MORMONS – PLEASE TELL THE TRUTH!

Mormons – Please Tell The Truth!

What has happened to the simple principle of telling the truth?  That question should be posed to the Mormon community.  I'm not an expert on anything – but I do know a little bit about Mormonism – or as they like to be called The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  My father was a Mormon for several years and many of his family were Mormons.  I have also spent a considerable amount of time reading LDS literature.  Again, that doesn't make me an expert but at least educated. 

I have observed a startling change in the way the LDS Church has presented itself to the general public.  It seems there was a conscious "repackaging" of the Church sometime around the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City in 2002.  Before this time Mormons disavowed any linkage with American Christianity.  Joseph Smith believed that the Angel Moroni appeared to him because all of American Christianity had become apostate.  He was the one true prophet and the religion he would establish would be the only t rue church.  That's boiler plate LDS 101.  Some Mormons would even be offended if you called them a Christian.  That was then.  Sometime around 2002 a huge shift occurred in the way Mormons presented themselves to the world.  Suddenly they wanted to be accepted as a part of mainstream Christianity – you know, there are Baptists, Presbyterians, Lutherans and Mormons.  During this time of "repackaging" a document was released titled, "The Living Christ, The Testimony of The Apostles"   It was an incredibly slick document stating what Mormons believed about Jesus.  Why slick?  To read it, you would think you were reading the doctrinal statement of an Evangelical Church.  Now, even a peripheral study of Mormonism will reveal that the Jesus of Mormonism isn't even in the same universe (literally) as the Jesus of Orthodox Christianity.  The Jesus of Mormonism is the "spirit child" of his "heavenly parents".  He is in no way part of a triune Godhead.  The wording of "The Living Christ" is some of the slickest marketing I have ever seen.  It takes Mormon doctrine that is closer to Science Fiction than the Bible and spins it to sound like your standard Christian doctrine.  A masterpiece of double speak.  At the same time the official LDS website was totally overhauled and some of the more bizarre doctrines held by the Church were carefully hidden deep within the site.  Doctrines such as "The Fall" actually being a good thing, not bad.  The pre-existence of all humans in heaven with Jesus simply being our "elder brother".  The ability to actually become a God if you really work at it and have your own planet to rule over.  A really bizarre doctrine of Joseph Smith was that Jesus and Lucifer (yes, Satan) were actually brothers.  The LDS web site prior to the Utah Olympics said this:

"We needed a Savior to pay for our sins and teach us how to return to our Heavenly Father.  Our Father said, 'Whom shall I send?'  Two of our brothers offered to help.  Our oldest brother, Jesus Christ, who was then called Jehovah, said, 'Here am I, send me' (Abraham 3:27)

Satan, who was called Lucifer, also came, saying, 'Behold, here am I, send me, I will be thy son, and I will redeem all mankind, that one soul shall not be lost, and surely I will do it "  Moses 4:1

Now, here is where my plea for Mormons to simply tell the truth comes in.  This is America; you can believe anything you want.  If you want to believe that God was once a human being, that Jesus was his physical son, that you can become a God yourself, that Jesus and Satan were brothers, you can certainly do so.  But tell the truth!  If you believe it, be proud of it – don't try to hide it.

An interesting illustration of this is playing itself out in current political news.  In an interview with the New York Times, presidential candidate, Mike Huckabee, is questioned about his views of the Mormonism of fellow candidate, Mitt Romney.  Huckabee says he knows very little about Mormonism and wonders out loud, "Don't Mormons believe that Jesus and the devil are brothers?'  Well, that's exactly what they believe!  Several news outlets immediately accused Huckabee of attacking Romney's religion.  Blogs went berserk!  How did candidate Romney respond to someone revealing what his church actually believes?  He said, "But I think attacking someone's religion is really going too far.  It's just not the American way, and I think people will reject that," Romney told NBC's "Today" show.  How did the LDS Church respond?  The Associated Press quoted an official spokeswoman for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that Huckabee's question is usually raised "by those who wish to smear the Mormon faith rather than clarify doctrine."  She went on to say, "We believe, as other Christians believe and Paul wrote, that God is the father of all…  That means that all beings were created by God and are his spirit children.  Christ, on the other hand, was the only begotten in the flesh and we worship him as the son of God and the savior of mankind.  Satan is the exact opposite of who Christ is and what he stands for."  She doesn't deny anything Huckabee said, she just uses the new marketing techniques of using mainstream Christian terminology and vocabulary to wrap their strange doctrine in credibility.

Does this have anything to do with Mitt Romney and his qualifications to be President? Everyone will have to decide that in their own heart.  I just wish the Mormons, including Mitt Romney, would simply tell us the truth about their religion.  Is that too much to ask?

