NeuroTypical

I am not LDS but have met many and they have been very nice and friendly, I guess things can be different in church.  I go to a pentacostal church and they are far from serious, and we have many different races and colors.  I was born Jewish and converted to Christianity.  But remember people are human, no one is perfect no matter their religion, we are still in the body and won't be perfected until we go to heaven.   Also you mention the Book of Mormon, what about the bible?  All Christian religions should follow the bible.  You seem to find things wrong with everyone, Methodist, Pentacostal, Mormon, etc....  You will find in this world what you expect to find.
Here is a little parable..........
Couple stops at gas station, and asks attendant what people are like in this town,  attendant says what are they like in your town, they say, they are nice, friendly, happy, warm, accepting, attendant says that is what you will find here. 
Later another customer asks same question, what are people like in this town, attendant again asks what are they like in your town, customer says they are mean, hateful, racist, unfriendly, and the attendant says that is what you will find here as well.
Another 
When dogs are raised in puppy mills and aren't socialized, and then later adopted into a loving home, they react like they are still in a cage.  They are hard to train and are frequently fearful of a loving humans, even after a long time of their humans demonstrating love and that they will not hurt them, sometimes it takes years or never for the dogs to finally relax and believe they are loved. 
Sometimes we are like that!!
 
 
 

Funny thing: You could take this thread and replace the words with "Alexander Hamilton The Broadway Musical", and lots of it would still make coherent sense.  
Didja know most of the founding fathers were the terrorists of the day?  They stole cannons and robbed supply trains.  They had sympathizers do acts of theft and sabotage from the inside.  They engaged in acts of combat that were considered barbaric at the time (basically shooting from cover and then running away). 
Of course, after the war was won, there wasn't a bunch of the victors imposing their will, there was the first real example of fledgling democracy (or representative republic, if you prefer).  It ended in the birth of the notion that power flowed from the people up, not from the government down.  You can't really say that about other terrorists (not sure what The Last Jedi adds to clarifying how we deposed the emperor and still ended up with a friggin' death planet two seconds later - but no spoilers!)

Well, this is about a decade late, but glad to see it finally happening.  
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2017/12/18/571666553/food-and-drug-administration-plans-crackdown-on-risky-homeopathic-remedies
https://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm589243.htm
If you still haven't come down the "homeopathy/organic/all-natural are marketing buzzwords with no legitimate meaning and may even be dangerous" curve yet, you're absolutely welcome to come late to the party.  Free t-shirts to the left, dessert table to the right, here's your complimentary bag of common sense.  Sorry for the narrow hallway, we had to stack all the boxes of TRUTH somewhere.  
 
 

"Why do Mormons say this.  It is against their Book of Mormon and Bible.  Mosiah says that we should give and not think bad things about another person.
...
I think it is also Mosiah that says that we really don't own anything.  God gives us everything.  We are beggars.  We beg him.  If we think bad of those who beg we judge us."
Mosiah says "And if ye judge the man who putteth up his petition to you for your substance that he perish not, and condemn him, how much more just will be your condemnation for withholding your substance, which doth not belong to you but to God, to whom also your life belongeth;"
Indeed it does mean that we don't own anything, and we are beggars, and judging people unrighteously is a sin.
It does not mean we are supposed to just give money to people because they don't want to work.  Read carefully.
And being ticked off at a notion, is not the same thing, as judging a person asking for money.  Read carefully.
 
"Jesus is our example.  He healed without asking for money.  He gave without asking for things back."
Yeesh - you have some pretty selective scripture reading there friend.  Did Christ not ask His disciples to give up everything and follow him?  "Whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it" - right?  
Anyway, your main point is valid to a point - we, as individuals, should give without condition.  The welfare system of the church is not individual giving - it's earthly stewards doing what's best with the Lord's temporal resources.  
And for the record, I just got done helping the Bishop distribute Christmas charitable funds to around half a dozen families.  Every year, folks just give the Bishop money - not for tithing or fast offerings or anything - they just give him money and say "give it to whomever needs it most".  I was personally given the assignment from my Bishop to deliver one specific check to a specific family.  The only thing he wanted me to tell them, was "If you want to send a thank-you note or something, give it to the Bishop and he'll make sure it gets to the anonymous donors."
The word "force" doesn't apply here.  The word "condition" doesn't apply here.  Nobody is thinking bad about anybody.

