Comments on: This is what members of the church LITERALLY BELIEVE

By: Andrew

Andrew — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 01:45:41 +0000

If anti-Mormons (they *still* contact me sometimes) brought up Mormon guilt instead of the crazy stuff (which is usually ignorant and misses the wealth of tradition the church *actually* has [I guess that's not so faithpromoting...but why search for the most ridiculous, untrue stuff when there's a bunch of questionable stuff that need not be exaggerated]), I think that would be a step in the right direction.

I can deal with charges of guilt.

By: Nate

Nate — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 00:24:03 +0000

This just goes to prove a point I’ve made many times before, why does Catholic guilt get all the attention when Mormons are so expert at it.

By: Seth R.

Seth R. — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 14:58:50 +0000

At least theoretically it discharges YOUR pious duty to your fellow misguided beings. I guess…

Always happy to help someone complete their spiritual checklist.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 10:01:23 +0000

*Exactly right, Seth*.

I guess what really worries me is that people — and not just members like Greg but *also* some Evangelicals — actually think that this kind of “love hurts” (we love you SO much we just can’t see your eternal soul go to hell :3) missionary work is effective when this is the kind of stuff that, I think, turns people away in the first place.

By: Seth R.

Seth R. — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 04:50:55 +0000

Well… I guess Greg could be right… I guess…

But I don’t think that’s the sort of argument that’s going to work.

I mean, someone ought to ask Greg if he pays much attention when an Evangelical street preacher tells him he’s going to hell unless he leaves the “Mormon cult.”

Scare tactics just don’t tend to do much for most people. At least, not on people with enough education to read a blog post anyway.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 00:45:34 +0000

I dunno…I think the whole inter-faith criticism process just opens up criticism of one’s own beliefs (especially as with your deconstruction of Christianity). I guess one of these days my beliefs are going to be knocked senseless. “Waaat? From nothing, the universe just poofed into being?!”

No need to worry about too regular attendance, haha.

By: John

John — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 00:39:47 +0000

Andrew, it’s great to see this same conversation with a bit more perspective. I think one reason anti-Mos go back to the golden plates and Adam-God stuff is because most of them, as Christians who believe that some guy who died 2000 years ago got back up and is now watching them all from the sky so that he can send them to an eternal oven if they don’t sing songs to him one day out of seven, need to find wackiness that they’re capable of mocking.

Anyhow, as much fun as Greg was, I’m kind of sad he interrupted the resignation discussion–it was an unusual blend of opinions that couldn’t be predicted based on the church standing of the commenter. And thank you for your input.

One qualification: I’m not a very good Quaker, if regular attendance is the measure.