Mormon Fundamentalists...

Discussion in 'Spirituality & Religion' started by oman, Sep 4, 2007.

  1. oman

    oman Member

    Jan 7, 2000
    South of Frisconsin
    ...keep our eyes off the sheer wackness of mainstream Mormonism.

    [​IMG]

    Great book. These fundamentalists are clearly dangerous and strange, like all fundamentalists of every stripe, but the history of mainstream mormonism is such a wonderful example of the darkness of America and religious zealotry.

    And out of the murk comes this wild ass church with members who exemplify, on the outside, a pretty damn successful human.
     
  2. NoodlesMacintosh

    NoodlesMacintosh New Member

    Aug 24, 2004
    Salt Lake City
    Club:
    Real Salt Lake
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Especially when we wear our hair just right to hide our horns.
     
  3. Tom and Jerry

    Tom and Jerry Red Card

    Aug 16, 2007
    Then you have the loons in colorado city who molest their children, marry more women than I've had hot dinners and say they're the true followers of Mr Smith...:D
     
  4. Nick_78

    Nick_78 New Member

    May 9, 2004
    VA
    Club:
    DC United
    So what you're saying is you're willing to judge someone simply by their religion? Why is that cool? Why is it that if you said this about Jews or Muslims you would have about twenty people on you in a matter of seconds telling you how horrible of a thing to say that is but when you say it about Mormons it is somehow acceptable?

    Now I'm not a big fan of the LDS Church. I think it is a little disturbing the way it tries to control its members, I don't like how much control it has over the local government (either directly or indirectly through its members), and I really, really don't like their policy of actively recruiting people. I've only had the missionaries sicked on me once out here and luckily it seems as though the missionaries that work Utah are the ones who failed their test or something. They were pretty easy to get rid of.

    I've found there are some Mormons (mostly outside of Salt Lake) who can be very judgemental and I have known mothers who wouldn't let their kids play with my son because he isn't a member.

    I've also found a lot of Mormons who would not be Mormons if not for the social pressures. I know several people who tell me they are not interested in the religion at all, but know that if they leave their families and neighbors might not be too happy.

    And if you want to have a real blast, find yourself a group of former Mormons in their mid-twenties and go out drinking with them!

    Some advantages of living amongst the Mormons are:

    1. I don't have to worry about my neighbors stopping by and drinking my beer all the time.

    2. When I do convince one of them to hit the town with me I have a built-in designated driver (which is really the only reason I do it)

    3. Going shopping or out to eat on Sundays is just awesome. We Godless heathens have the places to ourselves.

    4. I've learned wonderful phrases like "oh my crap".

    5. The little baggies of home made cookies and stuff the neighbors bring around every holiday. The only drawback is that I have to do the same, but its worth it for some of the stuff some of these bored housewives make.

    And finally, the polygamists, since T&J brought it up. Yes, Warren Jeffs and some of his followers are sick and crazy. But there are some polygamists who live right down the street from me. And guess what? They're nice, happy, friendly people who don't do anything to bother anyone.

    So huh, it looks like Mormonism is pretty much just like every other relgion out there. The church as an institution is a bit sketchy, but its a bit unfair to say that just because someone is Mormon they are some sort of mutant or something.

    For the record, I'm also bothered by the fact that BYU's mascot isn't The Stormin' Mormons. :D

    Oh, and now that I know that NoodlesMacintosh is a Mormon, my next task is to identify him/her just to be sure he/she isn't able to get his/her Mormon-Devil hooks in me next time I'm up at Rice-Eccles for a game. Fortunately for me, the smell of beer oozing from my pores is to Mormons what garlic is to vampires. ;)
     
  5. Tom and Jerry

    Tom and Jerry Red Card

    Aug 16, 2007
    So are your polygamist neighbours also up on child molestation cgarges...?
     
  6. Nick_78

    Nick_78 New Member

    May 9, 2004
    VA
    Club:
    DC United
    Why would they be? They're all consenting adults.

    My point, which you apparently missed, was that just because Warren Jeffs is a sick ********, doesn't mean that every polygamist is a sick ********. And just because one Mormon might be a bit wacky, doesn't mean they all are.
     
  7. NoodlesMacintosh

    NoodlesMacintosh New Member

    Aug 24, 2004
    Salt Lake City
    Club:
    Real Salt Lake
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    We're coming to get you, Barbara...

    ;)
     
  8. oman

    oman Member

    Jan 7, 2000
    South of Frisconsin
    You are using the issue of "judging" too loosley. I have an opinion, in part based on this book, that the Mormon faith is based on some of the wackiest scripture and some of the looniest history.

    Brigham Young was a murderous racist lying prick. Period. End of story. He may have been great in other areas, and he definately kept the faith alive. But a band of Isreallites coming to America? And the indians the remnants of one of the tribe? And the indians destroying the white tribe?

    Now granted, the mainstream Christian sects and the Muslim books have their share of miscreants and oddities. I would simply stack the Book of Mormon way up on the top of the list of idiosyncratic craziness.

    I work with many Mormons and like them all. I just never realized how silly the scripture and how violent and evil their past was.
     
  9. oman

    oman Member

    Jan 7, 2000
    South of Frisconsin
    BTW, I wasn't judging any current living LDSer in my post.
     
