Mormons Slam Calendar's Missionary Position

166. "And it amazes me how much time, effort, and hate go into bashing something you don't even believe. Believe what you will and let others believe what they will."

My family is devout LDS. The church is now politically getting involved in banning gay marriage in California, which would deprive my amazing sister in law of enjoying a marriage with her partner. The church always has a boogie man up it's sleeve. First it was the non-LDS (the early Saints were horrible neighbors prone to claiming divine right to property), then it was those of African descent, then it was the feminists (the church actively infiltrated ERA meetings to disrupt them), and now it is the homosexuals.

The church runs on fear and close-mindedness. I love many of the members, but they are under the institution's thumb, and the institution has proven itself to be utterly wrong time and time again.

The world needs less ignorance. What's so wrong with battling that?

Posted at 3:24PM on Jul 11th 2008 by Pirate John

167. I commented before (#50, I believe) but must speak out again.
Yes, I will admit that it is true about the homosexuals. My brithmother turned homosexual after I was adopted and is now getting a lot of flak for that because she used to be a member of the church.
But really, who cares? If you are Mormon, why debate? You know what it is like in your church, both the good and the bad thingsm, and you can't change other people's opinions. If you are not Mormon, why try? Most people agree with you anyway. All you are doing is burning bridges. Bashing on both sides just looks immature and dumb. There is a difference between comment 164 (very mature, I applaud you for your level-headedness, thank you) and somebody saying,
"Mormonism is a damn cult and you should all whack off and get over yourself so wear your panties and read your mormon bible and get over it!!!" See?
So, imo, we should all just shut up over this subject and have a fun time agreeing that Mormonism is different. Now let's eat something at Denny's.

Posted at 3:58PM on Jul 11th 2008 by Greg Hawkins

168. ^^^from above comment (#165)
*edit- I was comment #48, not comment #50.
ty,
greg

Posted at 4:00PM on Jul 11th 2008 by Greg Hawkins

169. "MORMONS are not POLYGAMISTS"

D&C 132 which commands polygamy is still church canon. There was no canonical denouncement, merely an announcement that it would stop for the time being. Men can also be sealed (married for eternity for the non-LDS) to more than one woman, but women can't be sealed to more than one man.

It's a part of the faith, and a review of early LDS church history will show that the FLDS conduct their lives and hold beliefs that are far closer to the original church than the current LDS church out of Salt Lake does.

Posted at 6:27PM on Jul 11th 2008 by Huh?

170. Mormonism is a stupid cult based on lies and delusions.

The members love-bomb (flatter) suckers into joining and then the cult demands start.

Run like the wind when approached by any Mormon. When their lips move they lie.

Posted at 12:03AM on Jul 12th 2008 by aaaargh

171. The comment by Thankful_butnotamember saved me from going off on a bunch of VERY rude bigots on this thread.
My husband, kids and myself are all converts. My oldest son is not a member. I was raised in a VERY liberal household. I did drugs as a teen, hubby did too. I drink Coke like it's water, sometimes I smoke. I have NEVER been asked about my sex practices. I have never seen a "witches circle" (wtf?). I DO get sick of the commitment sometimes. It is hard to go from doing whatever the heck you want to serving God. But that's the choice we have made.
Do I ever question stuff? Yes I do. But the members of my family have seen proof that our Church is good, and right. If you don't like it, fine. And our Church doesn't teach that if you're not a member, you're going to hell! There's stuff we don't understand about a lot of religions around the world. It doesn't make it right to come here and post a bunch of LIES and half-truths. I imagine if this story involved Catholics, it wouldn't have seen the light of day.
The bottom line is that when I walk into the Temple, tattoos and all, *I* feel right. If you don't, then stay away. Simple as that! And my personal opinion is that polygamy should be legal among consenting adults. So what?

Posted at 12:07AM on Jul 12th 2008 by Maggie

172. reading these comments really surprises me, there is so much understanding out there. The FLDS church is completely different from the LDS church. The LDS church at one point did practice polygamy. In it's infancy many members didn't know what they were doing. Later in years they got things figured out. When they were ran out of the country and fled to utah some families lost the father and husband. There were women that had many small children and no one to help them they would be married to another man yes but it was solely for the purpose of providing for them and their wives would have to approve of the marriage before it could take place. The FLDS church still practices this today. The LDS church doesn't not since the 1800's. It's against the law.

Posted at 12:50AM on Jul 12th 2008 by in shock

173. To all those people who think the LDS church is a cult, go to Websters dictionary and look up the word cult. I think you would be shocked at the definition.

Posted at 1:38AM on Jul 12th 2008 by Ali

174. By the way, it's obvious by now that I created all of the Mormon apologist comments on the board. You're pretty pathetic to believe that Mormons read this site. All of you bashing this religion based on family and christ probably know that I j/o to tranny porn. So sayeth the Lord.

