Mormons and Easter

[Janderich]

I guess Mormon and Easter are well defined now…

The more difficult part is helping them understand why they are not viewed as Christian. Some are at least receptive, whether or not they agree. Most shut down and refuse to be “persecuted.”

We don’t celebrate Holy Week therefore we do not believe in Christ and thus are not Christian.

Yes I’ve noticed that LDS don’t really hold Christ’s crucifixion in high regard, laying down ones life for ones friends is pretty low on the list of things to be remembered.

We don’t celebrate the image of Christ hanging on a cross therefore we do not consider Christ laying down of his life as vital.

I’m glad that’s all cleared up. For a minute I though I was Christian and that his death and resurrection were the most important events that ever occurred in all time or eternity.

 

[Jerusha]

Nope. Janderich is not Parker.

 

[RebeccaJ]

I guess Mormon and Easter are well defined now…

We don’t celebrate Holy Week therefore we do not believe in Christ and thus are not Christian.

We don’t celebrate the image of Christ hanging on a cross therefore we do not consider Christ laying down of his life as vital.

I’m glad that’s all cleared up. For a minute I though I was Christian and that his death and resurrection were the most important events that ever occurred in all time or eternity.

What you deny about the divinity of Jesus is what separates you from Christianity.

Your other points just show how far removed from Catholicism you are. Mormons aren’t unique in that aspect.

Living in UT, large celebrations during Lent, Holy Week, invitations to bridal and baby showers on the Saturday before Easter. That sort of thing, but not anything different than people who live in this secular world. Most Mormons have no clue what Good Friday is about.

I hope you could find time on Good Friday to go to any Catholic church at noon, and see. It is a day of fasting, we join our suffering to His, by fasting and alms giving, and don’t forget to pray.

 

[Janderich]

Nope. Janderich is not Parker.

Correct, I am not he. After over 5,000 posts Parker is gone. But, I wish him well as he now has more time to focus on his family.

 

[TexanKnight]

I guess Mormon and Easter are well defined now…

We don’t celebrate Holy Week therefore we do not believe in Christ and thus are not Christian.

We don’t celebrate the image of Christ hanging on a cross therefore we do not consider Christ laying down of his life as vital.

I’m glad that’s all cleared up. For a minute I though I was Christian and that his death and resurrection were the most important events that ever occurred in all time or eternity.

We do not celebrate His image on the cross, either. We use it as a reminder, much like Mormons use the Carthage Jail trips.

I was asked by a Mormon once “if someone shot and killed your wife, would you wear a gun around your neck?”

I responded, “if her death save all mankind from eternal hell, yes, I believe I would.”

 

[TexanKnight]

I guess Mormon and Easter are well defined now…

We don’t celebrate Holy Week therefore we do not believe in Christ and thus are not Christian.

We don’t celebrate the image of Christ hanging on a cross therefore we do not consider Christ laying down of his life as vital.

I’m glad that’s all cleared up. For a minute I though I was Christian and that his death and resurrection were the most important events that ever occurred in all time or eternity.

No worries. As long as you believe that God was once a sinful man and that God is just one of a multitude of Gods, you will not be Christian.

 

[twopekinguys]

Nothing says Easter and Resurrection of our Lord and Savior than a satellite link up!!

 

[El_Confundido]

I know the anti-Mormonism here is thick enough to cut through with a machete, so I’ll just ignore the uncharitable comments.

I just wanted to let all the naysayers here know that I just got back from a Good Friday service at my local Catholic Church. It was absolutely beautiful and very reverent. Having the lights subdued and no use of musical instruments (including the organ) were very nice touches. I actually cried during the reading of the Passion. But hey, what do I know? I’m just a silly Mormon who by the general consensus of this thread can’t appreciate what the Savior has done for me.

Quick question: are all Catholic services chanted/sung like that? I don’t think there was a single moment when anything was spoken in a normal, non-musical voice. It was really beautiful.

 

[Ellie_F]

LDS may worship on Easter Sunday, but they do not hold reverent Holy Week.

Very difficult to fathom how one can truly rejoice in the Resurrection without first grieving the torture and death and reminding oneself of the sins that put Him on the cross…

:imsorry:

 

[RebeccaJ]

.

Quick question: are all Catholic services chanted/sung like that? I don’t think there was a single moment when anything was spoken in a normal, non-musical voice. It was really beautiful.

To answer your question, it depends on the parish. Good Friday isn’t a Mass, but if you ever go to Mass, there are parts that are always sung, everywhere.

 

[Ellie_F]

I know the anti-Mormonism here is thick enough to cut through with a machete, so I’ll just ignore the uncharitable comments.

