I don't call us Mormons because our church is trying to get away from that. It is true that most people are more familiar w/ that term. We believe in the Book of Mormon, we aren't actually the prophet/angel "Mormon".
We do believe ourselves to be Christian, because the basic definition of Christianity is to believe in Christ, which me most certainly do. I think the reason that the bigger churches say we are not Christian is because we don't look at the Godhead in the same light. God, Jesus, and the Holy Ghost are not the same person. God is the father of Jesus, and the Holy Ghost are all seperate entities. (well you are probably familiar w/ the Holy Ghost concept).
Finally, a religion/anti-religion thread.
Thanks for clearing that up. A lot of people have misconceptions about the Latter Day Saints - that you're all polygamists and so forth. I must admit I felt the same way until I learned that my favorite author, Orson Scott Card, was an LDS, and so I read up on the religion. It's actually a very interesting faith, and not at all like the stereotype.
Daiye Spa wrote:Corey wrote:Likewise, you shouldn't impose your non-belief of religion on someone like telling them NOT to pray in a public place, correct?
Of course. But there shouldn't be mandated prayer in a public place, either. How would you feel if you went to a football game and someone came over the loudspeaker and said, "Hey, isn't it terrific how there's no god!", and everyone started cheering or chanting. It might be no big deal to you, but then what if you went to court and they made you swear on a book called "God is Bullshit", or if they had posted on the wall 10 rules that started with "1. There is no god and people who worship one are stupid", or if after a national tragedy the President came on TV and said, "our country will unite in our atheism and attack the terrorists", or if a certain former president said, "religious people aren't real citizens anyway", or if the money said, "we don't trust in any god"?
Would you then feel differently about the church/state issue? Be honest. All of the above have been done to or said about atheists, and people just ignore it. There's no excuse for alienating citizens based on their beliefs or lack thereof.
That would be a valid argument if the opposite were the case. You don't swear on a book titled "You must believe in God" in court. The "10 rules" don't say "God is great and you must believe in Him". They are 10 generic morals. The president is an individual, he can say what he wants. You can't tell him not to speak of God. I do not know the source of your "real citizens" statement. As for money, I wouldn't mind either way. The silly thing is that it has been that way for centuries and people want to change it. This country was based on the Bible during its creation. It is mere historic tradition for some of these items and to tear away these fibres would be a shame. Nobody is forcing any religion on you. I am all for the separation of church and state, but that doesn't mean I feel as though people should be forced to keep their mouths shut about it. The separation of church and state means you cannot be prosecuted for not following a religious view. You say that this is not the case under the current administration. What policies are you referring to?
<img src="http://www.clumsymonkey.net/phpBB2/download.php?id=4500">
#define QUESTION (bb || !bb) --william shakespeare
#define QUESTION (bb || !bb) --william shakespeare
I was serious...
religion is a bad idea. people either get all pissed off about it or take it to an extreme.
Whenever death may surprise us,
let it be welcome
if our battle cry has reached even one receptive ear
and another hand reaches out to take up our arms.
Nobody's gonna miss me, no tears will fall, no ones gonna weap, when i hit that road.
my boots are broken my brain is sore, fer keepin' up with thier little world, i got a heavy load.
gonna leave 'em all just like before, i'm big city bound, your always 17 in your hometown
let it be welcome
if our battle cry has reached even one receptive ear
and another hand reaches out to take up our arms.
Nobody's gonna miss me, no tears will fall, no ones gonna weap, when i hit that road.
my boots are broken my brain is sore, fer keepin' up with thier little world, i got a heavy load.
gonna leave 'em all just like before, i'm big city bound, your always 17 in your hometown
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Axtech
- Oskar Lifetime Achievement Award: 2004
- Posts: 19796
- Joined: 3/17/2002, 5:36 pm
- Location: Kingston, Ontario, Canada
- Contact:
Daiye Spa wrote:I think I'd prefer a Playstation-playing God myself.
I think God could afford multiple gaming systems... I bet God would have Alienware.
- -
Every now and then I fall out into open air just to feel the wind, rain and everything.
And though the hum and sway gets me down, I'll find the way to peace and openness.
"Robbo" - © Alex (happeningfish)...^5 ^5 v v
Every now and then I fall out into open air just to feel the wind, rain and everything.
And though the hum and sway gets me down, I'll find the way to peace and openness.
