It's been a while. New religion thread. You know the drill.

[87e30]

I have several morman friends who are leaving or have left for their missions.

they must leave for 2 years to a place chosen by their church, although it's supposedly chosen by God, however the bishop(?) kind of just chooses from what I've heard. I was raised very Christian and thus was pretty anti-morman. However, as I've gotten older I'd consider myself pretty much detached from all religion. I still find the Mormon religion really hard to believe and full of many wacky beliefs. I was having a conversation with a friend of mine about his religion and he too admitted there are many many odd discrepancies in the religion but claimed it was one of those things he just over looked since he was brought up in it.

[Farbin Kaiber]

Great thread, Farbin

I don't care for religion, but this thread (and other one) is informative and a good read. Keep it going.

Thanks, will try. I'll be posting more stuff in here in a few days.

[der affe]

i forgot i had a Mo roommate, Ceephus. he came from Vernal UT. moved out here to go to UTI. he wasn't really into the MO thing though, but used to tell F'ed up stories about it and had not gone to church in years.
somehow they found out where he was living and started sending people to the house to bring him "back to the flock" so to speak. i solved that with a NAKED door answering. then they started calling his parents and him asking for their % of his income for the church.

nice, but nieve guy. he moved back to Vernal and met a girl and got married a few months ago. i will have to ask him if they did it in the temple (iirc from the invitation it was in the park) and if he went back to the whole MO thing.

[ldsbeaker]

I have a friend at work who is Mormon. He's a solid dude; doesn't push shit on anyone, participates in most of the office ribbing that takes place, works hard, goes on our different sports events from the office, etc.

I think it boils back down to how hard-core the people are in how they relate to other people with regards to their religious beliefs. Someone can believe whatever they want, just don't push your shit on me or try to impact my life with it.

You have encapsulated me. I consider myself a pretty good Mormon (full tithe, endowed, married in the temple), but at the same time, I'm not the pushy type. If someone asks, I'll answer, but I'm not going to go knock doors in my free time for kicks. I've been known to consume caffeinated beverages (DrPepper, not coffee or tea; it's a small difference, but I feel okay about it), and utter swear words from time to time.
I converted when I was 18 after I joined the Marines.

Seems like most R3V'ers are full fledged members of the Church of Non-Spellers or the Grammer Duzn't Mattur Becuz This Be's Tha Interwebz-ions.

Bret, you crack me up. I miss NC because of you. (yes hetero)

[Farbin Kaiber]

What did you convert from? And what was the flashpoint that pushed you to convert to LDS?






(Also, you are the member I have been waiting to see post ITT, Thanks for doing so.)

[der affe]

ok here is a question about the % of income that you must give to the church.
is that real or just another story?

one good thing i can say for the morman church is that they have a VERY strong community, as long as you are in good standing.

my mom's friend had her husband put them into MASSIVE debt with gambling then not paying bills and running up the credit cards, then bail and divorce her leaving her to raise 4 kids, one with downs syndrome, by herself. they excommunicated him, and have been helping her out to varrying degrees as she has gotten back on her feet. she would have been ruined without their help.

[ldsbeaker]

What did you convert from? And what was the flashpoint that pushed you to convert to LDS?
(Also, you are the member I have been waiting to see post ITT, Thanks for doing so.)

I was out of town with scout camp last week. No internet, no mafia wars, no cell phone, no WORK! It was AWESOME.
My mom was JW, and my dad was Catholic. They decided that they didn't want to push religion on us. They only told us about God and Jesus and that Jesus died for us. I started hanging out with Mormons in HS, but my parents didn't want the missionaries in the house. I moved out, joined the Marines and got baptised.

The "flashpoint" was really just who I was comfortable with. I think we can all agree that most "christian" religions are basically the same, each have their own twist on things, I happened to agree most with LDS doctrine and people. That being said, there's a popular saying in the church "The gospel is perfect, not the people." I also believe in that very much.
I happen to agree (with the church) that marriages are forever, families are forever, modesty is important, having a clean body normally leads to health and long life, drugs are BAD (mmmmkay? ^__^), and everyone has their own free will. I try to live my life as best I can, no one is perfect, so who am I to judge?
I try not to talk about it too much because people just plain get the wrong idea, "I heard xxx", or "my friend the mormon did xxx". There's plenty of "anti" stuff out there, and I have no doubt that there are videos and explicit explanations about the temple and garments and all that. That's fine.
I know that I'm doing the right thing for me and my family. At the end of the day, that's what I'm responsible for. Yes, the church would love it if I knocked doors and was truly "on fire" for the Church, but that kind of activity isn't really for everyone. I've leaped the big hurdle (tithing), and I participate at church and in church activities. I feel good about that, and have nothing to prove.

Der affe: It's 10% of our increase. Comes from the Bible. Some people do 10% of gross, some do 10% of net, etc... In the end, it's you who decides what your level of commitment is.

