Subject: Teaching Mormon children to hate other churches
Date: Mar 12 15:11 2005
Author: lonely tennessean

Meridian magazine [Mormon publication] had this small "laugh" in its joke section. I could not laugh at it because of all it says about teaching hate and evil thoughts to children
http://www.meridianmagazine.com/laughs/index.html
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Excerpt:

"True Church
My friend was driving her daughter and her daughter’s friend home from pre-school, and passed by a church building of another faith. Her friend’s daughter observed, “That is not the true church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is it?” My friend confirmed that it was not. The preschooler continued, “So we don’t go to that church, do we?” My friend answered no. After a moment of thoughtful reflection, the young girl concluded: “I think it is the great and abominable church.”

Barbara O...
Midland, Michigan"
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So this lady thinks that her kid being taught hatred is funny? I really need to get my wife out of this church or at least have her start seeing the dark side of the happy faces.

First off, this is a Mormon magazine. In the "humor" section, there is a "joke" about a little child calling a Christian church "great and abominable." Hilarious, isn't it?

Subject: I can remember being taught, as a young Mormon, that all other churches were wrong
Date: Mar 12 16:28
Author: Matt

But especially the Catholic Church. (Whore of Babylon, Great and Abominable Church, etc.)

It was when they started to soften the official stance: ("Other churches all have a small portion of the truth") that I thought: "Why this sudden change in teaching?"

Subject: Utterly hilarious and hideous
Date: Mar 12 16:59
Author: anon

but from the mouths of babes we finally hear what Mormons really think. I will run this by the mishies.

Subject: Re: Teaching Mormon children to hate other churches
Date: Mar 12 17:08
Author: Calantha

Huh.

Makes me remember an experience I had as a child. I invited a friend (non-mo) to church, and her parents allowed it.

Everyone praised me for my missionary efforts, and I was sure my friend would accept the true church, and that I had saved her from the 'Great and Abominable' church her parents took her to.

Next week comes, and she tells me, "Now you have come to my church - it's only fair." She and her family were confident that they would save me from a satan-inspired cult.

I wasn't allowed to go. Kinda confused me as a child...

Subject: This is one reason why exmos go atheist.
Date: Mar 12 17:55
Author: Mulva

Starting with primary class, mormon kids are taught with tenacity every thing that's wrong with competing churches. The trinity is ridiculed as illogical, faith without works is derided, churches without the "priesthood" as deemed spiritually impotent--all the while pumping the mist ridiculous Mormon doctrine into these poor kids' heads (Kolob-need I say more?)

By the time these kids are old enough to question Mormonism, the other christian sects have already been thoroughly trashed. It's a wonder anyone converts to orthodox christianity after leaving Mormonism.

Subject: Re: This is one reason why exmos go atheist.
Date: Mar 13 15:19
Author: rwg

Hmmm, there's something missing with that logic. IF they start questioning Mormonism and leave it, THEN obviously what Mormonism taught them was wrong.... Sooooo, IF they were taught that orthodox Christian churches were evil by a wrong church (Mormon), THEN the opposite must be true (that other churches are ok). But, I do see your point, though I do think the logic could've been clearer.

Subject: Is anyone else going to send Meridian "feedback"?
Date: Mar 12 18:21
Author: emma

There's an address for feedback on their website (feedback@meridianmagazine.com), and I'm seriously considering sending a note.
Or maybe not. This hits a raw nerve with me because it's one of the major reasons we left the church. Mormons have the audacity to say they are better and more worthy than others, that their church is the only true church while excluding and criticizing perfectly lovely people.
Stupid cult!

Subject: I sent a very detailed email to them ...
Date: Mar 13 01:20

Mail Address: 
I sent a very detailed email to them giving my view on the whole ting. Sick and warped and how totally irresponsible this adult was in allowing and encouraging this train of thought by this little girl. I called the editor and the magazine to the mat on this, to address it and requested a retraction and an written apology to their readers. It was anything but funny. I doubt they will even read my email, much less do anything about it.

Pretty damn sick if you ask me.

Subject: And DW wonders why seniors at our children's Christian school
Date: Mar 12 18:25
Author: Anon for this one

are going out to save Mormons on their spring break -- why would they interfere? I asked her if Mormon missionaries would ever attempt to convert a Christian to Mormonism. She looked puzzled. Guess I wasn't supposed to ask that kind of question.

Islam, Christians, Mormons. It doesn't matter. They're all wackos. The academics are better than at public schools in our area and their standards of behavior (no bullying or fighting) make these schools a better choice than the public (non) education system, but Christians are NO better than Mormons, just different (and yet the same).

Subject: Re: And DW wonders why seniors at our children's Christian school
Date: Mar 12 23:48
Author: anon

You are no better then anyone else either. People are the same. You are doing to religious people what these morgs are doing to Christians. Saying you are "better" and they are "whacko's". Try a little humility.

Subject: Re: Teaching children to hate other churches
Date: Mar 12 23:40
Author: lonely tennessean

I did not notice the feedback link. Thank you. Will send off a small email for them to ignore tonight.

