The Mormon “Cult”
They all wear weird under garments. They are racist. They practice polygamy. They are a cult. Women are discriminated against.
These are some of the controversies I have picked up on throughout my life when those who did not practice the religion brought up Mormons. I’ve had two insights into the Mormon religion; one being my trip to the Kansas City temple and another being family friend’s with one some might call a “hard core Mormon”. After many years of these assumptions I finally acted on my curiosity when I was granted the opportunity after a friend invited me to join them for their service. On impulse, I decided to step out of my comfort zone and take a look into this foreign religion.
After my invitation, I waited
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After asking about the roles of men and women in the church, Kendal proceeded to tell me that the women typically offered prayers, taught adults and children, and spoke in sermons. The reason that the men only blessed the sacrament and passed out the bread and water was because they were the only ones who could hold the Priesthood, which is the authority to act in God’s name. He explained to me that women still hold high authority in the church, and even have an organization called the Relief Society that was started by the Prophet Joseph Smith to help those in …show more content…
I could feel everyone’s eyes on mine but directed my attention to Brother Johnston, hoping he wouldn’t take my random outburst negatively.
“That’s actually not true in today’s world,” he replied kindly. He went on to explain that those who would practice polygamy would become excommunicated. According to scriptures, the Lord had commanded some to do so for various reasons (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, and Solomon) and they believe that in Heaven polygamy is practiced.
“Anything else you’d like to ask?” He went on to say. Well yes, I have twenty million other questions I’d like answers to.
“This is going to sound really weird, but do you guys all wear the same underwear every day?” He burst out laughing at my question and looked at the other girls who were laughing under their breaths as well. In that moment I hated myself for being so curious, and quickly said “Never mind!”
“No its ok,” he replied, “Our church is very big on modesty. After a couple is sealed (married) in the temple they are given garments, underwear and a T-shirt, that you wear under everything. It’s kind of a guide on what to wear over your clothes- and you can never show
Mormon culture has developed over the years in many different ways. I never knew its significance until I observed many different people’s lives on the Brigham Young University-Idaho’s campus. They all have the similar beliefs, ideas, knowledge, behavior, material creations that are learned and shared, which was transmitted through a language. The specific culture shares many beliefs, but yet there are differences in these subcultures that we find in Mormonism. The differences have to do with their personalities, personal influences, and the opinions that come out of those things.
To some it may even be a backhanded jab, but to me it is It’s literally who I am. The idea of waking up at 5 am every weekday morning for religious study classes would typically make high schoolers cringe. For me studying and discussing the scriptures every morning kick starts each day with a sense of fulfillment and purpose; shaping and guiding me as I go through a day filled with choices and decisions. For others Sunday is just one extra day of the week. For me Sunday is a special day that revolves around the gospel, spending time with family and serving others less fortunate than me. To the outside being Mormon may seem like a hassle filled with only restrictions and rules, but I don’t see it this way. To me it truly represents who I am and what has shaped me into the person I am
In the two-part series, The Mormons, this four hour documentary by Frontline and the American Experience examines the development and growth of the Mormon faith. The documentary explores both the history and the present reality of the Mormon faith, allowing the viewer inside the compelling and often misunderstood religion. The first part of this documentary explores the birth of Mormonism and the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints under the charismatic leadership of Joseph Smith, while the second segment studies the contemporary Mormon Church (including the discussion of Mormon missionaries, homosexuality, and the role of women). Although I was aware of some of the history of Mormonism (my mom was raised in the LDS
After marriage, women ran the household, taking on all the household responsibilities, such as cooking, cleaning, sewing, gardening, and raising the children. The church permitted no forms of birth control, so families were often large. Women weren’t allowed to speak in church, participate in town meetings, or serve in government. They also weren’t permitted to be religious leaders. However, women were seen as more disciplined and moral and held some minor informal influence in the church.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS), or as it is more commonly referred to, the Mormon Church, is a loose branch of the Christian religion. Although the Mormon Church believes in the same God, it split early on from mainstream Christianity. Joseph Smith founded the church in New York in 1830, during the period of religious revival in America, referred to as the Second Great Awakening.
Christianity is a widespread religion, but many people have never heard of Mormonism, a religion said to have branched from Christianity. However, if you take a closer look at the two faiths, you will find that there are several differences and few similarities.
All these differing theological issues pale in comparison to the disagreement that many Christians have with the LDS Church’s origins. In 1830, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was founded after Joseph Smith claimed to have received a vision of God and Jesus Christ telling him that the true church was not on the earth at that time (Perry). If this is true, it implies that all other Christian religions are false. Prior to the Church’s organization, Joseph Smith published The Book
Women were not held to such a high standard as men. Men had a more prominent active duty in the church and in order to gain their membership they needed to show their commitment to a congregation of people, while women could just make their consult in private. Although men and women still had to have a testimony from a Brethren before they were fully admitted, it was clear that men and women were separated in the church as they were at home.
