gale

@Gecko45, you have come to the right place. I am of pure European Jewish descent and a faithful member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. You've descended down a rabbit hole that goes into a very dark place, and I hope you can extricate yourself. My ancestors are among the generations of Jews who have suffered and died because of these beliefs. First, let's talk about "Jews." Ethnically, Jews are the descendants of people who lived in Judea after the 10 tribes living in the ancient northern kingdom of Israel were carried away into Assyria. If you are an Ephraimite, then you are still descended from a brother of Judah, Joseph. Most of the inhabitants of Judea were of the tribes of Judah, Benjamin (the smallest tribe), and Levi (temple servants). People nowadays with last names like Cohen, Kahn, and the like have some background in the tribe of Levi, for example. Lehi, however, would have been considered Jewish because he was from Judea. The Book of Mormon centers the guilt for Christ's death on the Jews at Jerusalem (2 Nephi 10:5), exonerating all other Jews. At the time, there were a HUGE number of Jews in the diaspora, including about 1 million in the Egyptian/Greek city of Alexandria, Egypt. That said, the world has considered all Jews as Christ-killers, and there lies the central problem for Jews to be safe. The Lord has seen fit to allow pogroms and mass killing of Jews through the centuries, but He also judges the world in part by their treatment of Jews. Jewishness has always been judged as an ethnicity and not just a religion. When this happens (as you are doing), it condemns all Jews and people of Jewish descent by race, which is anti-Semitism. Anti-Semitism has all sorts of excuses for hatred of the Jews, many of which you have named. There are lots more, causing anti-Semitism in both the leftist and rightist movements in the US. Hitler actually conducted a census with 4 columns (among others) for identifying grandparents as Jewish or not. One Jewish grandparent qualified a person for the death camps. Interestingly, coming censuses in the US require all Americans of Jewish descent to no longer list themselves as white. I have always been White on various documents all my life, but now (even though I'm very fair-skinned), I must list my ethnicity/race as MENA (Middle East/North Africa). This change seems to justify Zionism and exonerate Jews of being invaders of their own ancient land, but I can't see any good in it. Although descendants of Jacob/Israel originated in the Holy Land, more recent locations have separated them into 3 ethnic groups--Ashkenazi (European), Sephardi (ejected from Spain), and Mizrachi (Middle Eastern Jews). Another interesting thing is that America's standard list of ethnicities contains no Jewish groups at all. As a religion, Judaism is not at all monolithic. The main groups are Ultra-Orthodox, Orthodox, Conservative, Reformed, and Humanistic Jews, from most religious to least. Two main things might increase your understanding. 1) The Law of Moses' purpose was to separate Israel from pagan people to keep them pure. This has isolated Jews (sometimes by choice) into their own separated villages and neighborhoods, especially because of the law to walk fewer than 1,000 steps to reach a synagogue. This separateness has caused rumors and suspicions to rage at various times among non-Jews. The Law of Moses also forbade Jews from entering certain professions but also approved of certain professions abhorred by Orthodox Christians (such as physiology and banking). These things have increased anti-Semitism. 2) There is very little information in the Tanakh (Old Testament) about an afterlife. Because of this, Jews focus very hard on mortality and improving the mortal experience. Whereas a Christian might concern himself about spending eternity in hell if he runs a porn site, there is no such concern in Judaism. It's also very easy to be an agnostic or atheistic Jew (like my father, who was a very moral, kind astrophysicist) because you are still a traditional or ethnic Jew.

It's really interesting to read this thread, and I much appreciate the calming comment from the moderator. Not many people who have been commenting have read the entire article. This article had sound and timely advice on what to do when a spouse loses his or her faith, which is an earth-shaking event. Please know that ThirdHour is staffed by people who want nothing more than to help Christ's work progress according to His eternal plan and that everyone there makes sacrifices so that will happen. They are careful. They are not "progressive" but they are aware that many Latter-day Saints are going through hard things that can ruffle the feathers of people whose "box" in the Church is carefully defined. They want to help, so they need to address these things in the best way possible. Please give them the benefit of the doubt.

For Carborendum, one reference, although there are others: http://www.rogerknecht.com/it’s-about-prudence-not-paranoia/prophets-have-warned/vision-of-pres-george-albert-smith/ http://www.latterdayconservative.com/john-taylor/john-taylors-last-days-vision/

This idea doesn't just come from the White Horse Prophecy (which is not upheld as true by the Church, is third hand information after a long passage of time, and which contains numerous errors). It comes from the prophecies of George Albert Smith and one reported by Wilford Woodruff and attributed to John Taylor. Both saw in vision an attack on the U.S. which had survivors from around the country trying to make their way to Utah for sustenance and safety. Migration to Zion in Missouri would come later.