This Is A Mystery To Me!

[jadams_4040]

Why do some protestant churches put soooo much time, money and energy into Mormon bashing? They think were a cult as in brain washed, lied to, blindly following a wicked money hungry Jim Jones kind of person. It really makes them look dumb to teach the things about us that they do at church because most of it is completely off! The thing is there are so many people that are attracted to that mud slinging mob mentality, it's creepy. I've even heard them claim they love mormon's and they want to help us out of evil way of thinking, when it's quite clear that they don't. (love is...KJV)

Here's another question. Why is it ok to have so many Christian denomination that disagree on all kinds of serious stuff like the importance of sacraments, and then say because we believe that God's attributes are a little different than they do that we're SO wrong, we're not even Christian? (whew!)

I know there's a lot about us they don't like. Thats ok. But the attitude is scary. And tuthfuly, they blame us of doing things I see much more in their churches than in the LDS church.

OK now I'm venting! My donation was refused twice by charities because I'm Mormon and I've been asked to leave a homeschool support group because I'm mormon not to mention (but I shall) the numerous slightly more subtle issues that come up socially and at work. And what's up with this nonsense outside of Temple Square? Is it any wonder we get defensive?

I don't mean to offend. It's just YEARS of frustration comming out here.

Well they all tell me mormanism is evil, because all anybody needs to do is have a change of heart beleive in God then all the nessacery works are automatically done because of the change of heart within oneself, Well, where is this supposed change of heart when they do nothing but bash others? Did ya ever visit the "carms" site? such hatetred and profanity!.

its really very sad that all those people live for doing harm and showing hate 2-wards others rather than having all we have.:)

[JonboySquarepants]

i just finished reading through these posts and didn't see the one thing that usually stands out to me as to why people "bash the church."

that one thing is the fact that the lds church believes all other churchs are wrong and that the lds church is the only true church. That is what J. Smith said the Lord told him; "...all their creeds were an abomination in his sight; that those professors were all corrupt; that: they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me..."

so, maybe these other churchs are defending their own beliefs? granted, they are going about it the wrong way. there's a post from AnthonyB that gives great examples for teaching that i both love and have seen. when i was going to college, every other week of so one of the christian organizations would hold a bbq in the quad that was free for anyone who wanted to sit down and have a hotdog, hamburger, chips and/or a drink.

so, in short, i'm definatly against the kinds of protests with the 'cult' signs and hate speach. but, the church still teachs today that it is the ONLY true church on the face of the earth and that all the creeds of the other churchs are abominations in God's eyes, and i think that that belief opens the door for debate and contention.

[prisonchaplain]

Anyway, we got on the topic of "how to know truth from God." I told him about the scriptures in John and about how the spirit bears witness. This is what he said to me, "Why should I believe the Holy Ghost telling me the Book of Mormon is true?"

Many Baptists are loathe to trust feelings or experience, believing such can lead to deception. The most fundamental of them believe that the Holy Spirit no longer operates with signs and wonders (such as prophecy), since we now have the Bible. So, when you suggested he pray and see how the Holy Spirit makes him feel...you must have really set him off. LOL. We Pentecostals would have had the same affect on him, if that's any consolation.

However, I wish there was a better way to communicate without the contention that Baptist and I experienced. It got really nasty a couple times and it lasted a long time (about an hour and a half). I contributed to it just as much as he did. I was throwing in my kicks and raising my voice just as much. That is partly what saddens me about the whole experience.

There is a better way, and it is happening in some venues. There is a group of evangelicals in Utah that has formed specifically to encourage greater dialogue, civility and Christian love between LDS and evangelicals. They even managed to arrange for a joint meeting at the LDS Tabernacle, with famed evangelist Ravi Zacharias speaking.

Also, some of the evangelical writings about LDS has gotten more intelligent and respectful. One book that greatly impressed me, was co-written by a BYU professor and an evangelical one: How Wide the Divide by Blomberg & Robinson.

[Teancum18]

Many Baptists are loathe to trust feelings or experience, believing such can lead to deception. The most fundamental of them believe that the Holy Spirit no longer operates with signs and wonders (such as prophecy), since we now have the Bible. So, when you suggested he pray and see how the Holy Spirit makes him feel...you must have really set him off. LOL. We Pentecostals would have had the same affect on him, if that's any consolation.

That's just great! He doesn't want to trust his feelings of peace and joy, like Galatians says. However he does want to trust his feelings of anger and ridicule and act upon those instead. Whatever....

Thanks for the other insight. I did take it to heart. All of your replies have a calm sense of offering to them. As you can tell, I am still bothered by that experience. Anyway, I hope the best for him and his wife. Maybe he looks back on that and has changed how he approaches people of other faith. I certainly would rather believe that than anything less positive and hopeful.

[cgrantreed]

Beliefs aside... we ALL have a goal given by God himself and not one faith is excluded. This is complete tolerance and acceptance. NO ONE is doing this as requested but it is still a goal.

