Within the realm of the earth; there are so many religions out there, one too many to count. A good handful of them branching from Christianity. The one I would like to single out here is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
The reason for me singling out the LDS church is because of my demographic area. In Utah, Mormonism is the more abundant religion. Being surrounded, left and right, by members of the LDS church I have more knowledge about their “system” than any other “system.” Don’t get me wrong, I have no hate towards the LDS church, I am even a little religious myself. I respect all religions, even the people no matter how religious they are. Though, I have noticed the firmer one’s belief, in any religion, the more they preach about the straight and narrow path.
The biggest gripe I have about the LDS church is how it claims that it is the “true church.” Those two words that people recite, at sacrament during their personal testimony, is one of the many causes for a bitter taste in many people’s mouths, mainly people who are non-members of the church. The LDS church says that they do not hold themselves above any of the other churches yet those two words that are passed down from generation to generation paints a different picture. The question I have presented to many LDS members is, “if the LDS church is the true church then why does God answer the prayers from other churches?” Most, if not all, people answered, because God is a loving father and does not ignore his children. But if God is truly a loving father he would ignore all “false” religions so that people will flock to the “true” religion. So much strife derives from the difference in denominations. God would be doing us all a favor by ignoring the “false” religions; everyone would get along better if they followed the same doctrine.
When it comes to religion I sit on the sidelines and watch. I believe in God, Christ and the Holy Ghost (Christianity) but I don’t believe in any denomination. I personally do not believe that any of the churches here on earth are, as a whole, true. Each church has a true piece within itself but as a whole it lacks the whole truthful picture.
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There is no god but God--Islam
There is one God, and one million ways to get there-anonymous
"The kingdom of God is within you and all around you...put not your faith in mansions of wood and stone"-Yeshua (Jesus) From the Gospel of St. Thomas. This tenet was dismissed as heresy...by the Catholic Church)
Chuckhoek
"...We believe in the one holy and apostolic Catholic Church..." - I remember that being taught to me during Catechism. I was even taught that taking Communion from another church - even a fellow Catholic one, even one within the Diocese - was a sure way to hell.
LDS isn't the only religion who thinks that way.
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http://progressiveu.org/165028-welfare-disability-social-security-whats-...
(Latest blog. )
I learned the same thing as a Lutheran.
And hi, BTW! Haven't seen you around for a while!
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/ediblewoman
The real world caught up... Senior year and all. You know how it is.
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http://progressiveu.org/175726-i-cant-be-only-one-concerned-lack-proper-...
(Latest blog. )
"I respect all religions, even the people no matter how religious they are."
You respect all religions? Do you respect the classification of women as second-class citizens? Do you respect the belief that a woman who is raped should be stoned to death if she can not produce 4 male witnesses who will back up her claim? You see, when you say you respect all religions, this extends to respecting collections of beliefs, many of which are hideously backward and hateful.
Also that last bit about respecting people 'no matter how religious they are', well then you have respect reserved for the clergy who tortured and brutally murdered innocent people through the ages, the men who flew planes into the world trade centre, the Christians who gassed 6 million Jews and a host of others sick and demented religious people.
I hear people spouting this PR/PC bullshit about respecting all religions constantly; you don't have to respect something to be tolerant of it. I respect few religions, but what I do respect is the right of people to practice their religions, within the law of the land.
"The biggest gripe I have about the LDS church is how it claims that it is the “true church.”"
Pretty much every Church claims this. They all claim to have 'the one truth'. Where do you think the Mormons learned the trick. Protestants and Catholics murdered each other and persecuted each other relentlessly for hundreds of years over such foolishness, why does the same tired old line of bullshit highlight the LDS as something out of the ordinary?
"mainly people who are non-members of the church."
Surprise, surprise. I find it amusing when religious people whose churches proclaim to hold the one truth and to be the 'true church', get their noses so out of joint when another church does exactly what theirs does. Yet few religious people can see the relevance of a non-believer's distaste for the plethora of religious organisations who all claim to have 'the one truth', despite the fact that they are all based on faith, not conclusive fact, which is what I understand as truth. It's like the old saying goes: every devoutly religious person is an Atheist when it comes to other religions.
"“if the LDS church is the true church then why does God answer the prayers from other churches?”"
My question to you is this: Can you find me one factual and documented case of an amputee growing a new limb through the power of prayer?
You see, it is easy to say that such and such had cancer and prayed hard enough and God cleared them of their affliction, even though doctors said it was terminal. Spontaneous recovery happens to non-believers too. But claims that God is answering prayers in such cases as these beggar the question, 'what about all those who prayed and still died painfully and at young ages?'.
