A Major New Study of Religion in the US Has the following to Say About Mormons:

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I see that as a very positive assessment. It also suggests that Mormons are a very optimistic group. What do you think?
 
i have only known 1 mormon and she seemed to be very nice. that’s all i have to go on.

i don’t buy the belief system.
 
It also forgot that mormons are simply the nicest people in the entire world.

I have enormous respect for the LDS church, and it drives me crazy when you see anti-LDS posts up here.
 
My own experience with the Mormons is a good one. They set up hospitality tables for visiting Catholics during World Youth Day in Toronto.

I admired them so much that when I saw what I later learned were two Mormon elders, I approached them to thank them for their hospitality.

They replied by praising Pope John Paul etc.

Then they asked me why I was “still Catholic.” Was I “born a Catholic” and is that the reason? They gave the impression they considered me Catholic because I “didn’t know any better.”

I told them that, in truth, “there is no better.” 😃

With respect to how nice this or that religious group is, this should have no bearing on matters pertaining to religious truth. If I began a church based on total almsgiving, insisting that my members smiled all the time and were warm and helpful to others - that would have nothing to do with WHAT I believed or taught.

I also know unbelievers who do a lot of good works - that is great, but the issue of whether they believe in God and Christ is still a concern.

If we believe that our good works somehow excuses us from seeking God and HIS Church, then we are badly deceived. And I’m not saying Mormons are like that. Objectively, as far as their theology goes - YES, their theology is, against the historic standard of God’s 2,000 year old Catholic Church, wrong.

Catholics should always be hospitable to everyone, including Mormons. If meeting them poses a proximate danger to our faith, then we should leave such alone and not speak with them.

But the goodness of Mormons is also something that has led a number to join/rejoin the Catholic Church, if they have some warm, informative support from sympathetic Catholics.

I have found that, of all the 19th century sects, the Mormon missionaries at the door tend to be the most ill-informed about Mormonism. This is a whole missionary field coming to our very doorstep. Catholics who are prepared by strong scriptural/catechetical study can at least sow the seeds of the Faith in such souls. Mormon souls are tender - handle with prayer!

Alex
 
zerinus said:
I see that as a very positive assessment. It also suggests that Mormons are a very optimistic group. What do you think?
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1 - LDS have a very close knit society and are encouraged to keep the company of other LDS. Being encouraged to only read “approved” LDS materials and stay away from anything that is not “uplifting”, they will rarely get to see an outside point of view or alternative facts. This keeps those within the fold in.

2 - Mormons are usually giving. If this is determined by tithing, this is a slanted opinion. LDS are required to tithe 10% of their income to the church. One can not obtain a temple recommend without fulfilling this obligation. Outside of tithing, I have seen a good amount of charity. The same amount I have seen in other churches, perhaps a little more.

3 - LDS act tolerant to other religious groups, but view them as lost. Any Missionary or outgoing LDS will lead a conversation to ask what a person’s faith is and if not LDS, they should become such due to their lacking the “fullness of truth.” Kids are encouraged to do this with their friends.

4 - LDS do not believe that practitioners of other faiths can obtain salvation. At least in the same sense as they can. The most liberal view I have heard is that people of other faiths (mostly Christian sects) could at most obtain the lowest level of heaven. This is not hell by any means, but nor is it the “heaven” that people want to be in.

I love my LDS brothers and sisters, but a study trying to make them out to be the most tolerant and loving toward other faiths is like saying a used car salesman really cares if buying a car is the right thing for your budget right now, in reality he only wants the sale.
 
aquabatix said:
1
4 - LDS do not believe that practitioners of other faiths can obtain salvation. At least in the same sense as they can. The most liberal view I have heard is that people of other faiths (mostly Christian sects) could at most obtain the lowest level of heaven. This is not hell by any means, but nor is it the “heaven” that people want to be in.
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“people of other faiths (mostly Christian sects) could at most obtain the lowest level of heaven”

That is an inaccurate view…even in the LDS doctrine of the 3 degrees of glory good people would go to the Terrestial …

Mormons dont have the tradition idea of heaven and hell.

They believe in three different glories, with divisions in each glory.

Celestial—a person needs to be a Mormon to go there
Terrestial–those are for good decent people who live good decent lives, which would include Christian sects

Telestial—would be where people who did not live well would go

Then there is outer darkness which is not a glory at all…This would be the closest to the traditional idea of hell
 
I do believe you are correct. The standard view is that most of the Christians who led a good life and LDS who do not fulfill all their church commands will go to the terrestrial level. The Telestial level is for most everyone else from the notorious sinner to the non christian to the not so good christian. This was the standard view of those I interacted with living in Utah when I was LDS.

