Author Topic: So my brother converted.......  (Read 7492 times)

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Offline Nightangel8212

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Re: So my brother converted.......
« Reply #15 on: November 13, 2015, 08:46:31 am »
*Reads the latest responses and blinks slowly*

Um... I think I better talk to my dad... just so I can warn him to keep an eye on some of Maurice's behavior. Between the polygamy, the fucking weird origins, the cult-like behavior of asking members to distance themselves from non-believing members of the family... yeah, I'm starting to get a little concerned. I'm just hoping that his church isn't fundy... He doesn't seem bad so far, but then again, he was also once a member of a church that believed in laying hands on people to cure them of illnesses. I love my brother (well, as much as a sister can love a brother who's got a tendency to be a sanctimonious prick to her), but he's the kind of person who's easily suckered into shit like this, and it wouldn't surprise me if things got bad fast...

Offline guizonde

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Re: So my brother converted.......
« Reply #16 on: November 13, 2015, 08:58:53 am »
*Reads the latest responses and blinks slowly*

Um... I think I better talk to my dad... just so I can warn him to keep an eye on some of Maurice's behavior. Between the polygamy, the fucking weird origins, the cult-like behavior of asking members to distance themselves from non-believing members of the family... yeah, I'm starting to get a little concerned. I'm just hoping that his church isn't fundy... He doesn't seem bad so far, but then again, he was also once a member of a church that believed in laying hands on people to cure them of illnesses. I love my brother (well, as much as a sister can love a brother who's got a tendency to be a sanctimonious prick to her), but he's the kind of person who's easily suckered into shit like this, and it wouldn't surprise me if things got bad fast...

on the flipside, i'm friends with patrick f. bagley's son. he grew up in utah. he said that mormons are pretty trusting overall, and have got an altruist streak similar to quakers when they aren't fundy. i trust the guy's word for it. he's got that "won't tell a lie" vibe common to utah archetypal american old-school boys, too. my dad (thoroughbred yorkshireman) said that salt lake city was the only place on earth he saw shops living using the honor system: no cameras, no shopkeep, just a cash register and a word asking you to pay for what you take.
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Offline RavynousHunter

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Re: So my brother converted.......
« Reply #17 on: November 13, 2015, 09:36:53 am »
...weird posthumous conversion rituals.

Yeah, I think they still talk about Mormons who died in the Holocaust because they posthumously converted many of the dead... Israel has told them to stop it several times but they still do it because they think that by claiming that famous person being "posthumously" converted into Mormonism will mean that they can brag about them. I've told this before but at some point Mormons came to Finland and took microfilm images of the Church records so that they could be used for these posthumous conversions and afterwards the microfilms were donated to the Church. People who study their ancestry in Finland are grateful for that last bit since it meant that we got free copies of historical documents at a time when no digital copies existed.

that's like ten kinds of immoral, right there.... wonder why it didn't make a bigger splash.

Dunno how it is across the pond in France, but over here, Mormons are...kinda universally hated.  Like, moreso than Witnesses.  At least Witnesses don't do that kinda crazy ass shit, so that does earn them a few points in the public's eye.
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Offline guizonde

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Re: So my brother converted.......
« Reply #18 on: November 13, 2015, 09:47:44 am »
...weird posthumous conversion rituals.

Yeah, I think they still talk about Mormons who died in the Holocaust because they posthumously converted many of the dead... Israel has told them to stop it several times but they still do it because they think that by claiming that famous person being "posthumously" converted into Mormonism will mean that they can brag about them. I've told this before but at some point Mormons came to Finland and took microfilm images of the Church records so that they could be used for these posthumous conversions and afterwards the microfilms were donated to the Church. People who study their ancestry in Finland are grateful for that last bit since it meant that we got free copies of historical documents at a time when no digital copies existed.

that's like ten kinds of immoral, right there.... wonder why it didn't make a bigger splash.

Dunno how it is across the pond in France, but over here, Mormons are...kinda universally hated.  Like, moreso than Witnesses.  At least Witnesses don't do that kinda crazy ass shit, so that does earn them a few points in the public's eye.

uh, there's like, few mormons in france.... can't find any numbers, but since it's a really american church, most mormons stick to the usa. then again, we've got church of christ scientist (or whatever it's called), but it's more footnote worthy than a real presence, although in some of the bigger cities i hear they go door-to-door.
in france, the biggest target is jw's, hands down. no blood transfusions, no christmas, no going inside churches (den of the devil, and all that), and their "holier than thou" attitude just cement that reputation.
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Offline Stormwarden

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Re: So my brother converted.......
« Reply #19 on: November 13, 2015, 02:00:13 pm »
Ex-LDS, so I can vouch for most of what has already been said.

The LDS is big on foreign missions, so they have missionaries all over the world. You see, every male member eventually joins the priesthood in order to go on these missions. By the by, they are NOT allowed to watch TV during this time, nor listen to any sort of media. I got out before I had to deal with any of that crap, though.

And between the "posthumous" conversions and their treatment of LGBT people, the LDS can go play chicken with a semi.

I hope your brother gets out, sooner than later, man. I really do. I wouldn't wish it on anyone.


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Offline Damen

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Re: So my brother converted.......
« Reply #20 on: November 13, 2015, 02:15:15 pm »
I think the biggest ethical and moral objection I have to Mormons is the practice of posthumous conversion. That just hits me as wrong on such a visceral level that it is hard to even articulate.
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Offline Ironchew

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Re: So my brother converted.......
« Reply #21 on: November 13, 2015, 03:56:28 pm »
Ahh, the minority religions. Y'know, the ones where everyone feels comfortable pointing out their crazy shit, but they'd never say a peep about the crazy shit the RCC is up to because they're culturally dominant.

