Christian Differences

[jskains]

After reading Mr. Smith's comments about why Mormons would be bad for the U.S. Presidency, it reminds me of the biggest gripe I have about Christians who bash that we are a false religion worshipping a "different" God.

What confuses me is how these "mainstream" organizations choose which differences are OK, but which are not.

Here is a list of some differences I think have huge theological reprcussions but seem to get a pass by traditional Christians:

1. Baptism - Not needed? Drop on the head? Full emersion?

2. Homosexuality - Some Churches now believe that the original view of "traditional" Christianity is wrong, and homosexuality described in the bible is different than modern homosexuality.

3. Woman in the clergy - Some Churches believe this is wrong, while others believe Paul himself talked about female religious leaders.

4. A literal bible vs a book of moral stories - Some Churches now claim that Noah and Jonah are stories, not to be taken literally. This to me has very monumental impacts, as there is no clear seperation in the Bible on what is real and what is a "story" leaving an open book on what can be taken seriously and what can be tossed away as fiction.

5. The Virginity of Mary - Being debated at many levels.

6. Lucifer as Satan - Same as the Virginity of Mary.

I could go on and on, but a lot of these arugments can seperate different religious traditions. Catholisism has a lot of aspects that challenge Evangelical / Protestant views (yet oddly the Smith guy is OK with Catholisism).

But Mormonism, for some reason, does NOT get a pass. No matter how much of LDS theology has been brought up before (was Jesus seperate or not) for some reason any question the LDS Church brings to the table is just false religion, period. Does anyone have a honest position that justifies this selective decision making that allows some differences in theological interpretation? It frankly seems arbetrary and in the end a completely fabricated selection that simply makes Mormonism the bad guy no matter what?

JMS