I grew up in Edmonton Alberta. When I was young, there used to be an old guy who stood on a corner every single day downtown preaching his version of christianity. You'd walk by and he'd say "Can I offer you a testimony of what Jeeezuz did?" And sometimes he'd tell people they were going to hell or call them fornicators. Annoying, but generally harmless, and he became sort of a fixture.

I follow a Facebook page about the history of the city, and today there was a lengthy discussion about this old guy. What struck me was that many people had no idea what, if any organization this guy represented. For the record, he was a Pentecostal of some kind. But some thought he was a Hutterite, others a JW, and still others thought he was a mormon.

The interesting thing for me was that so many people had no real idea of what mormonism is. Some of the comments were along the lines of, "I know he was mormon, my mom said he gave her a mormon bible once." "Are they the ones who have those sister wives? I didn't know there were any of them up here. Isn't there a big church in southern Alberta?" "I used to walk past this mormon church. You mean they have sister wives?" "He was mormon, he always had that young girl with him." There were also comments confusing the mormons with the JWs in terms of their respective proselytizing practices. And judging by the number of people who thought this old guy was mormon, they also thought his style might be how mormons proselytize.

It was a real confirmation that, for all of the LDS church's efforts over many years, and all of the young people who have wasted 2 years of their lives on missions, they've had very little impact on most people. They are still a sort of anonymous group that is on the fringes of people's awareness, if it registers at all. Good news!

The reason for this is that the US (and Canada) has many many religions and it's difficult to remember what the differences are. I tend to get confused between evangelicals and baptists, they seem the same to me. What's the difference between Anglican and Episcopal? And the difference between Holy Rollers, Pentecostals, and house of god? Or methodists versus Lutherans, I've been to both churches and it's tough to find why they aren't the same church. it's all very similar. JWs and Mormons share a lot of baggage that comes from Early New England such as limited adoration of buildings, the strict sexual morals and an abhorrence to wanking off.

macaRomney Wrote:
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> ....the strict sexual morals and an
> abhorrence to wanking off.

Let me fix that for you....

the strict sexual morals (teenage girls and married women are fair game) and an abhorrence (publicly) to wanking off.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/28/2020 08:54PM by Bite Me.

The variables are more on peripheral issues rather than core issues that pertain to Christian salvation. Most of the groups you mention have general agreement on the issues that matter...salvation by grace through faith in Christ, for instance. Members of most groups can have fellowship with other believers matter there denomination.

I like this! Yes, it's good news!

The Mormon cult definitely should be grouped with those other cults and their recruiters. Mormonism certainly does not fit in with the Christian religions, no matter how hard they try.

As long as there are Mormon temples wherein couples are married "under the New and Everlasting Covenant", which means polygamy, and as long as Mormons still believe in Polygamy in the Celestial Kingdom, and as long as Mormons believe that polygamy is "God's way" and that even God and Christ are polygamists--then Mormons are still polygamists!

Mormons will forever be known for what is in the hearts of the members--degradation of women, distain for ALL other religions, arrogance and intrusiveness in stalking potential converts; hatred towards LGBTQ, apostates, atheists, people with tattoos, piercings, and the list goes on, Mormonism is just trashy. It is refreshing to know that most of the human race has evolved above and beyond such pettiness, superstition, abuse, and blind obedience. Most people don't let the disease of Mormonism taint their lives. Mormons should be treated like the corona virus--stay at least 10 feet away, and don't let them breathe on you.

When I was traveling through Europe, as a student there, whenever people would find out that I was a Mormon, they would often laugh out loud, and say, "How many mothers do you have?" I would laugh with them, and say, "One, but my great grandfather had two sister wives."

Mormons do not know much about mormonism....

They know the Book of Mormon was a hit Broadway musical and Joseph Smith was Dumb Dumb Dumb.

This has something to do with the fact that Mormons are less than 1% of the population almost everywhere.

How much do you know about https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiritism ? It has about the same membership.

Eric3 Wrote:
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> This has something to do with the fact that
> Mormons are less than 1% of the population almost
> everywhere.
>
> How much do you know about
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiritism ? It has
> about the same membership.

If the entirety of Mormons were concentrated entirely within China, they would be just over 1% of the Chinese population. Mormonism is insignificant in the world.

alsd Wrote:
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> Eric3 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > This has something to do with the fact that
> > Mormons are less than 1% of the population
> almost
> > everywhere.
> >
> > How much do you know about
> > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiritism ? It
> has
> > about the same membership.
>
> If the entirety of Mormons were concentrated
> entirely within China, they would be just over 1%
> of the Chinese population. Mormonism is
> insignificant in the world.

It's a sobering thought to realise that if they were concentrated entirely in the Falkland Islands, that they would be 99.999% of the population.

...because it's all changing and they deny the past.

When the prophet says, "I don't know that we teach that anymore" he means they refuse to admit it was ever taught.

It seems to me that, if they do know something, it has to do with Mormons having practiced polygamy.

>>It was a real confirmation that, for all of the LDS church's efforts over many years, and all of the young people who have wasted 2 years of their lives on missions, they've had very little impact on most people.

When I talk to nevermos about Mormonism, for most of them, the first associated word that pops into their minds is "polygamy." They often know about Brigham Young, but seldom much of anything about Joseph Smith.

So, all these years later, and with tens of thousands of Mormon missionaries dispatched at any one time, the first thing that people can think of is, "polygamy."

Rusty has his work cut out for him.

And they still dont care to know more.

They don't know because they don't care.

Mormons think they're the most important thing in the world — because their church is to them. But the rest of the world is barely aware of them, and what they think of them (if anything) is mostly inaccurate. It wounds the Mormon ego and contributes to their persecution complex.

What they tend to know:

* Polygamy
* Book of Mormon
* Missionaries
* Word of Wisdom
* Temples (but usually they confuse them with chapels)
* Utah
* Underwear
* Osmonds

What they usually don't know:

* D&C etc
* Priesthood authority
* Temple ceremonies (not much anyway)
* The current prophet
* Most leaders since Brighan Young (except GBH?)
* That missionaries aren't paid.
* Ordinary members.
* Members' tribes.