Posted at 2:12AM on Jul 12th 2008 by OhCanada

175. The church is a fraud, plain and simple. If you read the REAL church history you will discover that. DONT fill me up with BS about misunderstanding it. I lived it, did the research like so many others have, and left it. If it works for you, then great, but dont call the educated ones ingnorant.....thats called hypocrasy.

Posted at 11:14AM on Jul 12th 2008 by Tim

176. "it was solely for the purpose of providing for them and their wives would have to approve of the marriage before"

Joseph Smith married a 14 year old and his own step-daughter. Give me a break.

Posted at 11:30AM on Jul 12th 2008 by What

177. I just looked up cult and it sounds exactly like the Mormon "church."

Posted at 1:24PM on Jul 12th 2008 by LSD: that's the religion for me!

178. Maggie, and while you are in church, they are laughing behind your back while they take your money. But, I guess it doesn't take much to please a cig smoking, tattooed, Mormon- loving weirdo does it?

Posted at 1:52PM on Jul 12th 2008 by The sun is God

179. The Marmon Church should just get over it and chill. What is the big deal??

Posted at 5:29PM on Jul 12th 2008 by Big Bear

180. I was married to a man who called himself two things a "jack Morman" or an "ethnic Morman." I assumed the jack Morman meant he no longer followed the religion. The ethnic Morman part came from the fact that his paternal side of the family were traced back to the 1830s or thereabouts. His great, great grandfather (I hope I have enough greats) wrote a diary of their terrible trip from Nauvoo, Illinois, to Utah. Some of the books survived as family treasures. I heard the stories of the hardships of the trip. While pregnant, my ex-husband's great great grandmother told her husband she was too sick & could not go on and left the wagon to go out on the prairie to die. Her husband lie beside her. The diaries tell of how some Indians came and treated the female who was sick from (I think) a fever. Husband and wife were able to rejoin the wagon group to Utah. My ex was from the blood line of the first wife.....there were others once they arrived in Utah. Still the story was fascinating --- how many of us have diaries from our ancestors?

My ex's mother (once excommunicated now back in the fold completely) came to visit us in St. Louis and we drove to Nauvoo, IL to see the visitor's center. It meant a lot for his mom to see it. Now his father had been long divorced from my es's mom and went from church elder to an athiest. Big switch, eh? He had PHDs in religion & other subjects. He had fought for our country as a Marine. I don't know if war or the dissolution of his temple marriage - or both - that made him lose all faith. He passed away after I divorced his son and as a Christian, I prayed for his soul.

When my ex's mother was divorced, no job skills and left with five kids, the LDS church fed them and paid all their bills.

The local LDS church came to us not long after my husband moved to my city from Ogden, Utah. They truly are warm and loving. Some young men from the church road bikes to my home and helped my husband landscape our yard...back breaking work during a St. Louis August. I got "schooled" by the home teachers and I never wanted to insult them by telling him I found the story of J. Smith getting the Book of Morman from an angel and the whole nine yards to be impossible for me to believe. I kinda wanted to join just because they were such a "happy family" and I can see how my need to "belong" could make me easily swayed to their church. Visiting my in-laws in Utah was wonderful and, again, I seriously considered moving there to be close to them. (Had Utah been a warmer climate state, this story might have a different ending.) --- Then once I asked "Why don't women have more say in the church? Can women hold positions of power alongside men." Oh my Lord! You'd think I had said (ala my fav comic, Kathy Griffin) "Suck it Jesus!" The room got quiet and then my mom-in-law said something about they had some club for the woman and all the ladies enjoy one another's company in that fashion - leaving the running of the church to the men. In other words, women are submissives -- like many other churches. I'm a femanist (to a point) so I had to turn away any thoughts of joining this "happy family" of Mormons.

I don't believe what they believe. (I wish I could remember some of the oddities my ex-husband told me -- something about Jesus once had returned to South America or something. He once was a member in good standing so he told me a lot of things.) Still, I will always have a warm place in my heart for the Mormans. I've been divorced from my ex for many, many years but the kindess and warmth of my ex (he is a good man, we just were not a good couple) and his wonderful family will stay with me until I die. I do not belong to any organized church, yet I'm a Christian. I am too independent, I guess. But if members of whatever church have rules that make them feel closer to their version of God....you go, folks! (Unless your church preaches hate....then I've got a problem with you) We're all trying to get to the same place. We just take different roads. I loved my ex's family: the Mormans, the "jack" Mormans and those who had lost faith entirely. I am not here to judge. If the Morman Church disapproves of their young men creating a calendar that is geared toward the overtly sexual, well, I think many churches would feel the same way.

One reason I cannot join an organzied religion is because I think that many of them are hypocritical. So I take the good things I can from various faiths. The warmth and kindess I found in Utah during my visits will always remain as something I took from the Mormans.

Posted at 8:11PM on Jul 12th 2008 by Dot