Informing non-members about Mormonism- suggestions

[_Dwight Frye]

I was hoping to get some input as to what you all feel is important to include when informing non-members about Mormonism. In other words, so they will have a total picture of the LDS church. information that could be contained in a brief discussion and later elaborated on if needed. Thanks!

As good a place as any to start would be with the first principle of the gospel as described by the Church's first prophet:

It is the first principle of the gospel to know for a certainty the character of God, and to know that we may converse with Him as one man converses with another, and that He was once a man like us; yea, that God himself, the Father of us all, dwelt on an earth, the same as Jesus Christ Himself did.

[_antishock8]

I work in an environment that is 99.99% Mormon-free. When people find out that I was raised Mormon they ask me what it's all about. This is my response in a nutshell:

1) It's a f*** up cult.

2) It destroys peoples' lives because it demands that it is placed before anyone and everything else (remember the promise we made?).

3) If you leave your family, in-laws, and "friends" will talk endlessly about you, and it's not good. More than a few marriages end up in divorce, and it's your fault for "breaking your promises"... Not for wanting to get out of the cult.

And if they start pressing for details I'll go into social customs like serving a mission, getting married young, funny underwear and why they wear it, and their clannishness.

That usually does it.

Yea and your presentation is about as balanced, reasonable and fair as you view the missionary presentation of the LDS Church to those they are preaching to.

Brother. That IS the balanced point of view. Don't forget, I was raised in the cult, served a mission to Peru, was married in the Bellvue temple, and served in various positions within the Mormon church before I came to terms with its deception. I don't know who you think you're talking to, but I can assure you I've been there and done that reference every possible Mormon 'thing' there is to do...

[_Jason Bourne]

Brother. That IS the balanced point of view. Don't forget, I was raised in the cult, served a mission to Peru, was married in the Bellvue temple, and served in various positions within the Mormon church before I came to terms with its deception. I don't know who you think you're talking to, but I can assure you I've been there and done that reference every possible Mormon 'thing' there is to do..

So? I was raised in the Church, served a mission, married in the temples, served in many positions and know about much of what you feel is deceptive ( of which some I can agree with) and your position is skewed and irrational, in my opinion. I think whatever anger you have about this distorts the reality. It is a very unbalanced view.

[_Jersey Girl]

So? I was raised in the Church, served a mission, married in the temples, served in many positions and know about much of what you feel is deceptive ( of which some I can agree with) and your position is skewed and irrational, in my opinion. I think whatever anger you have about this distorts the reality. It is a very unbalanced view.

Alright...

Jason, how can you expect a ex-Mo to have a balanced view when they so obviously chose against continued membership in the church?

Is that a reasonable expectation?

[_harmony]

So? I was raised in the Church, served a mission, married in the temples, served in many positions and know about much of what you feel is deceptive ( of which some I can agree with) and your position is skewed and irrational, in my opinion. I think whatever anger you have about this distorts the reality. It is a very unbalanced view.

all right...

Jason, how can you expect a ex-Mo to have a balanced view when they so obviously chose against continued membership in the church?

Is that a reasonable expectation?

The same question can be asked of those who know, yet choose to stay in. Is a balanced view a reasonable expectation?

[_Jersey Girl]

The same question can be asked of those who know, yet choose to stay in. Is a balanced view a reasonable expectation?

Agreed. Those who choose to exit the church, those who may doubt and stay, those who firmly and fully believe that the church is true are not functioning from the stand point of a "balanced view". People make their decisions based on strong opinions. I can see no room for a "balanced view" in those decisions.

Why should there be? Are people not entitled to be convinced of their own positions?

[_antishock8]

Brother. That IS the balanced point of view. Don't forget, I was raised in the cult, served a mission to Peru, was married in the Bellvue temple, and served in various positions within the Mormon church before I came to terms with its deception. I don't know who you think you're talking to, but I can assure you I've been there and done that reference every possible Mormon 'thing' there is to do..

