, and that they're sinning everyday blah blah blah.... the list of shit goes on and on...ask away, i'll answer them for you.
Related [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9q5gS2uAOSU"]YouTube - Mormons -vs- Black Hebrew Israelite[/ame]
you have really no idea how hard it is to watch that video... after listening to those two missionaries, is it any surprise why, immediately after high school they DEMAND that the young men in the church (19+) serve a 2 year mission program which they themselves pay for. And the kids in it have been spoon fed the religion since they were babies and were always told never to read anything that's outside of the church doctrine.... The biggest issue that I typically had is that whenever Mormons had someone who would contradict their ideas / values, they never could peacefully discuss it as that guy was, they would start getting very upset and demanding, etc. And then once that tact would fail they'd almost reconfirm to themselves, as if they needed to hear the chanting in their own head but from a mouth (their own) , of what they believe in. I would say 80%+ of mormons only know the very basics of the religion and those few things that those guys were saying: "We believe in God as the eternal father, Jesus Chris and the Holy Ghost. We believe that they're all individual beings" (they don't believe in the trinity) "We believe that Joseph Smith was a prophet of god and was put on earth to write the book of mormon" And if you must know, it doesn't say that Joseph Smith wrote it, he supposedly transcribed it from some plates which he, just as in south park, read from a hat. Yet nobody saw these plates....But these things those 80% don't even know. The Mormon religion is a highly developed cult imo. While they have some good teachings and philosophy, they have way too many bad issues. Keep the questions coming. Btw, this is a good video of really what they basically believe in and what not: [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zy0d1HbItOo]You Tube Banned Mormon Cartoon[/ame]
My mother was raised and stayed a Mormon for 5-10 years and she told me the moment she actually sat down and read the Mormon bible she went to the church to get her name removed from the organization (or whatever you'd call it).
It's funny you say that, because I've read it front to back, I always thought it was boring as shit, but what I find so so funny, is they claim that murder is so awful, yet the main person in the book in the beginning of it, KILLS and MURDERS someone to get something back....."because god told him to". the mormon's have this in their scripture collection: KJV Bible book of mormon doctrine & covenents pearl of great price They have supposedly this section in the pearl of great price, that's from the book of abraham, the papyra scrolls from it were found in a museum in upstate new york and had nothing to do with Abraham as Joseph Smith claimed. The mormons came up with some lame duck excuse.
ok is it true they teach or the book of Mormon says dark skin is gods punishment for being sinful but blacks and others could become white by being righteous? If thats true that should set off a flag for any mormon because we obviously know that there are people of all colors who do "bad" things and the same for "good", and peoples skin doesn't change if they do good or bad things. It's just a bunch of rediculous bullshit Joeseph Smith thought of and got some stupid people to belive in and those stupid people taught that to there children and so for to this day.
Yeah to make a long story short, yes, they believe that. I will say this too, my father, who's self employed, has been actually screwed over more substantially by Mormon church members who were white than by anybody else. Not so much that skin color has anything to do with it, but more to the point that they were all Mormon. Read this guys site: http://packham.n4m.org/unasked.htm Richard Packham has one of the best sites about Mormonism ever.
To be honest, in all the years I did go to church, and something that I never really liked was the fact that they would really only talk about the basic things. Nothing really pertaining to the early Mormon doctrine, and if they did it was so watered down it was pathetic. I recall maybe 1 discussion with the older men (think 40+) in which they discussed 'colored' individuals, whether it was black, indian, etc. Mormon church is probably nothing like you'd be used to. First off it lasts 3 hours, broken up into 1 hour segments. The typical church Sunday goes like this: 1st Hour Sacrament Meeting - Opening Hymns and Remarks - Opening Prayer - Blessing and Passing out the Sacrament - 3 Speakers, 2 speakers then a hymn or musical performance (instruments or singing) by someone in the ward. (i'll explain the hierarchy in a minute) - Closing Hymn - Closing Prayer 2nd Hour Sunday School / Gospel & Doctrine Younger Kids separate to Sunday School. Adults usually go to Gospel & Doctrine - Opening Prayer - Lesson - Closing Prayer 3rd Hour Men & Women Separate Men - Priesthood Meeting - Divided into age brackets Women - Relief Society - Again divided into age brackets And it's pretty much the same game plan as the 2nd Hour. That's your typical standard Sunday. They also maintain the idea that each member should server a position inside of the church. Which can really give certain individuals a nice power trip. I remember with travel and getting ready and what not, church would usually occupy 2/3 of a sunday, if we started at 9am for church. Mind you they also push the seminary program which they have early in the morning before the teenages go off to high school in the morning. Requiring you to wake up and be there at like 6am... there's so much that I could go into it's not even funny... keep asking away if you got more questions.
I did for 1 year, my senior year. Pretty much showed up late every day. It was so stupid, it really really was. i didn't serve a mission either. Worked instead. Damn glad I did that too... I got to see my younger bro go on his mission, and stop believing in the religion 6 months through it. luckily for him, i was able to visit him about 5 times during his mission since I was working only about 2-3 hours away from where he was serving in Europe.
My wife is a Mormon, and we live in Salt Lake City. They're swell people, just doing what they believe is right. I read the Book of Mormon over the past year with her because she asked me to (although she knows I will never convert) and I can understand why they place that book in such high regards- it really is a beautiful text, regardless of its historicity, or lack thereof. But to the OP, my understanding of AofF 11 is that yes, it does provide for freedom of belief and worship to everyone, including Mormons, but you have to understand the familial mindset of the LDS faith. Being that your buddy's parents are heavily into Mormonism, they just want what's best for their son through the eyes of their faith, and that means staying in the church, being a productive member of society and family, and eventually marrying another Mormon, all so they can be together, as a family, in heaven. So while Mormons will allow others to practice religion how they see fit, they want nothing more than for everybody to convert to the LDS faith and share in the happiness that they get from it. Nothing wrong with that, IMO.
Almost all of Christianity taught the same thing in the 1800s, that's why I can't help but laugh when Southern Baptists or any other mainstream Christian group try to fault Mormonism for believing such a thing while it was a commonly held belief in Christendom anyway. Granted, it was sort of an unspoken teaching in Mormonism up until 1978, but it's just interesting to note that not even Christianity was immune to racism.
It's interesting that you say that, as that's one of the main reasons after leaving Mormonism that I never liked any religion at that point, was that deep down they all really preach the same BS. The only problem though that I have with what you said about AoF 11, is that most Mormon families whom have been Mormon since the religion began, will actually shun a family member if they choose to leave the religion. So really, while they teach family values, etc. If your family is kept together only based on a religion, that's really not a very good foundation. And this goes for more than just Mormanism. My 2 cents.
I agree with you man. My wife is sort of going through that right now, because she married me. She didn't even marry a Christian, she married a secular Jew, which I think her parents really hate. They've never been outright mean to me, but they've never been very inviting either. But I think the shunning problem you speak about is the same for virtually any stringent religion. It's definitely the same for Islam, and I don't see why it wouldn't be the same for hardcore Orthodox Christians or Roman Catholics. Religion is a serious thing to a lot of people, so while I don't agree with a lot of it, I can at least understand where they're coming from.