Freedom Posted October 22, 2011 Posted October 22, 2011 Here is a good article about us cult members.http://www.frontiers...99718543605.txt
jo1952 Posted October 22, 2011 Posted October 22, 2011 Here is a good article about us cult members.http://www.frontiers...99718543605.txtInteresting article. Thank you for sharing it.Regards,jo
ERayR Posted October 22, 2011 Posted October 22, 2011 Just a couple of things that jumped out at me. First, in my 60 plus years in and out of the church I do not see any change in claiming our right to be known as Christians. As far back as I remember and from the conversations I had with my grandfather there has always been an effort to deny LDS believers the title of Christian and an effort on the part of LDS to claim that which was rightfully theirs. As for becoming the model for American family life there again I see very little change in the LDS stand. If anything in practice and image there has been some slippage. What has happened is that those not LDS have slipped much further down the road of family destruction. There was a time when the model of family life embraced and championed by LDS was the norm. What LDS have done so far is to hold that line while others have not.
Bernard Gui Posted October 22, 2011 Posted October 22, 2011 He envisioned Mormons becoming a large, vigorous and distinct Evangelical Protestant denomination.Over Evangelical Protestantism's dead body, it will.Bernard
maklelan Posted October 22, 2011 Posted October 22, 2011 (edited) Interesting article, but quite superficial. Singling out Joseph Smith as a racist is silly. Insisting research has turned up a recent push to be identified as Christian indicates "research" means reading non-Mormon critiques of Mormonism. Fighting to be identified as Christian no more indicates a move toward being identified as Protestant as it indicates a move toward being identified as Catholic. Insisting any Mormon belief is any more unusual or improbable than talking donkeys and flying and teleporting men is quite myopic, as well. Edited October 22, 2011 by maklelan
Freedom Posted October 22, 2011 Author Posted October 22, 2011 The author do doubt looks through a glass darkly and is understandably unfamiliar with the history of our teaching; nevertheless, despite his paradigm, it is a very moving article.
Peppermint Patty Posted October 22, 2011 Posted October 22, 2011 Wow. I never knew I was in a cult until now. I'm glad I was finally able to realize this (dripping with sarcasm).
jo1952 Posted October 23, 2011 Posted October 23, 2011 (edited) The author do doubt looks through a glass darkly and is understandably unfamiliar with the history of our teaching; nevertheless, despite his paradigm, it is a very moving article.That was my feeling when I read the article. It was so obvious that he doesn't hold to a correct understanding of what he is observing (or, as you stated it: despite his paradigm), that all I felt it was necessary to say was that it is an interesting article. Unless an article is a flaming anti-LDS article, I enjoy reading what others have to say about us. In fact, I figured that is why you didn't make any comments about the contents either.Again, thanks for sharing it.Regards,jo Edited October 23, 2011 by jo1952
Stargazer Posted October 23, 2011 Posted October 23, 2011 I responded to the good Reverend's article, to his email that was mentioned in it. Just for the fun of it, here is what I wrote:--------------------------Dear Rev. Bess,I read today your article that appeared in today's edition of The Frontiersman, "Comfortable or not, the Mormons are with us."I found your article even-handed and reasonable, and I thank you for your sentiments about my church, but I was very puzzled about certain statements you made with respect to the Church identifying as Christian. When you wrote the following:"In researching for this article, I noted a significant move to identify themselves as Christians."and"I am watching his vision come true with the intentional embracing of the name Christian."I found this astonishing, quite frankly. The Church has from the beginning always and intentionally embraced the name Christian. If you've read Joseph Smith's report about what is called his "First Vision", you've certainly read that this particular revelation included the remarkable claim of the Father appearing with the Son, and the Father introducing His Son, saying "Hear him!" Whereupon Joseph reports what Jesus Christ tells him the things he must do. This was before there was an LDS Church or even a Book of Mormon. Joseph later made clear:“The fundamental principles of our religion are the testimony of the Apostles and Prophets, concerning Jesus Christ, that He died, was buried, and rose again the third day, and ascended into heaven; and all other things which pertain to our religion are only appendages to it” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, sel. Joseph