So? I was raised in the Church, served a mission, married in the temples, served in many positions and know about much of what you feel is deceptive ( of which some I can agree with) and your position is skewed and irrational, in my opinion. I think whatever anger you have about this distorts the reality. It is a very unbalanced view.

I'm sorry, what's your view again? Because I don't know.

What I've presented is true. The Mormon church fits the definition of a cult. It tears families apart. It demands you place the Kingdom of God before everything. I think I provided an accurate, and balanced, point of view.

You might counter by offering up the propaganda that Mormonism makes people good, but from what I've seen, having been raised in the cult and by interacting with the liars and deceivers on boards like this and others is that Mormonism makes people into terrible people. Fathers abandoning gay sons. Professors obfuscating matters, on purpose, to keep "faith" alive in whomever. The organization taking away the rights of other citizens who just want to be treated as equals. Mandating young men to serve missions, and tearing them away from their families and sending them into the world to hock their religion. Barring non-Mormon families from watching their sons and daughters marry. The list just doesn't end, Jason.

And if someone wants to leave that cult he or she is ostracized more often than not. Friends cease to be. Family rejects kin. Community turns it back.

The Mormon cult lives to serve itself and its own interests. This is a fact. Very little "charity" it gives to the world is nothing more than propaganda for its own members and for the media.

Please don't act like you don't know what the deal is. You know the deal. I'm not going to get into a tit for tat, but it is what it is. You can continue to make excuses for that cult, or not. It's up to you. But what I've said is accurate, and it's balanced. What's NOT balanced is not describing the cult how it is. That's skewed. And saying that an ex-Mormon is the one that has a problem... C'mon, now. That's too easy. That's shifting the blame.

[_harmony]

It demands you place the Kingdom of God before everything.

Actually, this is incorrect, as far as it goes. The temple demands allegiance to the church, not the Kingdom of God.

[_Jason Bourne]

all right...

Jason, how can you expect a ex-Mo to have a balanced view when they so obviously chose against continued membership in the church?

Let's see

Antishock wrote:

1) It's a f*** up cult.

2) It destroys peoples' lives because it demands that it is placed before anyone and everything else (remember the promise we made?).

3) If you leave your family, in-laws, and "friends" will talk endlessly about you, and it's not good. More than a few marriages end up in divorce, and it's your fault for "breaking your promises"... Not for wanting to get out of the cult.

It destroys lives? How so? It is not a cult, no more than any other religion. Perhaps your active LDS family does talk about you. I will give him that. Divorce? At times when one loses faith and the other does not I imagine this happens. Does it always? No. Does it often? Not that I have seen. I could be wrong.

On the other hand the spouse that still believes may feel part of the bargain the marriage was based on had been reneged on. Does that make it ok? No. Do I understand how it may happen? Sure. Is that the religions fault? Is that what people need to know about it? I think there is a lot more to Mormonism than this characterization. Don't you? Some of it good, some not as good.

Is that a reasonable expectation?

yes it is reasonable. There are many here who have left the LDS Church that present a much more balanced view.

[_Jason Bourne]

Well antishock I do not have the energy to argue the point. I see some of what you say but much of it I disagree with. Mormonism is a religion and just that. It is better than some and may be worse than others. For many it works quite well and does make them better person in spite of your protestations. For many it makes them better fathers and mother and makes stronger families. For others it does not work. Clearly you are one of those.

I am not an LDS person who would be in favor of abandoning children because they are gay or doing some other thing that the church is opposed too. I have found that most the LDS parents I know that are active feel the same way. Some don't. Some are rigid and make bad decisions. Does the Church teach them to ostracize a child that is not living LDS standards? I think not. Does this happen because of the way some apply what the Church teaches? Sure.

You have no better view of the LDS Church than I do and perhaps I have a more rational and reasonable view than you and even than those who are more toe the liners than I am.

Anyway I am sure we will not agree at all on this. I am sorry that for you the LDS Church has become what you think it is.