The Official "Ask A Mormon" Thread

[The Black Swordsman]

Mormons are a group of people I respect very greatly. The Masjid I go to is very busy on friday's. The Masjid is also by a Mormon temple and a Protestant church. We asked if we could use their parking lot on Friday's since it is empty for them and we would let them use ours on sunday. The protestant church said if they ever found a car on their property from someone going to the masjid they would have it towed. The mormon temple said we could use their parking lot not only on Friday's but any day of the week.

Also, I used to have a Mormon roommate who was an amazing guy, one of the nicest people I know, very hardworking, an overachiever in school, great fitness etc. It was only for a 5 day training thing in Texas so it isn't like I was roommate with him for long though.

 

[bigb]

Mormons are a group of people I respect very greatly. The Masjid I go to is very busy on friday's. The Masjid is also by a Mormon temple and a Protestant church. We asked if we could use their parking lot on Friday's since it is empty for them and we would let them use ours on sunday. The protestant church said if they ever found a car on their property from someone going to the masjid they would have it towed. The mormon temple said we could use their parking lot not only on Friday's but any day of the week.

Also, I used to have a Mormon roommate who was an amazing guy, one of the nicest people I know, very hardworking, an overachiever in school, great fitness etc. It was only for a 5 day training thing in Texas so it isn't like I was roommate with him for long though.

Just a minor clarification, but that would probably be a Mormon church house and not a temple. The only days that a temple doesn't operate is Sunday and Monday. A regular church house usually doesn't get much use during the week, especially during the day.

 

[One Brow]

Yes it does, because an experience of the Holy Spirit can change how you view the evidence.

If you already have to believe something in order for the evidence for it to seem reliable/valuable, then the evidence is not reliable/valuable. There will always be people who can't be swayed by evidence of any sort, but in general, the only good evidence is evidence that persuades a skeptic.

By the way, this comes from someone who used to believe they were experiencing the Holy Spirit.

 

[colton]

I've got a question though. My aunt has a friend and he was going to marry this Mormon girl but she wanted to be married in the temple. So he did everything required to join BUT he skipped out because on the final step or something he had to go into this room and when he opened the door and saw what was going on he said he just had to get out of there and he and the girl eventually called it quits. What was going on behind the door?

He probably accidentally stumbled across the human sacrifices.

OK, more seriously I have no idea what you are talking about.

 

[One Brow]

Polygamy make be a perfectly fine form of cohabitation in "heaven".

So, you'd be OK with your wife being married to several other men in addition to you?

 

[One Brow]

My aunt has a friend ... What was going on behind the door?

This sounds much more like exaggeration/urban legend than anything that really happened.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

What is the Mormon philosophy on giving neg reps?

Colton always ignoring the tough questions.

 

[Harambe]

The growth of the church shows it is believable.

I'm not convinced this logic is sound. Even the church of scientology has grown since 1986

Might be the worlds fastest growing religion

Ok. not the fastest. But it's up there.

 

[Stoked]

I'm not convinced this logic is sound. Even the church of scientology has grown since 1986

Might be the worlds fastest growing religion

Then that shows that their doctrrine can be believed. Do you or I believe it? No. Does everyone? No. But some people do.

He said it was not believable but over 14 million people believed it enough to be baptised.

 

[Stoked]

Also in an early comment about missions handicapping young men. I am a better adjusted, bilingual man as a result of my mission. The skills and abilities that I learned on my mission are what got me my job.

Every case is different but to say it is handicapping young men in general is absurd.

 

[Harambe]

Sure. I'll give my version of the standard LDS plan of salvation. And "plan of salvation" is commonly interpreted as "history of existence and purpose of life" in addition to the part specifically related to salvation, so that's what I will discuss.

1. God, our Heavenly Father, at some point became the father of our spirits. What this actually means in LDS doctrine isn't quite clear, because although we believe he is literally our creator and our father, we also believe that we have existed in some form from all eternity. How I personally interpret this, is to say that initially(*) we existed as some form of pure intelligence, and then God organized our "intelligences" into spiritual bodies.

2. Jesus, Lucifer, and the rest of us were all part of that group of spirits, although Jesus was enough like God to be considered God himself, that is "God the Son".

