DH brought up a good point. If we are taught that fear comes from satan and the church teachings cause fear, what does that make the church? Never really thought about it like that.

But the concept of fear coming from Satan is a TSCC concept/teaching, and if we cannot trust the lying church with its con man founder, all teachings of that church must be false, thus the concept that fear is from Satan is also false, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of you.

Your intellect is truly dizzying

Inconceivable!

You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

>> But the concept of fear coming from Satan is a TSCC concept/teaching, and if we cannot trust the lying church with its con man founder, all teachings of that church must be false, thus the concept that fear is from Satan is also false, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of you. <<

But Satan must have know all of that, he would have counted on it, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of me.

"God has not given us the spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound mind" 2 Tim 1:7

The fact that fear does not come from God IS a biblical teaching.

You are incorrect. All religions use fear to keep the sheep in

line and obeying. The mormon church is not the only one that

does it.... Fear is how religion works.

I'm not sure ALL religions teach fear. Buddhism teaches you to NOT fear things.

Ex-CultMember Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I'm not sure ALL religions teach fear. Buddhism
> teaches you to NOT fear things.


I think I stated it wrong in that religion doesn't teach fear

as much as it engenders fear in its adherents if they don't

follow the "right way"... there will be fearful consequenses.

But as far as I know of Buddhism, I agree with you .....

One of the Swedish members on the Marlin Jensen Rescue talk said about Smith's sexual practices, quote:

“But why does my spirit talks to me and screams wrong, wrong, wrong, even if it’s a prophet of God? Do I have the devil in me who’s talking to me and says I should understand this 14 and 16-year-old girls marrying? . . . So he did that right, it was God told him to do that? Go behind Emma and take these wives?”

Missed the point, but the comments were good.

"Fear. Fear attracts the fearful . . . the strong . . . the weak . . .the innocent . . . the corrupt. Fear. Fear is my ally."

- Darth Maul (or possibly Boyd K. Packer)

Mormon conceit: If you watch an R rated movie or look at a Playboy magazine, the Holy Ghost will flee, leaving you unprotected.

Retort: That is one chickenshit ghost. I'm not afraid of Anna Nicole Smith or Freddy Kreuger.

Mormon conceit: Certain internet sites will kill your faith in Jesus.

Retort: Printed material isn't much of a weapon by any standard. The only thing it can kill is ignorance.

Mormon conceit: Gays are infiltrating the Arts and Theater.

Retort: For a long time, gay people couldn't get work anywhere else, unless they lied about themselves.

. . . anybody want a peanut?

The bible teaches that fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.

It takes a specially conniving heart to exploit the fear of those who want to please the God are are afraid they are not good enough.

That is the kernel of greed at the root of the sociopathic, (though charismatic) personality of Joseph Smith. He learned exactly how to do that when he was an exhorter for camptown revivals in the Methodist Church (See "Insider's View" by Grant Palmer for an imaginative depiction of this)

Buddhism does not exploit the natural fears but rather teaches tools to use to deal with the undesirable emotions arising from fear. It does not resist fear, but invites it to sit and have tea, you might say. We learn not to feel uncomfortable when fear arises, but to take the time to experience it calmly and fully.


Anagrammy

But anagrammy - isn't the word "fear" used here to mean respect, hearken, listen - not actual terror? I'm asking because that was what I was always taught - not to be afraid of God and that being afraid doesn't come from God but to respect God and follow him. Is that Mormon and not biblical?

You make a good point--that we are talking about a translation also, but in ye olden days respect was often obtained by scaring someone.

We can see this connotation of the word in action in the gang culture today when people kill others because they were "disrespected." They re-establish respect with violence, resulting in future respectful treatment due to fear.

Different denominations of Christendom use fear to a greater and lessor degree. We can imagine the shivers the congregation experienced listening to Jonathan Edward's famous sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God."

http://www.ccel.org/ccel/edwards/sermons.sinners.html

It is true that some Bible commentators point to the word translated as "fear" being translated in an earlier paragraph as "respect."

I think there is a spectrum of fear-inducing behavior and the orthodoxy (to which the Bible commentators, preachers, popes, priests and prophets belong) teach one thing while the laity often practice/ understand quite differently.

In hierarchal religions, their throatlock control of members is deliberate. It is designed to reduce the space between the doctrine and the practice of the "folk" religion in the field.

It is not a coincidence that The Amish and the Mormons are the only two recognized subcultures in America. And you see them both becoming more draconian rather than loosening up, in response to society becoming more liberal.

Don't forget to wear your garments while gardening. We don't give a sh*t if you are beet red with heat prostration, we own those nipples.


Anagrammy

Check out that other posting about the church of Lucifer... in the search. It has lots of good postings.

Buddhism does not exploit the natural fears but rather teaches tools to use to deal with the undesirable emotions arising from fear. It does not resist fear, but invites it to sit and have tea, you might say. We learn not to feel uncomfortable when fear arises, but to take the time to experience it calmly and fully.
AMEN TO THIS - Anagrammy - I am a Buddhist too.

I had no idea I carried so much anxiety around with me on a daily basis. Worrying about if I am doing what I am supposed to be doing, as the Lord was always looking over my shoulder.

Of course it was never enough (either as a Catholic or as a Mormon).

Learning about Buddhism made it possible for me to just be on the planet in my own skin and feel a sense of belonging that had nothing to do with worthiness or God or the approval of any social group.

A wonderful sense of belonging to nature and all creation which feels like a spiritual experience of Being.

Anagrammy

Anagrammy,

I have always loved your responses. I have a question--where could I learn of Buddhism? Are there books or websites you'd recommend?

You pretty much just summed up exactly how I felt/feel. I am learning that God (if there is one) does not intertwine himself in every little move or decision you make. As a TBM I honestly believed that and it has caused some issues (health for one). Anyways..thanks for any suggestions on where to learn of Buddhism.

Buddhism DOES NOT teach fear. They frankly don't give a damn if you remain Buddhist or not from a financial standpoint since they don't have a tithing type of thing. It is NOT something you want to leave because it is the opposite of the CULT. They love critical thinking.....

Shambhala is the Buddhism I am learning right now. Check them out A
http://www.shambhala.org/centers/

Here is another site:
http://buddhism.about.com/

AMEN for what Anagrammy said....fellow Buddhist



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/21/2014 03:45AM by verilyverily.