The Mormon version of Christianity

Do people get to be Gods with their own planet and a whole bunch of wives in the afterlife? Say yes, and I will join the LDS.

Edited to add: I will also accept a lesser title than "God" and just an island to myself with a few wives.

 

Before I say this, I honestly dont consider Mormons any more racist than any other religion or group. My understanding is that Joseph Smith was actually somewhat progressive in this realm, despite whats said in the book of Mormon, and of course you have to put things in its correct context given the era in which it was written. However, its really an interesting twist on what could easily be perceived as a racist connotation in the text. "so the nephites wouldnt mix with the lamenites", "to make the lamenites repulsive to the nephites". You can see the message thats sending, especially when you relate it to "preserving Gods church". I think the Mormons get unfairly pegged as racists, but the word doesnt do you any favors.

I'm not suggesting archeological evidence is the end all and be all, but you really have to take a leap of faith to believe verbatim your second paragraph. Then again, one has to take a leap of faith to believe the christian bible as well so I have to put that in perspective. Christians havent cornered the market on fact, so to be critical of the Mormon version of history is highly disingenuous.

Ultimately, the one thing that Mormons are criticized for is actually one of the things I give them credit for...an evolving church. I have no problem with updating scripture, or changing previous thought to fit beliefs into a contemporary society. Thats exactly what religions should do if i'm going to give any creedence to that religion. Christians still get stuck on the Old Testament to this day. As soon as dogma is written down, in stone or into a bible, it ceases to evolve. Its stuck. It seems to me Mormons at least attempt to unstick it. Kind of an abstract general thought, but thats my perception.

 

Thank you for your comments, I appreciate that they aren't simply accusing. Those, and the trolling comments, really get on my nerves.

I understand how the racism sounds, but if one actually reads the Book of Mormon, you discover that the Lamanites actually end up the better of the two anyway. The Nephites become so wicked that most of them are killed. The better ones become Lamanites. Go figure.

Archaeological evidence is difficult to find, but maybe we just haven't found it all. If you think about it, the story of Troy and the Greeks was believed to be totally fake until only a little while ago (it may have been longer than I remember) when they found what they believe might actually be the remains of Troy. Maybe there's just something that hasn't been uncovered. All the same, I wouldn't mind horribly if they never found any concrete proof. A big part of the power of our church comes from the fact that we learn for ourselves, through God, that the church is true. Some never learn it, but many do, and I think that the fact that we really do have to have a lot of faith to really believe in the church makes our message even more powerful. So I don't mind too much that there isn't much to support our story. I'm content with the fact that I know it's true.

I think that out evolving church mainly stems from the fact that we believe God actually speaks to our leaders and to each member of the church. We believe that he speaks to those outside of the Church as well, but it's different, and I'm not sure I can even understand the difference. I know I personally feel as though God has spoken to me, not directly like people seem to think, but in things that I think, or that I read in the scriptures. We actually believe that if anyone were to pray to God and ask for the answer to any question, then to read the scriptures, they'll find the answer, whether they read it, or they think about it, or anything. Our leaders are a different case however, because we believe that they speak directly with him, like the prophets of old did. That's why we can change, because God can reveal something new to the Prophet, and he can change a policy of the church from this new revelation.

 

I wonder if Romney thinks the Presidency is just one step closer on his path to becoming a God?

 

In a way, yes. But not in the way you're thinking I think. God asks that we be the best we can be, if Romney thinks that he can become better by becoming president, than yes. But we believe that even after death we still have a lot to learn before we reach that level.

 

Romney wears magic underwear. He wants to be President so that he can get some OJT being a god. He figures that it will give him some practical experience by ruling a country. He might need a billion years to get the hang of it but four is a start.