Spooky Bear says, "These people make me tired...."Oh Lard, I was left some real doozies today! Lets start with Rochelle from the Mormon Temple article (see? why don't believing Mormons leave me comments anywhere else?). She said:
Andee -
you've been asked what happened that you could not leave the church alone? My question is: what have you done that you hate yourself so much?
chell
Chell, I refuse to leave the church alone. It's lying to you and your family, hurting people, and campaigning to limit the rights of our fellow human beings. They don't DESERVE to be left alone! One day you might realize that.
Now, I would LOVE to know why you think I hate myself?
Andee
Now here is a comment from Seth R... to keep things easy to understand, my comments will be in bold, their comments will be italicized.
The missionaries were a bit underinformed on the issue, but that's no surprise.
I agree. No surprise. Especially since everyone in the Mormon Church is underinformed...
It would really be nice if the LDS Church did a better job educating people on these issues.I agree. Everyone should know these common things about the religion they spend some much time, effort and money on.
Let's make one thing clear here - I've met just as many messed-up stupid people among atheists as I have among Mormons. I am not convinced that anyone here has any right to arrogantly declare themselves better than Mormons as a group. You people are just as smart, and just as stupid as we are. You just manifest it in different flavors.
When did I say I was better than anyone else? Thanks for pointing out my stupidity. I will now spend some time pointing out yours...
As for Joseph and polygamy - the correct answer is "I don't know." Because we really don't. But it doesn't bug me in the slightest. Marrying 14 year olds was rare enough in mid 1800s America, but it wasn't unheard of. Nor did people in that time period look at it as something particularly disgusting. People got married at that age in rural 1800s America all the time.Have you done any research on this yourself? Or are you just taking the church's word for it. If you had done the research yourself you would know for a fact that it was UNCOMMON for a fourteen year old to marry at that time. It was hidden from people, that is the only reason they didn't throw a freaking fit. Once they did realize what Joseph Smith did, they wanted to castrate his ass. Look it up. I would love you to try and prove me wrong, because you won't be able to.
You'll note that when people were outraged with Joseph Smith, it was because he had MORE THAN ONE wife, not the age of them.
You will note that people didn't know he was marrying these 14 year old girls. It was a secret. Not even the regular Mormon public knew what he was doing until he couldn't hide it any longer. You have no idea what you are talking about...
Frankly, no one back then gave a damn what age the girls were. That was the culture of the times.
WRONG. People gave a damn when they found out. People give a damn now. I certainly give a damn.
Should God have intervened and ensured that His prophet always conducted himself in such a way as would be admirable to us today?
No.Yes. If God wanted people to take this church and Joseph Smith seriously, He would have stepped in immediately. The only conclusion myself and others come to is that Joseph Smith was a con artist who had money and power. Not a prophet.
Prophets are human beings. They make mistakes, they screw up their family life, they teach incorrect things. It happens.
Hmmm... nice try. Don't buy it. Never did. Prophets are prophets. Do you remember Joseph Smith as just a man, or do you remember him as a prophet? We both know the answer to that question. Claiming these men were simply "human" and giving them a free pass to commit these horrible acts is insane. If they talked with God, God would have done something about it.
The only people who believe that prophets are supposed to be spotless are brainless Evangelicals who never learned to think in shades of gray.You have no idea how easy it is to see right through your comments. You don't have a clue. None. Maybe one day you will do the research yourself instead of spitting out what your church elders tell you to.
And atheists, who, oddly enough, seem to have been drinking the Evangelical cool-aid (like some people here).
Biblical and prophetic inerrancy is one of the most moronic doctrines Christian fundamentalists have ever inflicted upon the world. There is no such thing, the scriptures preach no such thing, and we are not, and never have been, required to believe any such thing.
I find it deeply ironic that a bunch of folks like you who claim to be so liberated and independent-minded are still obviously taking your marching orders in how to view religion from the same idiots who gave us "young earth creationism."
Of course, I imagine it makes it easier to attack religion if you limit yourself to only attacking the retarded version of it.
The only people on the planet who think a prophet is supposed to be perfect are brain dead Christian fundamentalists and the atheists who agree with them.
Next time, if you want to have conversation on my blog, I would appreciate you showing a little more respect. There is no reason to use words like "brain-dead, retarded, moronic, brainless and stupid" in civilized conversation. If you want to participate in adult conversation, act like an adult.
Till then,
Andee
November 26, 2008 at 7:14 PM
Heh. Good post. He's always "fun" to converse with.
November 26, 2008 at 7:25 PM
He's really a piece of work.
He comes across as an arrogant jerk who truly believes he is smarter than the rest of us. The way he uses words like "brain dead" and "moronic" do nothing for his character.
I wonder if he could try and prove his point with facts and without putting people down?
I doubt it.
November 26, 2008 at 10:31 PM
well, at least they were entertainment for us :)
Happy Thanksgiving!
November 27, 2008 at 11:36 AM
I've always loved that, "Prophets aren't perfect" excuse. As always - so convenient. And irrelevant. Hell, I'd be apalled if one of us regular ole folks, with no special calling from God went around secretly marrying 14 year olds. But a prophet of God? Come on people.
November 27, 2008 at 1:41 PM
Well, the Spooky Bear picture makes it all ok.
November 27, 2008 at 5:53 PM
Happy Thanksgiving!
November 28, 2008 at 10:06 PM
Thank you for the comments, guys!
Happy THanksgiving to all of you as well!
*hugs* to my internet family!