As I was reading " Beyond Mormonism: An Elder's Story" by James Spencer(www.mazeministry.com/resources/books/beyondtext/aacontents.htm) I couldnt help notice the blazing similarities between the Mormon and JWs. I was just wondering, was there a cult start up course in the mid 1800's, b/c it seems that many cults used the same rhetoric and techniques. I know there were many Mormon/JW comparisons posted already, so Ill just add my two cents. The quotes are from Spencers book and my comments are in brackets [ ]
---------------------------------------
"After the meetings, many people came up to shake my hand and welcome me. I felt important. More significantly, I felt loved."
[As a Dub we would make it a point to welcome the new faces.]
"The reason for the confusion in the churches today," continued Elder Jackson, "is that after the death of Jesus the apostles were scattered. Eventually they were killed. The Church, because of unbelief and wickedness, dwindled away. Which, I might add, it just what the Bible predicted would happen that there would be a great falling away of the Church. We call it the Apostasy. The true Church did fall away and mankind plunged into the Dark Ages. It wasnt until 1820 that God found someone worthy enough to restore the Church through the prophet Joseph Smith."
[The Borg has the same theory, the Great Apostasy, the apostles fell away, but there was always a representative on earth and things were restored with Pastor Russell, etc.]
"In Mormonism, activity is the mark of faithfulness. Is he active? Is the question most often asked to determine if a person is a "good" Mormon."[If any one was considered for a privilege or marriage material the first question would be is he active?]
Tremendous emphasis was placed on attendance at meetings.
[Five meetings - The five finger illustration - blah blah blah]
"But dont worry about the Reorganites. Theyre just a group of malcontents who broke away from the Church long ago. Its a tiny group. Theyre in deception. Forget it, son. Its nothing." "But I dont understand. How can anyone who once know the truth fall away?" Eds smile faded. "Theyre apostates, son. Theyre losers!" His face became uncharacteristically hard. He added grimly, "Stay away from them!"
[The Borg feels the same way - Stay away from Apostate - They are losers :) ]
"...Since the Mormon Church places high emphasis on family life, young people are encouraged to marry young..."[Been there done that. I got married at 22 and that was considered late]"The Church is perfect," we would say to each other. "It is the people who are imperfect." [The org. is not perfect, but Jah is - What a crock]"...And campus dress codes were extremely strict, not only forbidding long hair on male students, but also requiring them to be clean-shaven. Despite Mormonisms hairy-faced founders like Brigham Young, even a mustache meant expulsion from school..."[Reminds me of Pastor Russell sporting that beard, not to mention Jesus and the Men of Old.]"But his loyalty to the Church was complete. He told me one day that even if he came to find that Mormonism was not true, he could never leave the Church...And even if there were something wrong with the Church, I wouldnt want to know it. I was raised in the Church and Ill die in it. Nothing is going to change that."[Reminds me of a talk by Bro. Walls (a heavy at Bethel) he said even if the org,. was wrong with its doctrines, its still the best way to live. I find that many dubs know the org is dead wrong, but feel they have no other place to go.]"The Reorganites have about 250,000 members and claim to be the legal continuation of the church Joseph Smith established. "[Reminds me of the legal problems after Russell died and the spilt occurred.]"I entered the curve a self-centered intellectual failure who, after ten years on a treadmill of religious performance, was about as far from knowing God as I had been when I joined the Mormon Church..."[Reminds me of old dub mag where the man is running on a treadmill.]"All my life," she said, "the only thing I wanted was to be married in the temple and have a husband who was true to the Church. I havent made tremendous demands on you, but I cant give in to this..."Its so embarrassing for me," she continued bitterly."[Getting marriage in the K-Hall is a big thing - I remember going to elders and asking permission and they asked me the series or moral questions. Also, if a family member or spouse gets dfd its more about how the ones still in the org. looks.]Little boys grow up singing "I Hope They Call Me on a Mission." And little girls are tucked in with stories about being married in the temple.[Young ones are encourage to go to Bethel, pursue the full time ministry. And young girls dream of marrying a Bethelite, or couse in the K-hall.] "Both Catholics and Protestants are nothing less than the whore of Babylon. Any person to be so wicked as to receive a holy ordinance from the ministers of any of these apostate churches will be sent down to hell with them unless they repent. (5)" [Babylon the Great, mother of the harlots, turned on by the wild beast - get out of her - God's Kingdom Rules!]"Margaretta, as a faithful Mormon, believed the Church to be the only representative of God on earth."[Gods visible representation on the earth.]"Joseph Smith was fond of saying, when he came across something in the Bible he didnt like, that "an old Jew without any authority" changed the scripture. (3) And Mormon apostle Orson Pratt published a pamphlet in the 1850s called The Bible Alone: An Insufficient Guide, in which he wrote: What evidence have they [Protestants] that the Book of Matthew was inspired by God, or any of the books of the New Testament? (4) The Mormon Church maintained that the Bible was unreliable, and that we needed a prophet to straighten out the confusion... Brigham Young had stated:... Let me have a privilege of correcting a sermon, and its as good a Scripture as they deserve. (5)[Reminds me of this quote I read recently ""The Watchtower is a magazine without equal on earth because God is the author." (W.T. April 15, 1943 pg.127)]"I learned, for instance, that Mormon history was marked by controversy and cover-ups. The web of confusion of Mormonism was so complete that, to preserve his sanity, the faithful Mormon was forced (if he were to remain faithful) to accept the current position of the Church on any given matter. Truth was what Salt Lake City said it was on a particular day."[New light!! - Truth is what the Borg says it is.]"And the Book of Mormon, called the most perfect and error-free book ever produced, had been altered in nearly 4,000 places since the 1830 edition."[Reminds me the NWT and its many errors]"Joseph prophesied that Jesus would return by 1891."[We heard that one before]"As I looked at the contradictions and confusion, alterations and prevarications that went into the mix of Mormonism, I marveled that anyone could believe the doctrine. I marveled even more that I had not only believed but taught it."[Dont you say the same thing]Peace - LL