Topic: Okay I need someone well versed in LDS Canon
Blayne Bradley
unregistered
posted
Okay the fried who thinks the Church of Jesus Christ and Latter Day Saints is some kind of cult is willing to write out an essay on the subject and I'ld like to pass it to someone (not publicy I don't want to offend anyone) who can answer a reply to each point raised pass it back to me, and I'll pass it to him.
This way I don't offend anyone asking stupid questions, no little thread sniping wars are started and I don't butcher an arguement since I don't know anything and thus its really really hard to debate this if I don't know anything.
So ya, reply if your interested and I'll pass it to you, if PJ says its okay I'll post and let the Community at large to answer it, (i don't have it yet expect at least a week, college students are lazy).
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posted
I wouldn't mind doing this by e-mail. Of course, have you asked him to research his conclusions before he writes them? lds.org and mormon.org have a large body of searchable information that may open his eyes about a couple of things.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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They also have great recipes for cooking babies.
What definition of "cult" is your friend using? I've read some Protestant Christian material that defines it as a religion that calls itself Christianity, but doesn't fit the definition of Christianity that the author of the material uses.
So far as I've seen, Mormons are no more cult-like than your average Protestant Christian. Unless you're talking about the wackos in Colorado City. Though I think the main LDS church may have excommunicated them...
Posts: 3546 | Registered: Jul 2002
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Yeah, I forgot to say please don't post it on Hatrack. There's enough anti stuff on the internet already. Plus, it's disrespectful to your hosts.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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I'm just surprised the LDS had cannons. I mean, they afraid pirates are going to raid Utah? Do they have a gangplank, too?
Posts: 3960 | Registered: Jul 2001
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Blayne Bradley
unregistered
posted
lol, only afriad that the Union will invade them... oh wait a minute...
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I've actually been answering a lot of "essays" like this lately on other forums. Feel free to send it my way. I may actually be able to cut-and-past a lot of what I've already written to answer many of his statements Posts: 2689 | Registered: Apr 2000
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Blayne Bradley
unregistered
posted
Sure, that'll be great once he's finished I'll send it to you.
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Blayne Bradley
unregistered
posted
And everyone else who answered the call as well, more brains poweer y'know.
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Once again in my fundamentalist upbringing, I was taught that "cult" refers to any sect claiming Christianity but with a non-standard concept of the nature of God and/or Jesus Christ. This includes modifications on the concept of the Trinity (notwithstanding that the word Trinity isn't actually in the Bible) and addendums or explanations of Jesus Christ being fully God and fully man.
The term is mainly applied in modern times to LDS and Jehovah's Witnesses, though I believe Christian scientists may fall in as well, and Seventh-day adventists are borderline, the Gnostics would be an more ancient example.
"Cult" does not equal "occult" though some folks confuse the two. However the two concepts can overlap in some varieties of voodoo practice.
Fundamentalist protestant evangelical Christians also feel that some Catholic practices such as the elevation of Mary to co-redemptrix are bordering on the lines of "cult" as well as veneration of saints crossing too near the line of the occult. In fact you'll find many fringe fundamentalist websites that paint Catholics and LDS with about the same brush.
(though some of the fringe fundy groups have become "cults" in their own way)
posted
Huh. I always thought cults were small, bizarre religions such as the one that thought there were UFOs behind the comet and whatnot.
Posts: 1903 | Registered: Sep 2003
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Blayne, you can also contact me about this if you like I've done quite a bit of this sort of thing myself, though I lack the giant bucket of references and quotes that some people seem to have.
And I'm sorry for my jabs over on the other thread I really didn't mean to be too seriously critical, but I'm betting that after OSC's giant post, it was hard not to come across that way.
Posts: 1539 | Registered: Jul 2004
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I took a History of American Religion class. My professor said that historians use the term "sect" to refer to variations of a particular religion that have the same doctrine but different cultures- like the Amish. "Cults" refer to groups that have similar cultures but different doctrines. According to this definition, the LDS church is a cult.
Posts: 1947 | Registered: Aug 2002
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A cult is just a religion that you are choosing to demonize. You get to tailor your definition of cult so that it includes who you want it to.
Posts: 16551 | Registered: Feb 2003
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Amanecer, I don't think we could say that Mormon culture is particularly similar to traditional Christian culture ...
Posts: 1539 | Registered: Jul 2004
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Edited: Nevermind, this is too sensitive of an issue to argue. I do think that professor was making a useful and non-offensive distinction with the terms. But since that is certainly not what Blayne's friend meant, it doesn't really matter. *steps out of thread*
posted
I think the way people use "cult" these days means something like "religious, or even non-religious, group, that makes the personal decisions for its members." If a church urges you to tithe or not hit people, that doesn't make it a cult, but if it decides what house you should buy and makes out your daily planner, it is.
Posts: 1877 | Registered: Apr 2005
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Blayne Bradley
unregistered
posted
Is Falun Gong a cult? And yay!! I'm not being critisized! I feel so happy! *basks in praise*
Members are free to leave the group any time. In terms of Chinese stuff, it's nowhere near the most violent (so far) short-term group movement that China has seen. There was a guy who believed he was the reincarnated brother of Jesus Christ back in the 1860's. His followers killed several million people before stopping. I'd have to research it to find the guy's name.
Posts: 3354 | Registered: May 2005
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Blayne Bradley
unregistered
posted
i dooon't knooow..... I've heard that the falun leader claims you can get xray vision and stuff if they follow him.
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Yeah, and where did you hear that? Did you hear it from the leader, or an official website or publication of the group, or even from a member of the group? Or did you hear it from somewhere else?
'Cause I've heard that us Mormons worship the Devil in the Temple. Funny, I've never noticed that when I go there...
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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quote: There was a guy who believed he was the reincarnated brother of Jesus Christ back in the 1860's. His followers killed several million people before stopping. I'd have to research it to find the guy's name.
You're thinking of the Taiping Rebellion led by Hong Xiuquan. Simplifying that movement into a purely religious things is too condensed. China was ruled by the Manchu, an ethnic minority, and was essentially a puppet of Western powers. The Taiping had very anti-Western and anti-Manchu politics. A lot of people joined them for those reasons and not for religious ones.
Posts: 1947 | Registered: Aug 2002
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Blayne Bradley
unregistered
posted
heard it third hand. I don't believe it, I'm just suspiscious.
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I've done quite a bit of this sort of thing myself, though I lack the giant bucket of references and quotes that some people seem to have.![[Cool]](cool.gif)
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