Don't you hate it when people misunderstand your religion?

When people state BLATANT lies, that you, as a member of that church know are lies, and are quite offended by it?

I know many religions are misunderstood and made fun of, but I recently googled the word "Mormon". And was quite upset at what I found...

Things like "cult"....And other horrible things.

Now, what can I expect? People say it's unorthodox, and there are many weird things going around about us, and other religions, which is quite cruel...

But still, I am surprised at the twisted state of the world when they say that Mormons are racist, polygamist, devil's children, cultists, etc. all idiotic labels. Psh, I have known plently of African-American, etc. people in my stake, or when I lived in Las Vegas, etc. I am absolutely disgusted as to how many people judge religions, even though they do not know the first thing about them. It makes me absolutely sick to my stomach. :puke:

Give your thoughts on this subject...That really is quite a touchy one. :sweat:

Well that's the thing with most every religion today.

It's like the world is playing a huge game of "I'm right, you're wrong". They want everyone to be a apart of thier religion while disproving all other religions. Of course with everyone in the same mindset, it's almost impossible to change the other person's religious views.

And then this leads to other things like, "Your religion is false, my religion is the only true religion." So anything that isn't part of the other persons religion is now untrue and MUST be the work of the devil... SOOOO... it all just creates this domino effect and you end up with the world we live in today; with war and such.

Pretty easy stuff to comprehend. ^_~

Yes, I do think that you're right, there...But it's not just people from other religions being...Hmmm...Religionist? xD And saying that EVERYTHING about a religion is false. I'm pretty sure there's truth to all religions...It IS just a matter of what you believe, but sometimes I wish the world would just be quiet and be nice. xD

Are black people allowed to be priests in Mormon temples?

MistaCloudStrife

Well that's the thing with most every religion today.

I don't think that's only for religions. It probably generally applies to all philosophies (formal or not) and sets of beliefs that people hold, unless the people are subjectivists or hard-core relativists. (But then even the hard-core relativists might find themselves being absolute on the issue of whether or not people shoudl be relativists or whether or not relativism is the best way.)

So war and the other bad stuff are only (mainly?) the fault of religion?

Well, there's not really what you'd call a priest in my church...It's hard to explain. But yes, of COURSE black people can have the priesthood. I mean, they're not any different than white skinned people. ^_^ Same with anyone in the world, if they are male and a member of the church and are of age (12+) they can receive the priesthood. :) So, yeah, the church is in no way racist OR elitist. :)

Personally, I consider it elitist to not let women into the priesthood, but that applies to just about any religion with a priesthood. Good thing I'm not religious! :lol:

Really, though. Misunderstandings about anything bother me, and religion is particularly bad because it can play such a central role in so many people's lives. It's easy to get offended about something that you're so passionate about. I'm sorry people are saying things like that, a good friend of mine from middle school was Mormon, and she felt the same way. :(

It's not elitist because there are things only men can do and only women can do, we all have our roles in life. :D Of course, that's me and my belief, of course, it's easier to talk about this stuff in person. I don't know why. xD

And yes, misunderstandings can be quite disturbing, as they lead up to many horrible things happening and being said. And thank you, I'm glad you're concerned. ^_^

You could put it that way. If you were to step back and take a look at the history of all religions and all thought processes brought about by those religions you'd see alot of bad things stemming from them.

Why did white people hate black people and some other races? Religion...
Where did sexism originate from? Religion...

I'm not saying that religion is the only thing at fault or that religion is bad, but religion HAS brought about some pretty nasty things.

Yes, some religions do take very nasty things to the extreme, as witnessed again and again in history. The circle keeps on turning, and it seems an eternally repeating process....

MistaCloudStrife, if you had some examples from some different religions of history/thought processes that brought about bad things, could you post them? I think it would be interesting to see. ^_^

Sure, no problem at all...

I'll just use the examples I've given so far. Racism and Sexism...

First, Racism. What exactly is racism? It's basically one race believing that thier race is superior over another race.

Now let's delve little deeper.

I'll take the most well-known type of racism as an example. African Americans used as slaves by White People.

The reason behind African Americans being used as slaves originated from the bible. Basically White people interpreting the bible as them being superior over Black people and using them as slaves.

In earlier times White people believed that everyone was descendants of Noah and in the bible Noah cursed Canaan(The son of Ham) and said that him and his descendants would be cursed with dark skin and would forever be the "servant of servants". White people then used this as proof of thier superiority of African Americans. So basically, this part of the bible was the reason(origin) for slavory and racism against African Americans in the past.


And then sexism. This oneis alot easier since it states right in tht bible about the superiority of man over a woman.

I'll just give quotes from the bible. Explinations really aren't needed for this.


1 Corinthians 11:7 - 9*

7 For a man indeed ought not to cover [his] head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man.
8 For the man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man.
9 Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man.


