pam

There, I changed the wording.

Absolutely. Don't blame an entire religion for the actions of a few. 

I pray the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints isn't judged by me and my actions.

Absolutely. Don't blame an entire religion for the actions of a few. 

In which case the religion gets the blame when they turn out to be monsters.  

@Maytoday, having read several of your posts now, I suspect that you will enjoy your interactions here and learn much. You show a healthy, balanced, sincere approach that works well. Ask a few questions at a time and read the responses carefully. The posters here appreciate interacting with non-LDS like us. You will receive thoughtful answers. Welcome and blessings to you!

Greetings. The topic of this string can easily lead to difficulties. What is a Christian? Latter-day Saints have throughout their roughly 200-year history experienced opposition from Protestant Christians--especially Evangelicals. Infamously, Governor Boggs, of Missouri, ordered that they could be shot and killed without penalty, because he wanted to drive them out of his state (this happened in the 19th century). So, the seemingly innocent, "Are you really Christians?" comes across as aggressive.
LDS will say they are Christians because they believe in Jesus Christ for salvation and because their fruits (godly lives) are positive. One of the common retorts are that the doctrines are different--especially concerning the Trinity and salvation by faith alone. In reality, the doctrines (teachings) are different. My own struggle, as a Pentecostal, is that Oneness Pentecostals (especially the United Pentecostal Church) deny the trinity. Nevertheless, while most Evangelicals consider them to be wrong, they would not deny their Christianity. Of course, some do.
So, in trying to learn about Latter-day Saint beliefs it might be best to simply ask doctrinal questions without debating what a Christian is. This site is a good place to learn a lot. However, another great starting place might be to read The Articles of Faith: 13 Beliefs | Come unto Christ (churchofjesuschrist.org). Those 13 teachings are the foundation of Latter-day Saint belief--so much so that they are considered scripture. 

@mirkwood You are one sick puppy. 

This is one of the aspects in the gospel I find intriguing. How the same principle can be defined in different ways, and in ways that seem to contradict. I assume though, this is why we grow grace for grace, line upon line, and precept upon precept so we can more fully understand correct principles.
Belief is to Faith/Hope as Knowledge is to Wisdom. Our belief is a declaration of what we accept as true or false. I agree with your first sentence regarding belief, that people will have outward belief's that are not consistent with what they really think (inward belief). This is the crux of those who endure a "faith crisis." It might be better said that what they "really think" is their actual belief while their religious belief is what they are unsure of but hope it to be true. I would also say, we don't know what we really believe (or have faith in) until a trial that conflicts with or tests the nature of that belief.
I would disagree with the totality that if you believe in truth you will never tell a lie, because it depends on the heirarchy within a person's belief system. I believe in "self-preservation" and I believe in truth; however, if telling the truth would interfere with self-preservation then I will tell a lie. What your statement reminds me is the words from Socrates, "To know good is to do good." I might add, their is a difference between temporal belief and knowledge that results from a spiritual witness. The evidence is Christ's words to Peter when he said flesh and blood did not reveal it unto you as to who he (Christ) was/is.
Hope/Faith -- I'm not sure that people confuse faith with hope. Faith and hope are interwoven. We know from scripture that without hope you cannot have faith, and without faith you cannot hope. I would say the relationship between the two is the confusion. The idea presented between "leap of faith" vs. a "leap of hope" confirms this. As we cannot have faith without hope, a "leap of faith" is the correct term as it combines both hope and faith in the same phrase. Hope is a potential idea, a potential truth, that we are willing to believe. We show we have faith and hope due to the action of that belief; the combination of hope and faith. Without faith, a person would never get on their knees, because we can "believe" without taking action. I can believe reading books betters one's life. I can have hope that if I read this particular book it will better my life (i.e. Book of Mormon). The reading of the book is the combination of hope and faith. My belief is truly shown when I act in faith/hope of that belief. I'm in agreement though as to the relationship with hope and faith is that hope is the first act, and then faith becomes evident by our action. Then the cycle continues, to increase in faith our hope is first increased toward a new goal, a new height, and then we act (faith).
Knowledge -- At the moment, my understanding of knowledge is what you have shared. This is why I'm bothered by members who say, "You can't know anything, thus you can't say 'I know' in testimony." It is clear from scripture that the witness from the Holy Ghost is knowledge -- knowing. It is clear from scripture the more knowledge we obtain, from the spirit, the more it can condemn (if we act against it) because we no longer merely believe a truth we were given knowledge of that truth. This is why to "know" God as one knows the "sun" at noon day is damnation if one ever rejects it (son of perdition). If we didn't know a thing, then we can't be held accountability to the fullest extent of the law. This is why we are supposed to "trust" or have confidence in the knowledge we have received from the Holy Ghost, and to increase in knowledge that is higher than the ways of this temporal (telestial) earth. The "faith crisis" for many is that they are willing to believe/accept telestial truths over heavenly (celestial) truths. They want the heavenly to be diluted to earthly. They want heaven to bend, rather then their willingness to submit to ultimate truth, real truth.

President Uchtdorf disagrees with you:
 

We quit doing it years and years ago because of the warnings regarding stuffing turkeys.

No, no, no.  The books.
I agree with @The Folk Prophet, the Amazon series is just plain garbage.

@mirkwood You are one sick puppy. 

@mirkwood You are one sick puppy. 

And one is from Brazil. 

And one is from Brazil. 

Dunno, not my job description to know.
But, if you look through the history of apostle appointees, the vast majority come from the Presidency of the Seventy or Presiding Bishopric.  All of these men look distinguished and bright eyed.
Im not sure that we should be applying affirmative action policies to the Lord…
Calling the Lord’s anointed
is a bit of a slur.

We've already learned he definitely can't sing after seeing him in Mama Mia.  

You have no idea how close I came to posting, "Well I am friends with Mirkwood and LDSGator so that may be true."

Yep I have absolutely no taste.     

You have no idea how close I came to posting, "Well I am friends with Mirkwood and LDSGator so that may be true."

I've not watched a movie of his since his interview where he tore down Brooke Shields.  

Yep I have absolutely no taste.     

You have no idea how close I came to posting, "Well I am friends with Mirkwood and LDSGator so that may be true."

I feel the same way about all those movies. Bizarrely, I had someone rant on my FB about how good Top Gun was and how everyone “Patriotic American” has a “requirement” to see the movie. All I could think of was “Really?”