Not where I live.Here believers of any kind are considered odd. So too that bloke around the corner (next to the brothel) who flies the flag in his front yard.Here one’s patriotism is simply assumed.
We DO have a huge marble Mormon Temple a few km down the road. Have you ever noticed that Mormon temples usually look as if they have been designed by Albert Speer?–And what’s with the gilded statue of Artie Shaw playing his clarinet at the top?
I have never once come across a Mormon apologist on an atheist site. Not even an ex one.
I’m no expert on architecture (and haven’t seen the church you’re speaking about), but I’d guess both are influenced heavily by ancient Greek architecture.
How “normal” are Mormons here? About 10 years ago when my friend was going though a nasty divorce (with the ex-couple fighting for custody of their children), his lawyer recommend he “become a Mormon” so he would be more likely to receive custody from the court (which is dominated by Mormons). It worked.
They also appear to be influenced by Disney, Las Vegas, and sci-fi movies. Like medieval cathedrals, they symbolize the power of religions to divert the wealth and labor of entire populations toward colossal and ultimately useless projects.
Trivia; Did you know the castle used as a Disney icon actually exists? I’ve seen it. Built by Ludwig,'the mad king of Bavaria". He built a bunch of fairy tale castles.
Through the convenient perceived act of “revelation” anything can be proven to the simple and inept mind. In the link below through revelation from Joseph Smith, the Garden of Eden was actually located in western Missouri instead of allegedly in the Middle East near where the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers are today, who wooda thunk this to be true?
The same mind set that would swallow this comical fact, are the pseudo-christians that scarily get elected into school boards, government offices, etc., uh, lets see, one example, oh yeah, Mitt Romney, wearing his “secret underwear” while presiding in the Senate!
Hmmm, border crossing Mormons to do their ungodly gambling in Nevada (1 Timothy 6:10). Every DIVISION of Christianity are total hypocrites because of their handy “Forgiveness Doctrine” where they can sin, and always be forgiven by the mythical serial killer Jesus (1 John 1-9).
There should be some kind of law that sees through the ruse of becoming a Moron just to attain the custody of the kids, with at least a 2 plus year waiting period.
I don’t mean Mormons that are coming to gamble. While their demographics are plummeting, for a long time Mormonism (and yes there is more than one kind!, another local “feature”) was the most numerous religious group. The first Caucasian settlers in this region were Mormons, and many of their descendants still live here.
It seems remarkable to me that LDS have survived as a religion into the twenty first century.
As unworthy a thought as this may be ,it seems to me that the most reliable motivation is self interest. . EG: Originally, Mormons were taught that black people don’t have souls and are cursed… President Jimmy Cater announced he was going to cancel the LDS status as a tax free religion because of that teaching. The senior prophet has a convenient vision, and discovers black people do in fact have souls and are not cursed by god.
"In a bold, clear statement entitled Race and the Priesthood, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has repudiated the racist teachings of its former Church leaders. Some of the teachings repudiated are: “that black skin is a sign of divine disfavor or curse, or that it reflects actions in a premortal life; that mixed-race marriages are a sin; or that blacks or people of any other race or ethnicity are inferior in any way to anyone else.” This is a laudable move and it is easy to see why those both in and out of the LDS Church have praised it.
However, this action now calls into question the oft-repeated assurances made by these same leaders that “ God Will Never Allow the Prophet to Lead the Church Astray ” as exemplified by the following statement:
“I think there is one thing which we should have exceedingly clear in our minds. Neither the President of the Church, nor the First Presidency, nor the united voice of the First Presidency and the Twelve will ever lead the Saints astra y or send forth counsel to the world that is contrary to the mind and will of the Lord ” (Joseph Fielding Smith, “Eternal Keys and the Right to Preside,” in Conference Report , April 1972, p. 99, quoted in “Follow the Prophet,” in Aaronic Priesthood: Manual 3 [1995], 92)."
Today Mormons claim that Jimmy Carter never did any such thing. Mkay. I guess the head Mormon had a real vision. Why else would he repudiate Mormon canon.?
Whenever I think of mormons, an odd Americanism enters my mind ; "Whitebread’. I don’t know why
Once,in the days I went to gym, went for a sauna. Noticed the light was off. Turned light on. Saw two earnest looking, clean cut young men
, each modestly draped in a towel . Without thinking I blurted “You’re Mormons aren’t you”. They allowed that they were. Still have no idea why I said that.
