Mormonism, Catholicism and Devoutness

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HopingforGodtohelp

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A bit of a rant here, so apologies in advance:

I just don’t understand how so many Catholics don’t take the faith seriously at all. This is a bit un-ecumenical, but I’m using mormonism as a comparison. I’m just going to be blunt and state my opinion based on logic and all available evidence: . There is no archaeological evidence for many of the things claimed in the Book of Mormon. It’s all based on the claims of one man which are mostly unfalsifiable. And the falsifiable parts have mostly been falsified. The logical foundation of it does not exist. Catholicism, on the other hand, has 2000 years of God’s church founded by Jesus Christ himself. Even secular scholars will accept that Saint Peter was the first Pope in Rome. Some of the most brilliant minds in the history of humanity like Augustine and Aquinas dedicated their lives to an intellectual foundation for Catholicism. Catholics are taught to believe that their Church teaches infallibly and has never taught error on the matters of faith and morals. The Church itself is the longest running human institution.

And yet, Mormons are far more devout than Catholics in the United States and Western Europe, and in many ways live more “Catholic” than Catholics do. They are more likely to believe abortion is wrong. They are less likely to use birth control, they have bigger families. They are more likely to attend Church on Sunday, and far more willing to evangelize.

How did this come to be the case? It baffles me. The people following a religion that has very little evidence and is not very difficult to falsify are far more serious about it than people in the Catholic Church are. Again, the Church Christ himself founded, with apostolic succession going back to St. Peter, that has an incredible intellectual foundation built by geniuses like Augustine and Aquinas. And the people who follow this religion basically just don’t care. I just don’t understand it. Why don’t Catholics care?

If any Mormons are reading this, there is no offense meant, and I respect the devout-ness of your faith’s followers. I hope you convert and use that same devoutness in the Catholic Church.
 
Mormonism is very legalistic faith when you examine it. Now there are many Mormons that love God, but from my experience with them, they really do not know God all that well(What we as Christians know who God is). It is hard to explain but it is like there is this distance. Their faith has deceived them. It is sad because they belong in Catholic faith, yet they have been misled from that truth.

Now many Catholics go through the motions but are not living their faith the way to really witness to the world. Devout Catholics love Jesus and He is very close to them, it isn’t this distant God. They go to mass daily if they can, they go to adoration and sacrament of penance frequently, pray rosary daily. Their Catholic faith is the center of their life and is never put on the shelf for anything. We need more Catholics like that. That kind of witness is what evangelizes the world.
 
HopingforGodtohelp said:
They are more likely to believe abortion is wrong. They are less likely to use birth control, they have bigger families. They are more likely to attend Church on Sunday, and far more willing to evangelize.
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For entirely different reasons than the Catholic Church.

You’ve created a false equivalency.
HopingforGodtohelp said:
How did this come to be the case? It baffles me.
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Understand what Mormonism teaches vis a vis men, women, and heaven.
HopingforGodtohelp said:
The people following a religion that has very little evidence and is not very difficult to falsify are far more serious about it than people in the Catholic Church are.
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For completely different reasons.
HopingforGodtohelp said:
Why don’t Catholics care?
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Of course Catholics care. Not all Catholics care. Not all Mormons do either. In fact many abandon ship or get kicked out.
 
I don’t think you can find a single protestant or non-catholic who live and have taken a vow of chastity, poverty and obedience to faith in Jesus Christ body. You can find historical and present martyrs and saints professing the Catholic faith. I can’t comprehend a comparison to any other faith.
That said; when it comes to the community members where we have the weeds growing with the wheat. The ministries in the Catholic Church are profound. i would direct the lack of zeal and evangelization within the communities is directly impacted by our leaders, teachers who lead by example. Most of these offices have been penetrated by teachers who are influenced by liberal politics, secular cultures and do not teach the correct Catholic faith to our youth. We have generations of these within our midst. Where we may fail the Church, God is always faithful. The path has been laid for us to follow, we need to roll up our sleeves and begin from where we are, once we learn where we are weak. God always reserves a remnant of His faithful. It appears God is cleaning house. Families need to return to the Catholic Traditions of praying, attending Mass, supporting the Apostolic Faith not leaders who are influenced and have succumbed to secular politics and secular culture, vie-ing to change our Apostolic faith.
Peace be with you
 
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Sadly, there are many Catholics who have been poorly catechized and their parents do not go to Mass. They have their children baptized and send them for instructions because it is something their parents did. They don’t pray together, unfortunately, and then the same pattern continues.

The faithful Catholics that I know are involved in different ways with their parish according to their talents. They belong to groups that meet regularly and they build one another up.
 
Really?

Did you conduct a poll or is that your perception? Perception does not always equal reality.

There are a lot of lukewarm Mormons just like there are a lot of lukewarm Catholics.

Also Catholics are more numerous than Mormons so they’re easily noticeable.

I know a lot of lukewarm or recovering Mormons.
 
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One thing I’ve noticed Mormons do very well is continually reach out to their community…they pester them! Miss a Sunday, they’ll get phone calls checking if they’re ok. Start to wonder away, missionaries show up at their door. They are always active in drawing their members into clubs and charities. They may not have any kind of daily Mass but they do have daily activities and for all groups…teens, elders, singles, moms. They don’t leave anyone out.

