Are you religious?

[Rising Dead Man]

Ever heard of Jack Chick? he condemns other religions. He thinks the Catholic church is evil and was responsible in some way for the holocaust and other horrible things. He thinks they run The Klan. He thinks it started the Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses and Islam. He is a MORON! In his tracts (religious comics) he attacks other religions by pointing out things they believe and saying they are wrong and the religion is wrong and run by The Devil or something like thatl!! He really pisses me off! And in a lot of his tracts he makes threats about Hell and eternal damnation to scare people into becoming Christians!!

[Pumpkin_Man]

RisingDeadMan, there are many cults that are based on Christianity, and cult leaders who use fear tactics to get people to join them. John Hage is another example of fear mongering and anti Catholic bigotry. He refers to it as "the evil Roman church," and he's a serious "end of the world" preacher.

But one must also remember that all religions have their zealots, and all religions also have those who are intolerant of the beliefs of others. The Catholic Church did not cause the Holocaust, but it did instigate and carry out the Spanish Inquisition, and there has been antisemitism in it's history. That does not mean that ALL Catholics are antisemites nor does it mean that the entire religion is based on bigotry against the Jews or other religions.

All Religions, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish or Islam, are gun by human beings, and when human beings gain power, they tend to be corupted by that power. The Catholic Church back in the Middle Ages was very powerful, and was the only Christian religion at that time. Prier to the reformation, most countries were ruled by kings that declared Catholicism as the official "state religion," which gave the Pope and higher ranking clergy termendous power. And while most Clergymen were honest, decent God fearing people, there were those who abused that power. And that's what precipitated the reformation.

Mike

[Rising Dead Man]

I don't know who to believe. I was just reading a forum about religions, mainly Mormons, and a bunch of people said the Mormons are wrong and gave their proof, than someone else says the Mormons are good and gives you their proof.

[DemonSlayerMau]

Your parents are Mormons RDM? Hoo boy. I wouldn't be fooled by Mormonism, they are definately a cult. If you can get out, do it. I've been in the Mormon church before....I know what it's like. I never went to their temples...but I did have a nightmare once where I fought the devil in one of their Temples.
Long story short...I fell in love with a Mormon once. This was back in 2006...I joined the Mormon church to impress him...but then he broke my heart. Long anguish followed by me leaving the church when I finally opened my eyes that they were a cult. They used to believe in Polygamy, and they have all these bizarre rituals and stuff. And Joseph Smith was a liar and a murderer. There's also no historical evidence for the Book of Mormon, and DNA tests have proven that there's no hebrew blood in the native american blood...well...unless a jew were to marry a native american and have kids.
They will tell you that they know the church is true, but I know it's not. It's a mind trick, if you trick yourself into believing it, eventually you do.
Personally, you're ok with just believing in God. I'm real sorry if I said anything offensive, but I just don't trust Mormons after the experiances I've had with them.
If your really looking for the right religion, I would suggest trying other churches. I've never been to one personally but I know the catholics built beautiful cathedrals that I'd love to see someday. Go ahead and try different churches, that's what I would suggest. You can even do as Pumpkin Man suggests and try a catholic mass. Try a bunch of churches! And if all else fails...just believe what you want.

[Rising Dead Man]

Your parents are Mormons RDM? Hoo boy. I wouldn't be fooled by Mormonism, they are definately a cult. If you can get out, do it. I've been in the Mormon church before....I know what it's like. I never went to their temples...but I did have a nightmare once where I fought the devil in one of their Temples.
Long story short...I fell in love with a Mormon once. This was back in 2006...I joined the Mormon church to impress him...but then he broke my heart. Long anguish followed by me leaving the church when I finally opened my eyes that they were a cult. They used to believe in Polygamy, and they have all these bizarre rituals and stuff. And Joseph Smith was a liar and a murderer. There's also no historical evidence for the Book of Mormon, and DNA tests have proven that there's no hebrew blood in the native american blood...well...unless a jew were to marry a native american and have kids.
They will tell you that they know the church is true, but I know it's not. It's a mind trick, if you trick yourself into believing it, eventually you do.
Personally, you're ok with just believing in God. I'm real sorry if I said anything offensive, but I just don't trust Mormons after the experiances I've had with them.
If your really looking for the right religion, I would suggest trying other churches. I've never been to one personally but I know the catholics built beautiful cathedrals that I'd love to see someday. Go ahead and try different churches, that's what I would suggest. You can even do as Pumpkin Man suggests and try a catholic mass. Try a bunch of churches! And if all else fails...just believe what you want.

