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Cat Tale said:
Huh? What have I said about Joseph Smith that Joseph Smith didn't say himself? The following is taken from the Pearl of Great Price Student Manual off the Church website:

I might also suggest reading Joseph Smith History 1:28 where Joseph Smith talks about how he "frequently fell into many foolish errors, and displayed the weakness of youth, and the foibles of human nature; which I am sorry to say, led me into divers temptations, offensive in the site of God."

So what exactly have I said that's against LDS doctrine? I mean, I didn't say he committed any great or malignant sin, a misdemeanor is not a big deal, in the great scheme of things.
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Cat, I'd like to add my voice to the others who have complimented you.

I don't need you to agree with me. I would like for you to make an informed decision. I'm comfortable that you have done that. I could sit down and have a glass of beer Hawaiian Punch with you and Pup any day. :)
 
StankApe said:
give her beer! once she tastes the sweet ,sweet nectar she will be unable to resist!!

:D
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Q: Why do you take two Mormons with you fishing instead of one?
A: If you take only one he will drink all of your beer.

A well worn joke and a true story. ;)
 
I have heard that joke, but about Baptists instead (kinda one of those "works with whatever you want" jokes)
 
Back to LDS;

What I don't get, is converting to it. I understand how kids grow up in the church and stay in... that's pretty self explanatory, but how does someone read that stuff and think "Oh, this totally makes sense!"? It's bizarre to me.
 
StankApe said:
Back to LDS;

What I don't get, is converting to it. I understand how kids grow up in the church and stay in... that's pretty self explanatory, but how does someone read that stuff and think "Oh, this totally makes sense!"? It's bizarre to me.
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They may not be attracted to the religion so much as the community. Of course, as some of the earlier posts show, not all of the local communities are equally attractive.

But to someone who held generally similar values anyway, and wanted to be a part of this nice, supportive community (with the above caveat), and particularly if that community had members who seemed very wise and savvy who strongly believed, I can imagine someone deciding it's right for them.

ETA: Think about some of the other beliefs that people adopt. If you're starting out with a belief in a Christian god, then compared to belief in astrology, homeopathy, CTs, ND football, etc... Mormonism looks pretty good.
 
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StankApe said:
Back to LDS;

What I don't get, is converting to it. I understand how kids grow up in the church and stay in... that's pretty self explanatory, but how does someone read that stuff and think "Oh, this totally makes sense!"? It's bizarre to me.
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Psychological manipulation.

When I was on my mission I was often told to look for and focus on people going through a transition. Recently married. Recently had children. Recent death in the family. Loss of job. Etc..

It's marketing. The LDS church uses the very same techniques as those first formulated by Edward Bernays during the mid 20th century (see Century of the self).

After returning from my mission I went into direct sales and then marketing. The techniques I used on my mission worked well in both. Some of the same techniques are used by magicians and politicians.

Humans don't make purely rational decisions (see Spock Fallacy). That is one of the the biggest misconceptions about human psychology and human behavior that there is. If you want to sell beer you don't point out that it makes you drunk. You sell an idea, a concept consisting of mostly illusions of youth, partying, happiness and or status and prestige. If you want to sell Mormonism you use love of family, fear of death, desire for community, desire for stability and convention. You use black and white thinking, purity vs evil. Most important you love. In the Mormon Church this is called fellow-shipping or friend-shipping. In many cults it's often called love bombing.

wiki said:
Love bombing is a tactic often employed by cults (or any religious, political or other group of like-minded individuals) as a way of luring prospective members. Current members typically "love bomb" potential or desired new recruits by showering them with affection, praise, sympathy, and offers of friendship. Cult awareness experts warn that this seemingly kind and welcoming practice is often the first step in a mind control ("brainwashing") process that leads to religious conversion or involvement with a group that may be harmful to its membership or to society. While most people can discern such cynical ploys from honest offers of fellowship, anyone caught at a vulnerable time in his or her life (following a divorce, death, loss of job or any major life change) or suffering from insecurities or other psychological issues could fall under the spell of a charismatic leader and the true believers who inevitably surround such a person
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StankApe said:
Either eating meat is wrong ,according to your religion, or it isn't! Saying "rarely" is such a silly cop out statement! I don't even know where to start with that! (other than it's an obvious attempt to show you are a "better" mormon than CatTale)
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Except that's not true in this case. As previous posters have said, the Word of Wisdom tells Mormons to eat meat sparingly, and at certain times of the year.
 
