Mormon apologists describe LDS church as "bigoted"

[_ldsfaqs]

I think one indicator of Mormon tolerance is that hardly any Mormons go on websites to denounce other religions.

That's right, and most who do go to other forums, only condemn other religions while in the process of defending the faith. Yes, there is the very rare person who might be angry, generally about Christian anti-mormonism, but we defend the Faith, not attack it.

[_Darth J]

That is correct..... Mormon is equivalent to the "sect" designation.

I agree. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the largest sect of Mormonism (by number of alleged members on paper).

Further, every single person in this thread STILL ignores the fact of what the LDS Church actually said, thus misrepresenting the Church.
It wasn't the Church saying it....

Maybe some unknown person or persons issued a press release on the Church's behalf without the Church knowing about it.

The Church didn't create the "Associated Press Stylebook"..... The Church simply asked that reporters follow the rules. Simple. Yet, the anti's pervert the facts and try to claim the Church was being "bigoted".

And you all still really believe you don't use a little truth to lie??? You just did it again!!!

Where do you think the guidelines in the Associate Press Stylebook comes from, and why do you think that just because a guideline is in there, that guideline is objectively true?

[_ldsfaqs]

Where do you think the guidelines in the Associate Press Stylebook comes from, and why do you think that just because a guideline is in there, that guideline is objectively true?

The Guidelines come from the Associated Press dorkwad......

The "Guideline" is objectively true because first Mormons didn't create it, and second the other sects ALSO have their own designations. Of course, the various sects contributed to the guidelines to help create the proper designations. Still, as said, they have their OWN designations, and thus they should be followed so there is professionalism and consistency.

It's like Dr. Shades and his "Grammar" lessons.... Is Dr. Shades doing something evil and sinister for simply asking people to have some proper grammar, and explain it? No.... and neither is the Church for simply asking the media to follow THEIR OWN standards and rules.

[_malkie]

I think one indicator of Mormon tolerance is that hardly any Mormons go on websites to denounce other religions.

That's right, and most who do go to other forums, only condemn other religions while in the process of defending the faith. Yes, there is the very rare person who might be angry, generally about Christian anti-mormonism, but we defend the Faith, not attack it.

Where do you think the guidelines in the Associate Press Stylebook comes from, and why do you think that just because a guideline is in there, that guideline is objectively true?

The Guidelines come from the Associated Press dorkwad......

The "Guideline" is objectively true because first Mormons didn't create it, and second the other sects ALSO have their own designations. Of course, the various sects contributed to the guidelines to help create the proper designations. Still, as said, they have their OWN designations, and thus they should be followed so there is professionalism and consistency.

It's like Dr. Shades and his "Grammar" lessons.... Is Dr. Shades doing something evil and sinister for simply asking people to have some proper grammar, and explain it? No.... and neither is the Church for simply asking the media to follow THEIR OWN standards and rules.

I was going to ask:

Don't you regard Dr Shades as "evil and sinister"? Should you not question his motives in "asking people to have some proper grammar"?

but I won't because I realise that I would be just following in the footsteps of Darth J and Moksha.

by the way, Moksha, I'm surprised at you - where is the kind, gentle penguin we have all come to know and love?

[Guest]

The "Guideline" is objectively true because first Mormons didn't create it, and second the other sects ALSO have their own designations.

Yes, they have their own designations, and they have asked the media to call them "fundamentalist Mormons":

The Principle Voices Coalition has learned that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has sent a letter to media outlets asking that the term “fundamentalist Mormon” not be used. In the recent past, the Church has insisted that we instead be defined as “polygamous sects”, even though most of us are not (and do not refer to ourselves as) polygamists.

We strenuously object to any efforts to deprive us and others of the freedom to name and describe ourselves by terms of our own choosing. Fundamentalist Mormons have been referred to by that name since the 1930s, often by the Church itself. We are proud of our Mormon heritage. Plural marriage is only one of the tenets of our religion, the Gospel of Jesus Christ as restored through Joseph Smith.