Saw this on my facebook wall, thought it applied:

"Why do Mormons say this.  It is against their Book of Mormon and Bible.  Mosiah says that we should give and not think bad things about another person.
...
I think it is also Mosiah that says that we really don't own anything.  God gives us everything.  We are beggars.  We beg him.  If we think bad of those who beg we judge us."
Mosiah says "And if ye judge the man who putteth up his petition to you for your substance that he perish not, and condemn him, how much more just will be your condemnation for withholding your substance, which doth not belong to you but to God, to whom also your life belongeth;"
Indeed it does mean that we don't own anything, and we are beggars, and judging people unrighteously is a sin.
It does not mean we are supposed to just give money to people because they don't want to work.  Read carefully.
And being ticked off at a notion, is not the same thing, as judging a person asking for money.  Read carefully.
 
"Jesus is our example.  He healed without asking for money.  He gave without asking for things back."
Yeesh - you have some pretty selective scripture reading there friend.  Did Christ not ask His disciples to give up everything and follow him?  "Whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it" - right?  
Anyway, your main point is valid to a point - we, as individuals, should give without condition.  The welfare system of the church is not individual giving - it's earthly stewards doing what's best with the Lord's temporal resources.  
And for the record, I just got done helping the Bishop distribute Christmas charitable funds to around half a dozen families.  Every year, folks just give the Bishop money - not for tithing or fast offerings or anything - they just give him money and say "give it to whomever needs it most".  I was personally given the assignment from my Bishop to deliver one specific check to a specific family.  The only thing he wanted me to tell them, was "If you want to send a thank-you note or something, give it to the Bishop and he'll make sure it gets to the anonymous donors."
The word "force" doesn't apply here.  The word "condition" doesn't apply here.  Nobody is thinking bad about anybody.

Saw this on my facebook wall, thought it applied:

"Why do Mormons say this.  It is against their Book of Mormon and Bible.  Mosiah says that we should give and not think bad things about another person.
...
I think it is also Mosiah that says that we really don't own anything.  God gives us everything.  We are beggars.  We beg him.  If we think bad of those who beg we judge us."
Mosiah says "And if ye judge the man who putteth up his petition to you for your substance that he perish not, and condemn him, how much more just will be your condemnation for withholding your substance, which doth not belong to you but to God, to whom also your life belongeth;"
Indeed it does mean that we don't own anything, and we are beggars, and judging people unrighteously is a sin.
It does not mean we are supposed to just give money to people because they don't want to work.  Read carefully.
And being ticked off at a notion, is not the same thing, as judging a person asking for money.  Read carefully.
 
"Jesus is our example.  He healed without asking for money.  He gave without asking for things back."
Yeesh - you have some pretty selective scripture reading there friend.  Did Christ not ask His disciples to give up everything and follow him?  "Whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it" - right?  
Anyway, your main point is valid to a point - we, as individuals, should give without condition.  The welfare system of the church is not individual giving - it's earthly stewards doing what's best with the Lord's temporal resources.  
And for the record, I just got done helping the Bishop distribute Christmas charitable funds to around half a dozen families.  Every year, folks just give the Bishop money - not for tithing or fast offerings or anything - they just give him money and say "give it to whomever needs it most".  I was personally given the assignment from my Bishop to deliver one specific check to a specific family.  The only thing he wanted me to tell them, was "If you want to send a thank-you note or something, give it to the Bishop and he'll make sure it gets to the anonymous donors."
The word "force" doesn't apply here.  The word "condition" doesn't apply here.  Nobody is thinking bad about anybody.

Negative stereotypes can go hang. The only thing that demonstrates is that people teach their children based on their own knowledge, and no one knows everything. Duh.
Homeschooling results speak for themselves.