StankApe said:
Back to LDS;

What I don't get, is converting to it. I understand how kids grow up in the church and stay in... that's pretty self explanatory, but how does someone read that stuff and think "Oh, this totally makes sense!"? It's bizarre to me.
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That's because you're using reality based thinking instead of faith based thinking, in faith based thinking evidence is your own emotions, the "burning in the bosom" or the sudden feeling of intimacy with god are all the evidence needed.
 
dasmiller said:
They may not be attracted to the religion so much as the community.
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I had never met a Mormon missionary till college, and even then the only way I met them was by calling and asking how to go about joining the church. Needless to say they came right away. :D

Probably the main thing that attracted me to the church was the Word of Wisdom, and the moral code of conduct. It was much higher than what I was accustomed to growing up in a different faith. I also wanted something that was Christ based, and believed that the Father, Son and Holy Ghost were three seperate entities with one purpose, one that believed in works plus faith, service, frugality... The fact that they also enjoy doing family history and have the large library was also of interest to me. There were a lot of other reasons too, just too many to name them all, so I might as well stop.

I've been extremely proud of my ward this last year for helping out after all the horrible storms. Members gathered up food, water, cleaning supplies, diapers, all the things that people would need, and then put on their boots and went to help clean up debris, etc. Didn't matter if one was LDS or not. That's what I enjoy seeing, is serving our fellow men.
 
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I have always wanted them to show up at my house! I think I would call up some beer, chicks and whiskey and have party time!
 
StankApe said:
I have always wanted them to show up at my house! I think I would call up some beer, chicks and whiskey and have party time!
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I have stories. None of them quite as steamy as the Trey Parker Kind but some pretty interesting stories nonetheless. Mostly though it was just doors shut in our faces. Two years of knocking doors. Like the proverbial fly hitting the windshield, I probably don't have the guts to do that again.
 
How come you didn't just go screw off for awhile and just tell yer bosses "oh yeah, knocked on doors all day" ?
 
RandFan said:
I have stories. None of them quite as steamy as the Trey Parker Kind but some pretty interesting stories nonetheless. Mostly though it was just doors shut in our faces. Two years of knocking doors. Like the proverbial fly hitting the windshield, I probably don't have the guts to do that again.
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Aint that the truth! Didn't you say you served when they changed the length of missions? So did I. Nothing like two sister missionaries being invited into a man's house and hearing the door lock behind you! :jaw-dropp Needless to say we decided to tell him our visit was to give him a pamphlet and then slowly walk to the door, unlock it and leave. Phew, dunno about his intentions, but he really didn't act right and God (or at least self preservation) told us to skeedaddle out of there.
 
StankApe said:
How come you didn't just go screw off for awhile and just tell yer bosses "oh yeah, knocked on doors all day" ?
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*I did that a couple of times. But I felt guilty. What's the point of going at all if you aren't going to do the work? When I was out near the 18 month mark the Church changed the time length for missions to 18 months from two years. I could have gone home 6 months early but I chose to stay. I was a true believer.

FWIW: Missions went back up to 2 years.

*While I was on my mission we had a saying "I learned to pad from my dad". The joke was about inflating one's numbers on weekly reports. It went like this:

District Leader: Wow, those are some fantastic numbers you put up this week Elder.
Elder: I Learned to pad from my dad.

Some leaders didn't like the joke. :cool:
 
Janadele said:
If you are honest you will inform your Bishop and Stake President of your beliefs and take the consequences... and by the way, I personally very rarely eat meat nor have I advocated eating it, nor mentioned refrigeration.
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Again. The quote comes before the response. Otherwise you're making the baby FSM cry.

Secondly. Consequences? Will there be spankings? Will she be forced to write 'I will not think for myself' over and over again on a blackboard? What are the consequences in the LDS church for thinking for oneself?
 
Shalamar said:
Again. The quote comes before the response. Otherwise you're making the baby FSM cry.

Secondly. Consequences? Will there be spankings? Will she be forced to write 'I will not think for myself' over and over again on a blackboard? What are the consequences in the LDS church for thinking for oneself?
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expulsion I assume.

I would really love to be able to strip the LDS and Scientology of their tax exemption
 
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