The Mormonism Thread

[Thou]

are mormon's protestants?

do you know steve young?

No.

No.

I'm not a mormon, but I kind of know Steve Young ... well I know his next door neighbor. He lives on the same street as Steve Jobs.

You know steve jobs?  wow!

[dbgirl]

OK two questions:
1) What do Mormans have against caffiene?
2) Why do Mormans feel that they have convert everyone to Mormanism? Doesn't it cross your minds that some people are just not going to convert?

[dbgirl]

are mormon's protestants?

do you know steve young?

No.

No.

I'm not a mormon, but I kind of know Steve Young ... well I know his next door neighbor. He lives on the same street as Steve Jobs.

You know steve jobs?  wow!

I don't really know him, but have met his wife and kids. They went to school with my kid. He came to my kids school and made a really adorable video of the children.

[Pirate Pete]

I just discovered this thread, and until now everything that I knew about Mormonism came from "South Park" (no, I am not trying to be rude or make a joke, I am simply stating a fact (not having ever studied different religions).  It is a very interesting and eye-opening thread, which I am tagging for this very reason.

[jakeb1881]

Anyone want to discuss the Book of Abraham, specifically the criticism of it?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Abraham

An interesting find.  I think I had seen most of that before, but there was some new information as well.  Here are a couple of thoughts from my Mormon perspective...

1.  The connection between the Book of Abraham and a couple of the apocryphal books of the Bible (which Joseph Smith may or may not have been familiar with previously) might lend some credibility to its authenticity.

2.  Points 1, 3, and 4 in the "Analysis and Criticism" section ring true to me in a sense.  The reason I say that is that according to eyewitness accounts, much of the Book of Mormon was "translated" without the plates even being open.  I guess in that sense you could argue that the plates from which it was translated weren't even necessary, which would be a fair point.  For anyone interested in learning more about the origins of the Book of Mormon, I would HIGHLY recommend the new biography of Joseph Smith, Rough Stone Rolling.  It was written by Richard Bushman, a Mormon emeritus history professor at Columbia.  I'm about halfway through it now and have been amazed by the depth of the research and at Bushman's objectivity, considering he's a Mormon.  He discusses many aspects of Joseph Smith's life that other Mormon historical writers wouldn't have touched with a ten-foot pole (i.e. Bushman's admission that Joseph and his father were both interested in magic during Joseph's younger days).

[Alamo]

I have a question: does every Mormon go on a 2-year mission?  What is the purpose of that mission; is it proselytizing, or is it more "tentmaking" (making a dwelling amongst a group and letting them come to you)?

Thanks, and a very informative thread.

[Vick]

There is no explicit ban on caffeine.  There is a code of health that was revealed to Joseph Smith.  Among other things, it advises against eating too much meat.  It also advises against drinking "hot drinks."  This has been interpreted to mean tea and coffee.  Most Mormons think that the reason tea and coffee are off limits is because of the stimulants like caffeine.  They have thus taken it a step further and tried to preclude most forms of caffeine, like in soda.  Products like Mountain Dew and Diet Coke, however, are not explicitly prohibited by any leaders or scriptural references.  The choice to not drink them is just the personal interpretation of a few members.  Coffee and tea, however, are explicitly mentioned as drinks that good Mormons should not have.

Every young man is counseled to go on a mission at 19.  Woman can also serve a mission, but it's not expected of them.  The main goal of a missionary is both "tent-making" and proselytizing, though much more emphasis is placed on proselytizing.  Missionaries are expected to actively find new converts. 

The South Park episode, as far as I remember, was was not inaccurate.  I thought it was funny.   

[BAB]

OK two questions:
1) What do Mormans have against caffiene?
2) Why do Mormans feel that they have convert everyone to Mormanism? Doesn't it cross your minds that some people are just not going to convert?

1 There are really two sources of this. One is a revelation the Joseph Smith received instructing the church to abstain from "hot drinks" which has subsequently been interpreted as coffee and tea. Many people have extended that interpretation to include all caffeinated drinks but I don't know of any specific doctrine about that. We also have a general belief in taking care of our bodies and avoiding anything harmful or addictive.

2 There are various reasons we feel it is improtant to share our beliefs, the main one being that we have found what we believe to be truth and we believe it will help others, but the church also teaches respect for people's beliefs. Of course not everyone in the church applies the teaching as well as they should. I hope you haven't had a terrible experience with an overzealous missionary.

[BAB]

Are the facts of the story of Joseph Smith alleged by South Park accurately reflect church doctrine?

I haven't seen the South Park episode. From my experience with anti-Mormon media (and I don't even know if the show took an anti-Mormon position although I suspect it at least poked fun at the church) it was probably based on actual doctrine but presented in a way that makes it look silly. If you would like a brief history of Joseph Smith from the churches perspective go here.

http://mormon.org/learn/0,8672,957-1,00.html

There are several links from this page that will give you a good introduction to Joseph Smith.

[LitDoc]

Well, not exactly.... But really, it's basically close enough. I mean, most Mormons wouldn't really put it all that way, but from a non-Mormon pov it would be pretty easy to put it like that.... Especially if the tone is intended to be somewhat irreverent and iconoclastic -- which is par for the course on "South Park."