To all Mormons on this forum

  • Thread starter Thread starter Maranajewell
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The LDS church has changed their temple ceremonies over the years. They have taken out the original anti-Catholic parts and eliminated the evil clergyman who takes cash from the devil to deceive others. Even the masonic blood oaths have been toned down. But from what I read the temple endowment is a strange, odd, disturbing, and rather banal ceremony. Most who go through it are suprised and dismayed. A few even leave the mormon church then and there. I don’t know if it is Satanic, but it sure freaks some mormons right out of their church.
 
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tkdnick:
I had some trouble figuring out which articles to look at in particular. Could you maybe give some specific articles to look at?
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It like the 4th article from the bottom by “Oman, Richard G”. You have to click on the PDF symbol. A few clicks on download and checkout and then it wants a name and email and then you are finally there.
 
the Mormons must be doing something right if they catch **** from Jack Chick.
 
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cestusdei:
The LDS church has changed their temple ceremonies over the years. They have taken out the original anti-Catholic parts and eliminated the evil clergyman who takes cash from the devil to deceive others. Even the masonic blood oaths have been toned down. But from what I read the temple endowment is a strange, odd, disturbing, and rather banal ceremony. Most who go through it are suprised and dismayed. A few even leave the mormon church then and there. I don’t know if it is Satanic, but it sure freaks some mormons right out of their church.
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I’ve been through various temples many times. The first time was the worst. I thought the revulsion I felt was my fault, that I was somehow unworthy, or lacked the necessary understanding, etc., to appreciate it. I remember feeling incredibly disappointed in myself. So, I kept on going, and after a while I got used to it. The ceremonies never ceased to feel odd to me. I was always relieved when it was all over and I could just relax in the Celestial room for a moment. That was best part. I never thought much about how very strange it was until many years later I was talking to my boss and friend at work (I had since left the LDS Church for reasons unrelated to the temple). He had just completed his masonic rituals and was now 3rd degree(I believe) mason. I asked what the rituals were like and he said “well, I’m not supposed to say but I don’t believe in all that secrecy stuff”. He proceeded to describe ceremonies, clothing, rituals, language, etc. that made my mouth drop. The similarites were truly striking. I started to do a little research and discovered that Joseph Smith was a Mason. He obviously patterned the temple rituals after the Masonic ones. That gave me one more reason to feel like my earlier decision to leave the LDS Church was indeed correct.
 
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cestusdei:
The LDS church has changed their temple ceremonies over the years. They have taken out the original anti-Catholic parts and eliminated the evil clergyman who takes cash from the devil to deceive others. Even the masonic blood oaths have been toned down. But from what I read the temple endowment is a strange, odd, disturbing, and rather banal ceremony. Most who go through it are suprised and dismayed. A few even leave the mormon church then and there. I don’t know if it is Satanic, but it sure freaks some mormons right out of their church.
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I have been in several Temples over the past years and have never felt any of the feelings you say most LDS have told you they feel. I have always felt a wonderful peace and closeness to God. It is the closest to heaven that I think one can feel on earth. It is not a bit strange, it is Holy and Sacred and gives one a feeling of being clean and pure and very close to Heaven. Away from the impurities of the world. I have never seen or heard any anti-Catholic parts or any anti-anything. If you have never been in a Temple and never taken part in the ceremonies how can you repeat hearsay. The Temples are so filled with people that I am sure the one or two you say left immediately will not be missed too badly. I would say good ridance and I hope they found what they were looking for.
I believe it would be similar to what you would feel in one of your great Cathedrals, lighting candles and praying to the various saints and Mary and God. These things would feel very strange to me. I think it is a matter of what you have been raised to believe.
My Catholic husband felt very strange in the LDS church at first, because it is very simple and not ornate at all. We do not pass a basket for the offering, our tithings are paid privately when we wish or IF we wish to pay them, our leaders are unpaid and people such as myself give talks on the gospel and our sacrament is bread and water which is passed to the congregation by deacons(which are 12 year old boys).
My husband feels quite comfortable in my church now, even though he still prefers his Parish and is more comfortable in the Catholic church with the things that are familiar to him. He has his very special rosary beads which I think are memorized prayers, I still do not understand the significance, and he doesn’t eat meat on Fridays during lent, which means we had to stay home from a Chili cook off on this past Friday. He is very strict about his religion. I think we can respect each others beliefs without ridicule even though they are different than that which we are accustomed to practicing. I hope that you and Boppy can feel comfortable believing your own religion and allow others to believe differently without criticising and ridiculing, as you seem to find a real joy in doing.
As Jesus said “Love one another as I have loved you”, and “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”. I know that seems banal, mundane and trite to you but it still applies in this day and age and if we all followed His example we would not be reading the ridicule of other religions and beliefs that we have been exposed to in this forum.
May we all at this Easter Season, remember His great sacrifice on our behalf, that we may be forgiven our sins, if we repent and renounce them.
Charity and Love to all,
BJ
 
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boppysbud:
Sorry folks, just one more and I will go away for a while, the second link is really:

www.hismin.com/page3.html
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So those seem scary to you, moon, stars, sun…to me they are a part of our world and not scary at all. As I said we all believe different things and to me some of the things in your Cathedrals are very frightening and cold. But, not to say there is anything wrong with them, it is just different and strange to me. As the stars, moon and sun are to you.
BJ
 
Wow!

I go away for a few days and look where this thread has gone!