Sometimes you have to recite the mantra "the church is a hospital for sinners, not a museum for saints."  Sometimes you have to lock yourself in the bathroom to keep from slapping some sin out of someone.

Fun homeschooling story that unfortunately may reinforce a negative stereotype:
My wife was homeschooling our young daughters.  Part of that experience was going to a homeschool Co-op run by our local mega-church.  Various mommies would teach various subjects, and the kids had group experiences, and it was a nice supportive environment for everyone.  They reacted favorably to us Mormons, and while it was clear our theological differences made it so we'd never teach, they were mostly content to love-bomb us and show us their best.  State and US history, music, math, how weather works - all good deals.  Architecture of the earth, geology, creation science - we tended to pass on those.
Anyway, it was time for a nature field trip to a local nature center!  Wife was busy that day, so I went with all the mommies and kids and did all the nature things and learned from the park attendant people and all that.  As he was describing different types of river rocks, he pointed out several that contained fossils.  I saw one mommy visually react, and as the group moved down the river bank a bit, I was close by and heard a kid ask her what the man meant by fossil.  She was staggering and stuttering through an explanation, looking half embarrassed, half afraid she was committing an offence against God.  She looked at me with an expression that said 'help', so I tried to say something that wouldn't offend their creationist sensibilities.  
"From what they tell me, it works like this.  Some critter died a long time ago, and was covered in mud.  Over time, the mud became rock, and also the critter's tissues and bones and stuff was replaced by various minerals and stuff that also be came rock, just rock that looked different enough to still look like critter bones.  It happens with trees and leaves and stuff too sometimes."
The poor mom's nodding head and face was a symphony of conflicting emotions.  Relief, fear, anxiety.  She closed her eyes nodding for most of my explanation, she honestly was reacting like I'd expect someone to react if they had to accept some random stranger explaining nookie to her children using descriptive and detailed language.   When I was done, she let out a big breath, lifted her shoulders and thanked me.  We all went to join the main group.
A few hours later as we were heading back, I saw that mommy, her kids climbing over some downed logs.  She closely examined where the log was entering the water, and said "look kids - this log is fossilizing!"   She was trying so hard to be a good mommy.  
Anyway, if I was to summarize my thoughts on the whole experience, it would be this: Scientific ignorance is not a Christian virtue.  Not everyone believes that. 

Well, this is about a decade late, but glad to see it finally happening.  
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2017/12/18/571666553/food-and-drug-administration-plans-crackdown-on-risky-homeopathic-remedies
https://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm589243.htm
If you still haven't come down the "homeopathy/organic/all-natural are marketing buzzwords with no legitimate meaning and may even be dangerous" curve yet, you're absolutely welcome to come late to the party.  Free t-shirts to the left, dessert table to the right, here's your complimentary bag of common sense.  Sorry for the narrow hallway, we had to stack all the boxes of TRUTH somewhere.  
 
 

Fun homeschooling story that unfortunately may reinforce a negative stereotype:
My wife was homeschooling our young daughters.  Part of that experience was going to a homeschool Co-op run by our local mega-church.  Various mommies would teach various subjects, and the kids had group experiences, and it was a nice supportive environment for everyone.  They reacted favorably to us Mormons, and while it was clear our theological differences made it so we'd never teach, they were mostly content to love-bomb us and show us their best.  State and US history, music, math, how weather works - all good deals.  Architecture of the earth, geology, creation science - we tended to pass on those.
Anyway, it was time for a nature field trip to a local nature center!  Wife was busy that day, so I went with all the mommies and kids and did all the nature things and learned from the park attendant people and all that.  As he was describing different types of river rocks, he pointed out several that contained fossils.  I saw one mommy visually react, and as the group moved down the river bank a bit, I was close by and heard a kid ask her what the man meant by fossil.  She was staggering and stuttering through an explanation, looking half embarrassed, half afraid she was committing an offence against God.  She looked at me with an expression that said 'help', so I tried to say something that wouldn't offend their creationist sensibilities.  
"From what they tell me, it works like this.  Some critter died a long time ago, and was covered in mud.  Over time, the mud became rock, and also the critter's tissues and bones and stuff was replaced by various minerals and stuff that also be came rock, just rock that looked different enough to still look like critter bones.  It happens with trees and leaves and stuff too sometimes."
The poor mom's nodding head and face was a symphony of conflicting emotions.  Relief, fear, anxiety.  She closed her eyes nodding for most of my explanation, she honestly was reacting like I'd expect someone to react if they had to accept some random stranger explaining nookie to her children using descriptive and detailed language.   When I was done, she let out a big breath, lifted her shoulders and thanked me.  We all went to join the main group.
A few hours later as we were heading back, I saw that mommy, her kids climbing over some downed logs.  She closely examined where the log was entering the water, and said "look kids - this log is fossilizing!"   She was trying so hard to be a good mommy.  
Anyway, if I was to summarize my thoughts on the whole experience, it would be this: Scientific ignorance is not a Christian virtue.  Not everyone believes that. 