So... yeah, just more curious than anything... what makes Mormons different?

I highly recommend listening to the Irreligiosophy podcast for, among other things, a gleefully irreverent look into Mormonism from the perspective of an ex-FLDS host. (He's an atheist, so he's not going to exaggerate the badness of the LDS church to shill for another Christian denomination.) Of the episodes specifically dealing with Mormonism, I recommend "LDS Advice to Young Men", their summary of the Proposition 8 court battle, Parts 1 and 2 of their "Mormon Fundamentalism" series, and their take on Glenn Beck's "An Unlikely Mormon".
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Offline Sigmaleph

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Re: So my brother converted.......
« Reply #22 on: November 13, 2015, 04:13:54 pm »
Ahh, the minority religions. Y'know, the ones where everyone feels comfortable pointing out their crazy shit, but they'd never say a peep about the crazy shit the RCC is up to because they're culturally dominant.

Fuck the Roman Catholic Church. There, happy?

*Reads the latest responses and blinks slowly*

Um... I think I better talk to my dad... just so I can warn him to keep an eye on some of Maurice's behavior. Between the polygamy, the fucking weird origins, the cult-like behavior of asking members to distance themselves from non-believing members of the family... yeah, I'm starting to get a little concerned. I'm just hoping that his church isn't fundy... He doesn't seem bad so far, but then again, he was also once a member of a church that believed in laying hands on people to cure them of illnesses. I love my brother (well, as much as a sister can love a brother who's got a tendency to be a sanctimonious prick to her), but he's the kind of person who's easily suckered into shit like this, and it wouldn't surprise me if things got bad fast...

To be fair, the polygamy is not a thing anymore in the main Mormon church, unlike offshoots like the FLDS.

...actually, just in case, check which kind of Mormon your brother became? The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the main one, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the polygamous one.
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Offline Nightangel8212

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Re: So my brother converted.......
« Reply #23 on: November 13, 2015, 08:39:18 pm »
Well.... I had an interesting day... talked to my father about my brother's conversion and told him some of what I'd learned. He pretty much shrugged it off and said that the only thing he's seen them doing are running around and helping people who need to move, or who need errands run, and they go to church meetings and things like that. He said so far it's looking like it's just a church full of really nice, generous people... so it's looking like their moderates, which is good.

But then my father told me something that left me in a bit of a state of shock....

He told me that he doesn't know what is out there (in regards to God), only that he knows there is SOMETHING greater than all of us out there that he can't put a name to. It... just sort of shocked the hell out of me to hear my dad say something other than "There is only God" or something along those lines.

Anyway, roomie had a bad day today, but I'll probably start another thread in Confidential Confessions for that one...

Offline Random Gal

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Re: So my brother converted.......
« Reply #24 on: November 13, 2015, 09:06:06 pm »
Ahh, the minority religions. Y'know, the ones where everyone feels comfortable pointing out their crazy shit, but they'd never say a peep about the crazy shit the RCC is up to because they're culturally dominant.

Oh? I've never been a fan of the Catholic Church, and even in my fundie days I was still very much a Protestant. I'll gladly call them out on their bullshit whenever it's necessary.

Notably, their idea of "the only right interpretation of God is the one held by the Church, and everybody who disagrees is going to Hell," the way they make their followers dependent on them and hold them emotionally hostage by requiring they confess everything they've done that doesn't agree with their rules, all the violence committed by them during the Crusades and the Inquisition, forcing native populations to conform to their rules, and the recent wave of child molestation scandals which the Church has systematically covered up.

There, I think that covers most of it.

Back on topic, have you ever wondered why Mormons have such an interest in genealogy? It's all about finding more names to add to their "retroactive Mormon" list. Once they figure out the names of your ancestors for you, they're going to go convert them.
« Last Edit: November 13, 2015, 09:10:19 pm by Captain Random »

Offline guizonde

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Re: So my brother converted.......
« Reply #25 on: November 13, 2015, 09:19:15 pm »
Back on topic, have you ever wondered why Mormons have such an interest in genealogy? It's all about finding more names to add to their "retroactive Mormon" list. Once they figure out the names of your ancestors for you, they're going to go convert them.

those bastards better leave my ancestry alone. i've got catholics, anglicans, a couple gallicans, and antitheists in my family. and that's only the ones i personnally know. none of whom would take it kindly to be converted to a heretical religion.

(yes, even for the antitheists. they've got their credo that religion is evil. ergo, getting converting becomes heretical to their tenets... i'm overthinking this, aren't i?)
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Offline Ironchew

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Re: So my brother converted.......
« Reply #26 on: November 13, 2015, 09:30:22 pm »
Back on topic, have you ever wondered why Mormons have such an interest in genealogy? It's all about finding more names to add to their "retroactive Mormon" list. Once they figure out the names of your ancestors for you, they're going to go convert them.

those bastards better leave my ancestry alone. i've got catholics, anglicans, a couple gallicans, and antitheists in my family. and that's only the ones i personnally know. none of whom would take it kindly to be converted to a heretical religion.

(yes, even for the antitheists. they've got their credo that religion is evil. ergo, getting converting becomes heretical to their tenets... i'm overthinking this, aren't i?)

Alternatively, they're dead so they don't care.

Once the Mormons figure out how to resurrect them, that'll get their attention.
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