Dude... the Mormon faith is weird...

[alnorth]

God was once a mortal man who lived on another planet, he followed all the rules of the Mormon faith, died, became a God, and created us on Earth. Mormons believe they too could be Gods and Godesses someday if they follow all the rules and live good lives on Earth, establishing their own churches on other planets when they rise to Godhood, and all the various Gods follow the "one true God".

Yeah.

Thats the tame part, it gets goofier from there. I had always believed that Mormons were just another routine denomination of Christianity with their own unique set of minor quirks, without really knowing much about them. After watching an episode of South Park that I missed from last year, talking with a guy I met who was a Mormon missionary, and doing some research, I'm stunned that anyone would actually believe in this goofiness.

That does raise one interesting question though. As crazy and outlandish as the Mormon faith is (hopefully I'm not offending anyone here too badly!), why do I and many others believe that our religions are so much better than that wacky LDS church?

[WebGem]

Originally Posted by alnorth

Agree 100%, Mormons are among the nicest friendliest people on Earth. I have no problem or ill thoughts about them as people, they just happen to believe in a very bizarre religion.

That is true. I have no problem letting them no that, and either does my mom. I think I learned that from her. I think if the damn people weren't so nice one of them would have killed her already.

[KChiefs1]

Don't Mormons also believe that children, before they are born, pick their mothers & fathers in heaven? That leads me to the question....why did Michael Jackson's kids choose him???????

[jcroft]

Originally Posted by KChiefs1

Don't Mormons also believe that children, before they are born, pick their mothers & fathers in heaven? That leads me to the question....why did Michael Jackson's kids choose him???????

I've never heard that one, but I don't know.

And I agree with what was said before: strange religion or not, I've known many, many mormons in my time and they've all been amonst the best, most loyal, most friendly people I've ever known. Just because of that, I'm in favor of Mormonism, as religions go (I'm agnostic, myself). It seems to produce good people.

[carlos3652]

Originally Posted by alnorth

Agree 100%, Mormons are among the nicest friendliest people on Earth. I have no problem or ill thoughts about them as people, they just happen to believe in a very bizarre religion.

Yes, My best friends are mormons and they are really cool, but the funny thing is... most of them do not know their religion 100%... They deny all the crazy stuff about God having wifes in other planets and so forth,

The major religions of the world Christianity, Hinduism, Budihsm, Islam all started over 1500 years ago, Mormonism started in the 1900's ... Thats why I believe it is a cult.... They are not Christians... they believe they are....

I took a class on religions of the world and it is not considered a religion, and I've read books and watched movies on their beliefs... really crazy... but I respect everyones beliefs.... thats what they probably think about mine... so its cool...

[Amnorix]

To be perfectly blunt, I find nearly all religions to be pretty odd. Some are odder than others, to be sure, but they're all kinda strange to me.

A byproduct of growing up in a completely areligious household, I guess.

[Hammock Parties]

Originally Posted by Amnorix

To be perfectly blunt, I find nearly all religions to be pretty odd. Some are odder than others, to be sure, but they're all kinda strange to me.

A byproduct of growing up in a completely areligious household, I guess.

Your religion is New England Patriotism.

[jcroft]

Originally Posted by carlos3652

Yes, My best friends are mormons and they are really cool, but the funny thing is... most of them do not know their religion 100%... They deny all the crazy stuff about God having wifes in other planets and so forth,

The major religions of the world Christianity, Hinduism, Budihsm, Islam all started over 1500 years ago, Mormonism started in the 1900's ... Thats why I believe it is a cult.... They are not Christians... they believe they are....

I took a class on religions of the world and it is not considered a religion, and I've read books and watched movies on their beliefs... really crazy... but I respect everyones beliefs.... thats what they probably think about mine... so its cool...

Don't forget that there is both LDS and RLDS. I don't know all the differences, but many of the seemingly strange beliefs have been strucken from the record in Reformed LDS, I believe.

Considered a religion by you or not, the Mormon church is one of the largest in the world -- it's bigger than the United Methodit Chruch, by far.

[patteeu]

Originally Posted by ChiefsFan5840

I know tons of mormons, they are all over the place here. I've looked into the religionn a lot, and I think 100% that it is a cult. Mormons are actually very nice people, one of my very best friends is on his mission in the Dominican Republic right now. He'll be back around October 2006. I was only really good friends with him and one other mormon, who is also on his mission right now in France. But, I knew a lot of them. There are actually some really cool ones. Some people think of all mormons as "losers" or just dislike them for the fact that they are mormon because their religion for the most part is strict. I think that is pretty stupid. I have nothing at all against the people, just the religion.

I don't know much about their religion, but the mormans I've known over the years have been some of the hardest working, most trustworthy, decent people I've ever met. I'm really impressed at the work ethic and drive to succeed that they seem to instill in their children.

[Uncle_Ted]

Cue the music:

"And that's how the Book of Mormon was written, dum dum dum dum dum"

(southpark reference, for anyone that doesn't get it)

[alnorth]

According to the book of Mormon and Joseph Smith (the founder of the LDS church):

Long ago during the time of Christ, some Hebrews sailed the ocean and settled in America, they were the original Native Americans, all white skinned, and began practicing the Mormon religion, erecting temples that have never been found in our day. Some time afterwards, the native Americans who did not believe in the Mormon faith warred with and killed all the believers. God therefore turned their skin red as punishment.