That picture is kickass, btw... vvvvvvv

[M42Technik]

Hai guize

[Alkasquawlik]

I may be totally off base here, but the vibe I'm getting is that the majority of Mormons enjoy the church because of it's community and the feeling of moral "well being" they get from participating, not so much the religion itself.
Am I right, or going off on a tangent?

[Farbin Kaiber]

Now we get to the good stuff...

If Jesus died on the cross for our sins, to buy the "whole" lot, to cover our sins, then why should we worry about sins?

Everytime one looks at themself, and contemplates their sins, they are crucifying Jesus all over again.

The entire NT states that we are all sinners, covered by the blood of Jesus, as known sinners, and looking on ones self is looking away from the faith in God/Jesus, and wasting time looking at ones neighbors.

Isn't Faith the only thing that matters?

Sure, we can do good things, but it's not what God is looking for, he made the Angels perfect, he does not expect/want perfection from us, simply faith in his being.

[SpecM]

I'll jump in this too...

I'm one of Jehovah's Witnesses, and am by choice. I was raised in that faith, but I live on my own (with my wife, that is) and we both attend a different congragation that my parents, so they don't pressure me. I love my faith, and honestly have studied it, scrutinized it, and came to my own conclution.

As for the door-to-door bit, yes I do that too, but I work full time secularly, so I can only devote about 10 hours or so a month to that. I do NOT push my beliefs on anyone else, I honestly believe that I have good news to share from God's word the Bible, and that people are free to make thier own choices.

We are Christans, and we do believe in Jesus, and that he is God's son and he was sent here to die for our sins. We believe that God's true Name is "Jehovah", He names Himself in the origional text of the Bible. We believe that we are His witnesses, therefore we are "Jehovah's Witnesses".

Just sharing :D

[Alkasquawlik]

Now we get to the good stuff...

If Jesus died on the cross for our sins, to buy the "whole" lot, to cover our sins, then why should we worry about sins?

Everytime one looks at themself, and contemplates their sins, they are crucifying Jesus all over again.

The entire NT states that we are all sinners, covered by the blood of Jesus, as known sinners, and looking on ones self is looking away from the faith in God/Jesus, and wasting time looking at ones neighbors.

Isn't Faith the only thing that matters?

Sure, we can do good things, but it's not what God is looking for, he made the Angels perfect, he does not expect/want perfection from us, simply faith in his being.

He doesn't expect us to be perfect, but he doesn't want us to blatantly sin all the time knowing he have a "get out of jail free" card due to Him dying on the cross for us.

[Turf1600]

I'll jump in this too...

I'm one of Jehovah's Witnesses, and am by choice. I was raised in that faith, but I live on my own (with my wife, that is) and we both attend a different congragation that my parents, so they don't pressure me. I love my faith, and honestly have studied it, scrutinized it, and came to my own conclution.

As for the door-to-door bit, yes I do that too, but I work full time secularly, so I can only devote about 10 hours or so a month to that. I do NOT push my beliefs on anyone else, I honestly believe that I have good news to share from God's word the Bible, and that people are free to make thier own choices.

We are Christans, and we do believe in Jesus, and that he is God's son and he was sent here to die for our sins. We believe that God's true Name is "Jehovah", He names Himself in the origional text of the Bible. We believe that we are His witnesses, therefore we are "Jehovah's Witnesses".

Just sharing :D

How come you guys can't salute the american flag or celebrate any holiday except new year's?

[Farbin Kaiber]

He doesn't expect us to be perfect, but he doesn't want us to blatantly sin all the time knowing he have a "get out of jail free" card due to Him dying on the cross for us.

Says who? That is a Catholic belief. Read the NT in its original Aramaic/ Koine Greek form, with those specific languages definitions.

Faith in Him is all he is looking for, nothing more. Anything else is a concept/pretext of Man being placed on His Word.


It's not a "get out of jail free" card, it's God knowing how he created man, and beginning a new testament to replace the laws of the OT. Why else did he allow his son to die? Otherwise, your killing him all over again.

[SpecM]

How come you guys can't salute the american flag or celebrate any holiday except new year's?

"Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that bowing down to a flag or saluting it, often in conjunction with an anthem, is a religious act that ascribes salvation, not to God, but to the State or to its leaders." -quoted from one of our publications, Keep Yourselves in God's Love

We strongly believe that we owe EXCULSIVE devotion and allegence to God, and that saluting the flag, or "plegding allegence", is not respectful to God's position as, well, God. And it's not really an "American flag" thing, either. If it makes you feel better, Jehovah's Witnesses in Germany in the 30's and 40's refused to "heil Hitler", and were put in consentration camps for it, like Jews.

As for holidays, most holiday have roots in false religious and even Pagan beleifs, including Christmas and Easter. Natialistic holidays too, for the same reason as the flag salute. Most of Jehovah's Witnesses wouldn't de facto celibrate New Year's, btw, but mostly due to the raudy drinking.

I don't mind questons btw, so keep 'em coming, as long as we can have an honest and respectful environment!