My spin for me personally is this: I do not have the right to judge anyone for their faith. Doing so makes me just as bad as those who stand at Temple Square and any other place and act like jerks...most of who get paid to do do BTW... and this is in direct violation of Gods will and plan. Does this mean that I can force anyone else into seeing it my way? Absolutely not. I agree with one of the other posts...Live and let live. Every time the opportunity arises, i stand at the side of PrisonChaplain (figuratively of course:-) and I try and help people to find their way to God, any way it takes to get there. i don't care which faith they find Him in. I am a devout LDS member of better than 25 years and I really don't care if someone joins my faith. I want them to find the happiness that I have found and I am sure going to direct them to the LDS faith IF THEY ARE ASKING FOR ADVICE from me. However its between them and God.

God will not take away anyones free will and that is the WHOLE reason why we are on this earth.. to make our own decisions with the information given. Satan is the cause of all the factions and splits of any faith and if that was not present there would be ONLY ONE CHURCH on the face of the earth, it would be Gods church, and there would be no questions. So... instead of blaming everyone for their beliefs, lets band together and focus on the war at hand... that is the adversary that is trying to destroy us. I hate no one except it be Satan.

This doesn't mean that I am perfect and I occasionally get into a heated argument over who's right or wrong... generally ends up being because they are attacking what i believe and i am trying to defend my beliefs only but it does happen... for this I repent every time i fail to do what God wants me to do and that is to turn the other cheek.

So... food for thought here... Why is it important in your life, regardless of what faith you are, to defend it to the point of defamation of someone else's faith? If this is a practice that you follow, do you feel that God is ok with it and is he actually condoning it in your life? If not, REPENT and get back on the right path with HIM. Its on your head at the judgement and nobody but YOU is responsible for it.

Now with all that said... I still have some repenting to do:=) and PRISONCHAPLAIN... thank you for your open minded and EDUCATED answers. I applaud you and consider you to be a Brother in God with me, regardless of what regiment of faith you follow. Thank you... keep up the good work and keep me in your prayers.

[SeekerofLight]

It's a shame that everyone out there that claims to be the "True" religion and the right religion can be so hateful and judgemental ...IN the name of GOD???

Most people believe there faith is the "Right" one LOL!

Personally I was raised protestant and have attended the catholic church the last years because of my husband....

I am now studying book of mormon and how i feel about that as a Religion for me because i have known some really wonderful Mormon friends.....

My very German very Luthern mother always said "Mormons do a Lot of good' she remebered when a lady next to her gave birth years ago in the hospital she was in, and how all the friends and family came to help ect.

My feeling is as long as a Religion does no harm...what is the Problem...we are all different in several ways ..

It's ridiculous..if you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything...an than there is the Athiests that don't want us to have any religous displays!!!

[Hemidakota]

This has gone on here for years. As a member of the church I look at them with pity. I think don't you have something better to do. They take advantage of anytime when there might be heavy traffic downtown. They were there during the Olympics too. Holiday time when people go to Temple Square to see the lights is another time I have seen them.

Gone on since the time of Adam [non canonized works reading is required]. As long there is people on this earth that are easily influence by Lucifer, it will continue.

[ztodd]

It's a shame that everyone out there that claims to be the "True" religion...

...

Most people believe there faith is the "Right" one LOL!

...

Really? That hasn't been my experience.

I kinda think that whenever anyone says that all churches claim to be the true church/religion or the "right" faith, they're making assumptions about what all the churches claim.

[lilered]

Some additional thoughts about Mormon Bashing;

We think of ourselves as Christians. Most other Christian Religions do not.

Dict. Def. –noun 1. a person who believes in Jesus Christ; adherent of Christianity.

2. a person who exemplifies in his or her life the teachings of Christ:

Even though by this definition and our stated -The 1st Article of Faith, they do not accept that we are Christians. (Go Figure)

This bashing seems to center around 2 doctrinal issues—our view of the Godhead and our belief in the principle of continuing revelation.

Continuing Revelation - We believe in Prophets and Revelation as a way to guide the church, most other Christian religions do not. They believe that this ceased when Jesus life ceased on this earth.

The Cult Label: Has always been puzzling. Those that I have discussed this with, believe we are a cult. Mainly because members believe and testify of the truthfulness of the restored gospel so fervently and that even our very young people do this.

Another thing that has always mystified me that I have found it very difficult to discuss Religious Topics with a non-member, as it seems that at times it is more important to prove LDS wrong than to try to understand why we believe the way we do. (Based on the Gospel).

Most non-members believe the BM to be our Bible, in spite of being told repeatedly it is not. While our view is the BM is simply another witness to Jesus Christ and a supplement to the Bible, they believe it is wrong and is our main source of scripture. Most refuse to read it to build their understanding of the LDS religion, as if something evil will happen to them. The same is true of the DC, PGP.

[skalenfehl]

I've been on both hemispheres of this big blue marble and have spoken with thousands of people of many faiths about religion. In the end, we can simply do our best not to get carried away by our passion, and find common ground and build on it. Just love everyone and share your personal witness.