BJ, I sure do appreciate your charity in this forum. You are a blessing! I like how you can defend your beliefs without allowing others to upset you. I really get frustrated when people allow their emotions to cloud their judgement in dealing with one another.
  • Charity to all - Maranajewell
 
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Maranajewell:
Wow!
I go away for a few days and look where this thread has gone!
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Your initial post inspired me to add some documentation to the polygamy thread. You will have to dig it up if you are interested. Thanks for your encouragement!

fool
 
BJ Colbert:
I have been in several Temples over the past years and have never felt any of the feelings you say most LDS have told you they feel. I have always felt a wonderful peace and closeness to God. It is the closest to heaven that I think one can feel on earth.
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Having been through various temples literally dozens of times I can say that my experiences were quite different than yours. I would also say that my spiritual experiences as a Catholic have dwarfed what I felt as a LDS. The closest to heaven we can get is when we are in front of Jesus Christ himself, wouldn’t you agree?
That’s where you’ll find me every Sunday at Mass.
BJ Colbert:
I believe it would be similar to what you would feel in one of your great Cathedrals, lighting candles and praying to the various saints and Mary and God. These things would feel very strange to me. I think it is a matter of what you have been raised to believe.
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I was raised LDS, spent my whole young life looking forward to going on a mission. I was so excited to go to the Temple to get my endowments. I was raised to believe exactly what you believe. I fully expected a great spiritual experience. I had been to the Bishop and Stake President and had confessed everything. I was ready. Why did I experience revulsion? I, of course, told no one my feelings because I thought there was something wrong with me. Anyway, I’m repeating myself. All this is in my previous post. I know many going through their first time had the same feelings I did. I say this because most ex-LDS will admit how they really felt the first time and that gives us some insight into it’s initial impact.
BJ Colbert:
Code: 
  My Catholic husband felt very strange in the LDS church at first, because it is very simple and not ornate at all. We do not pass a basket for the offering, our tithings are paid privately when we wish or IF we wish to pay them, our leaders are unpaid and people such as myself give talks on the gospel and our sacrament is bread and water which is passed to the congregation by deacons(which are 12 year old boys).
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Just to be clear on a few points:
Every LDS MUST pay a full 10% tithing, no matter how poor, if they want to go to the Temple. And, most everyone in the Ward has an idea about who has a temple recommend and who doesn’t. It’s not nearly as “anonymous” as the collection plate where no one knows (and no one cares either) what’s in your envelope.
Your leaders are not all unpaid. General Authorities(the top leaders) receive a living allowance. And why do they receive a living allowance? Because they have devoted their lives entirely to the Church and cannot support themselves. Sounds exactly like Catholic clergy.
BJ Colbert:
May we all at this Easter Season, remember His great sacrifice on our behalf, that we may be forgiven our sins, if we repent and renounce them.
Charity and Love to all,
BJ
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I agree whole-heartedly.
 
BJ,
I visited a temple once before it was dedicated and have read the current and previous versions of the endowment. You can check yourself and look up the pre-1990 versions, there are several. They dropped some objectionable things. Which is odd since it was supposed to be “perfect”. The Mormon sites I have checked and the ones I have talked too sound much more like Tmaque. They all said they felt like they had to say what you said about the temple. But that in reality they found it strange and uncomfortable, even scary. If you did or do feel that way I hope that you will consider those feelings carefully. Also do read about the Masonic origins of the Mormon temple ceremonies. As with Tmaque it may shock you.
 
Man! You guys were BUSY yesterday!

BJ, thanks for being so nice in face of some less-than-nice statements. I wish I had your strength and patience!

About feelings in the temple…every LDS I have talked to has described similar experiences to BJ’s. In fact, I emailed an LDS friend about the opening of the Sacramento Temple and if I could walk through. She responded with a long email about how great it would be for me to come with them and how it’s the most holy, and spiritual place.
 
mormon fool:
It like the 4th article from the bottom by “Oman, Richard G”. You have to click on the PDF symbol. A few clicks on download and checkout and then it wants a name and email and then you are finally there.
Click to expand...
You can’t just read it? You have to have it emailed to you?
 
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tkdnick:
Man! You guys were BUSY yesterday!

BJ, thanks for being so nice in face of some less-than-nice statements. I wish I had your strength and patience!

About feelings in the temple…every LDS I have talked to has described similar experiences to BJ’s. In fact, I emailed an LDS friend about the opening of the Sacramento Temple and if I could walk through. She responded with a long email about how great it would be for me to come with them and how it’s the most holy, and spiritual place.
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I you would have asked me how I felt about it when I was an active LDS you would have received the same response from me as well. It was “supposed” to feel that way so I wouldn’t even admit to myself that it felt otherwise. That’s why I simply ignored my initial reaction and just pressed on. If you want an objective view talk to ex-LDS in addition to LDS. I can agree that it’s a spiriitual place simply because it’s a building dedicated to God. It’s also very beautiful. The ceremonies are the things that are troubling.
 
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tkdnick:
You can’t just read it? You have to have it emailed to you?
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They don’t email it. The article shows up in your browser after clicking through. Don’t ask me why they want email addresses, because it appears they don’t use it for anything if you uncheck a box.

If you would like to look at something more accessible try:

fairlds.org/apol/ai131.html

These articles are shorter, but have the drawback that they are written from an apologetic POV. I like the BYU studies article because it is very thorough about discussing just about every symbol on the Salt Lake Temple, is well documented with lots of pictures, and played a role in preparing me to go for the first time.

later,
fool
 
Inverted stars on Mormon temples reminds me of swastikas on Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain temples: a holy symbol that was misused by either (1) black magicians or (2) Nazis. And now that symbol has been tainted.
 
I don’t think mormons should have to justify if the symbols on their temples are satanic or not. Mormons are not, never have been or ever will be Devil woshipers. For the most part these symbols are masonic in orgin or are symbols for objects found in the heavens, the astrological heavens not the biblical heavens. These Buildings are beautiful expressions of Architecture of 19th and 20th century.
 
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