who the fuck do they think they are?

[DesertFlower]

just heard chris matthews say the evangelicals don't accept mormons as christians. i'm an atheist, but if there was a god what would he think? i think he would be accepting of good people who do the right thing.

sorry for the rant. i just needed to vent.

[lector]

1. IT

is the old "do as I say not as I do" Theology. I have never met on yet that will actually practice what their good book teaches.

[spanone]

2. the problem with religion is the people who 'interpret' it

[Redford]

4. Some Christians view Mormonism as a cult

Notice I said "some".

[NAO]

5. The groups most hated by religious people are not

atheists or heathen religions. They are other, slightly different versions of the "one true" religion.

Mormons as Christians? What a laugh. When I was in growing up in a Baptist church, we were taught that Catholics were not Christians. There was honest debate if possibly SOME Catholics might just make it to heaven, rather than going straight to hell. (There was no debate about Mormons - they were all going to hell.)

Just Google "all Catholics going to hell" and you will come up with lots of examples of this type of thinking.

[DesertFlower]

7. i was raised catholic. we were told

to try and convert our protestant friends. never even heard of mormons back then. i'm 70.

[madokie]

38. Those teachings as a young lad led me to where I am today, a non religious person

The hell fire and brimstone pretty much done me in then this. I'm comfortable in my beliefs. If the truth was known I probably live my life like a Christian more than most or many of the self proclaimed Christians do.

[elleng]

6. Think? Them THINK?

Don't think so.
And of course, thats why you're athiest and I'm agnostic: If there were a god, s/he would accept good people who do the right thing. That's all, folks!

[Worried senior]

15. You don't need a label

of christianity to be a good person. Some terrible people out there that say and think they are the chosen ones.

[Lint Head]

8. True Christians accept everyone. Belief is personal and is something that is suppose to

demonstrated as an example and not shoved down one's throat like the right wing nut theocratic fascists we see paraded on television and the net every day.

[Johnson20]

9. I believe you are right DesertFlower!! n/t

[BumRushDaShow]

10. I just yelled the same thing at the TV

when Tweety had on that batshit crazy imp talking about requiring ultrasounds before I went

[DesertFlower]

13. hubby said he's going to buy me

rubber bricks to throw at the tv.

[BumRushDaShow]

18. LOL!!!

[tinymontgomery]

28. Let me know

Let me know where he buys them. I'm tired of buying new tv's due to destroyed screens.

[Cerridwen]

29. Have him get Nerf(tm) bricks.

The rubber ones might still crack the screen or, depending on your aim, damage something else.

[BumRushDaShow]

30. Nerf bricks

LOL

Whenever I see Tweety, for some reason I want to hurl a rotten tomato at the screen and watch it splat while the juice slimes down...

[Cerridwen]

31. Sounds like a good way to re-purpose old TV sets.

LOL

Hmmmmm, sounds like a carnival game in the making.

[flakey_foont]

11. quote from Stephen Weinberg

"With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion. "

[Blue_Tires]

33. brilliant

[liberal N proud]

12. Until they needed them for political reasons they felt the similarly about Catholics

[HopeHoops]

14. It's a toss up. Mormons say they believe in Christ but don't follow the bible.

They've got "The Book of Mormon" as their justification for polygamy. I don't view most so called "Christians" as Christian because they sure as hell don't follow his teachings. Every devout follower of whatever cult considers it to be superior and all other cults as inferior. That transcends flavors of religion and the prophets behind them. It's just the justification for being "devout".

[DesertFlower]

16. i agree. nt

[muriel_volestrangler]

20. No, they do follow the Bible as well

http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/mormon/texts/holybooks.shtml

The polygamy doesn't just appear in the Book of Mormon, remember; there's a lot of it in the Old Testament. I can't actually think of anything explicitly forbidding in in the Bible, though I could be wrong.

[HopeHoops]

32. Eating shellfish (Leviticus)

Regardless of the flavor of Christian people subscribe to, the ones that make the most noise about being "Christian" always seem to be the ones who really don't follow anything Christ taught - Romney, Santorum, Gingrinch, the Phelps Klan, the shrub, etc.