From what’s been told on some atheists boards, when Mormons leave the church, they are often hounded to come back. I’m not saying this is good or bad, it’s just how they operate. They are very community/church involved.
 
I think The Catholic Church has been hampered by a growing ideology within its members and even some clergy, that being Catholic is no longer necessary.

In talks with Mormons and family members who are Jehovah’s Witnesses, they live their faith and choose their faith because they view it as a necessity. They don’t seem to compromise on their doctrines simply to avoid offending others.

Just talking to Catholics you’ll discover that many feel you can receive graces from Christ, indirectly, as a non-Christian, so what need is there to be a Catholic??
 
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These Mormons or JWs, are they converts or are they born into the faith?

I notice that those who are born into it aren’t as zealous as the converts.

Much like cradle Catholics.
 
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I don’t disagree with your post. But some look at it differently. Work really hard and you’ll have lots of stuff. You then don’t have any time or need for God. Pax
 
I didn’t conduct a poll, but I’ve based this off of polling done by others, not perception:



In the U.S.
% Who Attend Church Weekly:
Mormon: 77%
Catholic: 39%

% Who Pray At Least Daily:
Mormon: 85%
Catholic: 59%

% Who Think Abortion Should be illegal in all/most cases:
Mormon: 70%
Catholic: 47% (Embarrassing)

% Who Favor Same Sex “Marriage”:
Mormon: 26%
Catholic: 57%

Embarrassing Numbers for Catholics. Again, I don’t understand how the people who follow a clearly false religion do a better job of following the natural law in many ways than members of the Catholic Church do.
 
That can certainly be true. My in law’s parents converted to the JW’s when my in-laws were toddlers. So they were basically raised in their faith.

I certainly believe a persons age and life experiences can have an affect in how devoutly they practice their faith.
 
I don’t think I’ve created a false equivalency.

I know there are different reasons why the Mormons teach these things are wrong, vs why the Church does. And I do know that there are devout members of both churches. But truth isn’t relative. And the polls I showed below show that far more Catholics support objectively gravely immoral things than mormons do. The reasoning why the Mormons don’t do these things isn’t particularly relevant in my opinion, in fact it could hurt Catholicism even more. I don’t actually know what the Mormon punishments are for these things. But Catholicism teaches that these things (Support for abortion, same sex marriage, not attending Church on Sunday) gravely offend God, and if done with full knowledge and full consent of the will, WILL send you to eternal damnation if not repented for. That makes the state of Catholics look even worse in my opinion: The Church teaches that these things gravely offend God and you can go to HELL for them, and on some issues, a majority of Catholics just don’t care.

Given that we all here can probably agree that Mormonism is false, I find this extremely peculiar. Why are Catholics doing such a poor job of following their faith that a higher percentage of Catholics openly support things that gravely offend God than people who follow a false faith do?
 
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HopingforGodtohelp said:
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Mormons baptize at age eight after instructions of their faith are taught. Catholics often baptize infants and so post baptismal instructions of the Catholic faith are then required. Baptism may not be fruitful, and some will not receive instructions.
 
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But Catholics have confirmation, and first communion. Why are Catholics not taught the faith at Confirmation the way Mormons are at their “baptism”
 
I’m a former Mormon of many years and a former bishop. I left in total disgust several years ago. Mormonism is a cult. A lot of people stay in it because they are stuck. That’s what kept me in it. It’s a culture that is not easy to escape. Like someone else said, try to leave and they won’t leave you alone. They have no respect for people’s choices.
 
HopingforGodtohelp said:
In the U.S.
% Who Attend Church Weekly:
Mormon: 77%
Catholic: 39%

% Who Pray At Least Daily:
Mormon: 85%
Catholic: 59%

% Who Think Abortion Should be illegal in all/most cases:
Mormon: 70%
Catholic: 47% (Embarrassing)

% Who Favor Same Sex “Marriage”:
Mormon: 26%
Catholic: 57%

Embarrassing Numbers for Catholics. Again, I don’t understand how the people who follow a clearly false religion do a better job of following the natural law in many ways than members of the Catholic Church do.
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Mormons are pro-life except in cases of rape and incest. It sounds reasonable on surface to some but we must ask, why are you against abortion? The answer is because it is the murder of the innocent unborn baby. Regardless of rape and incest, it is still murder. This is why Catholic teaching condemns abortion in all cases.
 
I lived in Utah for many years, know many and are friends with many. I’m not against Mormons individually at all. In fact I often feel they are much more devout and serious in living their faith. However I definitely don’t agree with the theology.

A Mormon gentleman bought a parish near where I lived a pietra bust that resides in the parish permanently. I was a little stunned to be quite honest but he felt he should do it. I’m grateful to him. I think we are more alike in many ways than dissimilar.

However I must agree with @Formon in regards to the cult like atmosphere. The thing for me is I think people of all faiths can get too In love with a religion at times, rather than in love with God.

When I volunteered at a soup kitchen I saw people of different faiths all working together to serve God. Whereas some of the Catholics spend much more on golf than helping others…

I try to surround myself with good people, generally, that love God.
 
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