Well, full disclosure, it's not like I keep all that stuff I said in my brain.  I pulled all those OT verses and church leader quotes from a file I started back in 1997.  Some real scholar did the work and posted it on the internet, I just put it in a file where I could find it if I needed.  I think I did actually go through all those verses once, just to make sure that yes, they do all say what is being claimed.  
Basically, I agree that more internet-saavy missionaries would be a good thing, but that doesn't mean teaching them more church history, it means teaching them how to do effective internet searches, and how to tell the difference between crap and truth. 

A Mormon biologist explains why evolution and lds thought are perfectly compatable
 

That's a pretty good kid friendly explanation
Amen.  On the other side of the fence: I will also say that I do also hear negative stereotypes of religious people from my scientists friends -- those are equally false and harmful.
We all have a lot to learn from each other, learning which brings much good.

Fun homeschooling story that unfortunately may reinforce a negative stereotype:
My wife was homeschooling our young daughters.  Part of that experience was going to a homeschool Co-op run by our local mega-church.  Various mommies would teach various subjects, and the kids had group experiences, and it was a nice supportive environment for everyone.  They reacted favorably to us Mormons, and while it was clear our theological differences made it so we'd never teach, they were mostly content to love-bomb us and show us their best.  State and US history, music, math, how weather works - all good deals.  Architecture of the earth, geology, creation science - we tended to pass on those.
Anyway, it was time for a nature field trip to a local nature center!  Wife was busy that day, so I went with all the mommies and kids and did all the nature things and learned from the park attendant people and all that.  As he was describing different types of river rocks, he pointed out several that contained fossils.  I saw one mommy visually react, and as the group moved down the river bank a bit, I was close by and heard a kid ask her what the man meant by fossil.  She was staggering and stuttering through an explanation, looking half embarrassed, half afraid she was committing an offence against God.  She looked at me with an expression that said 'help', so I tried to say something that wouldn't offend their creationist sensibilities.  
"From what they tell me, it works like this.  Some critter died a long time ago, and was covered in mud.  Over time, the mud became rock, and also the critter's tissues and bones and stuff was replaced by various minerals and stuff that also be came rock, just rock that looked different enough to still look like critter bones.  It happens with trees and leaves and stuff too sometimes."
The poor mom's nodding head and face was a symphony of conflicting emotions.  Relief, fear, anxiety.  She closed her eyes nodding for most of my explanation, she honestly was reacting like I'd expect someone to react if they had to accept some random stranger explaining nookie to her children using descriptive and detailed language.   When I was done, she let out a big breath, lifted her shoulders and thanked me.  We all went to join the main group.
A few hours later as we were heading back, I saw that mommy, her kids climbing over some downed logs.  She closely examined where the log was entering the water, and said "look kids - this log is fossilizing!"   She was trying so hard to be a good mommy.  
Anyway, if I was to summarize my thoughts on the whole experience, it would be this: Scientific ignorance is not a Christian virtue.  Not everyone believes that. 

