pimpdave wrote: Wait, demonfork, explain this then:
Not being Mormon (and definitely not believing the book of Mormon), I none-the-less take issue with a few of these.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFZ1jVO3-OE
Why do you hate black people? Why are you a racist? Why did Jesus come to earth from another planet to only save white people?[/quote]
This was an old belief, since rescinded. I, too have a problem with an infallible book that seems to justify racism. However, the church now says that "make white" basically menas "make pure" and is not necessarily a racial reference.
pimpdave wrote:
Why did Mormons kidnap and rape teenage girls and then lie about it? Why did they murder anyone who got in the way of their deviant sexual practices? How is that more accurate?
Early mormons were not necessarily friendly to non-Mormon settlers in Utah, etc. However a lot of that was revenge against how they were treated. As for underage marriages... I can point to quite a few elderly women who married at age 15-16. As for the kidnapping.. I am sure it happened, but is not something the church currently condones.
pimpdave wrote:
Why has your church hijacked the Boy Scouts of America and are using it to force Mormon ideas down the throats of children who really just want to learn how to make a fire and tie knots?
LDS has used the Boy Scouts/cub scouts as their religious organization, rather than creating their own institutions. It was seen as a way to make the boys "old fashioned American", etc. They got into trouble on more than one occasion with the Boy Scouts because they were discriminating, not allowing boys who were not LDS to earn religious awards, etc. (this happened where I grew up, so I know it is fact). I believe the matter was settled, though I cannot remember how. The Boy Scouts do not object to any religious institution sponsoring a Boy Scout or Cub Scout Troop. Ours is, in fact sponsored by the local Roman Catholic church. However, any group that actively discriminates against boys of other faiths is not allowed to continue under the Boy Scout auspices.
pimpdave wrote:
How is the Book of Mormon, which was revealed to only one guy who lied about the whole thing and was barely literate, more likely to be the accurate word of God and the Bible, which is compiled from many different authors, less likely?
This one, I will let demonfork address. on his own.
pimpdave wrote:
How is your cult any different from others, like Scientology?
Careful here. Many Evangelical type Christian groups call essentially any group that is not Christian or that practices a form of Christianity with which they disagree (Roman Catholicism is sometimes included, though for some reason Protestant churches often are not) to be a "cult".
I prefer the less antagonistic definition that says a cult is a group thatactively discouraged from thinking for themselves or questioning their teachings (as opposed to saying "here is what we believe .. not go check it out), where a few at the top tend to get wealthy or benefit in other ways (sometimes sexual, sometimes just power, etc), etc. You can find cults within just about any broad religious umbrella.
