Born Free

The dreaded mormons.........shivveeerrrrrrr

DarkBronzePlant

I'd inadvertantly scared off a Mormon on a mission a few years ago. I was living in San Francisco. Apparently, the city is crawling with heathens who need to be saved, because on any given day there, you'll see at leat a couple of buys walking around in suits and ties, carrying the Book of Mormon with them.

So I was riding a bus across town one night, and one of these kids sits next to me and starts in. We chatted briefly about San Francisco, and Germany, where he was from. I asked him about the mission he was on, and told him that I was familiar with the concept, as I had a few Mormon friends myself. It was a pleasant conversation, especially considering my only alternative was to stare out the window. So then he asked my about my familiarity with Mormonism, and I said I was midly familiar with it. But no, it didn't seem appealing or all that interesting for me personally.

So he asked if I was very religious. No, I told him. Am I familiar with God? Yes, I am. Have I accepted him into my heart? Nope.

At that point, he tried a different angle. "Okay, let's start with this," he said. "Do you believe in god?"

I answered plainly, "No."

Honestly, I'd never seen quite a look like the one he had on his face. It was like he was thinking, okay, at least I can hook you with this question, and he never even considered that I might not believe in god. So he just got up and said, "O....kay......, uh, it was nice talking to you."

I honestly meant to keep the conversation going. Maybe I should've lied a little?

Wasatch

Hey Alli and Darkbronze
I'm Mormon, did the two year missionary thing to Chile, about twenty+ years ago.
Wasatch

Queen of Swords

Hi Wasatch, and welcome to the board. I was hoping a Mormon could answer a question for me...

We had a member called lds who said that polygamy was no longer allowed/practiced by the Mormon church. All I know about Mormonism, I got from reading Orson Scott Card's novel Saints, which is about the life of Dinah Kirkham. In this book, Joseph Smith receives the doctrine of Celestial Marriage and the Mormons follow the customs of polygamy.

How did the church rationalize their decision to stop such a practice? Especially when you consider that their prophet practiced it? By the way, the novel states that Smith's first wife, Emma, denied that he had ever preached such a doctrine, so I wonder what Mormons these days believe Joseph Smith actually said or did.

Wasatch

Queenofswords
Let me start out with a quick background. I'm a 5th generation Mormon. However I am in a questioning mode right now. I am questioning the Mormons, Christianity, the Bible and the existence of God. I'll try to answer any questions the best I can. There are several Mormon websites and boards, where you could ask questions.
To answer your questions on Polygamy. This can get a little complicated.
The Mormon church doesn't allow polygamy anymore. If you practice it you will be excommunicated.
Joseph Smith received a revelation from God (about 1832) explaining that a man could take more than one wife. The mormons call it Celestial Marriage. The church will acknowledge that JS had maybe 4 wives, but they don't like to talk about it. Historically he may have had 16 or more. Brigham Young really made the practice more popular, he had 26 wives. Apparently only a small percentage of the church practiced it.
In the 1880s the church was receiving much persecution from the Federal Government.
In 1890 the President of the Church(Wilford Woodruff) issued a Manifesto which supposedly put a stop to plural marriages. However the practice did continue for many years after. Mormons believe in a prophet that receives revelation from God on a regular basis. God let them practice Celestial Marriage for awhile then he(god) through revelation pull the practice away because of the persecution. That's kinda it in a nut shell. Any other questions?.
Wasatch

Pomp

Wasatch,

Thanks for explaining that. There's one thing I'm not clear on: is the official church policy that god changed his mind regarding polygamy, or that the prophet (JS, presumably) who originally reported that polygamy was fine with god misunderstood god's policy, or that god doesn't have a problem with polygamy but thought it best for his people to avoid trouble with the government (in which case, why didn't he know ahead of time that the practice would lead to dispute), or what?

[ March 18, 2002: Message edited by: Pompous Bastard ]</p>

Wasatch

PB
I don't claim to be an expert. But here it goes.
JS a prophet ushered in the last dispensation or the dispensation of the fullness of times. All things have been or will be restored in this dispensation. Celestial Marriage or polygamy is one of those things restored. Mormons believe that God practices Celestial Marriage and has many wives. Yes polygamy was sanctioned of God for a period of time. The practice was restored, but doesn't mean it has to stay through the entire dispensation. If you ask 5 Mormons why polygamy was taken back you will probably get 5 different answers. Ask a mormon and they will start to squirm and do all manner of tap dancing.
I think it was mostly political. The church had to give up the practice or they wouldn't survive.
Wasatch

Pomp

Wasatch,

Thanks for your explanations.

I think it was mostly political. The church had to give up the practice or they wouldn't survive.

I assumed the real answer ran along these lines. I was just wondering how the church justified their political needs theologically.

Kosh

And, how is it the Mormon determines that a
"prophecy" is from God or not?

'Cause I've been getting these regular revelations
that everybody here should pitch in and buy me
a new Harley...

DarkBronzePlant

Hi Wasatch, and welcome!

How was the missionary experience? As I mentioned, I'd had many Mormon friends, but I haven't really talked to any since they'd returned from their missions (I'd moved out of state by then.) I've always thought that the fact that Mormon boys/men are sent on missions -- going to usually far-away places to discuss with people something you love -- is reason to be jealous. In fact, my girlfriend and I were discussing that a few weeks ago, whether a mission is a chance-of-a-lifetime, a dreaded-pain-in-the-butt, or some combination thereof.

Any thoughts?