But the point more was about that the study indicated that non mormons could obtain “salvation” and “heaven”. This needs to be clarified because everyone’s definition of these are different then the LDS view.
 
aquabatix said:
But the point more was about that the study indicated that non mormons could obtain “salvation” and “heaven”. This needs to be clarified because everyone’s definition of these are different then the LDS view.
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Good point. Mormons tend to focus what they terms “exhaultation” (ie becoming gods etc and continuation of the family unit due to being “sealed”…I dont know if it’s talked about much anymore but there was even the teaching of the “second endowment” when I was LDS…)

Dont remember talking much about “salvation”

In order for a couple to be couple forever etc., one had to attain the highest level with in the Celestial kingdom itself…that was to reach “exhaltation”
 
True.

But one also has to look at the “results” of the study and wonder if a church that goes door-to-door trying to convince people that someone’s church is in apostacy and theirs is the only true faith is really a tolerant religion or just likes to say they are…:hmmm:
 
Mormons may be nice people but nice doesn’t do it with God when you reject Jesus as his only begotten Son
 
aquabatix said:
4 - LDS do not believe that practitioners of other faiths can obtain salvation. At least in the same sense as they can. The most liberal view I have heard is that people of other faiths (mostly Christian sects) could at most obtain the lowest level of heaven. This is not hell by any means, but nor is it the “heaven” that people want to be in.
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Not according to LDS teachings - D&C 137
Thus came the voice of the Lord unto me, saying: All who have died without a knowledge of this gospel, who would have received it if they had been permitted to tarry, shall be heirs of the celestial kingdom of God;
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Also all that shall die henceforth without a knowledge of it, who would have received it with all their hearts, shall be heirs of that kingdom;
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For I, the Lord, will judge all men according to their works, according to the desire of their hearts.
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aquabatix said:
1 - LDS have a very close knit society and are encouraged to keep the company of other LDS. Being encouraged to only read “approved” LDS materials and stay away from anything that is not “uplifting”, they will rarely get to see an outside point of view or alternative facts. This keeps those within the fold in.
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That is not true. Looks like you might be confusing Mormons with JWs. Mormons are encouraged to read what is uplifting; but that does mean uncritical. It means immoral or degrading. Does the Catholic Church encourage its members to read what is not uplifting?
2 - Mormons are usually giving. If this is determined by tithing, this is a slanted opinion. LDS are required to tithe 10% of their income to the church. One can not obtain a temple recommend without fulfilling this obligation. Outside of tithing, I have seen a good amount of charity. The same amount I have seen in other churches, perhaps a little more.
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The LDS Church is probably the largest donor to charity per capita of its membership than any other church. They have made large donations to Catholic charitable institutions in the past.
3 - LDS act tolerant to other religious groups, but view them as lost. Any Missionary or outgoing LDS will lead a conversation to ask what a person’s faith is and if not LDS, they should become such due to their lacking the “fullness of truth.” Kids are encouraged to do this with their friends.
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None of what you have said above is true.
4 - LDS do not believe that practitioners of other faiths can obtain salvation. At least in the same sense as they can. The most liberal view I have heard is that people of other faiths (mostly Christian sects) could at most obtain the lowest level of heaven. This is not hell by any means, but nor is it the “heaven” that people want to be in.
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Not true. Paul says there are three heavens (2 Corinthians 12:2), and Mormons agree. I don’t know about Catholics.
I love my LDS brothers and sisters, but a study trying to make them out to be the most tolerant and loving toward other faiths is like saying a used car salesman really cares if buying a car is the right thing for your budget right now, in reality he only wants the sale.
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That report was made by an independent organization which had nothing to do with Mormonism. I am sure they had a lot to say about the Catholic Church too, but I have not read the report, so I couldn’t tell you what it said.
 
aquabatix said:
I do believe you are correct. The standard view is that most of the Christians who led a good life and LDS who do not fulfill all their church commands will go to the terrestrial level. The Telestial level is for most everyone else from the notorious sinner to the non christian to the not so good christian. This was the standard view of those I interacted with living in Utah when I was LDS.

But the point more was about that the study indicated that non mormons could obtain “salvation” and “heaven”. This needs to be clarified because everyone’s definition of these are different then the LDS view.
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Like I said, Paul says there are three heavens, and we agree. Heaven is a place of salvation, not damnation, regardless of which “heaven” you go to.
 
zerinus said:
Like I said, Paul says there are three heavens, and we agree. Heaven is a place of salvation, not damnation, regardless of which “heaven” you go to.
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Where does Paul say there are three heavens?
 
aquabatix said:
True.

But one also has to look at the “results” of the study and wonder if a church that goes door-to-door trying to convince people that someone’s church is in apostacy and theirs is the only true faith is really a tolerant religion or just likes to say they are…:hmmm:
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Well, Mormonism teaches that all other churches are in a state of apostasy, so you are all in the same boat as far as Mormonism is concerned! Mormonism does not discriminate between the churches from that point of view! Ultimately, all churches believe that they are the true church, otherwise they would have no grounds for existence.
 
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