I just wanted to let all the naysayers here know that I just got back from a Good Friday service at my local Catholic Church. It was absolutely beautiful and very reverent. Having the lights subdued and no use of musical instruments (including the organ) were very nice touches. I actually cried during the reading of the Passion. But hey, what do I know? I’m just a silly Mormon who by the general consensus of this thread can’t appreciate what the Savior has done for me.

El Confundido,

I’m sorry you’re feeling attacked; I did not call you nor imply that you’re “a silly mormon,” nor did I say or imply that you “can’t appreciate what the Savior has done” for you.

I simply related my experience of living in Utah, and being told every year by mormons that they’ve never heard of Lent.

Because mormons believe vastly different things about God and Christ, they are not considered Christian by most Christians. That does not mean we think of you as lesser human beings or “silly” or unappreciative. We are explaining (with Charity, I would hope) why we believe as we do. While there will always be people in all walks of life who are, indeed, condescending, it’s important not to read into something that’s not there. Stating differences of beliefs is not persecution.

P.S. Wonderful to hear you enjoyed the Good Friday service. And kudos for ignoring uncharitable comments (as much as you can, anyway.) All too often it’s easy to get caught up in 1-upping when it comes to snide comments.

 

[El_Confundido]

El Confundido,

I’m sorry you’re feeling attacked; I did not call you nor imply that you’re “a silly mormon,” nor did I say or imply that you “can’t appreciate what the Savior has done” for you.

Worry not, fair Ellie_F. I didn’t have you in mind with regards to anti-Mormonism. Only the comments here by certain individuals who have very strongly implied (if not outright stated so) that the LDS don’t appreciate the atonement, or are ignoring holidays considered very sacred to Catholics due to our hating the Lord. You haven’t in any way led me to believe that you’re looking at the practices of Mormons with bias.

I simply related my experience of living in Utah, and being told every year by mormons that they’ve never heard of Lent.

Indeed, especially in Utah. When you’re the majority you sometimes forget others exist, or at best, you simply aren’t exposed to such things. I grew up in California in a Latino community so I’ve always known about Lent, and as a teenager I would even “give things up” for it to show solidarity. My LDS mission to Guatemala made me particularly sensitive to Catholic practices.

Pointing out that Mormons are generally ignorant of Catholic holidays isn’t anti-Mormonism. Implying that said ignorance is essentially evidence of LDS apathy towards the Passion of our Lord is (which isn’t something you’ve done).

Because mormons believe vastly different things about God and Christ, they are not considered Christian by most Christians.

I’m actually going to break with the party line and say that I don’t really mind being considered a non-Christian. It’s just a name. First and foremost I’m a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. If you believe that somehow excludes me from being considered a Christian, then so be it. Furthermore, I recognize the futility in the LDS trying to use the title. There are 1800 years of historical and cultural baggage carried along with the term “Christian”, and it honestly perplexes me a bit that the Church is trying so strenuously to make the term applicable to us. It the most vaguest of senses, yes we are Christians, but since most people understand “Christian” to mean a person who believes in a trinitarian God and is a member of a communion descended from (essentially) the Catholic or Orthodox Church, we Mormons don’t fit that definition. Just as you Catholics don’t mind not being considered Jews, I honestly don’t mind not being considered a Christian. Admittedly, however, I’m probably a very very rare kind of Mormon. If I were to share this opinion with people at church I’d probably be unable to find a single person who agrees with me.

That does not mean we think of you as lesser human beings or “silly” or unappreciative. We are explaining (with Charity, I would hope) why we believe as we do. While there will always be people in all walks of life who are, indeed, condescending, it’s important not to read into something that’s not there. Stating differences of beliefs is not persecution.

Indeed. And I recognize that. I know that we Mormons treat the Easter season much differently than you Catholics, and pointing that out doesn’t offend me. As I mentioned earlier, what gets under my skin is assuming that such differences somehow implies that we’re either deliberately obtuse or purposefully taking the atonement very lightly. It’s the interpreting our traditions in light of your traditions which brings about these uncharitable conclusions. Again, I’m not using the specific “you” here.

You know, I didn’t mention in my last post that during this Good Friday service they had three life-size replicas of the cross, each of which had a portion of the Relic of the True Cross in it. All the parishioners took turns approaching one of these crosses, bowed down in front of it, and kissed it. The ornateness of this service is what caused it to be 2 and a half hours long!

Now, I’ll admit, when I first observed this my mind immediately thought IDOLATRY! But I calmed myself down and told myself “the veneration of relics, whether real or legendary, is an important part of Catholic worship in giving glory to God”. Instead of interpreting this Catholic practice using my Mormon understanding of worship I tried to step into your guys’ shoes (which probably explains why I so thoroughly enjoyed your service!). I noticed in the bulletin that the Easter Sunday liturgy is only going to be 45 minutes.

Using the reasoning employed by certain posters here, I could conclude that Jesus’ agonizing and brutal death on the cross is so much more important to Catholics than his glorious resurrection because those Catholics spend 2.5 hours in church on Good Friday but only 45 minutes on Easter Sunday. Wow, they must be sadists!