[hfojvt]

17. according to their theology

God does not accept "good people who do the right thing"

Romans 3: 23 "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God"

Even those who think they are "good people who do the right thing"

Salvation is a gift, not something that is earned by being good.

"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God." Ephesians 2: 8

However, it is not a gift for everyone, but only for those who believe and accept.

"whoever believes in Him (the only begotten Son) should not perish but have everlasting life." John 3: 16


As for evangelicals accepting mormons as another one of their own, that is hardly unique. They do not accept most Catholics, most Presbyterians, Methodists, Unitarians, Congregationalists, Episcopalians, Lutherans, etc. They would not think members of that church are Christians UNLESS, and only unless, they had been born again and had a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Nor would they accept that denomination as preaching the TRUTH.

On the other side, neither do Mormons accept the members of any other denomination as true Christians. Hence, they baptize ancestors and deceased relatives into the Mormon church - because they do not accept the baptism of any Christian denomination. Whereas an Evangelical church, like the Free Methodists, WILL accept the baptism of other denominations (but not of Mormons I bet).

[WinkyDink]

19. Ahem. No Christian believes he himself will become a God, as Mormons do. No Christian believes in

extra-canonical works, as those who believe in the Book of Mormon obviously do. No Christian beleives that Christ landed in the New World, as Mormons do. No Christian accepts plural marriage, as Mormons have practiced (Grampy Romney!) and routinely still do practice ("Sister Wives&quot .

They can call themselves Christians; they can call themselves kumquats; they are alone in either delusion.

[muriel_volestrangler]

21. They believe Jesus was Christ

http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/mormon/beliefs/god_1.shtml

therefore, the label 'Christian' suits them very well. Your 'reasoning' is a classic example of the 'No True Scotsman' fallacy.

[MineralMan]

22. I'm an atheist, but I'm very, very familiar with the Bible.

Here's what Jesus had to say about who was a Christian. He is reported to have said it two times, as recorded in the Gospels. I've chosen the version in Matthew, because I once memorized the entire book to get a nice blue ribbon, but there is a very similar one in Luke:

MATTHEW 10
32 Whosoever therefore shall CONFESS me before men, him will I CONFESS also before my Father which is in heaven.

Pretty simple. No doctrine. No particular definitions. A Christian is one who says publicly that he or she is a Christian and believes that Jesus has the power of salvation. Nothing more needs to be said. What being a Christian means is a different story, depending on whether you believe that stuff or not.

If a Mormon says he or she is a Christian, then it looks like Jesus thinks so too.

Disclaimer: I think it's all poppycock, but I'm quoting from the scriptures Christians claim to believe.

[DesertFlower]

27. thanks mineral man.

[Honeycombe8]

23. Being Christian has nothing to do with being good, in order to get into heaven.

You don't get into heaven by being good. New Testament says you get into heaven only if you believe Jesus was the Messiah, etc. There are a lot of good Jewish people, Buddhists, whatever, but according to the New Testament, they will not get into heaven.

[malaise]

24. I think they're all 'idjuts'

every single religion

[cleanhippie]

25. I think that they are all trying desperately to rationalize their irrational beliefs.

[treestar]

26. I hear you

The schism stuff should be over by now.

[TBF]

34. This is not new - in the early 1900s there was a lot of prejudice against Catholics as well

I wouldn't be surprised if it went both ways. Some religious folks decide they are the only ones who are the "true" faith. It is so silly ... Much of my family was Lutheran growing up, and it was a big deal when one of my great uncles married a woman who was catholic. My grandfather (his older brother) was the one to welcome her and tell everyone else to STFU. She's a very nice lady - in her 80s now - and I still send her holiday cards and get letters in return

[YellowRubberDuckie]

35. Growing up Southern Baptist...

...I was told that Catholicism was a cult. I think that was about the second I started to realize something wasn't quite right.

[JitterbugPerfume]

36. They are convinced that they alone know Gods will

and that gives them the right to be authoritarian ass holes.

they sure do love Sky Daddy

[FarCenter]

37. Mormons do not have the same belief in the Trinity

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinity

Getting the theology of the Trinity right is extremely important, and Christians have been killing each other over its interpretation since the second century AD.