Have you ever been curious of other religions besides your own? Maybe even discriminated against a religion without taking the time to know more about it? I am going to discuss the religion of Latter Day Saints. I will tell you what they are about, how they differ from other religions, how they have contributed to American culture, etc. Have you ever thought that a certain racial group belonged to a certain religion or certain group based on their race? I am also going to discuss African Americans and how they differ from other ethnic groups. How they have been discriminated against and how they have contributed to American culture.
The writings, known as the Book of Mormon, describe how some Israelites traveled to the Americas to become the indigenous tribes (Gutjahr 7). The books and Joseph’s teachings laid out a faith that seemed radically different than any other. But Mormonism shares roots with other religions; it began as a form of Trinitarian Christianity. Like Christianity, it builds on Judaism; Mormonism also connects with the Jewish history as the Book of Mormon describes the families of a lost tribe of Israel. Like Protestantism, Mormonism can be considered a reformed version of Christianity. Mormonism, in fact, has much in common with Islam—both have Abrahamic roots and a modern prophet and sacred text. Mormon ideas may seem radical in some areas, but are Christian in many fundamental aspects. Mormons believe in God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, although they see them as separate beings. They accept the Old and New Testament as the work of God, and believe in many Christian ideas such as sin, divine revelation, and God’s eventual return. The main difference, then, is simply that Mormonism is newer than other religions, and thus assumed to be invalid. As Noah Feldman summarizes, “Antiquity
No, Mormon religion is not the same as Christianity. Although our book refers to the upcoming of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints as a “Christian Movement.” The religion is much different than Christianity. During the Second Great Awakening when Mormonism was forming, Mormons wanted their religion to be new and distinguished from Christians. Mormon religion traces its origins to Joseph Smith, while Christians trace their origins to Jesus Christ. Along with this, Mormons did not believe that they were the same as Christians. Rather than believing in the Bible, Mormons believed in their own book, “The Book of Mormon.” Most Christians felt that the “Book of Mormon” was not equal to the Bible. Christians also did not believe in the
The church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS) or more commonly referred to as the ‘Mormon church’ was one of the later founded religions that continues to be practiced today. Mormons believe that after Jesus was crucified he resurrected in America to speak to the native Indians who they believed descended from the Israelites. This took place during a civil war between the Nephites and the native Indians in upstate new york. Mormon recoded the event on golden plates and gave them to his son Moroni, the last Nephite, and he buried them on a hill. Joseph Smith dug up these plates in 1820 and these became The Book of Mormon (see appendix 4). Joseph was told by God to spread the religion because the church had been corrupted and thus, the
Mormonism is a name meaning the spiritual principles of followers of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as well known as Mormons. Mormonism defines the guidelines of the Church that were reestablished to the world by the Prophet Joseph Smith. If you would ask the question “what is Mormonism” to a member, there’s a high change they would respond by acknowledging their love of Jesus Christ, he is the dominant part of the religion. Where can you find a continuing participant of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, well they're instituted at every level of civilization. For instance, in a charity, business, education, science, political parties, government, news media, and lastly the entertainment productions. The originator of The Church, Joseph Smith, wrote, “the essential philosophies of our religion are regarding Jesus christ, he died and was buried, rose again and on the third day ascended into the heavens; all supplementary things which relate to our religion is only accessories to it.”The main beliefs and practices of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are that Jesus Christ is the redeemer of the earth and the Son of our
As early as the beginning of the Christian Church women had some important but very defined roles within the church. There were roles women could not play, of course, but that does not mean they did not have value to the Christian movement. Unfortunately, there have also been a lot of things overlooked that have been done by women, especially in the New Testament. There have also been arguments that the Christian Church is a "man's church" because men wrote the books of the bible and women did not have much say, apparently, in what happened during that time and how it was recorded. Even though not everyone was certain of the way women were treated in Christianity and whether they were accepted and applauded the way they should have and could have been, there were still many mentions of women doing great things. Scholars have begun to look into what women did during Old Testament and New Testament times, in an effort to have a better understanding of Christianity and the role women played in it in the past.
Latter day saints are just your typical Mormons there group is scarce and not very many exist at least not big in numbers but they are slowly growing and are welcome to take in more members .they don’t ask for a lot when you join besides faith, repentance and baptism. When you marry you marry for life it is believed in this religion that trust in god is also trust in your marriage and should not be broken in any way if you marry you stay married and it is for life they also don’t want to see children get hurt in the case of a broken marriage . This religion also practices polygamy in some forms but members were not reported to have more than four or five wives and it was a choice you did not have to be a polygamist . Latter Day Saints believe the bible to be the word of god so long as it is translated correctly in proper context they also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God . They believe in Baptism for the dead but only for members who have died in close relative to another member and has also taken seriously both there faith and studies for the religion