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A majority of Americans have no idea what Mormons believe

It is obvious to me that the author of this article is not a member of the Church of JESUS CHRIST of Latter-Day Saints. I say this because the article has a negative slant. If anyone wants to know the truth of the teachings of this church, I recommend buying a copy of, "A Marvelous Work and a Wonder."

The "truth" about what Mormon's believe is getting out, and we all know it isn't a good idea. Not including the faith's scripted "question & answer" routine from fellow journalist members, the "roots" of your faith, is irrational and is completely unbelievable. I believe after Romney drops out, your faith will shrink behing closed doors, and become much more secretive, as you won't desire any more analysis of your faith.

I think we're seeing a replay of the 1960 presidential race when Senator John F. Kennedy squared off against Richard M. Nixon. At that time the big discussion centered around Kennedy's being the first Catholic to occupy the oval office.

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" ...the doctrine of Celestial -which was to say plural- marriage..."

Who did this research? I have a Celestial marriage, thank you, as have most of my friends, and there is no plurality of wives going on here. That would be against the law.

But the laws, they are a-changing, aren't they? If the states can allow men to marry men, and women to marry women, which was never sanctioned in the Bible, why can't a man marry as many wives as give consent, a thing that the law of Moses said was just fine? Just wondering...

First, the Republican committment of LDS people is based on values, nothing else. Them Democrat party left the Church. The Church at one time was heavily Democratic. The author says "there is something vaguely troubling in the Mormon manner or world view. What is troubling is that virtually nothing is published about the unequaled welfare and humanitarian work done worldwide. The Brazilian Senate just honored The Mormons. Our Temples have open houses before dedication, any one, including the author may visit. Baptism for the dead 1Cor: 15;29 is scriptural. Roman 8:14, 17 states that we are joint heirs with Christ.
Polygamy was the basis for the Reed Smoot trial, after two years of hearings one southern Senator said, "the issue here isn't about whether a man has more than one women or not, because I know some of you (senators)who have more than one woman. The issue seems to be whether they are called wives or not. As for me I would rather have a polygamist who doesn't polyig than a monagamist who doesn't monague.
Southern Baptists were Klan members, and their churches excluded blacks. Catholics have sex crimes and the Inquisition. But all the talk is about "The Mormon's".

NEWS FLASH - most Mormons do not know what their church believes are. One example is the LDS lack of ability to equate the relationship of non-practice and believe. A dog is not a dog because it barks; it barks because it is a dog; and if it dosn't bark at all, it is still a dog. The Mormon pratice of trying to camouflage the dog with the tired saying of we need to stay with milk because we are not ready for the meat of Mormon believe mostly serves to quieten only fellow Mormons. Outsiders are not incapable of seeing through the Mormon camouflage. This may be fustrating to Mormons, but the best long term solution is for the church to open its secret records and history and let the light in and then make changes. The same as they did with the Black issue. I am sure the DN will censore this post, but maybe it will help to open the mind of one DN employee. You too can be free and use your God given gift of self reason. Good luck and a good new a year.

It is evident that the author of this article has done some significant study regarding the theology and history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

He has put his finger on several of the key issues that face Protestants and Mormons as they face off and attempt to civilly establish a position of agreeing to disagree theologically.

A large portion of those who reject the Mormons as being Christian do so based upon their limited exposure provided to them by biased, misinformed would-be theologians.

When the truth is ultimately known, it will be discovered that the theology of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is most closely related to the tenets held by the church that Christ established.

Only then will we recognize that traditional Christianity is a result of the councils called to rationalize and compromise the positions held by a variety of factions contaminated by Hellenic, gnostic and other apostate philosophies.

However, in the final analysis, a presidential candidate should be selected by observing how well he lives his personal life and how he well manages his civil responsibilities and not by the tenets of his religious observance.

Most Americans don't know what their own religions believe, let alone anyone else's.

Don't all Christians believe Jesus (and therefore, God, since God and Jesus (and the Holy Ghost) are believed to be one) lived on this earth as a man? I thought that was what the New Testament was all about...Or did the author mean they live as an exalted state of men today, like the Mormons believe? His last paragraph was confusing. It needs a better edit.

A majority of Americans don't know what Quakers believe, either. Former President Richard M. Nixon was a Quaker.

Why is this such a concern for Mormons? I would say that a majority of Mormons have no idea what Muslims, Buddhists, Hinduists, or even Scientologists believe in. It's true that outside of Utah, Nevada, California and Arizona most people aren't in constant contact with the church and its members. I don't take this as Mormon hating per se but rather as a lack of familiarity.

As for the "teaching that God and Jesus were once men"...doesn't all of Christianity believe that Jesus came down to earth in the form of man? i guess I missed the memo when Protestants changed their belief regarding this point of doctrine.

Why don't Americans know = why do their ministers/pastors tell them to avoid finding out?
Why are the other clergy afraid?