"Robbo" - © Alex (happeningfish)...^5 ^5 v v
-
Henrietta
I'll bet God has a better sense of humor than religions make it out to be. Of course he wants you to do right, but I seriously doubt he's so stern that he's not fun. I guess that's just what I want to believe.
Daiye, you are right. The latter-day saints are very different than their sterotypes come off as. We are not polygamists! Or any of that junk. Orson Scott Card rocks! I love some of his books, but I haven't read all of them. And I commend you for reading up on them, most people woudln't take the time.
Daiye, you are right. The latter-day saints are very different than their sterotypes come off as. We are not polygamists! Or any of that junk. Orson Scott Card rocks! I love some of his books, but I haven't read all of them. And I commend you for reading up on them, most people woudln't take the time.
SpclAgntCass wrote:Daiye, you are right. The latter-day saints are very different than their sterotypes come off as. We are not polygamists! Or any of that junk. Orson Scott Card rocks! I love some of his books, but I haven't read all of them. And I commend you for reading up on them, most people woudln't take the time.
My dad also encouraged me to learn about the LDS - when he was a teenage hippie he went on a "spiritual journey" in his VW van and almost became a priest, a creepy commune member, and a latter-day saint, in that order. He finally settled down and returned to being Catholic, but he always spoke highly of the LDS church.
But yes, I adore OSC. <i>Ender's Game</i> is his best book by far, but I love the entire series, as well as <i>Wyrms</i> and <i>Treason</i>. But all of his stuff is
-worthy.
(most people call me Aerin, by the way
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Henrietta
Ahh, ok. Well people say Aerin...but I don't know which of the "above" people are Aerin. I'm Cass
Ender's Game is the most popular book in Utah, I swear.
That's kinda weird, cause we require people to officially leave their church before they are babtised. But I guess anything could have happened their.
Ender's Game is the most popular book in Utah, I swear.
That's kinda weird, cause we require people to officially leave their church before they are babtised. But I guess anything could have happened their.
SpclAgntCass wrote:Ahh, ok. Well people say Aerin...but I don't know which of the "above" people are Aerin. I'm Cass
Ender's Game is the most popular book in Utah, I swear.
That's kinda weird, cause we require people to officially leave their church before they are babtised. But I guess anything could have happened their.
I don't think he actually joined the church. He just spent a lot of time in a LDS camp-type-thing in New York. He said they act out the Book of Mormon there every year, and he was really impressed by it.
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Henrietta
mosaik wrote:all faith is inherently irrational.
the only time people pray is when they're helpless. they ask God to do things that they themselves can't do.
So, you're atheist, I take it?
On a side note to the atheists in the crowd, does not believing in a God also entail not believing in any kind of soul or spiritual consiciousness?
You can't go around building a better world for people. Only people can build a better world for people. Otherwise it's just a cage.
--Terry Pratchett
When it's cold I'd like to die
--Terry Pratchett
When it's cold I'd like to die
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Axtech
- Oskar Lifetime Achievement Award: 2004
- Posts: 19796
- Joined: 3/17/2002, 5:36 pm
- Location: Kingston, Ontario, Canada
- Contact:
Not necessarily. Personally, I don't believe in a god, but I do believe that there may be more to life and death. I mean, consciousness alone is a mind-boggling subject. The problem is, the human mind is limited, and can never fully understand itself. I've personally more or less ruled out the possibility that Christianity is the truth (I can't make such conclusions about other religions due to a lack of knowledge), but there are so many possibilities out there. For the most part, I think that we aren't meant to know what everything is supposed to mean, if it means anything at all.
- -
Every now and then I fall out into open air just to feel the wind, rain and everything.
And though the hum and sway gets me down, I'll find the way to peace and openness.
"Robbo" - © Alex (happeningfish)...^5 ^5 v v
Every now and then I fall out into open air just to feel the wind, rain and everything.
And though the hum and sway gets me down, I'll find the way to peace and openness.
"Robbo" - © Alex (happeningfish)...^5 ^5 v v
-
Henrietta
Ok, I talked to my mom tonight and she told me some more reasons that people don't think Mormons are Christian. They believe that God is once as we were. In other words, he had to have gone through a mortal life. We also believe that we can become Gods and Godesses. People tend to think that is blasphemous. Also, we have current day prophets, and other religions tend to think there are no such thing. I don't really know why, that's just stupid to me, but eh, that's the name of the game.