I have been to church and to me they seem like good Christian people. They don't think they are better than anyone else and they do good for others. And most important of all, they trust Jesus as the savior of the world.

[Pumpkin_Man]

The main thing to remember is that any truely Christian church or religion believes in the diety of Christ. Simply put, they teach that Jesus Christ is God. There are some cults, like the Jahova Whitness who deny the deity of Christ and the Holy Trinity. Those are to be avoided. I don't know if the Morman church is a cult or not, but they do have some very extreme beliefs, and there are still those who still believe in and practice poligomy. There is also a cult that is based on the Mormon belief system that still practices pologomy. So anyone who'e considering becoming a Christian, I would suggest that you first and formost stay away from any belief system that denies the deity of Christ, and the validity of the Holy Trinity. Avoid any cult that practices pologomy. Look for the 10 comandments. If they practice or preach anything contrary to the 10 Comandments, it's probagly a cult and not truely a Christian belief system.

Mike

[DemonSlayerMau]

The number of contradictions in the Mormon belief system to the Bible is astounding.
Here's what they believe about God...they believe that there's a "heavenly father" who fathered all the spirits that live in the bodies of us human beings on earth.
They do believe Jesus is the God of the old testiment, but, they believe the heavenly father is higher than, not equal to Jesus. They believe in Jesus, God and the Holy spirit as three separate entities, and that while Jesus is on a status of "God" he's not the Heavenly father. He's our "eldest brother" according to Mormon religion, and he was chosen and ordained to be the savior of the world.
The devil they claim is also our brother, who was jealous of Jesus and tried to ask the heavenly father to make him the savior instead. But the father told him "no way" pretty much, and the devil rebelled taking a third of heaven's hosts with him...the spirits of demons according to mormon religion are also our brothers and sisters, who will never be redeemed because they rejected "God's plan." Those who are alive on earth today are those who accepted God's plan of salvation, who must go practice good works and be baptised and such.
Those who didn't know about God's plan on earth can learn about it in the "spirit world" and they proform baptisms for the dead by way of proxy in their temples.
So, as you can see, they are not your traditional Christian belief system. And they do not believe Jesus is God the same way most other christians do. Plus, they make it forbidden to drink coffee and tea and alcohol and to smoke. Ok, the alcohol and smoking I can understand because it's not good for you, but scientific evidence says coffee can prevent some kinds of mouth cancer, and tea has antioxidents that fight free radicals also preventing cancer. The only arguement they have is that it is highly acidic, but heck so are tomatoes and those are good for you too!

[jadewik]

Oh, dear... *sigh*

Remember earlier in this thread where I said I'd rather not say which religion I was? Remember reading posts saying basically that I ought to share?

I haven't exactly been watching this thread, but some of the comments are starting to make me cringe. There are religious zealots in every religion-- people who interpret things in the most extreme way. They are the ones who give a particular religion a bad name. The best way to learn about a specific religion is to ask someone who isn't over-zealous who practices that particular religion and regularly attends meetings.

I'd love nothing more than to answer all the questions on Mormons, having been a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints since I was 8 years old and sealed to my husband in the Mesa, Arizona temple in July 2006... but I really don't feel comfortable answering in this environment-- would you after all the things that have been said?