3. God wanted us to become more like him, and to do that he and Jesus developed a plan where we would be born, gain mortal bodies, live, and die. Many LDS consequently view this mortal existence as kind of like going away to college--we could only progress so far while we were in the presence of God, so we needed to leave His presence to progress farther. If we progress the way God desires, then we will be able to return to His presence after we die. To make known God's desires for us, God employs both the Holy Ghost (who speaks to each person individually) as well as prophets and apostles (who convey His words to people as a whole).

4. Lucifer (Satan) rebelled against this plan, and led away about one third of the spirits. He and they were consequently cast out of God's presence. He and they are real forces for evil in the world around us, who among other things offer temptations to lead us astray from God's plan.

5. As part of being separated from God and being tempted by Satan, we naturally sin. That's a serious issue because nothing unclean can live in the presence of God. God's plan therefore provided a Savior for us. Jesus, the Savior, paid the price for our sins so that if we accept His sacrifice and follow His teachings, we can be cleansed from sin and return to God having fulfilled our purpose for being born.

6. Because some people don't receive the opportunity to learn about Jesus and accept Him while alive, the gospel continues to be taught in what I'll call "the immediate hereafter". The immediate hereafter is what LDS typically refer to as the "spirit world".

7. At some point comes the resurrection, where our spirits literally take on physical bodies again--but this time, glorified immortal bodies. The resurrection is accompanied by our judgment.

8. After the judgment, the righteous return to the presence of God and Jesus in what we term the "celestial kingdom" and receive what we term the "celestial glory". These individuals will be like God, having fulfilled God's plan for their progression. Others will receive lesser glories.

I think that's pretty much it, in as much as a nutshell as I could fit things in.

(*) whatever that word might mean in the context of a past timeline going to infinity

Not much has changed I see.

I just fail to see how wanting everyone to come back is a all that bad a thing. Consider that Lucifer actually had Authorit(read; Mad Rep) I'm not convinced the speech in Moses 4:1 should be a cast outable offense.

Look at this another way: You're at work, and the boss wants to do something that you disagree with, and will sustain your business heavy losses, what do you do? Try to convince him out of it. Still doesn't listen? Talk to others, get their opinion, and then you all try to talk him out of it. In this case, 33% of heaven agreed. Instead of talking it through to it's natural end, we have a war?

How does that make sense?

 

[Stoked]

Not much has changed I see.

I just fail to see how wanting everyone to come back is a "cast-outable" offense. Consider that Lucifer actually had Authorit(read; Mad Rep) I'm not convinced the speech in Moses 4:1 should be a cast outable offense.

I think that if he had presented his plan, argued for it but accepted Heavenly Father's decision he would not have been cast out. Your are "ignoring the "he rebeled" and "war in heaven" parts. He went beyond arguing for and presenting his plan. He went to war over it.

 

[Harambe]

Then that shows that their doctrrine can be believed. Do you or I believe it? No. Does everyone? No. But some people do.

He said it was not believable but over 14 million people believed it enough to be baptised.

I fail to see how anything in the Church of Scientology is believable, and yet they have growth. My point was that growth is not a sound point of judgement on if something is believable or not.

As far as your opinion on handicapping goes, that's fine. But when I see a kid given a full ride scholarship to MIT turned down to go on a mission, I fail to see how that's a net positive for society, or that kid.

 

[Stoked]

Not much has changed I see.

I just fail to see how wanting everyone to come back is a all that bad a thing. Consider that Lucifer actually had Authorit(read; Mad Rep) I'm not convinced the speech in Moses 4:1 should be a cast outable offense.

Look at this another way: You're at work, and the boss wants to do something that you disagree with, and will sustain your business heavy losses, what do you do? Try to convince him out of it. Still doesn't listen? Talk to others, get their opinion, and then you all try to talk him out of it. In this case, 33% of heaven agreed. Instead of talking it through to it's natural end, we have a war?

How does that make sense?

More to reply to. Maybe they did talk it out to its natural end and the two sides felt that they were at an uccaptable impasse. neither side was willing to abandon their stance. We are talking about a perfect being here. If he is perfect than I do not see him just rushing to judgement. I truly do not believe that it is as simple as you are making it sound.

 

[Harambe]

I think that if he had presented his plan, argued for it but accepted Heavenly Father's decision he would not have been cast out. Your are "ignoring the "he rebeled" and "war in heaven" parts. He went beyond arguing for and presenting his plan. He went to war over it.

"Rebelled" is often a term for "there's a disagreement". And who knows what was or wasn't lost in translation.