Ironically, the LDS Church has been justifiably uncomfortable with repeated assertions by members of some Christian denominations that Latter-day Saints are not Christians. In many ways, we consider ourselves to be adherents to Mormonism (and Christianity) no less than were Joseph Smith, Brigham Young and John Taylor. What distinguishes us from the modern, mainstream Church is that we have endeavored to observe the original, fundamental precepts of the restored Gospel, while the Church itself has, since the early 1900s, repudiated several of them.

------

The Principle Voices Coalition – contact: Anne Wilde

The Apostolic United Brethren – contact: David Dye

The Davis County Cooperative Society – contact: Carlene Cannon

The Work of Jesus Christ (Centennial Park) – contact: Marlyne Hammon

and numerous independent fundamentalist Mormons

I don't know how the Associated Press's book of guidelines came about, but its incorrect when it asks reporters not to call other LDS groups "Mormon." "Fundamentalist Mormon" is what many of those groups self-identify as and what they want to be called. Other non-polygamous groups such as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (i. e. Strangite church) also self-identify as "Mormon." If it's bigotry to refuse to grant someone a label that they self-identify as, then the LDS church should not encourage such bigotry.

Although personally, I don't think such contention involving labels is automatically bigoted. I think its fair game for one group to polemically contend that another group does not meet the label they wish to apply to themselves. That may include Mormons arguing that fundamentalist groups are not "Mormon" as well as Christian groups arguing that Mormons are not "Christians." It's Mormon Voices that really got it wrong.

[_Darth J]

Where do you think the guidelines in the Associate Press Stylebook comes from, and why do you think that just because a guideline is in there, that guideline is objectively true?

The Guidelines come from the Associated Press dorkwad......

Thank you for your circular reasoning. How did whoever compiled these guidelines decide what the guidelines should be?

The "Guideline" is objectively true because first Mormons didn't create it, and second the other sects ALSO have their own designations. Of course, the various sects contributed to the guidelines to help create the proper designations. Still, as said, they have their OWN designations, and thus they should be followed so there is professionalism and consistency.

I appreciate your self-contradictory observation that the guidelines are objectively true because Mormons did not create them, but at the same time the various sects contributed to the guidelines. However, who created the guidelines is not determinative of the issue of whether the guidelines are objectively true. Just because a non-Mormon thinks only members of the LDS Church can legitimately self-identify as "Mormons" does not mean that the non-Mormon promulgating this idea is correct.

It's like Dr. Shades and his "Grammar" lessons.... Is Dr. Shades doing something evil and sinister for simply asking people to have some proper grammar, and explain it? No.... and neither is the Church for simply asking the media to follow THEIR OWN standards and rules.

The established rules of grammar in a language are not analogous to the historical and sociological questions involved in the issue of the name that members in a given religious movement give themselves. Members of the FLDS Church do in fact call themselves "Mormons" and want outsiders to call them "Mormons." Just ask that notorious anti-Mormon LIAR, Richard L. Bushman:

Mormonism: A Very Short Introduction [Pages 13-14]

Varieties of Mormonism

Mormonism now consists of scores of independent factions that have emerged over the years. The church bearing the name of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, headquartered in Salt Lake City, is only the largest entity in a broad movement. A number of separate groups sprang up in the decades after Joseph Smith's death in 1844 when there was a contest to succeed him as president of the church. After Brigham Young led the largest contingent west to the Great Basin in 1847, a substantial number of Mormons who stayed behind formed the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints under Joseph Smith's son. Known since 2001 as the Community of Christ, this branch of Mormonism is headquartered in Independence, Missouri.

In the early twentieth century, another major split took place following the abandonment of plural marriage in 1890. So-called fundamentalist groups held on to polygamy and claimed to continue authentic Mormonism. They believed that the main body of the church had strayed. The fundamentalists are the groups now notorious in the press for their practice of plural marriage in opposition to anti-bigamy laws.

These divergent wings of the Mormon movement exemplify the complex forces operating within Mormonism to this day.