1 Corinthians 14:34 - 35*

34. Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but [they are commanded] to be under obedience, as also saith the law.
35 And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church.


Ephesians 5:22 - 25*

22 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.
23 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.
24 Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so [let] the wives [be] to their own husbands in every thing.
25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;


Colossians 3:18 *

18. Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord.



There are plenty more quotes straight from the bible but I think these alone suffice to explain how sexism originated.

yeah, like Lute said, it's not elitism, it's balance. Women have very important roles to fulfill in the church and in the home, and we do. Good grief, if women were supposed to hold the priesthood too...O.o I'm busy ENOUGH thank you! :lol:

And yes, I hate it when people judge religions unfairly. It wasn't nice getting called a whore when I was 12 <_<
I do realize that we're not the only church to get it though, and I simply HATE it when other people hate others because of their religion, or use religion as an excuse to do something. That's why I simply can't abide Bin Laden. He's just using his PEACE LOVING religion as an excuse to kill people. I feel very strongly about religion, ANY religion. As long as you have beliefs, then more power to ya! But when you use them as an excuse to do something evil, something forbade by your religion it's just...ugh >.< Religion is sacred, let it remain that way.

As for the apparent sexism in the Bible, men are given the responsibility of taking care of women. So they must be given the rights to exercise that responsibility. Unfortunately it can be misused, and sometimes is. The command to love and care for them is given in the Bible, just like you quoted "25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;" using Christ as an example. So if men are to love their wives like Christ loved the church that would mean doing everything for their good, be willing to sacrifice the most for them, teach them and preside over them in fairness.
I thouroughly belive in this kind of life style, and it's the marriage I intend to have because I know that I can trust the man I intend to marry to preside over our family with love, fairness and kindness. It's all entirely the man's responsiblity to make sure he does this, which is why it appears he's given so much "power".

And yes Lute, I DO hate it when people misunderstand my religion. It was so irritating to go to Highschool in Utah and have people be able to say whatever they wanted about our religion IN FREAKING CLASS, but then a group of me and some friends couldn't discuss our views on homosexuality BY OURSELVES, IN THE CORNER because it "might offend someone". But you know, the only people who talk crap are the ones who don't know very much about our church, don't care to know very much, or already decided they disliked it so they twist everything they're told.

I understand the idea of men and women having different roles and such, but I just don't agree with the idea that men should be the ones with responsibility. I do not consider men anymore intelligent/quick-witted/level-headed/wise/responsible/etc. than women. Therefore, I don't believe that they should necessarily be the care taker. I think it should vary from relationship to relationship. Sometimes, the woman is the more practical one. I guess I just don't like the idea that man is responsible for woman, like she is his child, his pet, his goldfish.

I'm sorry if that insulted anyone. :unsure:

Well, what you believe and what God believe may not be the same thing :lol:

Haha, awesome thoughts, Sefie. :D

It was quite funny, actually. Last year, after school one day, I was talking to a group of three or so people, and we said something about religions, and I said, "Oh, I'm LDS!" And they're like...."O.o What's that?" And I said "Oh, well...Mormon." And they, in COMPLETE UNISON, said "You're Mormon!?" And I started CRACKING UP. They were asking random things about stuff, like "ZOMGOSH TEH POLYGAMEH!?" etc., and they had no idea why I nearly fell over of laughter. xD

@Sadhana: Women have just as much responsibility as men do...THEY are the ones chosen to be mothers. Now THAT is a job. *whew* xD

I don't think that's right. Yeah, parts of the Bible were used to justify slavery and the African slave trade, but I'm fairly sure that Europeans didn't go to Africa looking for slaves because Christians in Europe had decided that the Bible said they should.

Once again, these don't explain the origin of sexism. Sexism existed before the writing of the New Testament. Apart from that, your quotations are basically spot-on..except for the one from 1 Corinthians 14: 34 - 35. Because of the following verse and for other contextual reasons, it is proposed that Paul is there quoting from the Corinthians. It is further proposed that he refuted that statement in verse 36. You guys can check here to see the passage we're talking about.

Also, "Christian" is a pretty general term. There are some Christians who believe a set of things, and another who believe a similar, yet still very different set of things. So, I'm slightly proposing that you are mostly talking about Catholics...? Because that's what it seems like to me, although I am hardly an expert on Catholicism. :lol:

The Da Vinci Code (one of the conflicts the Christianity is against with that also got involved in Catholic, Orthodox etc...Christianity) got in discussion here in the university, us, college studs got in to discuss ourselves, Youth Speak. Trust me, some students here in the university are Christians who somewhat gives belief on the "Da Vinci Code". Bible Study is one thing am not good at, but as far as I know, you do good, you go to heaven. I think that you don't really have to be a whiz in Religion as long as you do good, you go to heaven. :P

It's funny that I somewhat reckon weirdly you're not allowed to preach Islam religion in Spain... XD