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Yakk · 06-22-2004, 01:03 PM

The Mormon religion believes that some guy a while back in the USA got additional revelations from God. He started a cult, which eventually expanded into the Mormon religion.

These revelations where given to him by an Angel, and written on gold of some kind. The original revelations where relatively quickly taken up to Heaven, so there was no physical evidence/proof of the revelations.

Central to this relligion is the "Book of Mormon", the translation of the additional revelations.

Mormons where persecuted, and fled west to what is now the state of Utah. They where polygamists, and there was a strong strain of seperatism that went with the religion.

Utah eventually became a full state, but one of the requirements was that the Mormons stop practacing polygamy. There was a well-timed revelation from God that told them it was ok to stop being polygamists, so they did, and Utah joined the USA.

Mormons have sacraments that involve baptising your ancestors, and thus give them an opportunity to get into heaven. As such, geneology is very important to them. They have massive archives of people's ancestry which they encourage people to browse and help improve. They don't restrict this practice to believers: everyone's decendants could one day become a Mormon.

The deeper mysteries of the Mormon faith are quite strange to a non-believer. Like, gods from other planets. These mysteries are not talked about publicly by the Church, and they have been known to use legal means to suppress leaking of their internal documents. As far as I can tell, they aren't nearly as bad as the Scientologists. But that is like saying you aren't as tall as a giraffe.

Mormons are also known as the Church of Latter-Day Saints, or LDS. You probably have seen there feel-good ads on TV.

Many Christian Churches consider Mormons to be non-Christian.

In surface beliefs, Mormon ethics doesn't seem all that different than other Fundamentalist Churches. Their dislike of coffee is somewhat strange, but not really beyond the pale.

Mormon men are expected to go on a few-year thingy where they walk up to doors and ask people to join the Mormon church. It tends to either break you away from the Church or turn you into a True Believer. There isn't really an equivilent for Mormon women, as far as I know.

The movie Orgamso contains some quite Mormon-esque culture. The comment from my Mormon-raised friend of mine is "they really didn't go far enough, but it was close". For example, "Jesus and I love you" as something you say to your beau is dead-on, but the main character on the mission had far too much contact: you are much more isolated than that while on mission.

(Orgasmo is a funny movie about a Mormon who becomes a porn-star and super-hero.)

Oh, and I have heard reports that Elephants in North America are mentioned in the Book of Mormon.

(the Book of Mormon details the adventures and hijinx of an ancient lost tribe of Jews in pre-pre-columbus North America, and Jesus visiting Native American's after he died and came back.)

Take everything I say with a grain of salt. Take everything anyone says about the Mormons with a grain of salt: Heretics are often treated badly by the main branch of their religion. Take anything a Mormon says about their religion with a grain of salt.

06-22-2004, 01:03 PM	#3 (permalink)
Yakk Wehret Den Anfängen! Location: Ontario, Canada	The Mormon religion believes that some guy a while back in the USA got additional revelations from God. He started a cult, which eventually expanded into the Mormon religion. These revelations where given to him by an Angel, and written on gold of some kind. The original revelations where relatively quickly taken up to Heaven, so there was no physical evidence/proof of the revelations. Central to this relligion is the "Book of Mormon", the translation of the additional revelations. Mormons where persecuted, and fled west to what is now the state of Utah. They where polygamists, and there was a strong strain of seperatism that went with the religion. Utah eventually became a full state, but one of the requirements was that the Mormons stop practacing polygamy. There was a well-timed revelation from God that told them it was ok to stop being polygamists, so they did, and Utah joined the USA. Mormons have sacraments that involve baptising your ancestors, and thus give them an opportunity to get into heaven. As such, geneology is very important to them. They have massive archives of people's ancestry which they encourage people to browse and help improve. They don't restrict this practice to believers: everyone's decendants could one day become a Mormon. The deeper mysteries of the Mormon faith are quite strange to a non-believer. Like, gods from other planets. These mysteries are not talked about publicly by the Church, and they have been known to use legal means to suppress leaking of their internal documents. As far as I can tell, they aren't nearly as bad as the Scientologists. But that is like saying you aren't as tall as a giraffe. Mormons are also known as the Church of Latter-Day Saints, or LDS. You probably have seen there feel-good ads on TV. Many Christian Churches consider Mormons to be non-Christian. In surface beliefs, Mormon ethics doesn't seem all that different than other Fundamentalist Churches. Their dislike of coffee is somewhat strange, but not really beyond the pale. Mormon men are expected to go on a few-year thingy where they walk up to doors and ask people to join the Mormon church. It tends to either break you away from the Church or turn you into a True Believer. There isn't really an equivilent for Mormon women, as far as I know. The movie Orgamso contains some quite Mormon-esque culture. The comment from my Mormon-raised friend of mine is "they really didn't go far enough, but it was close". For example, "Jesus and I love you" as something you say to your beau is dead-on, but the main character on the mission had far too much contact: you are much more isolated than that while on mission. (Orgasmo is a funny movie about a Mormon who becomes a porn-star and super-hero.) Oh, and I have heard reports that Elephants in North America are mentioned in the Book of Mormon. (the Book of Mormon details the adventures and hijinx of an ancient lost tribe of Jews in pre-pre-columbus North America, and Jesus visiting Native American's after he died and came back.) Take everything I say with a grain of salt. Take everything anyone says about the Mormons with a grain of salt: Heretics are often treated badly by the main branch of their religion. Take anything a Mormon says about their religion with a grain of salt. __________________ Last edited by JHVH : 10-29-4004 BC at 09:00 PM. Reason: Time for a rest. Last edited by Yakk; 06-23-2004 at 07:49 AM..