By Bob Burney Click here for bio and archived articles

What are Mormon's leaders teaching their people? Posted On: 05/20/08 02:41:47 PM Age 29, MD There is a YouTube video that you should watch entitled "Lying for the Lord". It is quite telling, especially since it is a Mormon teacher giving the talk. Joel Osteen interview with Chris Wallace of FOX News -Dec 21, 2007 Posted On: 12/29/07 12:12:21 PM Age 40, VA Chris Wallace of FOX News recently interviewed Joel Osteen and asked about the role of religion in politics. More specifically, Osteen was asked about the Mormon faith, and whether a Mormon could be classified as "a true Christian." Quote,” In my mind they are," Osteen said. "Mitt Romney has said that he believes in Christ as his Savior, and that's what I believe. I'm not the one to judge the little details of [Romney's religion], so I believe [Mormons are Christians] and Mitt Romney seems like a man of character and integrity to me and I don't think anything would stop me from voting for him if that's what I felt like," end quote. Again Mr. Wallace asked about specifics of the Mormon faith, such as the gold tablets allegedly found by Joseph Smith with the so-called "new revelation" from God, and the belief that humans can become gods, Osteen said he did not know enough about the religion's beliefs to comment. Quote from Osteen,” I certainly can't say that I agree with everything that I've heard about it," the Houston pastor responded. "But from what I've heard from Mitt, when he says that Christ is his Savior, to me that's a common bond,” end quote. I believe some of what Mormons do is very godly, but it is a guise we need to be wary of. It's a denomination based on falsehood. Joseph Smith Jr., the founder of Mormonism, at the age of 17 in 1823, claimed to of been visited by an angel name Moroni, who told him that he would receive the "golden plates" of the New Book of Mormon. Well the Word of God which I believe to be 100% accurate says in the book of Galatians 1:8, “Let Gods curse fall on anyone, including myself, who preaches any other message than the one we told you about. Even if an angel comes from heaven and preaches any other message, let him be forever cursed. Quick facts for informed intercession……Mormonism 1. The bible is the Word of God insofar as it is correctly translated. There are three sacred books in addition to the Bible: The Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and The Pearl of Great Price. 2. The earth is one of several inhabited planets ruled over by gods and goddesses, who were at one time humans on other planets. Mormonism is polytheistic in its core. 3. The Trinity consists of three gods born in different times and places; the Father begot the Son and the Holy Ghost through a goddess wife in heaven. 4. Humankind is of the same species as God. God begot all humans in heaven as offspring of his wife or wives, who were sent to earth for their potential exhalation to godhood. 5. Salvation is resurrection, but exaltation to godhood, for eternal life in the celestial heaven, must be earned through self-meriting works. The above quick facts were taken from “The Kingdom of the Cults": by Dr Walter Martin-used with permission. THE MORMON CREATION ACCOUNT Posted On: 12/27/07 12:02:02 PM Age 64, OH From the Mormon "Pearl of Great Price" in Abraham Chapter 4;1 the God's plan the creation of the earth and all life thereon - their plans for the six days of creation are set forth. - And then the Lord said: let us go down. And they went down at the beginning, and they, that is the GOD'S,organized and formed the heavens and they earth. 2 And the earth, after it was formed, was empty and desolate, because they had not formed anything but the earth;and the darkness reigned upon the face of the deep, and the Spirit of the GOD'S was brooding upon the face of the waters. 3 And they ( the GOD'S) said; Let there be light; and there was light --- This corruption dreamed up by Joesph Smith as the creation account shows that they DO NOT BELIEVE THE BIBLE and they BELIEVE IN MANY GOD'S NOT ONE. Lou Smith did not write the BOM Posted On: 12/21/07 11:17:17 PM Age 47, OH Wayne Cowdrey (direct descendant of one of the witnesses to the Book of Mormon), Howard Davis and Donald Scales did a tremendous amount of research in the '70s and wrote "Who Really Wrote the Book of Mormon?" It turns out that a Rev. Solomon Spaulding, living in NE Ohio in the early 1800s wrote a book of fiction titled "Manuscript Found" (the original manuscript is at Otterbein University in Ohio) and sent it to the printer in Pittsburg. It was stolen from the printer by Sidney Rigdon and turned over to Smith who used it for his own purposes. Many affidavits were written out by those who knew of Spaulding and his writings to show they knew the book was his and that the BOM was simply a new name for the writings of Spaulding and that the BOM, Smith, and the LDS church were fraudulant. Mormons are truthful?? Posted On: 12/20/07 10:56:22 PM Age 53, ID Here in Idaho, the Mormons make up 40 percent of the population. I live with these people. They are no more truthful or ethical than the average person. The domestic abuse in their households is rampant. They will tell you what ever they need to to get you to hand over your hard earned money. I have had more Mormons rip me off by over