I am bothered for two reasons. One is that they think teaching hate is good, and the other is that her mom thought it was so cute when the kid spoke it. My wife has some issues but every time I bring up the dark side of mormonism she has the old line " well that is a member doing wrong". It never is the churches fault in her eyes.

Teaching hate to a child in the name of religion is one of the worst crimes I can think of.

Subject: Here's my feedback I sent
Date: Mar 13 00:06
Author: Fedelm

I for one, did not find the comment from that child funny at all, it teaches hatred and intolerance for other churches. Mormons complain all the time about "persecution" yet they teach their children to persecute others, especially when they do their 2-year sentence as missionaries. It's just wrong and there's no such thing as a true church.

Subject: Amazing!
Date: Mar 13 02:32
Author: RC_Dave

Really pathetic, and they're actually stupid enough to PUBLISH garbage like that.

I was raised Catholic around a lot of Mormons, and I can assure you it was no treat having to interact with those kids. Great abominable church, whore of Babylon, etc. - from 12 year-olds! My parents found it absolutely incredible that a "church" would teach hatred to young children and then send them out to confront other children in the school yard. Looks like that hasn't changed.

Mainstream? Christians? I don't think so....

Subject: Re: My apologies...
Date: Mar 13 03:14
Author: exmoron

The point, Mrit, is that Mormons teach their children that the Catholic church is "the great and abominable church", "the whore of Babylon", "(insert rude ignorant term here)", and "(here)". In other words, they teach hatred toward other religions.

Comparing that to this board (Recovery from Mormonism, remember) is comparing apples and oranges. RFM exists as a help and support to people who are trying to put their lives back together after Mormonism, not brainwash its members into believing it's the One True Website, while all other websites are abominations to God.

The editors of that Mormon magazine seem to think that hate speech, as used by a four-year-old, is cute or funny. We don't. Still confused?

Subject: I'll give my parents credit...
Date: Mar 13 07:39
Author: Stray Mutt

...for being more liberal about this. I guess it's a product of living outside Zion, among the gentiles, and seeing that most of them are very decent folks. There were no Mormons in my neighborhood, so I grew up playing with Presbyterians, Methodists, Baptists, Catholics, Jews and people with no religious inclinations. Approval of my friends was based on who tended to get into mischief and who didn't, not on their religion.

One summer my best friend next door was going to his church's summer program for kids. Out of the blue, my parents asked if I wanted to go with him. Sure! It was great. Lots of crafts, roller skating in their gym -- kid stuff, not the usual sit-down-shut-up indoctrination sessions of Primary.

There was the general counsel from my parents to beware of picking up bad ideas and habits from non-Mormons. So even though I played with them, it was usually at arm's length. And I had to xcuse myself from doing things on Sunday.

It wasn't until teen age that my parents started getting paranoid about my friends and who I dated. I guess they figured the risks were greater.

Sometimes the more judgmental side of my Utah-born parents leaked out in little unguarded comments, but mostly they behaved themselves, and I grew up fairly open minded about other religions. But nuns still scared me because they looked too much like witches.

Subject: Funny, yet sad. The TBM parent did not even....
Date: Mar 13 12:31
Author: Lara C

....recognize how wrong this was.

Sad, too, that a preschooler has internalized this at such a young age.

Sigh....I didn't know the church taught this anymore...I was taught this growing up, but, shoot, that was way back in the 60's. I thought the church had grown up a bit since then. Sad to see it has not.

Subject: Don't Send Feedback!
Date: Mar 13 14:06
Author: anon for this

I am always amazed that so many here so badly want TSCC [This so called church] to change - to mainstream itself. And further amazed that some take it upon themselves to try to help those changes along. Why? How watered-down would the church have to be for you to go back?

I think most TBMs can't see what's wrong with this "funny" story. I don't hope that the church and its members will soften-up on issues like this. In fact, I hope that the opposite happens - that they become even more hard core so that the fruits of their religion become even more obvious.

My TBM wife is finally starting to admit that I have valid points regarding what we portray to our kids as truth and how some of those things could become hurtful as our kids get older. For example, the idea that I am not as good a father as the dads that show-up to church and that I am not "worthy" to give blessings, etc.

The more that Mormons show the world (and each other) just how closed-minded and elitist they really are the more chance someone like me has at saving my wife and kids from the cult!

Subject: I just sent feedback!
Date: Mar 13 19:41
Author: Gregg

I have no desire to change the church or help it mainstream. I just wanted to let this Trisha Manwaring and the other idiots at Meridian know just how absurd this is! It's simply wrong to plant seeds of religious intolerance in the minds of these young children.

They should be publishing articles against religious intolerance, but instead they're promoting it by placing it at the top of their "humor" section!

If this were a story about a preschooler who made some "cute" racist remark about how Aryans were the only "true" race while the mother said nothing to correct the kid, wouldn't you feel compelled to send feedback telling them that they're bigots and are promoting bigotry by publishing such crap?

This kind of intolerance is perhaps worse than racism because it's basically teaching a kid to disrespect 99.9% of people on the planet who are not members of the "true" religion.

It's not about trying to destroy the church, it's about speaking out against religious intolerance and the organizations like Meridian who promote it!