What is a Mormon.....? —nine :]

Can someone summarize what a Mormon is? :)

They're just people born into the Mormon faith. Most Mormons are good people, as you'd expect with any group. Their religion informs their view of God and heaven, and it also extends into their relationships with families and loved ones. It's a very holistic faith, which works very well at bringing together families and communities—so long as everyone in the group is Mormon. Mixed families work around it of course, but "the church" is always an impediment in those cases.

My extended family is mostly Mormon. They're smart, educated people who try to live as they believe they should. They give a lot of time and money to church in one way or another. For those who fit in (not gay, able to swallow the truth claims, interested in serving a mission and then marrying young and having kids), it seems to give them comfort and make them happy.

Their church claims to be the one true Christian church, restored by God and Jesus to Joseph Smith. It's a compelling story really, and would clear up a lot of confusion about the Bible and its doctrines ... if it held up to scrutiny. Still, most aspects of Mormonism are no more nutty than any other religion, and most members are blissfully unaware of the most damaging evidences that contradict their faith.

Why did the mormon church pour 25 million into Prop 8 and then? —Peace

have the nerve to be confused as to why people are angry with them? One mormon guy even said he was hurt that gays were calling the mormon church bigots. Now that it's passed, they don't want anger directed their way. Yes, alot of non-LDS people voted yes for prop 8, but the Mormon church was HEAVILY involved in promoting prop 8 and donated 25 million dollars. They were almost obsessed with it. Now they suddenly have this persecution complex. Why?

You're right, and it wasn't just money. Mormons were the biggest supporters in terms of man hours, setting up phone banks, putting up signs, and going door-to-door. They read a letter over the pulpit to all Mormon congregations in California asking for support, and they requested donations from wealthy Mormons across the country. I can't do better than this response I saw today on a message board (edited for language):

I ... hate the church's press release saying that they're disturbed that they are being singled out for exercising their rights.

[Idiots], you aren't being singled out for exercising your rights; you're being singled out because you're wrong. Free speech doesn't mean people don't get to speak back to you, or that your ideas get a free pass from criticism. Free speech means that you get to say your piece, and then everyone else gets to respond.

We're responding. Do you hear us at your gate?

7th grade civics, people.

Can someone please help me with the what to read in the Book of Mormon? —Roxin_Ronni

I'm a non-member and have recently been getting lessons from the missionaries. Usually they write out a few scriptures for me to read but they didn't this time and i really want to read it but im unsure where to start or something that would be good to read that I haven't yet read. Any advice?

Tell the missionaries you read 3 Nephi 3:22 and you're curious about the horses, chariots, cattle, flocks, herds, and grain it talks about. Ask them, "Are you telling me this happened in America around A.D. 17?"

Or for some real fun, read the story of the Jaredite barges (Ether 2:13–24; 6:1–12). If you can get through that and still believe this book is actual history, I predict a baptism in your future. Just don't be surprised if your friends and family aren't convinced, or if they're turned off by the history of polygamy or the current fight against homosexual rights.

Sources:
http://home.teleport.com/~packham/ships....

How much does even one goat, sheep or cow eat in a year?

These are grazing animal, but they can't graze on the ocean; and they don't eat fish. Their grasses and grains have to be stored on board. A goat eats 2 - 3 pounds/day. Even a pony eats about 8 pounds/day. Let's sensibly use 3 pounds X 344 days. That's 1,032 pounds of feed per animal. That's a lot of bulky weight to lash down to prevent it crashing around when the ships roll, and even flip upside down.

Was it was mostly mormons and evangelicals that made prop 8 ...and campaigned to get it passed? —Dillenger

i now consider these people my enemies. i'm not exagerating...i dont care if thats immature.
these people work to make discrimination acceptable, legal, and even popular.

they are hate groups as far as i'm concerned.

these bigots are scum of the earth

do you think i'll get over it?
i wont.

It's not immature to recognize evil and call it out. It's shameful what the Mormon church has done to perpetuate discrimination and bigotry. Having said that, though, I'm sure the Mormons and others who voted for Prop 8 were sincere in their belief that this is what God wants them to do. So I hope you can at least partly refocus your anger on the institutions rather than the believing members.

Aaron C wrote: "I really don't see it that way at all. The thing that Christians, Mormons and many other people were worried about was losing our own freedoms. Our freedom to believe differently if we choose. Never did I see the Mormon church striving to push rights be taken away for Gay couples. In fact, I'm pretty sure I heard them say that they should have the same rights as any other couple, but that marriage should be reserved for one man and one woman. If Prop 8 had not passed, it is very likely that in the next 10 to 20 years, we could lose our right to believe and teach that homosexuality is a sin. It could be considered hate speech and we would be persecuted."

Dude, does that really all make sense in your brain? You feel Prop 8 was necessary to protect you from being persecuted for hate speech? Here's an idea: stop with the hate speech. Give that a try and see how it works.

Should the Mormon church lose it's tax-exemption status because they are fightin hard to pass Proposition 8? —xinio654

Under current law, no. But if you're asking how things "should" be, then yes they should lose tax-exempt status for this reason, as well as for their discrimination against women, for their exclusive wedding ceremonies, for their fraudulent truth claims, and most of all for their boring church meetings. In a perfect world, that is.

Orchidmg wrote: "All I can say is that it's the pastor's right to tell members who to vote for because God's laws come before man's laws."

True, orchidmg, but this question isn't about rights. It's about whether the federal government should subsidize them through tax exemption. When it turns out, through some strange coincidence, that God hates the same people his followers hate, they should have the right to say so. On their dime.


As man is
So is his God,
And thus is God
Oft strangely odd
—Goethe

Who are your favorite bible or book of mormon characters?—superchick773

Oh there are definitely some good ones. Some not even named in the BoM itself:

Zelph, the white Lamanite
Mahonri Moriancumr, aka the brother of Jared

Then there's the dude in Ether named Ethem (see how that consonant changed there?) who executed judgment in wickedness all his days, "and he begat Moron."

And don't forget Shiz (was that another consonant change there?) who struggled for breath and died AFTER being beheaded. Awesome.