charging, over-selling, misrepresenting, lying about the work that needs to be done, and a myriad of other means. the church approves as long as they tithe from the proceeds. The Mormon doctors and dentists are the worst. Are there ethical Mormons? Probably yes. The use of anti-depressants is higher in Utah than anywhere else in the USA. The women are more oppressed than Muslim women. They are so dependent on their husbands for eternity that they have no sense of person worth. Mormons get brownie points toward higher levels of heaven based on their achievements and volunteerism. Last summer, a baby died in a hot locked car while the mom was volunteering at her LDS church. Mormons control the planning and zoning departments in many Idaho towns and cities. Long before a housing development is approved, the LDS Church has built a church building for the coming neighborhoods. They would not spend the money for a church if they did not have control of the planning and zoning. Truth is not hate Posted On: 12/20/07 10:46:48 PM Age 46, AZ This is a very interesting article. I responded to a local newspaper article about how a local Mormon family was celebrating Christmas. I wrote a response to the article claiming that Mormons were not Christians. I was attacked by numerous Mormons who can not tell the truth, many from other states. It just goes to show what their strategy is: Claim HATE when the truth is revealed by bible believing Christians. We need to keep up with the Light of Truth and trust God for the results. Alan Keyes is the only true conservative! BOOK OF MORMON IS FULL OF LIES Posted On: 12/19/07 06:14:59 PM Age 64, OH A lot of Mormons are taught that it is OK to lie if you get the people you are lying to to do what you want them to do. Romney has been taught this well. Lou SMITH LOST GOLD PLATES FROM GOD Posted On: 12/19/07 06:07:52 PM Age 64, OH When the sons of Eli claimed they were priests of God and took the Gold covered Ark of the covenant out to war, God showed His disapproval by having the enemy capture the Ark and then the sons of Eli were killed. this was a judgment of God to show that the sons of Eli were false priests and not true to God. -- A very similar story is told by the Mormons. Joseph Smith claims to have found plates of Gold from God with the book of Mormon on them. Conveniently Smith was the only one who could read them and so wrote down the book of Mormon from them. Smith brought part of the judgment of God on himself; for he had to lose the plates that never existed for he could not produce them. Or if they did exist, god showed his disapproval on Smith as a false prophet by taking the plates from him who god had kept for centuries. But the second part of the judgment was from God himself, Smith was killed the same as the sons of Eli shortly thereafter. Lou JOSEPH SMITH WAS ACHILD MOLESTER Posted On: 12/19/07 05:56:00 PM Age 64, OH You are correct you can judge by their works. What are the works of Joseph Smith. 1- he was a child molester while he was married, that is why he came up with the polygamy revelation 2- he was a con man who swindled poor people out of their money telling them he knew where there was buried treasure. the Smith homestead has large holes around the country side yet to this day from him digging for treasure. 3- Smith led an armed rebellion against the USA but then ran for US president; seems a double standard at least. 4 - Smith had a habit of saying one thing then doing another. his beliefs seemed to be a matter of convenience. 5- Smith took a poorly written novel and added to it and changed it and then called it the book of Mormon. Smith was so unscrupulous that he then lied and said he got the book off of gold plates form an angel, but then conveniently lost the gold plates. The so called plates, god had kept for centuries, Smith could not keep from losing for a very short time.--- you are correct we can judge by the works. Lou MORMONS DO NOT BELIEVE JESUS IS THE ONE GOD Posted On: 12/19/07 05:35:49 PM Age 64, OH Paul received no pay and none of the preachers in our church get paid including me. But Paul says right in the Holy Scriptures to pay the men who teach you so your beef is with Paul. The Mormon church does not preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. They do not believe Jesus is the Christ. They only show their ignorance of the Holy scriptures when they claim they do. The Jews knew what was meant by Christ. The Jews knew that Christ meant that he was God Almighty and they would not believe a man could be the Christ so they crucified him. The Mormons do NOT believe that Jesus was the One and Only God who created all that exists. The gospel of Jesus Christ says that there is ONLY ONE CONDITION TO BEING SAVED. That is to trust in nothing but Jesus to save you. it also says that any group of men that form a church and claim that their church is the only way is a cult of the Devil himself. for only Jesus is the only way. Only Jesus decides who is in his church and no group of men can be judge. the Mormons make Joseph Smith their god the same as the Muslims make Muhammad their god. Joseph Smith was the Only prophet in the Mormon church which made him their god. The same as Muhammad is the god of the Muslims for if he is the only one who can hear from god that is the same as making him god. Lou