Fielding Smith [1938], 121).The reason, perhaps, that you feel that is it only recently that the the Latter-day Saints have been identifying as Christians is because of the bad-mouthing some Evangelical Christian denominations and leaders have been giving the Church in the past several years, branding it as a non-Christian faith, and indeed is a cult. Of course the Church is going to respond to these allegations with protestations to the contrary, which may make it look as if it were trying to put on a new coat it had previously not worn. But I assure you that it has been proudly Christian from the beginning. The fact that the LDS do not subscribe to the various creeds that came out of Nicea and other conferences does not mean we do not hold Christ and His atonement as dear as any other Christian does. The Book of Mormon is subtitled "Another Witness for Jesus Christ", and it is obvious to the reader that it is replete with references to Jesus Christ as the Redeemer. A few examples:. . . remember that there is no other way nor means whereby man can be saved, only through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ . . . (Helaman 5:9.). . . we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins. (2 Nephi 25:26.)In fact, Christ dominates the Book of Mormon. He is referred to in 3,925 verses, more than half of the 6,607 verses in the book. It is a Christian book of scripture. And we are Christians to the core. I highly recommend that, assuming you have not already done so -- because if you had you would have noticed how prominent Christ is in the book -- you should set aside a bit of time and actually read the Book of Mormon. If you don't have a copy I would be happy to provide you one. But beware, as it sometimes happens that those who read the Book of Mormon with an open mind acquire a testimony of its divine origin. Fair warning!Thanks again for your positively-toned article!Mike Clark(Just a regular member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Olympia, Washington.) 3
jo1952 Posted October 23, 2011 Posted October 23, 2011 Awesome, Stargazer!! Please let us know if you receive a response from him.Regards,jo
Stargazer Posted October 23, 2011 Posted October 23, 2011 Awesome, Stargazer!! Please let us know if you receive a response from him.Regards,joI suspect he'll get so many emails from this that he won't notice my offering. But if he does, I will post it.
Freedom Posted October 24, 2011 Author Posted October 24, 2011 I thought of sending him an email, particularly to explain that the garments are a symbol of our covenant and that they do not hold any special power. If I have the time or inclination I will sent it along. I read this article to the priest quorum and we had a great discussion about vocabulary and finding common ground with people of other faiths. I responded to some ruder articles recently but have not received any responses. One writer was laughing at the fact that the plates just happened to be near Joseph Smith. So i asked him if, to be more realistic, God would tell Joseph that there were some plates but, unfortunately, they were buried in a swamp in Florida because God didn't know where Joseph's family would end up living.
Stargazer Posted October 24, 2011 Posted October 24, 2011 (edited) I thought of sending him an email, particularly to explain that the garments are a symbol of our covenant and that they do not hold any special power. If I have the time or inclination I will sent it along. I read this article to the priest quorum and we had a great discussion about vocabulary and finding common ground with people of other faiths. I responded to some ruder articles recently but have not received any responses. One writer was laughing at the fact that the plates just happened to be near Joseph Smith. So i asked him if, to be more realistic, God would tell Joseph that there were some plates but, unfortunately, they were buried in a swamp in Florida because God didn't know where Joseph's family would end up living.Years ago, some Southern Baptist guy I was working with ridiculed Joseph because his name was Smith, "of all things". I didn't think to ask him at the time if Jones, or possibly Finkbeiner would have been more likely in his estimation, for a prophet of God. Edited October 24, 2011 by Stargazer
Freedom Posted October 24, 2011 Author Posted October 24, 2011 Years ago, some Southern Baptist guy I was working with ridiculed Joseph because his name was Smith, "of all things". I didn't think to ask him at the time if Jones, or possibly Finkbeiner would have been more likely in his estimation, for a prophet of God.Such criticism is reminiscent of the high school bully who makes fun of someone because their shoes are blue or their shirt has a collar. I used to get all hot and bothered by such types of attacks on my religion but it is all just silly to me now.
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