The sad thing is, the people who believe in government conspiracies (and the effectiveness of snake oil) will rant and rave and whine and complain without ever reading the regulations - seriously, they're not that scary or confusing - they're mostly common sense (though they seem over the top until you start thinking about the long-term consequences to patients, then they start seeming more reasonable).  It may take someone to teach you how to navigate and translate, but it quickly becomes second nature.
At the end of the day, FDA's regulations are a bit of a nuisance to follow (lots of documentation and record keeping), but understandable and not hard to comply with, and not unreasonable given that it's about stuff that supposed to go into or onto a sick person.
The company I work for is subject to FDA regulations, so everything of significance that I do is accompanied by paperwork documenting what I did, how I did it, why I did it, when I did it, and who tested / verified that it was done according to procedure and regulation.

Homeopathy, stupid though it may be, is not the graveyard of science. Science was never a part of homeopathy to begin with. You can't kill something that was never there.
If you want to find where the decayed remains of science are interred, look no further than the global warming issue, and behold the scientific method being reduced to political conformity (aka "consensus").

Well, this is about a decade late, but glad to see it finally happening.  
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2017/12/18/571666553/food-and-drug-administration-plans-crackdown-on-risky-homeopathic-remedies
https://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm589243.htm
If you still haven't come down the "homeopathy/organic/all-natural are marketing buzzwords with no legitimate meaning and may even be dangerous" curve yet, you're absolutely welcome to come late to the party.  Free t-shirts to the left, dessert table to the right, here's your complimentary bag of common sense.  Sorry for the narrow hallway, we had to stack all the boxes of TRUTH somewhere.  
 
 

Ditto.  And while I can come up with a handful of plausible speculations that, if correct, would reconcile the two - I honestly don't really care enough to pick my favorite and advocate for it.  Honestly, I'm content just saying "dunno" on the whole subject. 
If I get to heaven and hear "Yep, the earth is 5647 years old, dinosaur fossils and other evidence of pre-adamite death were placed there by as a test of faith", then I'll say "huh - well, I'm really surprised but ok."
Honestly, I've encountered a lot of judging each other's worthiness or status as Christian based on their answer to these issues.  I think 99% of that is just unrighteous judgment and inappropriate ego.
 

The phrase "intelligent design" has some issues of it's own (mostly in the many inconsistent definitions), so I don't like it.  I'm just a evolution scientist and overjoyed LDS lady grateful for our almighty Creator & God.

Ditto.  And while I can come up with a handful of plausible speculations that, if correct, would reconcile the two - I honestly don't really care enough to pick my favorite and advocate for it.  Honestly, I'm content just saying "dunno" on the whole subject. 
If I get to heaven and hear "Yep, the earth is 5647 years old, dinosaur fossils and other evidence of pre-adamite death were placed there by as a test of faith", then I'll say "huh - well, I'm really surprised but ok."
Honestly, I've encountered a lot of judging each other's worthiness or status as Christian based on their answer to these issues.  I think 99% of that is just unrighteous judgment and inappropriate ego.
 

Well, full disclosure, it's not like I keep all that stuff I said in my brain.  I pulled all those OT verses and church leader quotes from a file I started back in 1997.  Some real scholar did the work and posted it on the internet, I just put it in a file where I could find it if I needed.  I think I did actually go through all those verses once, just to make sure that yes, they do all say what is being claimed.  
Basically, I agree that more internet-saavy missionaries would be a good thing, but that doesn't mean teaching them more church history, it means teaching them how to do effective internet searches, and how to tell the difference between crap and truth. 

Wow, thank you sooooo much for all the answers. You have no idea how much this helps me to feel like I'm not insane or just some rebel  God blessed me with a good mind and it's hard to just ignore new information - that's why I really wish the senior leaders would just come out and give answers like this....it would help members, former members, and those earnestly seeking truth to engage in honest dialogue and feel at peace. Just the respectful process alone is validating and encouraging. I'm so glad I found this site. Some awesome people on here for sure. No judging, just honest answers; that's all I'm looking for. I think the missionaries might benefit by some deeper training in this new era of the Internet. They probably get frustrated with people like me who ask so many questions. Maybe even a separate unit of missionaries with special training. 
The old testament is very hard to understand - I think Brigham and Joseph both loved the new testament and borrowed many ideas from there (e.g., temples).