LDS a cult? 350,000 DVDs try to shake Mormons' faith

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I watched the video on Wednesday. It’s just the same old tired arguments with a lot of really offensive stuff thrown in. I have generally enjoyed anti-Mormon literature for most of my adult life; but this DVD is more than the standard misinformation you get in a Walter Martin book or Chick pamphlet. They have gone out of their way to offend Mormons and I don’t really see what they expect to accomplish by that.

Alma
 
I watched the video on Wednesday. It’s just the same old tired arguments with a lot of really offensive stuff thrown in. I have generally enjoyed anti-Mormon literature for most of my adult life; but this DVD is more than the standard misinformation you get in a Walter Martin book or Chick pamphlet. They have gone out of their way to offend Mormons and I don’t really see what they expect to accomplish by that.

Alma
Like what? I watched it and didn’t see a horrible amount of inaccurate statements.
 
For whatever reason, the Mormon church does tend to collect a fair amount of badly disgruntled former members. When I left the Catholic church to become LDS, I never had any hard feelings towards Catholics. Just the opposite, I felt as though they did me a great service and I did and still do admire them for their many good works. And the Pope is one of the few compassionate, righteous voices left in the world today.

There’s two reasons that I am thinking of that would make people so disgruntled. One is that their conscience really bothers them and it drives them to destroy. The other is that they feel betrayed after giving so much. But maybe it’s just as Allweather says?
The bolded part, in terms of what? If you refer to what I said about small sects competing for converts, well, that is how I “see” the non-Catholic religious situation in America. They ALL dearly love to work on Catholics, but they also dearly love to work on each other. I am reminded of the Southern Baptists sending their people to SLC during the olympics to witness their particular brand of heresy to the heretics.

When I was a Protestant, I ran into quite a few fallen Catholics who harbored some pretty bitter feelings towards the Catholic Church. Each had his or her own reasons, but by far most of them concerned disagreements over Catholic teachings about birth control and marriage. Most of these had been divorced and remarried. The point is, though, that there is bitterness among former, fallen Catholics, too, and the reasons for the bitterness vary.
 
Allweather, I meant that what there’s a lot of competition between the churches. I don’t know if they do it so much any more but there were a few “Christian” bookstores I have visited in my time that would carry books targeting specific religions. Mormons and JW’s were favourties, I think because of their missionary work. Some had anti-Catholic literature which really surprised me.

My experience is that it’s the Evangelicals and Baptists that are behind a lot of this. As you know, Mormons don’t have a paid ministry and the Catholics have a very poorly paid ministry but the Evangelicals particularly can make a comfortable sum from their “preaching”. I am speculating on this of course but I think that this is driving some of their efforts.
 
well that 's where I have an issue. I stay here on CAtholic Answers and only respond to mormons who choose to come here seeking…Catholic Answers. I feel that it would be an unwarranted intrusion on my part and extremely disrespectful for me to go to an LDS site and tell them they are wrong. That may sound like strange ethics to you but it’s what I believe. I try my best to explain the truth to those who are seeking it. I define that by their coming here. If a mormon (or any other person) comes here then I think that qualifies as them choosing to hear what i and other Catholics have to say. I understand and accept that they are still free to disagree with I have to say.

I apply the same reasoning in reverse and believe that those who choose to go to LDS sites are expressing a desire to hear what the LDS folks there have to say. I do not seek LDS answers. If I went there it would only be to promote my own beliefs. i see that as little different than handing out anti-mormon pamphlets in front of a temple or general conference. (and yes I think that’s wrong to do)

I will not put anti-mormon DVD’s on anyone doorsteps nor will i seek out LDS to “bash”. I will stay here in the Catholic forum and speak to those who come looking.
There are people who say the lds are wrong on the board. However, you can share your insights in why you chose the path you did. You don’t have to promote your own beliefs but you can have a dialogue about them, Being on this board is easy. But on the other board, you may find your issues are weak or strong.
 
No. There is a mormon temple in Mesa but Mesa is now better known as “gangland” rather than “mormonland”
Both my older grandkids graduated from Highland High in Gilbert. The school is fully 85% mormon.
That’s why everyone wants to move there now. Gilbert is clean and safe.
And such is the word of god among the people. It teaches the body is holy and a temple of god. Be good to your neighbors and be kind to your enemies. Mormons have god in their life and most behave accordingly.
 
85% mormon. That’s why everyone wants to move there now. Gilbert is clean and safe.
personally, ill take the threat of crime over mormanism anyday.
 
Allweather, I meant that what there’s a lot of competition between the churches. I don’t know if they do it so much any more but there were a few “Christian” bookstores I have visited in my time that would carry books targeting specific religions. Mormons and JW’s were favourties, I think because of their missionary work. Some had anti-Catholic literature which really surprised me.
Yes, there are bookstores that cater only to evangelicals, or at least Protestants in general. I patronize two Catholic bookstores in my town, and have never seen anything in either of them that addresses “witnessing” to Mormons or JWs. The evangelical “Bible Book Store” right around the corner from my house, however, has an entire case full of books specifically targeting all the various sects, and some will also have anti-Catholic materials as well, though this is unusual in my experience.
As you know, Mormons don’t have a paid ministry and the Catholics have a very poorly paid ministry but the Evangelicals particularly can make a comfortable sum from their “preaching”. I am speculating on this of course but I think that this is driving some of their efforts.
I don’t know how much money is to be made at the lower levels. By far, most evangelical churches are tiny, and the ministers make very little money. They are very similar to Mormons in this regard. The real money-makers are the ones that build up into mega-church-Christian-centers with tens of thousands of “believers” coming and going, leaving their tithes. Each of these has to have something to distinguish itself from the crowd, so you will see logo’s with professional designs, and names like “Desert Wind Christian Center” or “House of the Lord”.

