Where would you be without the church?

[Guest]

I was in on a discussion my wife was having with a friend. During the discussion our friend told us about someone they knew who was on drugs, and her life was totally messed up, her boyfriend was in prison, etc, etc. Our friend then said, "I told my kids that she is an example of someone who does not have the gospel in their lives." I just nodded my head (the way Jim nods his head when Dwight speaks words of wisdom on The Office). What can you say to that? I hear it a lot. Last I checked there were about 300 million americans, and about 6 million Mormons in America. Only about half of Mormons are active, so roughly 1% of Americans have the gospel in their lives. Are we supposed to believe that 99% of Americans are strung out on drugs, living in crappy trailer parks, or in prison? Are these people blind to all the non-mormons around them that are living a decent life? The only theory that makes sense is the people who say this live in a Mormon bubble. They don't associate outside the Mormon bubble, and the only good people they know are the Mormons in their bubble. To add more weight to my theory, I rarely hear this from LDS men. It is typically from the women. LDS men deal more with non-mormons, because of work, so they see how there can be good people outside the church. LDS women tend to stay at home, and only interact with other LDS women. That's my theory at least.

[_just me]

Free.

But, yeah, I think there is at least one poster here (or was it the other board) who said they would be a murderer and rapist without the gospel...so, I hope they never leave the church. LOL

This is something you hear from members sometimes. They assume they have no self control or guidance or purpose without the "gospel" telling them what to do and not do. Sad, really.

[_Buffalo]

Free.

But, yeah, I think there is at least one poster here (or was it the other board) who said they would be a murderer and rapist without the gospel...so, I hope they never leave the church. LOL

This is something you hear from members sometimes. They assume they have no self control or guidance or purpose without the "gospel" telling them what to do and not do. Sad, really.

I'm not sure I ever speculated, as a believer, what I would be like without the gospel. It turns out the answer is, "happier, and no better or worse a person than I was before."

[_Tchild]

You would have to be deaf, dumb, blind and stupid to not be able to see that the world has millions of fulfilled and responsible people who have found their happiness outside of the Mormon "gospel", outside Christianity and even of organized religion.

Of course, when you live in a religio-cultural bubble, oftentimes that ignorance equates to being deaf, dumb, blind and stupid.

The "gospel" can transform lives, but so can other belief systems and organizations. Then again, there are many within Mormonism who supposedly put on the facade of living the "gospel" who are addicts (which usually is not a moral failing, but more of a disease) , act immoral to their stated beliefs and who are unprincipled in many regards.

Maybe it shouldn't be said that people need the "gospel", but rather that people shouldn't be clueless dolts when judging other people.

[_DarkHelmet]

You would have to be deaf, dumb, blind and stupid to not be able to see that the world has millions of fulfilled and responsible people who have found their happiness outside of the Mormon "gospel", outside Christianity and even of organized religion.

Of course, when you live in a religio-cultural bubble, oftentimes that ignorance equates to being deaf, dumb, blind and stupid.

The "gospel" can transform lives, but so can other belief systems and organizations. Then again, there are many within Mormonism who supposedly put on the facade of living the "gospel" who are addicts (which usually is not a moral failing, but more of a disease) , act immoral to their stated beliefs and who are unprincipled in many regards.

Maybe it shouldn't be said that people need the "gospel", but rather that people shouldn't be clueless dolts when judging other people.

Agreed. It is great that people found happiness in the LDS gospel, but it comes across as condescending when they look at people outside the church who may be struggling and say it is because they don't have the gospel in their lives. There are plenty of decent, faithful, LDS members who are living the LDS gospel to the fullest, and yet find themselves struggling with health, career, family, etc. I'm sure some evangelical anti-mormons might look at that person and tell their kids, "That's an example of what happens when you join the Mormon cult." The LDS attitude to the non-mormon world is no better than anti-mormons towards them.

[_Drifting]

You would have to be deaf, dumb, blind and stupid to not be able to see that the world has millions of fulfilled and responsible people who have found their happiness outside of the Mormon "gospel", outside Christianity and even of organized religion.

Of course, when you live in a religio-cultural bubble, oftentimes that ignorance equates to being deaf, dumb, blind and stupid.

The "gospel" can transform lives, but so can other belief systems and organizations. Then again, there are many within Mormonism who supposedly put on the facade of living the "gospel" who are addicts (which usually is not a moral failing, but more of a disease) , act immoral to their stated beliefs and who are unprincipled in many regards.

Maybe it shouldn't be said that people need the "gospel", but rather that people shouldn't be clueless dolts when judging other people.

Agreed. It is great that people found happiness in the LDS gospel, but it comes across as condescending when they look at people outside the church who may be struggling and say it is because they don't have the gospel in their lives. There are plenty of decent, faithful, LDS members who are living the LDS gospel to the fullest, and yet find themselves struggling with health, career, family, etc. I'm sure some evangelical anti-Mormons might look at that person and tell their kids, "That's an example of what happens when you join the Mormon cult." The LDS attitude to the non-mormon world is no better than anti-Mormons towards them.

In fact, high numbers of Mormons can be said to be mindless Anti-Non-Mormons.