No doubt you'll seek to answer this with some classic religious get-out-of-jail-free-card and claim that 'The Lord works in mysterious ways' or some such euphemism for 'shit, I'm in a corner and there is no reasonable answer to this that doesn't undermine the nonsense claim that God is answering prayers'.
Non-believers hope for things and sometimes these hopes are fulfilled, other times their hopes are shattered. Religious people do the same, but when their hopes are fulfilled, they attribute it to God answering their prayers. For instance, I'm Agnostic. I made a pitch for an account on Friday which I hope I get. I have prayed to nobody, i prefer to rely on my skill, hard work and my ability to sell ideas.
If I get the account on Monday, I know why. Equally if i don't, I know that I need to refine my pitch and hit them up again; yeah that's right, I will look for an opportunity to re-pitch, I will not sit on my ass wondering why my prayer's weren't answered saying to myself 'well, shucks, I guess it just wasn't meant to be'.
I know classical word trickery demonstrated by religious folk will fall back on 'God helps those who help themselves' lines of unreason, but when you break it down, we help ourselves period. An Atheist like Ricard Dawkins, for example, is far more likely to turn in a PHD grade paper on evolutionary biology by tomorrow morning without prayer than you are with it. What does that tell you? God works in mysterious ways?
"everyone would get along better if they followed the same doctrine."
I agree. That doctrine is called Reason.
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I am the people my mother warned me about.
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/tuffgong
TUFFGONG
Senior Executive Administrator™
Thanks for your insightful comments.
And that is no joke, heh. After reading your comments I realized how many holes I have in most of my statements.
"I have prayed to nobody, i prefer to rely on my skill, hard work and my ability to sell ideas."
The religious people I talk to always tell me "God will not help you if you do not help yourself." But I do suppose some people take for "granted" of believing in God in which they believe God will serve them their reward on a golden platter without the person needing to lift a finger.
"why does the same tired old line of bullshit highlight the LDS as something out of the ordinary?"
I stated in my blog why I was singling out the LDS church. Utah is dominated by the LDS dotrine so I hear nothing but LDS related matters. But it is also my fault for the lack of knowledge of other religions. I am still a pup that is learning.
There are other holes that I won't bother to point out but as I already said, thanks for the comment. It gets the gears in the noggin' turning, I'm loving it. Keep them coming.
"God will serve them their reward on a golden platter without the person needing to lift a finger."
But the point is this: the power of prayer, if it was truly as miraculous as some assert, should enable faithful people to glean reward based upon the strength of their faith alone. Why would God allow an Atheist who relies upon his own hard work and intellect, with no faith in God's existence, let alone the power of prayer, to supersede somebody who's faith is so strong that they believe prayer and faith in God alone to be more powerful than worldly faithless effort?
"I stated in my blog why I was singling out the LDS church."
I understand this, but surely you are familiar with at least Catholicism or Protestantism and their claims to the 'one truth'? What I was getting at centres around the idea that most churches state that their church is the 'one true church', that is why they are separate by denomination from others. I know you kind of hit upon this at the end of your entry, but I think you have overlooked something.
All Christian denominations are selling the same basic formula. Major Christian faiths like Catholicism, protestantism etc are like the Walmarts of Christianity. Smaller denominations like LDS are akin to break-away entrepreneurs who have taken the winning formula of the big multinationals and applied it in the hope of swiping some of the majors' customer base.
They will all claim to have 'the one truth' or that they are 'the true church', the same way a company that sells Aspirin can claim that there is no better Aspirin on the market. The fact is that aspirin is aspirin, it is not possible to have one which is better than the other, so the claim is not actually false, it is just clever wordplay. In the same way unprovable claims to truth can be heralded as the 'one truth', because nobody can prove otherwise.
The reason certain brands of Aspirin sell for large sums while other generic varieties sell for less all comes down to how vocally and persuasively a company sells it. It is the same with Christian religions. They all sell the same product, it's how they sell it that matters. Even clerics within various denominations who don't actually believe that their doctrine is actually the truth will be loath to publicly admit it, because it would damage the company's image and offer it's competitors the opportunity to steal some of their consumers.
Why would a Christian bother with a church that doesn't claim to hold 'the one truth' or to be the 'true church' when the one down the street does? For the same reason many people buy a certain brand of aspirin which claims to be the best over a brand which doesn't.
The fact that you have announced your non-denominational status as a Christian does at least hint at the fact that you are beginning to see through the bullshit and lies. You say you have a lot to learn, but you seem to be learning quickly. Your mind appears to be truly open and I would speculate that it won't be long before your eyes follow suit. I wish you speed on your route to looking behind the curtain and seeing that these Christian wizards of Oz are nothing more than human tricksters, with their doctrines representing nothing more than the very curtain they hide behind.
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I am the people my mother warned me about.
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/tuffgong
TUFFGONG
Senior Executive Administrator™