Defining LDS member/non-members....

Post by **_truth dancer** » Tue Nov 14, 2006 1:47 pm

In light of a few ongoing conversations I thought I would simply define a few terms regarding members and non-members.

Career Apostate/Anti-mormon - over-the-top, out to destroy the church, hates everything associated with it. (Decker type).

Anti-mormons - angry non-believers or those who want to destroy the church.

Apostate - those whose beliefs differ from the accepted (at the time), doctrine and who teach non-doctrinal ideas as doctrine. (Definition in the CHI).

Heretic - one who professes belief but whose believes are not aligned with official doctrine.

Non-believers - those who do not believe in the truth claims of the church.

Former member - those whose names have been removed from the rolls of the church. (Leave takers)?

Jack Mormons - those who openly do not abide by the church's teachings. (Perhaps due to WoW issues).

Inactive - those member who do not attend church.

Mormon reformers - those who believe the church is true but want to make serious changes.

Non-literalists (Internet Mormons/New Order Mormons) - those who conform teachings to their own beliefs/ideas etc.

Well informed members - those who are aware of the issues.

Literalist believers (Chapel Mormons/fundamentalists) - believes the Bible, Book of Mormon, Book of Abraham, D&C, literally, historically, and factual.

Apologists/defenders - those who defend the teachings of the church.

PBM, (Pit Bull Mormons) - modern day Danites.

What should be changed? Any other terms? Did I leave out anyone? Care to elaborate?

:-)

~dancer~

Edit to add a few catagories!

Post by **_gramps** » Tue Nov 14, 2006 3:09 pm

Where would a heretic fall in there? or is that a totally different category altogether? I think, if I'm not mistaken, that's how McMurrin classified himself.

_Yoda · Post by **_Yoda** » Tue Nov 14, 2006 3:26 pm

Non-literalists (Internet Mormons/New Order Mormons) - those who conform teachings to their own beliefs/ideas etc.

Well informed members - those who are aware of the issues.

Literalist believers (Chapel Mormons/fundamentalists) - believes the Bible, Book of Mormon, Book of Abraham, D&C, literally, historically, and factually.

Good list, TD! I would add that I think it is possible for both Non-literalists and Literalists to be Well Informed Members as well. That's where a lot of the conflict ends up happening on boards like this! LOL

Post by **_Southern Redneck** » Tue Nov 14, 2006 3:47 pm

people who stay in and try to reform the church might be a catagory

Post by **_truth dancer** » Tue Nov 14, 2006 6:00 pm

Lets see according to my online dictionary a heretic is:

a professed believer who maintains religious opinions contrary to those accepted by his or her church or rejects doctrines prescribed by that church.
2. Roman Catholic Church. a baptized Roman Catholic who willfully and persistently rejects any article of faith.
3. anyone who does not conform to an established attitude, doctrine, or principle.
–adjective

So, I have to add this to the list...

And, we can add a Mormon Reformer... one who believes the church is true but believes there needs to be changes.. how is that?

Liz... I'm thinking one person could have more than one term applied to her/him.

:-)

I'll go edit my list now!

~dancer~

Post by **_Mister Scratch** » Tue Nov 14, 2006 6:18 pm

You need a term to cover somebody like Pahoran, who is at the extreme polar opposite of Ed Decker. I.e., he goes well beyond the role of apologist, and actually seems more interested in attacking critics than defending the Church or proclaiming the Gospel. In other words, hatred for critics and anti-Mormons exceeds the person's apparent desire to defend the Church.

Post by **_truth dancer** » Tue Nov 14, 2006 7:37 pm

Good suggestion Mr. Scratch,

Hmmmm ...any name ideas for this catagory?

Danites? Extreme believers? LDS Bodyguards?

:-)

~dancer~

_Yoda · Post by **_Yoda** » Tue Nov 14, 2006 7:59 pm

truth dancer wrote:Good suggestion Mr. Scratch,

Hmmmm ...any name ideas for this catagory?

Danites? Extreme believers? LDS Bodyguards?

:-)

~dancer~

LDS Bodyguard is kind of cute! LOL

Post by **_moksha** » Tue Nov 14, 2006 8:54 pm

Southern Redneck wrote:people who stay in and try to reform the church might be a category

Do you think this could be further subdivided into Banned-from-FAIR and Not-yet-banned-from-FAIR?

I think TruthDancer's list is a very good one. While some categories may overlap, it is more comprehensive than others I have seen. If I were to combine a number of categories for myself, I would be a Non-literalistic-Marginalized-TBM. Even if my beliefs do not correspond with the majority's, I want my beliefs to be validated as True Blue or True Believing as well.

Thanks for compiling this list, TruthDancer

Post by **_moksha** » Tue Nov 14, 2006 8:56 pm

Mister Scratch wrote:You need a term to cover somebody like Pahoran, who is at the extreme polar opposite of Ed Decker. I.e., he goes well beyond the role of apologist, and actually seems more interested in attacking critics than defending the Church or proclaiming the Gospel. In other words, hatred for critics and anti-Mormons exceeds the person's apparent desire to defend the Church.

PBM? Pit Bull Mormon. Both Pit Bulls and Pahoran can be vicious but have some winsome qualities as well.