  10. Nick_78

    Nick_78 New Member

    May 9, 2004
    VA
    Club:
    DC United
    Ok, that all makes much more sense. It started out sounding like more of the usual "all Mormons are crazy" stuff.
     
  11. Nick_78

    Nick_78 New Member

    May 9, 2004
    VA
    Club:
    DC United
    I've got my Super Soaker full of whiskey and I'm not afraid to use it! :D
     
  12. ratdog

    ratdog Member+

    Mar 22, 2004
    In the doghouse
    Club:
    Chicago Red Stars
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    How is it any loonier than, say, the Bible? Not that it's not looney, but how is it loonier?
     
  13. TheSlipperyOne

    TheSlipperyOne Member+

    Feb 29, 2000
    Denver
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Lots of Mormons live in my hometown and growing up all the way through highschool I had plenty of Mormon friends.

    They were all very nice and I had no problems with them. I find Mormonism to be pretty weird but I find most all religions to be weird.

    My experience during highschool is that Mormom teens fell into one of two camps. First there were the goody two-shoes Mormons who fell into strict line with their beliefs. The second group is teens who basically rebelled against their religion. They partied and hooked-up and so forth. I actually dated a Mormon girl for a while as she was in the partying/hooking up crowd. That was cool until I had to hang around her ultra-strict parents.
     
  14. CrewDust

    CrewDust Member

    May 6, 1999
    Columbus, Ohio
    Club:
    Columbus Crew
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    My first hookup was with a Mormon chick. Never met her parents.
     
  15. oman

    oman Member

    Jan 7, 2000
    South of Frisconsin
    It's the Bible with a crazy ass American topping (northwest missouri as the original garden of Eden/Indians as white decendents of the jews -- evil decendents of the jews became red indians, good decendants of the jews were destroyed).

    I will admit the the violent recent history of the Mormons and the way they perserved their faith through revelations is what makes it feel loonier.
     
  16. MasterShake29

    MasterShake29 Member+

    Oct 28, 2001
    Jersey City, NJ
    Club:
    New York Red Bulls
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    And if polygamy was legal like it should be, there's probably a lot less child abuse going on in these sects.
     
  17. NoodlesMacintosh

    NoodlesMacintosh New Member

    Aug 24, 2004
    Salt Lake City
    Club:
    Real Salt Lake
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    As a point of clarification, the two groups mixed and melded a few times when everyone got along. And by the end, it was the Nephites (the originally good descendants) who were off-the-charts wicked and the Lamanites who were merely apostate, even though at that point they were all more closely related by blood and didn't have the clean line of division that had previously existed in their designation of which of the original brothers they came from.
     
  18. spejic

    spejic Cautionary example

    Mar 1, 1999
    San Rafael, CA
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    I don't think so. It isn't the illegality that makes those guys want to collect 14-year olds like baseball cards. And regulations can't change that kids are born 50% male and 50% female, which means you have throw out lots of male competition by any means necessary.
     
  19. Nick_78

    Nick_78 New Member

    May 9, 2004
    VA
    Club:
    DC United
    But it is illegality, to some degree, that forces them to move into their own private compounds out in the middle of nowhere where these sorts of things can happen a little easier.

    But I do see your point. While I agree 100% that polygamy should be legal, legality isn't going to eliminate all the Warren Jeffs of the world.
     
  20. MattR

    MattR Member+

    Jun 14, 2003
    Reston
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    My favorite part of the Mormon religion is the awesome polishing of history, the post-death baptisms, and the facade.

    As stated before, most of the Mormons I know are young, attractive, clean-living, and disgustingly perfect in every way.

    I went to the Temple in SLC, and tried to convert the young women to Ba'hai. They seemed open to the idea. Very trusting folk who wanted to share their belief in Jesus. Didn't know crap about the architectural significance of the constellations on the Temple, though.

    In the movie they showed at the temple, Smith helped a black family get out of slavery, and he was mercilessly attacked buy evil bounty-hunters as he prayed in a hotel room. It was touching. And probably totally false.

    I think the reason that Mormonism is seen as a little more wacky than most religions is that its fairly new, seems to change its stance every few years on various issues (seems like it's trying too hard to be 'accepted'), and, oh yeah, there is all that stuff about polygamy and magic underwear and you get your own planet.

    And I'd like to say I dated a Mormon girl, too. She was beautiful. Tried to convert me.
     
  21. MasterShake29

    MasterShake29 Member+

    Oct 28, 2001
    Jersey City, NJ
    Club:
    New York Red Bulls
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Yeah, it won't eliminate all the problems, but it would eliminate some of the problems, such as the need to all stay in some (surely backwards) compound instead of general society.
     
  22. oman

    oman Member

    Jan 7, 2000
    South of Frisconsin
    [​IMG]

    Curious. Did anyone else read this? Pretty damn good. "Into Thin Air" meets "Deadwood" meets "Helter Skelter".
     
  23. oman

    oman Member

    Jan 7, 2000
    South of Frisconsin

    What goes on in Colordado City Stays in Colorado City (TM).
     
  24. Nick_78

    Nick_78 New Member

    May 9, 2004
    VA
    Club:
    DC United
    That's how they do it! The only two Mormon guys I knew before I moved to Utah were converts. The girls they married were tall, hot, blondes.

    Speaking of which, I have to jump on any excuse I get to post this:

    [​IMG]
     
  25. MattR

    MattR Member+

    Jun 14, 2003
    Reston
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    What? No redheads?
     

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