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Atheists and agnostics make nonbelief their religion and today organize in unprecedented ways to attack faith and belief. They are now organized, and they pursue political power. You will be hearing much about them and from them. Much of their attack is indirect in mocking the faithful, in mocking religion.

The atheist proclaims his own dishonesty in accepting pay to teach psychology, sociology, history, or English, while he is indeed preaching his atheistic religious philosophy to his students. If the atheist wants to teach his doctrine at a public university, let him purchase property off campus and build himself a building and offer classes. Let him label them for what they are.

“Dad,” LeRoy asked one day, “what’s an atheist? Martin Pratt says he’s one.”

“I doubt that a real atheist even exists, son,” his dad replied.

“But what is an atheist?” LeRoy persisted.

“An atheist is a person who denies the existence of God.”

“Mr. Pratt says our universe is like a big automatic clock that was wound up long, long ago and that we don’t need a Heavenly Father to look after it.”

“Actually, LeRoy, nothing could be further from the truth. Perhaps one day Martin will change his mind. At least we can hope.”

A new senior companion faced a sophisticated woman lawyer who was polite but very intellectual. When the missionary asked her who the boy prophet saw in the column of light, she answered, “I am an atheist.” The elder didn’t really understand the implication, so he repeated the question. She answered again, “I am an atheist. You want me to say that Joseph Smith saw the Father and the Son, but I do not believe in God.”

The elder had never encountered an atheist before, and his first impulse was to give up and leave, but the Spirit said, “No, she will listen. Just answer the questions for her.” So the elder proceeded and said, “You are right. He saw the Father and the Son.” He continued with the presentation, but instead of asking questions directly, he asked them indirectly and answered them himself for her.

At the end of the presentation he taught her how we pray, and then courageously asked her to kneel with them and to be the voice. She did kneel and did pray to her Heavenly Father. Never again did she say that she was an atheist. She and her family subsequently were baptized.

Now I understand, of course, why one would feel that way. Nevertheless, I would say to him: “Hold on, think for a moment. Surely you can’t believe that in the great confusing variety of religious beliefs, not one of them is true, is right.”

Such a proposition generates atheism. When I think of an atheist, I believe with Sister Carol Lynn Pearson in what she wrote in her verse dedicated to the atheist:
“God must have a huge sense of humor
So righteously to resist
The temptation of turning the tables
On your pretending he does not exist.” 1

5. We’ll see individuals who will have influence on society at critical junctures. … There’ll be Colonel Kanes raised up to assist us and much of the yield will come from those who find the emptiness of Marxism and secularism. It will include a stake president I met last month who, five years ago, was an atheist and a Marxist.

This is a harder question for those who affirm the existence of God and absolute truth than for those who believe in moral relativism. The weaker one’s belief in God and the fewer one’s moral absolutes, the fewer the occasions when the ideas or practices of others will confront one with the challenge to be tolerant. For example, an atheist has no need to decide what kinds and occasions of profanity or blasphemy can be tolerated and what kinds should be confronted. Persons who don’t believe in God or in absolute truth in moral matters can see themselves as the most tolerant of persons. For them, almost anything goes. “You do your thing, and I’ll do my thing” is the popular description. This belief system can tolerate almost any behavior and almost any persons. Unfortunately, some who believe in moral relativism seem to have difficulty tolerating those who insist that there is a God who should be respected and certain moral absolutes that should be observed.

Now, in view of the almost universal concern over the quality of mortal life, and since some people seem to be happier than others, we might ask the question about eternal life: “How can I be sure to have a happy experience there?” And remember, eternity is a long, long time. Well, you can listen to those who know about it. Atheists don’t know about it. Careless, worldly, materialistic people don’t know about it or, at best, they are unconcerned.

And there are those who try to free themselves from moral obligations by claiming that they are atheists. The current generation has no monopoly on this self-deception. Thousands of years ago the psalmist observed that “God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God.” He then wrote that they had “altogether become filthy,” that there was “none that doeth good, no, not one.” And his profound chastisement at that time was this: “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.” (See Ps. 53:1–3.)

“The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.” The children of Israel poured themselves a molten calf; and though it was gold, it could neither hear, nor smell, nor see, nor think, nor feel. They had divested themselves of their jewelry and had received nothing in return. How foolish they were! How blind!

"The Mormon proclaims his own dishonesty in accepting pay to teach psychology, sociology, history, or English, while he is indeed preaching his Mormon religious philosophy to his students. If the Mormon wants to teach his doctrine at a public university, let him purchase property off campus and build himself a building and offer classes. Let him label them for what they are."

“Dad,” LeRoy asked one day, “what’s a Mormon? Martin Pratt says he’s one.”

“I doubt that a real Mormon even exists, son,” his dad replied.

“But what is a Mormon?” LeRoy persisted.

“A Mormon is a person who says he sustains a paid gerontocracy as living prophets and apostles of God, but then finds ways to disregard or marginalize the things they teach.”

“Mr. Pratt says our universe is like a big automatic clock that was wound up long, long ago that is in charge of a god-man who lives on another planet, so that this god-man can only do what the universe will let him.”

“Actually, LeRoy, nothing could be further from the truth. Perhaps one day Martin will change his mind. At least we can hope.”

A new senior companion faced a sophisticated woman lawyer who was polite but very intellectual. When the missionary asked her who the boy prophet saw in the column of light, she answered, “Why should I believe that?” The elder didn’t really understand the implication, so he repeated the question. She answered again, “I don't see why I should believe that. You want me to say that Joseph Smith saw the Father and the Son, but he told different stories about this event, he lied about polygamy, he lied about being able to translate Egyptian writings, and the Book of Mormon looks exactly how it would look if a 19th-century Yankee with a copy of the King James Bible wrote it So why should I believe this story?”

The elder had never encountered a person who was thinking this through before, and his first impulse was to give up and leave, but his preconceived beliefs and emotional investment in his belief structure said, “No, she will listen. Just answer the questions for her.” So the elder proceeded and said, “You are right. He saw the Father and the Son.” He continued with the presentation, but instead of asking questions directly, he asked them indirectly and answered them himself for her.

At the end of the presentation he taught her how we pray, and then courageously asked her to kneel with them and to be the voice. She did kneel and did pray to her Heavenly Father. Never did anyone explain why she should agree that what she perceived as answers to her prayers should be interpreted the way the missionaries told her to interpret them. She and her family subsequently were labeled as dogmatic anti-Mormons with an agenda.

Now I understand, of course, why one would feel that way. Nevertheless, I would say to him: “Hold on, think for a moment. Surely you can’t believe that in the great confusing variety of religious beliefs, not one of them is true, is right.”

Such a non sequitur generates gullibility. When I think of a Mormon, I believe with Sister Carol Lynn Pearson in what she wrote in her verse dedicated to the Mormon:
“God must think it's really funny
That you're giving so much money
And taking one for the team
For Joe's tax-free pyramid scheme.”

We’ll see individuals who will have influence on society at critical junctures. … There’ll be Mitt Romneys raised up to assist us and much of the yield will come from those who find the emptiness of crony capitalism and Mormonism. It will include a stake president I met last month who, right now, is involved in affinity fraud and wants to know all the salient details of the sex lives of church members whom he is interviewing.

bcspace wrote:Persecution is good for you. Might gain you more converts.
lol

bcspace wrote:Persecution is good for you. Might gain you more converts.
lol