A good friend of mine from 25 years ago was in a Christian and Missionary Alliance seminary in Nyack, NY when I knew him, so I got to know a little bit about what they were studying there. I also met several of his classmates at some parties, and had some conversations with them. I remember being surprised at how business-like and ambitious they seemed in terms of their plans for “ministry.” Since they are a missionary-oriented church, the students are expected to seed churches, and often these start as bible studies. There is great emphasis on “friendship evangelization” and “church growth.” One other thing I remember is the concept that if the church isn’t growing, it is dying. There is no in-between. I have always considered this to be a foundational concept among the churches that place so much emphasis on missionary work: Must be always growing.
 
Allweather, that’s exactly what I mean. I don’t think it’s so bad to be slick and business like in running your church. People will appreciate nice little touches. But generally when that’s the focus, the gospel isn’t. I guess it’s an inner beauty vs. outer beauty issue. Not that you can’t have both but for it must be the quest for spiritual depth that drives the church leadership.

Have you ever read Elmer Gantry? This is the Wikipedia entry:

**Elmer Gantry **is a 1927 novel by Sinclair Lewis. It tells the story of a young, obnoxious, womanizing college athlete who, upon realizing the power and prestige that being a preacher can bring, pursues his “religious” ambitions with relish, contributing to the downfall, even death, of key people around him as the years pass. Although he continues to womanize, is often exposed as a fraud, and frequently faces a complete downfall, Gantry is never fully discredited and always manages to emerge triumphant and to reach ever greater heights of social status. The novel ends as the Rev. Gantry prays for the USA to be a “moral nation” and simultaneously admires the legs of a new choir singer.

I know he’s just a fictional character, but it’s food for thought. And a warning as well.
 
Allweather, that’s exactly what I mean. I don’t think it’s so bad to be slick and business like in running your church. People will appreciate nice little touches. But generally when that’s the focus, the gospel isn’t. I guess it’s an inner beauty vs. outer beauty issue. Not that you can’t have both but for it must be the quest for spiritual depth that drives the church leadership.
Depends on what you mean by “slick and business like.” There is businesslike, and then there is businesslike. There has developed a mingling of gospel with business, especially in the U.S., that has clearly gone overboard.
Have you ever read Elmer Gantry?
A couple of times, last time about five years ago. Coincidentally I mentioned that book to someone else, probably in a different thread, a few days ago, saying that the model for the Gantry character is based on a real man. I read an article in which this man was actually identified by name as someone that Lewis met and interviewed at great length while researching for the novel. The Gantry character was different from the model, though, in that the model’d lost his faith (as I recall, memory may be a little off on this) but kept doing Protestant ministry as a job, rather than a religious vocation. Gantry never really lost his faith, he just didn’t practice it very well, and had a pretty distorted idea about the nature of God. Another interesting character in the book is a minister who’d been in Bible college with Gantry, a man who was actually a good, believing, correct-theology minister, one of those that Gantry had done some evil to on more than one occasion. So you have this comparison being made by Lewis between the bad minister, and the good one.

No question, Gantry was a huckster, a salesman who relied heavily on his good looks and personality to get his way. He appealed to the baser instincts of people while calling it “of God”. A warning, for sure, because we see his type all around us today in the TV preachers, and among the Protestant fundamentalist sects. I believe that this is one area in which the Catholic priesthood is clearly superior, requiring years of preparation and a celebate, chaste lifestyle without much in the way of monetary compensation. A man like Gantry would stand out clearly against the Catholic priesthood, while he blends in very nicely with the Protestant preacher class.
 
Yes I read it. My feelings are the same. You don’t know me enough to make any judgements about me. I do have to wonder why you fence sit though.
Fence sitting can leave one with an open mind. And if that is the case, fence sitting is not that bad. Just look at the high rollers here who are not fence sitters. The judgements about mormonism come fast and narrow.
 
Fence sitting can leave one with an open mind. And if that is the case, fence sitting is not that bad. Just look at the high rollers here who are not fence sitters. The judgements about mormonism come fast and narrow.
I fence sat for 10 years it isn’t that glorious. It will bring you to a point you no longer care. We are warned in scripture to not be that way as well. I was like you couldn’t make up my mind between mormonism and Catholicism. I finally made a choice and I am glad I did it has enriched my life. Catholicism is the true church. My eyes have been opened since I made the choice especially. I see mormonism now for what it really is. Sometimes you have to quit waiting for the lighting bolt to hit and just move to action. The Lord will tell you what is right or wrong when you do, but until you make a choice you will be tossed to and fro. It isn’t about being unkind to mormons either. No one here wants to be that way. They want them to see the truth they see.

Rev 3:16
So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I am going to vomit you out of my mouth
 
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