Doing so would be folly on my part! It would show a profound ignorance of Catholic theology, yet this is exactly what certain posters are doing here with regards to Mormon practices of Holy Week.

 

[truthsave]

Christian not christian issue… is good to ear that El Confundido doesn’t have the need to be considered as a christians by other “chrsitians” that mormons consider apostat. This is an ealthy attitude. Why would you need to be recognized by somebody that is out of the game but that thinks is in the game?
This is the same Chrsitans feels about mormons. They are out of the game. Not they, but their theology of course.Sorry about the non-elegant therm used.

The problem is that definition is given by something shared. If a see a lemon three and I find a moltitude convinced a lemon is not a lemon for reason accepted from this moltitude the lemon then is not a lemon.
If this moltitude would just change the name of the lemon with something else they would call the same thing in a different way, an this would not cause, I think, deep problems, just wonder. The problem is this moltitude calling a lemon what actually is not a lemon but an orange.

For the idolatry attitude.
You had a good attitude El Confundido.

I would like to spend few words on it.
It is so much absurde for people to be shaken by the doubt of idolatry, ifind so easy to understand. who think bending at the cross or kissing the icon of the Holy Virgin is idolatry is just because they want to find conforting reason of their choices.
Think about a soldier away from his family. He is hiding from the bullets and the situation is really tense. He take from one of his pocket a picture: his wife and his children that he loves so deeply.
Idolatry? He loves the picture or who is in the picture?
Of the picture as a paper this man doesn’t care at all. He care what the immage reppresent. The paper is like a bridge, that helps him making a contact that he cannot have considering the material separation with his loved ones.
It is so simple, and whenever I see people don’t understanding the reppresentetion of icon or whatever I immediately realize their "bad"attitude since they generally have pictures reppresenting loved ones.
For relics there is another consideration.

 

[SpeSalvi]

Being raised LDS, I didn’t realize how far removed the attitude toward Easter (and Christmas etc etc) was from the majority of the Christian world. When the LDS members here say that they DO believe in the resurrection and they DO celebrate Easter, they do. However, for me it’s honestly been SO SO different. Were I to compare it to anything, I’d say that our Easter attitude/“traditions” (Although I can’t necessarily think of any traditions outside of visiting my grandparents that are associated with Easter) as an LDS family were much like stale bread while the Catholic Church’s attitude and traditions are like triple-chocolate with fudge icing cake. However, growing up I had NO CLUE the Cake was even available because I had been raised on the stale bread.

I don’t know if I explained that very well, but my main point is that, as a former LDS, I just plain didn’t know what I was missin’ out on, and I fought the Catholic Church tooth and nail for a long time because I just didn’t understand the difference.

 

[RebeccaJ]

You know, I didn’t mention in my last post that during this Good Friday service they had three life-size replicas of the cross, each of which had a portion of the Relic of the True Cross in it. All the parishioners took turns approaching one of these crosses, bowed down in front of it, and kissed it. The ornateness of this service is what caused it to be 2 and a half hours long!

Now, I’ll admit, when I first observed this my mind immediately thought IDOLATRY! But I calmed myself down and told myself “the veneration of relics, whether real or legendary, is an important part of Catholic worship in giving glory to God”. Instead of interpreting this Catholic practice using my Mormon understanding of worship I tried to step into your guys’ shoes (which probably explains why I so thoroughly enjoyed your service!). I noticed in the bulletin that the Easter Sunday liturgy is only going to be 45 minutes.

Using the reasoning employed by certain posters here, I could conclude that Jesus’ agonizing and brutal death on the cross is so much more important to Catholics than his glorious resurrection because those Catholics spend 2.5 hours in church on Good Friday but only 45 minutes on Easter Sunday. Wow, they must be sadists!

No, I caught that. Every Good Friday service includes veneration of the Cross. I figured you left it out because of the Mormon propensity to spurn the cross. Which, apparently I was correct. Glad to hear you are able to reason. Yet you didn’t go up to the cross.

This doesn’t mean others are not able to reason. Mormons say all the time they are unable to look at a cross, or especially a crucifix, finding Jesus’ suffering too repulsive. Usually with a holier than thou comment of “we focus on the resurrection”.

There is no resurrection without the cross. The resurrection and the cross go together. We do in fact celebrate the cross, not because we celebrate the suffering and death of Jesus Christ, but because we KNOW that He suffered and died because of His love for us. The cross at Good Friday is a symbol of God’s love, why would you not venerate the cross?

This is what makes Easter different for Mormons, even wrong-headed. To say so isn’t anti-Mormonism, it is stating truth. Glossing over Jesus suffering and death because it is difficult, and the resurrection is a happier subject, is only removing yourself from Him.