Well, I knew posting the cartoon video of that certain take on Mormonism would spark something. Luckily I haven't received death threats, but I did want to do a bit more research.
Here's a 9-minute video on one man's experience with being gay in the Mormon church.
It's heartbreaking, I know. And having had first-hand experience with this (my Mormon father was gay), I know this to be fact. Homosexuality is perhaps the highest on the list of intolerable things for the Mormon church, and if they can't be "cured", then they are usually excommunicated (which is what happened to my father, although he never actually admitted he was gay, even to his family).
The cartoon video from the previous post certainly has a negative spin, but I don't think they said anything that was not true. (Granted, I have not been an "active member" of the church since I was 14, when my bio-dad passed away. But he was extremely devout, some might say fanatic, and so a lot was crammed into my head those first 14 years.)
Mormons do believe in polygamist gods, with their goddess wives, that live throughout the universe. Mormons do believe that the Lamanites were "cursed" with black skin, and the Nephites were "blessed" with white. Mormons do believe that Jesus was a polygamist while here on earth, and that Joseph Smith was one of his direct descendants. I have been to the place where Mormons say Joseph Smith saw God and Jesus, called The Sacred Grove.
Ok, here's another video, this time discussing certain rituals that take place in a Mormon temple. It is a negative spin video, but IT IS ENTIRELY ACCURATE. My mother (a Mormon her whole life until she divorced my father when she was 28) has described this to me many times before I ever saw the video. It is an endowment ceremony, and only married people and other adults are allowed to be involved. Baptisms for the dead are another thing, but I did those when I was 14, so I know that is totally accurate. *Deep breath* Here we go:
Talk amongst yourselves.
Yowza. That's... really disturbing. These are the things I missed out on by being raised by a radical Marxist-Atheist father.
ReplyDeleteHey, I'm sorta light-skinned, sorta dark-skinned. Which category do I fall into?
you "mixed people" don't count.
ReplyDeleteyeah, it's disturbing, but so are many religious things pulled from antiquated rituals. most of the temple rituals come from the masonic rites, so no big stretch there, right? every decent, law abiding white man in america knows that!
:) sorry, i can't help the dripping sarcasm today.
I love how some people will regurgitate absolute lies!
ReplyDeleteHave you ever participated in an endowment session in an LDS temple? yeah I didnt think so. how long ago was it that your mother participated at the temple, well i guess that doesnt matter either because her description is wrong. that video couldnt be farther from the truth. I HAVE been to the temple many times it is a wonderful place. I DID NOT HAVE TO PARTICIPATE IN A BLOOD OATH. The images portrayed in that video have never happend and will never happen in a temple. Its been my experiance that the people that produce such lies, may have been memebers of the church, they may have gone to the temple. However the majority of them were not true to the covenants the made in the temple and because of that were excommunicated from the church. and because their feelings were hurt they have some personal vendetta against The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saint. That being said i am sorry you have had experiances in your life that make you feel this way but please dont make accusations regarding things you have not experianced
thanks
anonymous: thank you for your insightful and intriguing argument! such verbosity can do nothing but change my mind completely!! how WRONG I have been! for shame, on me. in fact, i'm calling the church right now and becoming active as of NOW! thank god i still remember all 13 articles of faith! thank god i know all the books in the BOOK OF MORMON! i have SEEN THE LIGHT!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteby the way: experience; experienced.
cheers.
wow your only argument...to knock my spelling errors. mature.
ReplyDeleteanon: ok, i usually wouldn't respond (especially considering you must be refreshing my blog every 5 minutes to come up with your own response. thanks for the site hits!) but my point was that you really had no argument. you (probably) don't know me, or my experience with the LDS church, so it is very assumptive of you. also, can you really say that those things "never" happened? that sure is taking on a lot of responsibility for millions of other individuals, some of whom might not be as good as you think. this kind of thing is not limited to mormons. many religions commit atrocities in the name of god. this is merely one example, so don't take it so personally.
ReplyDeletei don't have a vendetta against mormons. i think all organized religion is a bit whacked, but i just happen to be focusing on mormonism because i have had experience with it.
if you are interested, i'd like to hear about your experiences, and your justifications that these techniques or rituals have "never" happened. i am willing to listen to someone with reasonable judgment and clear logic, and i have been known to be swayed if the argument is sound. your court.
Umm, "boo"... I have only just come across this blog post, so I apologise for bringing up an oldish post. You may not believe in the church, but that doesn't give you an excuse to bash those that do. We are all entitled to our own believes and you publishing that video which claims to show part of the endowment session is a very, very serious insult to something which we hold extremely sacred. Whether you believe in the church or not is null and void, you are just displaying a lack of care for others and the things that they hold dear. There is another name for this... selfishness. In your case, this goes beyond selfishness.
ReplyDeleteAs a side note, one day you'll have to give an answer as to why you have tried to reveal what you believe to be part of one of the most sacred ordinances of the church. God has stated in the scriptures that he will NOT be mocked, though as you clearly don't believe this, please take note of my first paragraph. If you had any decency, you'd remove your blog post simply out of showing respect for other people and what they believe.
I hope this sheds some light on what other people have said.
James Sumner