[Misshalfway]

It is sometimes fascinating to me that people feel the need to "bash" other churches. I don't think we are the only ones who experience this, but I do think we attract more than most. I think to some we are threatening. I think to others, we are lost and need to be found. In any case, the church is peaceful to all. The people in it can get a little bent on occasion. But, after so many attacks, and with our history of persecution, it is not hard to understand the impatience that is sometimes felt. It does though, behoove each member of this church to refrain from contention and move to higher ground. This kind of display won't stop. It will always follow a church like this. I agree with Skalenfehl. Building on the common ground... and living our best lives is all we can do. Love our enemies fits in there too, I spose.

EDIT: I wanted to add as well, that we have much we can learn from one another. I heard it once called Religious Envy. We can look outside of ourselves and grow and stretch because of the seemingly different doctrines of other faiths. I have learned so much about grace from my protestant interactions. And so very much from non-christian philosophies.

[WillowTheWhisp]

In Protestant denominations the main sacraments are Baptism and the Lord's Supper (Communion). I would say that the majority if not all, revere both with the same respect and importance.

M.

Well there you go -we've got two things in common already! :)

[Andrew777]

The problem is when a non-Mormon Christian won't come to accept we're Christians or we believe in the same Jesus they do there is no point to further discussion. They'll accept other Christian denominations are Christians and misguided or with doctrinal errors but they won't accept that Mormons are even part of the club.

I believe the reason Mormons get it worse then others is because Anti-Mormon Christians don't just disagree with our doctrines or think we are misguided, like they do with each other. Anti-Mormons think we are purposefully deceitful by tricking people into thinking we're Christians. They believe we have surface beliefs that we tell other people and hide the deep anti-Christian doctrines that really go on in the Mormon church that they've discovered and need to proclaim to everyone. Hence the quoting of prophets taken out of context that usually goes on, or the appearance that anything any Mormon has ever said in history is doctrine. We are not just in error, Non-Christian or even Unchristian they think we are Antichrists.

Some anti-Mormons believe that the prophet of the LDS church is the false prophet talked about in Revelations. I was taught as a child in the church I grew up in that in the end times there would be two seats of government, one in Jerusalem, and one in the USA. The Antichrist would rule from Jerusalem and the false prophet from the US. The two together would bring about peace on earth and claim they were from God. They would build temples where bizarre evil occult rituals would be performed and they would force all people into recognizing the false church. When I first read about Mormon beliefs about the second coming in the gospel principles book, it was like what I learned as a child was a bizzaro opposite version of it.

[skalenfehl]

This stems from the fact that we claim divine revelation as the foundation of our church. We have a prophet who speaks with the Lord today. Through revelation we received the same fullness of the gospel that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob received unto exaltation. Many anti-Mormons are the same as the anti's of the Bible who stoned the prophets of God, cast them out of their cities, burned them in fires and threw them in Lions pits, etc. If we weren't so "civilized" today, our prophets might face the same persecution that those prophets faced. Joseph Smith faced it. Had Brigham Young not taken the Saints far to the west, we would have had more prophets martyred.

[Hemidakota]

Some additional thoughts about Mormon Bashing;

We think of ourselves as Christians. Most other Christian Religions do not.

Dict. Def. –noun 1. a person who believes in Jesus Christ; adherent of Christianity.

2. a person who exemplifies in his or her life the teachings of Christ:

Even though by this definition and our stated -The 1st Article of Faith, they do not accept that we are Christians. (Go Figure)

This bashing seems to center around 2 doctrinal issues—our view of the Godhead and our belief in the principle of continuing revelation.

Continuing Revelation - We believe in Prophets and Revelation as a way to guide the church, most other Christian religions do not. They believe that this ceased when Jesus life ceased on this earth.

The Cult Label: Has always been puzzling. Those that I have discussed this with, believe we are a cult. Mainly because members believe and testify of the truthfulness of the restored gospel so fervently and that even our very young people do this.

Another thing that has always mystified me that I have found it very difficult to discuss Religious Topics with a non-member, as it seems that at times it is more important to prove LDS wrong than to try to understand why we believe the way we do. (Based on the Gospel).

Most non-members believe the BM to be our Bible, in spite of being told repeatedly it is not. While our view is the BM is simply another witness to Jesus Christ and a supplement to the Bible, they believe it is wrong and is our main source of scripture. Most refuse to read it to build their understanding of the LDS religion, as if something evil will happen to them. The same is true of the DC, PGP.

Cult lableing...I am always puzzled why, when most have no conception of the meaning.

[Andrew777]

This stems from the fact that we claim divine revelation as the foundation of our church. We have a prophet who speaks with the Lord today. Through revelation we received the same fullness of the gospel that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob received unto exaltation. Many anti-Mormons are the same as the anti's of the Bible who stoned the prophets of God, cast them out of their cities, burned them in fires and threw them in Lions pits, etc. If we weren't so "civilized" today, our prophets might face the same persecution that those prophets faced. Joseph Smith faced it. Had Brigham Young not taken the Saints far to the west, we would have had more prophets martyred.

It's really not much different then the pope, but I suppose most the people that think the LDS church is a cult probably think not much more of Roman Catholics.