How to PISS off a Christian...

[Riverwind (imported)]

Coming from an LDS background myself...i no longer believe in the church. I did find an article back in 2001 in the American History Magazine at college talking about the death of Joseph Smith and how existing evidence totally contradicts the church's version. I was a member for almost 20 years before I dropped out and have only found that one article contradicting church stories. I am not saying the church is perfect, and it does have its dirty secrets but then all church's have those. There is two things that I really like about the LDS church and that is there is only a handful of paid positions in the whole church, and most of those are in the main building in Salt Lake City. Just about everyone else volunteers there time to the local group. The other item is the LDS church has no financial problems unlike other churches that i have attended over the years who were always trying to raise money to pay bills and the leadership.

Yep, you don't hear then saying "send money to keep the ministry going". I too was a member for several years and I once asked what the church's position on creation was and the answer I got was it must not matter much as God has not told the profit anything about it. I found a lot of good things with the LDS church and just as many bad things. Oh well.

River

[Bagoas (imported)]

Anent the LDS, I was told about 45 years ago by a Mormon that the fact that Joseph Smith was a liar, a thief and a lecher [his words] did not disqualify him from being a saint of God.

[A-1 (imported)]

Another point similar to yours... abortion.... What God has no choice in the event and he must allow an entity/soul to go into that body. Also, It says that God has to place an entity/soul into a developing baby even if its about to be aborted! What purpose would that serve? It also means that God does not know everything and is not as powerful as we are told!

Know what?

Who can say that GOD HAS to do anything?

People love to use GOD to make other people do their bidding. It is an old, old ploy. People have used God as a reason to kill, maim, torture and subjugate entire races, not to mention sexes and they have visited INCREDIBLE evil upon mankind in the name of GOD.

I am not fed up with God or the concept of God, only with what people have done to God and the concept of God.

Re: Joseph Smith, Martin Luther, The Pope, Jim Jones, and whomever... all men, none perfect...

Bottom line, it does NOT matter who you are. As YOU have been told, BY THEIR WORKS YOU SHALL KNOW THEM...

You might ask can God use an unclean vessel to deliver good? I might reply, get a petrie dish and culture the cups that you drink from and the untensils that you eat with. Deadly microbes live on them unless they are sterilized.

THINK: Will you not eventually die if you do not eat or drink?

...THINK ABOUT IT... ....WATCH.... what is good or bad? LEARN WHO YOU ARE DEALING WITH AND BE CAREFUL WHO YOU JUDGE!

[IbPervert (imported)]

I figure that if any God is small enough for me to define and discern his actions or the need therefor, then he/she/it/whatever aint big enough for me. The net result leaves most, if not all, religions scant credibility in my eyes.

How about starting the "Church of Eunuchs" or "Church of the Bearded Nun"

[Riverwind (imported)]

History does not record anywhere at any time a religion that has any rational basis. Religion is a crutch for people not strong enough to stand up to the unknown without help. But, like dandruff, most people do have a religion and spend time and money on it and seem to derive considerable pleasure from fiddling with it.

Robert A. Heinlein

River

[kennath7 (imported)]

You can not piss off a true christian

[IbPervert (imported)]

You can not piss off a true christian

Maybe, but you can piss on them!

[kristoff]

Maybe, but you can piss on them!

Me thinks it is usually better to be pissed off than pissed on (unless you are into that kind of thing).

[IbPervert (imported)]

Yep, you don't hear then saying "send money to keep the ministry going". I too was a member for several years and I once asked what the church's position on creation was and the answer I got was it must not matter much as God has not told the profit anything about it. I found a lot of good things with the LDS church and just as many bad things. Oh well.

River

For me the LDS church has been in my life in some form for about 40 years, and in my mid twenties i simply stopped going. (i was about ten when my family joined....my father was one of the first commuters in California and he was the only non-Mormon in the car) But in all my time studying church doctrine the issue of Creationism and Evolution never came up....never thought of that before. Also, I do not remember the issue of abortion being talked about although I am sure it was talked about discreetly in the different female meetings. The main push in the Mormon family is the concept of family togetherness and doing good so you can be with your family in what ever of the 3 sections you get into in heaven. ... As if I want to spend an eternity with my Parents and too conservative brother and my pushy sister.

[A-1 (imported)]

History does not record anywhere at any time a religion that has any rational basis. Religion is a crutch for people not strong enough to stand up to the unknown without help. But, like dandruff, most people do have a religion and spend time and money on it and seem to derive considerable pleasure from fiddling with it.

Robert A. Heinlein

River

River,

As SAG will testify, there is a little more to it than that.

Food for the soul is what brings peace to the mind. Hard to explain, it's something like the "Eunuch Calm". It is an outlook and a feeling that things are going to be O.K. regardless of what happens.

As Karl Marx put it "religion is the OPIATE of the people". However, the DRUG analogy is not quite accurate, either.

As we all know, DRUGS, when used for a intended purpose have TREMENDOUSLY relieved the suffering of all living things, animals and people alike.

I am WARY of religion, but I AM NOT put out by it. It has it's place and purpose in life.

Sometimes the human SPIRIT or SOUL has to learn to accept things that they cannot control. Religion can help one do this.

However, BASTARDIZING religion by USING it as a means of control not only is an APOSTACY, but it is like poisoning the innocent with a DRUG that was intended to help them.

People who use religion to manipilate are no better than illegal drug dealers in my book.