Technically, by definition of the word "cult" (that being formal religious veneration: worship), all organized religions are cults. I cannot help the negative connotation associated with the word cult... so call it what you will...

If you do indeed have a question about "Mormonism", I would ask that you email me or PM me the question as it would make the discussion more one-on-one. I do not pretend to know everything about my church-- but I shall answer questions that I feel comfortable answering. I will not say more than an answer to a specific question as I don't like when other religious zealots are pushy so I promise I won't push the matter. It may or may not be the answer you wanted to hear...

[Andybev01]

Well said.

[DemonSlayerMau]

Sorry, I never meant any offense or anything. I've just had bad experiances with the LDS church. I'm not saying all Mormons are bad, I just don't trust the religion and I don't like the beliefs...especially the belief that women cannot hold the priesthood: that right there probably drove me away from the church more than anything else.
Perhaps HalloweenCom or a mod should lock this...sometimes you're better off not discussing your beliefs on a message board. It can really rile people up, and this is a great message board. A topic like this can hurt people's feelings, and really, I considered everyone friends here so I don't want this to turn into a flame war. I only stated how I felt; I respect your opinions on the matter.

[litemareb4xmas]

It's topic's like this that are no win, and drive people away. I myself have been staying away because of this type of topics.
If it has nothing to do with Halloween, I think it should find a home in a forum where it fits.
Religion and politics are the worse subjects, you won't change someones mind or convert them here.

[jadewik]

Sorry, I never meant any offense or anything. I've just had bad experiances with the LDS church. I'm not saying all Mormons are bad, I just don't trust the religion and I don't like the beliefs...especially the belief that women cannot hold the priesthood: that right there probably drove me away from the church more than anything else.
Perhaps HalloweenCom or a mod should lock this...sometimes you're better off not discussing your beliefs on a message board. It can really rile people up, and this is a great message board. A topic like this can hurt people's feelings, and really, I considered everyone friends here so I don't want this to turn into a flame war. I only stated how I felt; I respect your opinions on the matter.

Nothing here has "offended" me. It takes a lot more than a few valid opinions to scare me. I just cringe at some of the prevalent misconceptions... and truth be told, I've had poor experiences with PEOPLE in the LDS church as well-- More than the grains of rice in a 1-gallon jug. In the end, I've decided that they can talk all they want, but ultimately religion is what you make it. I make it what I choose. I choose not to be offended.

I'm a moderator on this forum as well. I haven't seen anything EXPLOSIVE to warrant closing this thread. I do periodically check this thread to make sure everyone is alright-- It's one of those threads I make sure to check on when I visit the forum. It's also one of those threads people can choose to read or not to read. Like any sensitive discussion, the participants make it what it is. If it's a "no win" topic for you, then it probably will be a "no win" topic no matter what is said.

Halloween is an older religious holiday that has been absorbed into culture... even then, this topic has been placed in the "Off Topic" forum.... where non-Halloween intensive discussions are meant to be held. I think it's alright to keep it open, but I will bring it up with Halloween.com and the other moderators to see how they feel about it.

[DemonSlayerMau]

Well, I'm glad that I didn't offend you. I was concerned about that because I don't like offending people, and I know I can be really opinionated sometimes. You have a point that every religion has it's good and it's bad. Needless to say the LDS church just wasn't for me, but if it works for you more power to you.

[HalloweenDot]

While I'm all for freedom of expression and the right to discuss things, I'm leaning towards locking this only because it does not really relate to Halloween.

I'm not offended by any of it either, by the way, just a bit off-topic.

Well, I'm glad that I didn't offend you. I was concerned about that because I don't like offending people, and I know I can be really opinionated sometimes. You have a point that every religion has it's good and it's bad. Needless to say the LDS church just wasn't for me, but if it works for you more power to you.

[HalloweenDot]

Hi,
I found a good spot to discuss politics and religion:

http://www.tea-parties.com/



Better to keep things very Halloweeny here.