Fast-forward to the 1800's. A man named Joseph Smith was praying to God asking for guidance on which faith he should join. God and Jesus appeared to tell him that all the Christian faiths were twisted abominations and that he should join none of them. Some time later, an angel named Moroni appeared to tell him to seek out the writings of the true religion that were etched on a collection of solid gold plates, written by the original Native American people who believed in the true faith long ago. When he found it, it was written in a language he described as "Reformed Egyptian". The angel then told him that with the use of some kind of special translation stones, he would be able to translate the golden texts into English.

When he did that, he had them printed out as the Book of Mormon and started his church. However, God apparently told Joseph Smith that he was not allowed to show anyone the original golden tablets, and they have never actually been seen by anyone else with their eyes. A group of loyal family members and friends of Joseph Smith later claimed to "see" the existence of the golden ancient text with their "spiritual eyes" but not with their earthly ones.

Thatll do for a Cliff's notes version of how this cult got started, if I got something wrong, someone please correct me.

[WebGem]

The only thing I have in common with mormons is that I go to church for 3 hours on Sunday. But, I only go about 16-17 times a year.

[Cannibal]

Originally Posted by alnorth

According to the book of Mormon and Joseph Smith (the founder of the LDS church):

Long ago during the time of Christ, some Hebrews sailed the ocean and settled in America, they were the original Native Americans, all white skinned, and began practicing the Mormon religion, erecting temples that have never been found in our day. Some time afterwards, the native Americans who did not believe in the Mormon faith warred with and killed all the believers. God therefore turned their skin red as punishment.

Fast-forward to the 1800's. A man named Joseph Smith was praying to God asking for guidance on which faith he should join. God and Jesus appeared to tell him that all the Christian faiths were twisted abominations and that he should join none of them. Some time later, an angel named Moroni appeared to tell him to seek out the writings of the true religion that were etched on a collection of solid gold plates, written by the original Native American people who believed in the true faith long ago. When he found it, it was written in a language he described as "Reformed Egyptian". The angel then told him that with the use of some kind of special translation stones, he would be able to translate the golden texts into English.

When he did that, he had them printed out as the Book of Mormon and started his church. However, God apparently told Joseph Smith that he was not allowed to show anyone the original golden tablets, and they have never actually been seen by anyone else with their eyes. A group of loyal family members and friends of Joseph Smith later claimed to "see" the existence of the golden ancient text with their "spiritual eyes" but not with their earthly ones.

Thatll do for a Cliff's notes version of how this cult got started, if I got something wrong, someone please correct me.

That extraordinary story alone should be enough to discredit that "religion" and prove it for what it is... complete fuking hogwash.

[RxKbolt]

I do not feel like getting into a religous argument, but for a college coure on minority groups (including religions) I was assigned to write on the LDS religon and did a lot of research on it and the past of the church. You got to be careful what videos and books you read on it because some of the stuff you guys are talking about are not true and others you guys are very vague like saying they believe werid stuff and things like that so I do not know what you mean. Besides having another book to the Bible the main two differences is that LDS believe they must keep Gods commandments to be saved and do not believe the Trinity is a single being. LDS believe that GOD Christ and the Holy Ghost are seperate beings.

Oh and one thing I found out is that the word "mormon" to describe a member of the LDS church was actually started by people who were killing of members of the LDS church because they did not like them and saw them as a threat to the status quo. They used the word "mormon" for LDS members as they did the "N-word" for African Americans. The LDS people just did not let it get to them because they have a book by the same name in hopes that it would go away, but instead that is how most of the world knows them as.

Just a little info I came across in my research

[Dave Lane]

Originally Posted by alnorth

God was once a mortal man who lived on another planet, he followed all the rules of the Mormon faith, died, became a God, and created us on Earth. Mormons believe they too could be Gods and Godesses someday if they follow all the rules and live good lives on Earth, establishing their own churches on other planets when they rise to Godhood, and all the various Gods follow the "one true God".

Yeah.

Thats the tame part, it gets goofier from there. I had always believed that Mormons were just another routine denomination of Christianity with their own unique set of minor quirks, without really knowing much about them. After watching an episode of South Park that I missed from last year, talking with a guy I met who was a Mormon missionary, and doing some research, I'm stunned that anyone would actually believe in this goofiness.

That does raise one interesting question though. As crazy and outlandish as the Mormon faith is (hopefully I'm not offending anyone here too badly!), why do I and many others believe that our religions are so much better than that wacky LDS church?

Because you were raised to belive in your religion perhaps?

Dave

[C-Mac]

Originally Posted by jcroft

Joseph Smith wrote the Book of Mormon. According to the Mormon faith, Smith was one of many prophets to have lived since biblical times. Most Christians believe there haven't been any prophets since biblical times, but Mormons believe they can (and do) still exist. Smith was one, and he wrote the word he received from God and called it the Book of Mormon.

The LDS Church uses both the Book of Mormon and the Bible.

There are those who might think of Joseph Smith as some kind of a religious prophet, but historically speaking, he definitely was no saint!