Moreover, man is as God once was, God is as man might be. Which means we share traits.. he's like us, not some infallible being out there. Which means you can make a profile of his behavior, thoughts, and actions.

Knowing that this is the same guy that flooded the earth, and destroyed whole cities for exercising his own plan(free agency), are you sure it's so unbelievable that there might have been a stretch of the truth here or there?

Heck, put all that aside. After who knows how many thousands of years, don't you think any father would want to repair his relationship with his son instead of keep up a full time war?

 

[Stoked]

I fail to see how anything in the Church of Scientology is believable, and yet they have growth. My point was that growth is not a sound point of judgement on if something is believable or not.

As far as your opinion on handicapping goes, that's fine. But when I see a kid given a full ride scholarship to MIT turned down to go on a mission, I fail to see how that's a net positive for society, or that kid.

I will grant you that a mission is not for every one and some would be better off in college or elsewhere. However maybe that kid wants something different than you in life. Did that kid return from his mission to attend a college?

As for a net positive. That man dedicated, on his and his families dime, two years of his life to help others and spread something that has brought him profound joy in his life. I only wish more kids had that level of dedication, willingness to serve others and sense of responsibility when they were 19 (now 18).

To be honest I see them both as net positives for society and him. It is not like he turned down college to join the circus. He is dedicating two years to his fellow man. That is a deeply profound thing.

 

[Harambe]

Actually, lets read what's written there:

"Behold, here am I, send me, I will be thy son, and I will redeem all mankind, that one soul shall not be lost, and surely eI will do it; wherefore give me thine honor."

Most read that as "Yo, I should do it. I'm the man, I will fix it all. I want to do that. Let ME have all the glory"

But forget who said it, and whatever pre-concieved notion we've been handed. Infact, imagine this as the apostle Paul saying it. In that light it could it not be read:

"Dad... bro. I'm here. Let me act as your son. I think I can bring back everyone.. all that we love so dearly. Do me the honor of allowing me to do the heavy lifting for you"

 

[Stoked]

"Rebelled" is often a term for "there's a disagreement". And who knows what was or wasn't lost in translation.

Moreover, man is as God once was, God is as man might be. Which means we share traits.. he's like us, not some infallible being out there. Which means you can make a profile of his behavior, thoughts, and actions.

Knowing that this is the same guy that flooded the earth, and destroyed whole cities for exercising his own plan(free agency), are you sure it's so unbelievable that there might have been a stretch of the truth here or there?

Heck, put all that aside. After who knows how many thousands of years, don't you think any father would want to repair his relationship with his son instead of keep up a full time war?

Exactly. You want to use that as a basis for an arguement that God just threw him out because he didnt toe the line. OK fine.

Also he is not like us. We are like him. Yes one can argue it either way but my point is is that while we have some of his traits, he is perfect while we are not. Infallible is exactly what we are talking about here. it seems I beleive that and you do not. If that is the case and you think he is not perfect then of course that leads to all sorts of doubt and speculation.

Also who says he didn't try to keep his relationship. Maybe Satan rejected hsi plan and tried to take over the throne.

It all boils down to I trust in my Lord and you do not. Do not mistake that for me not having questions. It just means I trust that He has a reason.

 

[Stoked]

Actually, lets read what's written there:

"Behold, here am I, send me, I will be thy son, and I will redeem all mankind, that one soul shall not be lost, and surely eI will do it; wherefore give me thine honor."

Most read that as "Yo, I should do it. I'm the man, I will fix it all. I want to do that. Let ME have all the glory"

But forget who said it, and whatever pre-concieved notion we've been handed. Infact, imagine this as the apostle Paul saying it. In that light it could it not be read:

"Dad... bro. I'm here. Let me act as your son. I think I can bring back everyone.. all that we love so dearly. Do me the honor of allowing me to do the heavy lifting for you"

I get that but then it was explained how he would bring everyone back and that defeated the whole purpose. Satan wanted to save us all be removing personal choice and that right there is the rub. Take that away and the whole thing is pointless.

I truly do believe it started out as you are implying. But I do not think it was:

Satan: I can save every one!

God: No! BE GONE FOREVER!!!

It was way more complex than that.

 

[Scat]

So, you'd be OK with your wife being married to several other men in addition to you?

I think this was essentially answered regarding an earlier question. Our reaction now to certain information will be vastly different once we cross over.