A Mormon chimes in

by John Corrill 91 Replies latest jw friends

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  John Corrill

  John Corrill here from the Ex-Mormon board

  www.exmormon.org

  I've found your forum interesting. Mormons and Ex-Mormons struggle with many of the same things JW's do. The terminology is different, but the issues are the same: modified and hidden history, authoritarian control, unrational beliefs and doctrine, etc

  I gotta tell you, JW's were our main source of competition and irritation in the proselyting arena. We could always tell when you beat us to a neighborhood. Wow, I'm glad those days are over.

  As an outsider, I always found the JW practice of avoiding blood transfusion and not celebrating holidays and birthdays to be a bit strange. What did/do you find strange about Mormon beliefs/practices?

  Nice chatting and best wishes to you all.
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  target

  John:

  Welcome to the board!

  I had a really nice neighbor years ago who was a Mormon. She was not supposed to drink coffee or smoke. She did both. What was with the coffee?

  Target
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  DJ

  Hi and Welcome John,

  I am aware of the some of the similarities of the 2 religions. There are x- mormons at a yearly convention in PA for xjw's. We share much in common. I always remember thinking that the teaching about Jesus and how he supposedly came to America as strange. I still do. I easily chalked it up to the prophecy about the false Christs. I also thought that the whole idea of the 12 heads of the church was somehow trying to replace the apostles. I thought that the people seemed nice when I met them at my door about 8 years ago but it was clear to me that they were misled. The funny thing is that, 8 yrs. ago...I was just as misled as a jw. Talk about the blind leading the blind! dj
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  MikeMusto

  I gotta tell you, JW's were our main source of competition....... in the proselyting arena.

  You won
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  Crazy151drinker

  Hmmmm Strange??? A whooooole lot.

  Lets see: We will be Just like GOD and create our own universe.

  The gold plates that no one has ever seen.

  All of the mythical kingdoms in the Book of Mormon that no one has ever found or heard of.

  The beleif that we are all Angels with 'wool over our eyes'

  The fact that my friend the ex-missionary can lecture me about how little I understand and how I need to find the truth- While he is sitting there drinking beer and getting high.

  and the grand finally, the cross is evil- 'you would carry around a gun on your neck if your child was shot now would you..?????'
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  Gopher

  I heard that a Mormon belief is that some of the "lost tribes of Israel" were to be found among the Native Americans (formerly called "Indians") here in North America. The idea of some kind of Hebrew - Native American connection seemed a bit of a stretch to me.

  Also -- Mormons cannot drink caffeinated beverages? I loved my soda pop -- even at the summer conventions of JW's!!

  But one thing I will say is that I attended a convention of JW's in Salt Lake City back in 1974, and I found the people of that city (predominantly Mormon) to be the friendliest and most hospitable I had ever met. They seemed to go out of their way to be helpful.
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  Jourles

  I believe the coffee thing is based on caffiene addiction. I can't remember if the same goes for sodas, I think it does. How about those undergarments! Didn't they find those gold plates a while ago? And were they not certified by the Mormon governing body as genuine? They were until it was revealed that they were well made fakes. There are more but I would have to look them up. Even black people were basically banned from the religion too if I remember, for quite a while.
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  JT

  1. the "Drawers" thang

  2. black men who could hold no titles
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  Crazy151drinker

  Oh, how could I forget the Pajamas that your supposed to wear at all times.

  Or you need to have kids so the Angels can come down and be tested.

  Oh, and my FAVORITE- The Baptism of the DEAD! Why do you think the Mormons run all those family history sites???? There Baptising all of your Dead relatives!! Bunch of nuts!!

  It also makes me Angry that I will be unable to go to my best friends wedding.

  Yes, they are Generally nice people, but the whole thing is nuts.
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  HappyHeathen

  Hi DJ,

  Years after I left the WT, I became friends with a Mormon neighbor who introduced me to a network of other Mormon women. For the most part, they were such nice people, though very driven much like JWs. They were always bustling to and fro with their Relief Society activities, Bible studies and church functions very amusing to watch after I was away from that lifestyle myself.

  Almost immediately they tried to get me to attend the temple and talk to their missionaries, which I stubbornly resisted. But even though they couldnt convert me, they didnt discard me as a friend (one big difference between Mormons and dubs that I could see).

  My neighbor and I had lots of religious discussions. Some of the weirdest stuff she told me was:

  1. The temple undergarments: she and her husband were married in the Temple at Salt Lake except to shower, they were never to take these big cumbersome HOT undergarments off EVER.

  2. God has a physical body and is represented in pictorials as being blond (blonds are more celestial than brunettes).

  3. Mormons believe in baptism (figuratively) of their dead relatives to move them to a higher level of heaven.

  4. Heaven is made up of 7 levels, and if humans knew how wonderful even the lowest level was, they would commit suicide to get there. Only truly evil people wont go to heaven.

  Its been a long time ago, but those are a few things I remember. I lost touch with the group about 10 years ago.

  Hope you hang around our board. Its good to have all different perspectives here.

  Faith