While many, perhaps most, of the ministers are sincere individuals, it's also their income! LDS leaders work a full-time job to support their families, then work another steady part-time job unpaid, serving their neighbors.

When clergy of Protestantism and Catholicism join the LDS, and many have, they let go of a fairly easy job and all the prestige of the position.
But they do, because they have the courage of a divine witness that the work is God's, not just another man-made church.

Or else they stick with their vested interest in the prestige (and sometimes with a mob mentality), actively spreading a shallow, twisted version of "what Mormons believe" to keep their revenue source from getting interested. I've seen it happen repeatedly.


(Until a couple of years ago, Dr. Feldman of Harvard could have turned to the Dean of the Business School at Harvard for answers. Dr. Kim Clark left there to become president of BYU-Idaho. Another Harvard department head had just made a similar move a short while before.)

As a child I was raised in a family of fierce Mormon women. However as a teenager I lost contact with belief in God. As an adult I found that the more I came to know about religion, the less I could believe in God.

Today I am more and more convinced that Churches and religions are simply tools that conspiring men use to enslave other men. And in that there is an intense competition not just for the souls of men but also for their wealth.

I feel that it is this competition that fuels the animosity between religions in America and throughout the world.

It does't really matter what a church believes, it is regarded as a competive enemy in the religious arena.

The fact that the majority of Americans have no idea what Mormons believe leaves the LDS Church in unique position to re-define its beliefs to the acceptance of Americian culture. In deed, there has been a gradual transition in this direction for the last 100 years, as well as a correlated indoctrination of church membership over the past 50 years. Beginning with the movement to abandon and then persecute members who professed belief in the doctrines of plural marriage, Church Leadership began in the 1960's to embrace the Protestant views of Christology, de-emphasizing LDS historical roots in favor to promoting doctrines that emphasized the role of Christ in thier faith. Similar changes embraces the roles of women in both temple and sunday religious services. Using the Church's new series of "Teachings of the Prophets" for Gospel Doctrine, Relief Society, and Priesthood curriculam, the comprehensive teachings of various Prophets has been written to exclude major teachings of these leaders, which in effect provides the church with the ability to re-write its history and beliefs. It is a small step to extend this process of propaganda production through the national political media to accomplish a Protestantization of Mormonism.

My wife's family is Mormon. Because of that I tried to learn what i could. I have a huge problem with the secrecy, and believe me its secret. I find quite a few (most?) Mormons have vastly different levels of knowledge about their own theology and history. I also have a problem with the flip flopping. Every sacred tenet that the sciences disprove or cast legitamate doubt on are either changed or altrnative interpretations are presented. but the original info came straight from God via the Prophets so how come its ever changing? Was God the Father ever a man? Posters here play word games about Jesus being man and since he God anf Holy Ghost were one then of course God was man. But you know darn well that's not the question. Do you believe god the father was man before Jesus walked on earth? I'll get no answer or word games or varying answers because Mormons won't answer theological question srrtaight up. No offense but that's been my experience. Love my wife's family, can't figure out why they believe this stuff, but since I don't have an alternative for them i keep my mouth shut.

Gee, this article does not mention the Mormons" dislke for Black people and only in 1978 allowed Blacks into the priesthood.
Not many Blacks have entered the religion and they are for the most part not encouraged to join it.
Many mormons have grown with a racist attitude toward Blacks because of the Church"s postion on Blacks.

Well said Rick, I have never been able to comprehend a God without body, parts or passion, but what is even harder to comprehend is how they claim that Jesus is God, and we know he had a body, he died, and he was resurrected, which means he has a body again. OH, and Jay, get in line, when they killed Joseph Smith, they thought that would end the Mormon church, 13 million later, and yes some of those are not active. But if Romney is defeated, which I think he will be, I believe that many will maybe realize that they need to better understand the Mormons. As for whom I choose to vote for, as in the past, their religion will have nothing to do with it, but their values and their ideas will, and I would never be shallow enough to not vote for someone because of their religion. I didn't know Nixon was a Quaker, and he was the first president I voted for. I do feel that I would not vote for someone who hates my religion, I won't mention names, but I could end up voting Democrat in the Nov. elections.

Most mormons don't know what they believe, this is because of they are told not to read anything that questions their belief. Keep following the prophet (profit)and you will know the truth.

The sad truth is people are afraid of questions. I'd find a Mormon who isn't, and who knows enough to give you straight answers, and ask them.

I'd guess you're not getting straight-up, satisfactory answers to those questions because it's dealing with doctrine that is not taught or emphasized in the church, and frankly, shouldn't be, given it's relevance(or lack thereof) to one's personal salvation.

Mormons believe what is politically convenient- be that polygamy or not, racisim or not, abortion or not, just ask flip flopping Mit- a true blue Mormon.