zerinus wrote:Actually they don't (or rarely do). The great majority of Christians in the world are not interested in the controversy between Mormons and the critics in any case. The "anti-Mormon" community are usually people who have an axe to grind, so their criticisms lack objectivity. But having said that, even in those cases, the great majority of those who criticise Mormons do so precisely on the grounds that Mormons rely on their "feelings" to determine the truth, while they use objective criteria like archaeology, text criticism, or DNA etc. What Mormons call "testimony of the Holy Ghost," they disparagingly call "feelings". These for the most part are neither objective critics, nor even genuine Christians. They are most often Mormon apostates who have an axe to grind.Philo Sofee wrote:You forgot to say it is by the holy spirit that those Christians know Mormonism is false and that Joseph Smith is a false prophet and that the Book of Mormon is phony as well. That's their evidence against you. Now what are you going to do about that? Because obviously God tells them that you are wrong by the same manner that you claim you are right.
What you call "anti-Mormons" are ex-Mormons who have exposed the lies and frauds of Smith. We speak from knowledge and experience, which is why you can't handle us, you can only duck and dodge and diss. This has been the case since the early days of the church. Rather than address the issues, you will whine about persecution. You try to deflect all criticism with ignorant kneejerk rejections. It won't work.
Many of us were believers, Z-boy. Many of us felt the prescribed feelings and trusted people and read the books they told us to. When we found out that we were lied to, that we had worshiped a hoax, many of us became agitated. As we should. You are willing to dismiss that because you don't face us in person, you get to hide behind an avatar. We are real people who have suffered real losses and pain connected with the church. And if you don't like to hear our stories, that's just too bad.
Axe to grind? What about a failed religion writer who goes to forums and preaches but won't discuss? What's your axe, Z-boy? You can't get a real publisher and the Mormons aren't interested in you? You'll never make the shelves at Deseret Book and you'll never stand among the Brethren at GC? You're just a pawn who parades his pathetic worship of the church as if it were a virtue or a tool for life. It is neither. Mormonism has given us polygamy, subversive organizations, pseudohistory, pseudoscience and repressive politics. Mormonism in its current form is deeply incompatible with democracy, freedom and science. Perhaps that's why it appeals to you.
If you disagree with the assumptions of astronomers they can still have a discussion with you about why you disagree with them. You avoid those kind of questions put to you here about how you know the church is true.