Theists of all varying religious beliefs tend to have some, if not all personality traits (which are common to all humans in varying degrees) OR perhaps “thought patterns” that reflect or mould their personality. A “hard” theist will double-down based on “feelings” versus logic, so at times both have to be engaged and/or “let go” (what’s the point if it has no real impact in my life or society via say, politics or legislative proposals). In my experience they are as follows:
• adherence to a “higher invisible authority”
• special knowledge regarding authority’s words or meanings (allows for sects of same book)
• feelings of “comfort” in knowing right and wrong
• feelings of superiority for being “right”
• dismissal of counter arguments based on “source” (ad hominem, ie worldly people, other religions, atheists, etc)
• changing the meaning of commonly held words to communicate meaning to suite their point of view - unwillingness to bend or find a common word to communicate “meaning”
• usually adheres to a morally superior stance
Hopefully, over time, some information trickles in … always, it is up to the individual person to self-examine their own thought and reasoning processes.
The same way I address all beliefs that are expressed publicly, I ask that they demonstrate sufficient objective evidence for them. If they cannot, then I disbelieve the claim.
Aren’t JW’s milllenarians? (the second coming and end of days)
Your post reads almost like a summary of Kenelm Burridge’s excellent book ‘New Heaven New Earth’ .He describes the common features or millenarian religions, of which there have been quite a few.
Catholics are millenarial and consider themselves very fucking special.
As a child, a compassionate head nun told us not to throw rocks at the protestant children and to be kind to them . After all it wasn’t their fault they were all going to hell. (Catholic theology was not her stong suit)
“New heaven, new earth: a study of millenarian activities Pavilion series: Social anthropology Pavilion series Author Kenelm Burridge Publisher Schocken Books, 1969 Original from the University of Michigan Digitized Jul 12, 2007 Length 191 pages Subjects Ethnology Millennialism Millennium (Eschatology) Nativistic movements”
Still in print and available from about $15 second hand from Amazon. Highly recommended.
Totally OT: Just received a weather warning on my PC: The current temperature in Adelaide is 2 degrees celsius. It is 0807 Monday 29 June. Considering Adelaide has a mediteranean climate, 2 degrees is considered extremely cold . It never snows in suburban Adelaide. All I can say is thank goodness climate change is a hoax or we’d really be in trouble.
Definitely [quote=“boomer47, post:33, topic:120”]
milllenarians
[/quote]
Cranky . Lol. Millerite beginning - Russell branched off to “Bible Students” - then “Judge” Rutherford (he changed his first name to Judge for obvious reasons) and changed the name to Jehovah’s Witnesses.
First Armageddon prediction 1874, then 1914, 1934 (…in about) - then “soon” - then 1975 … then “imminent” - heavy “hinting” before 2000 … oops 2014 - “generation” changes a few times but at this point it’s now removed …now “living in the last part of last days”
Emoticons or emojis should appear when you are typing a post. If all is well they appear in the field above your message as a smiley face, third from the right.
If the emoji button is not immediately visible above your text box, then tap on the three horizontal lines at the top right corner of the text box next to the “down” arrow. That should bring your text options and emoji button into view.
"First Armageddon prediction 1874, then 1914, 1934 (…in about) - then “soon” - then 1975 … then “imminent” - heavy “hinting” before 2000 … oops 2014 - “generation” changes a few times but at this point it’s now removed …now “living in the last part of last days”
Repeatedly changing prediction is utterly stereotypical most millenarian sects .
The failed millenarian sect of catholicism is an exception.
Although not precise in giving dates. Jesus is unambiguous in the gospels I think:
Luke 9:27 says, “I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God.” See also Matthew 16:28 and Mark 9:1 for the parallel quotes.
Unlike some of the dopier sects today, when Jesus failed to turn up,no new time was given. The time of Jesus’ return was changed to some vague indeterminate time in the future and quietly dropped.
When I was a gossoon, the second coming of Jesus was an embarrassment to Catholics, like the Book Of Revelations. Everyone pretended they weren’t there.
The Catholic church has always been nimble with change. As long as the change occurs on its terms.
Lol - JW and other doomsdayers will say
“Hey- we didn’t give a “day” or “hour” - we just followed those bible crumbs God left behind and were inspired to “NAME year” or “month”
. Lol. Millerite beginning - Russell branched off to “Bible Students” - then “Judge” Rutherford (he changed his first name to Judge for obvious reasons) and changed the name to Jehovah’s Witnesses.
