I already did in the OP and you didn't read it. Why should I try again?Since I am such a weak, low value idiot, could you please enlighten me?
Yes, the church is peculiar, but it’s not a cult. As you have separated yourself from the church you find yourself of/in a different ‘world’ than that which a Latter-day Saint lives in.…public perception of Mormons remains ambivalent. Laurie Maffly-Kipp, professor at the University of North Carolina, wryly summed up deep-seated distrust of Mormons as the invasion of the body snatchers syndrome: “While Mormons embody the economic and moral success endorsed by the American Dream, they also subscribe to beliefs that to many, seem peculiar—even bizarre. . . . No matter how much Mormon behavior conforms to what most consider admirable (and maybe especially because they look so wholesome), some Americans are convinced Mormons secretly await an opportunity to take over the world” (277). This perception will continue as long as Mormons remain in the world but not of the world.
In the concluding chapter, Haws writes that the Church wants to be accepted as Christian, but with a distinctive brand. Terryl Givens stated the paradox this way: “You want to have acceptability . . . [so] that you can fraternize with . . . fellow Christians, but at the same time you don’t want to feel so comfortable that there’s nothing to mark you as a people who are distinct, who have a special body of teachings, a special [body of] responsibilities” (280). This different flair will likely always set us apart from our fellow Christians as well as our fellow Americans.
https://rsc.byu.edu/vol-16-no-1-2015/re ... perception
-_-MG 2.0 wrote: ↑Mon Apr 10, 2023 5:28 amCongratulations, you have arrived. You’re in good company with Ed Decker and others who in one way or another throw ‘cult bombs’ at the church and its people. You may be somewhat more sophisticated than Decker. I’ll hand you that.
Yes, the church is peculiar, but it’s not a cult. As you have separated yourself from the church you find yourself of/in a different ‘world’ than that which a Latter-day Saint lives in.…public perception of Mormons remains ambivalent. Laurie Maffly-Kipp, professor at the University of North Carolina, wryly summed up deep-seated distrust of Mormons as the invasion of the body snatchers syndrome: “While Mormons embody the economic and moral success endorsed by the American Dream, they also subscribe to beliefs that to many, seem peculiar—even bizarre. . . . No matter how much Mormon behavior conforms to what most consider admirable (and maybe especially because they look so wholesome), some Americans are convinced Mormons secretly await an opportunity to take over the world” (277). This perception will continue as long as Mormons remain in the world but not of the world.
In the concluding chapter, Haws writes that the Church wants to be accepted as Christian, but with a distinctive brand. Terryl Givens stated the paradox this way: “You want to have acceptability . . . [so] that you can fraternize with . . . fellow Christians, but at the same time you don’t want to feel so comfortable that there’s nothing to mark you as a people who are distinct, who have a special body of teachings, a special [body of] responsibilities” (280). This different flair will likely always set us apart from our fellow Christians as well as our fellow Americans.
https://rsc.byu.edu/vol-16-no-1-2015/re ... perception
Perceptions will vary depending on the ‘world’ that you live in.
You, of course, are entitled to your view. Others in this neck of the woods will jump on board.
Regards,
MG
Your cult is founded in degeneracy, your current prophet is a polygamist by your own standards, and you’ll defend this to your dying breath which makes you a cultist.A few months ago while I was preparing a talk on family history for my daughter to give in Primary, I discovered that Zera Pulsipher, at the age of 68, had polygamously married a 14 year old girl named Martha Hughes. Martha had her first baby a year later. She would have five children with him in total.
Nice work, Dean Robbers. But, for the sake of argument, doesn't this apply equally well to any committed believer finding himself in an alien, pardon the pun, culture?Gadianton wrote: ↑Sun Apr 09, 2023 8:02 pmThink about the Reptilians. The first Reptilians came to earth a long time ago. Alone, and away from their fellows. Yet, there was never the slightest flinching on their part that there may be any other truth in the universe beyond feasting upon the flesh of other species. For a cult to really be successful as a cult, it can't rely on keeping its members locked up in cages. The cage must be rooted deeply within the cultist's psyche. The missionary program no doubt has strengthened the cult aspect, because young men can go live in other parts of the world for two years and return unchallenged in the slightest by other ideas. Look at Jeff Lindsay, he goes off an lives in China, and instead of writing back on all the interesting culture he had been unaware of, he can't wait to publish this article skewering Chinese sci-fi by comparing it the majesty of Utah Mormonism. Not sure if you saw my thoughts about the new Netflix documentary about the Branch Davidians; got buried quickly in another thread. Anyway, what was shocking to me was how the child survivors interviewed were fully apologists for David Koresh, having now lived the majority of their lives outside the compound. Look at DCP, all those world travels and nothing has dented his fry-sauce Utah Mormonism in the slightest.
And so, think of these Reptilians. A Reptilian travels millions of lightyears to earth, perhaps lives alone per his or her assignment, and takes up an identity and a profession as a human. Perhaps he's a scientist, and has quite an illustrious and interesting career -- well, it's just fun and games, a ruse that doesn't matter. What's core is the true identity with the secret purpose. And so I imagine the high point of the cultist is when two Reptilians who don't know each other and operating in deep cover, meet each other in the field and are able to pick up on cues from each other, and share a moment of mutual recognition and perhaps they exchange a brief smile, each letting the other know that they know, and that they both know the real truth.
When you can take the Mormon out of Utah but can't take Utah out of the Mormon, that's when you know the cause will be successful. You don't need something like Yankee White to protect the secret, the agents protect the secret implicitly.
You are just playing apologetic word games here. Your mistake is in accepting that cults are necessarily bad. Instead you come here to insist on your church's idiosyncratic insider terminology, a move that is completely self-defeating in that it is exactly what anyone would expect from someone who is in a cult.
Thanks, msnobody. Interesting that an organization devoted to the study of cults does not think of the LDS Church as such. I think that is a fair assessment. On the other hand, I do see why others view the LDS Church as culty. After all, the church has a system of temple worship that excludes outsiders (both physically and in terms of access to certain information), that gets its members to pledge literally everything to the church, and that requires members to lead a lifestyle and dress in a way that sets them apart from the rest of modern society.msnobody wrote: ↑Mon Apr 10, 2023 12:07 pmCharacteristics Associated with Cultic Groups
https://www.icsahome.com/articles/characteristics
“Concerted efforts at influence and control lie at the core of cultic groups, programs, and relationships. Many members, former members, and supporters of cults are not fully aware of the extent to which members may have been manipulated, exploited, even abused. The following list of social-structural, social-psychological, and interpersonal behavioral patterns commonly found in cultic environments may be helpful in assessing a particular group or relationship.
Compare these patterns to the situation you were in (or in which you, a family member, or friend is currently involved). This list may help you determine whether there is cause for concern. Bear in mind that this list is not meant to be a “cult scale” or a definitive checklist to determine whether a specific group is a cult. This is not so much a diagnostic instrument as it is an analytical tool.”
for what it's worth, back in the early 2000’s, ICSA did not consider Mormonism a cult.
One difference that comes to mind is that people in monasteries are not having children and raising them to be monks.
