“I agree that the massacre and past atrocities are hard to get over, but the history of almost all religions is a violent one, how many deaths have done in the name of Jesus? Another thing to remember is that not all members or churches of one religion are the same. I was raised Pentecostal and was 1 of 3 churches in the town, none of the other churches were like mine. It greatly depends on the leaders of the particular area. Did that make sence?”
“Happy is hard to judge. Those of us who look at this and are stunned would not consider it our happiness. I agree with Rosered, it depends on who you are asking a 50 year old man or a child. Everyone has rules we live by and conditions we accept, to some having someone dictate there every move is a way of life. Ask a man how he feels about having more than one wife, some would laugh and say I would love it, are they kidding, who knows. There is so much involved in this and I have a hard time getting past the massacre and the other atrocities that are a part of their history.”
“I'm only responding to the FLDS aspect of this. I am not lumping LDS and FLDS together in that post. Just wanted to make that clear.”
“I'm at work at can't get into a really long in depth answer right now, but I am going to answer your last question.Are they happier?I think it depends on if you're asking a 14 year old girl whom just has been betrothed to a 50 year old elder or if you're asking the 50 year old elder. ”
“Just lurking on your discussion here and i just thought i would comment on KateT's statement" I think it is important that we all keep in mind that a cult is just a religion that has not been accepted by society. " Thats a really absorbing sentence and gives me alot to think about. thanks, bookgrrl ps. i did read this book and was amazed that this was happening in the US. Mindboggling stuff.”
“Hamchuck explained how this book affected us. It opened up questions for both of us and we ended up looking for more material. I have to say I was stunned by the treatment of women and children, and humankind. Although there are ghosts in every religious closet and through the ages the evils of the world have been blamed on God sending them messages, even to this day as we all know.This particular book sparked a decision to talk with what I thought was a Mormon friend. Although this person had left the church, they came looking for her, the brain washing that I felt had taken place for years and was starting to melt away took only a short time to be reinstated, once they found her and she is now back and we do not have a relationship with her. I approached her with an open mind to understand, she could not answer our questions and lost focus got rattled, she could only state that is not the church she knows.The Mormons are powerful and like all groups who claim God only speaks to them; we need to be pay attention.Fascinating book”
“My wife would agree with you on 10 years of Catholic school can turn one away from orginized religion. I still feel though that the more you learn about the origins and beliefs of mormonism, the FDLS, in a fanatical way is sticking to the original doctrine. The LDS hates that as that. I think that the book also mentions that once the LDS has obtained complete political power that many old doctrine methods will be put back into play. Not sure that I agree with that but it is interesting.”
“I think it is important that we all keep in mind that a cult is just a religion that has not been accepted by society. For the most part, the LDS church has been accepted as a "true" religion in the world while the FLDS is a fundamental sect that the LDS wishes would receive NO media attention as it reflects poorly on the LDS church. I am myself am not involved with any formal religion (the result of 10 years of Catholic school!) :) I think this discussion is so important as religion touches all of our lives whether we wish is to or not. ”
“I don't think that Mormonism is at the top of the heap anymore as a crazy religion. As the book points out it is the fastest growing religion in the world. Religion is such a touchy topic. We have probably heard horror stories from people of all religions. I think the big topic with Mormon is God telling Joseph Smith to take multiple wives. If that was not in the Morman text, it could have remained obscure. ”
“There are crazies in every religion, but I've always wondered why if the crazy person is Mormon they make a big deal about their religion. If he had been Catholic or Luthern would his religion had made such a big part of the book?”
