Veiled Threats From A Mormon
Cult Members Always Think They Know ALL The Answers!
According to a reader, I have a vendetta against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, more commonly known as the Mormons. Not only was I so accused, but as with all members of any self-righteous cult in the world, a veiled threat was also thrown my way. This all-inclusive you're either with us or against us was part of the reason I left the Mormon church in the first place. Let me explain.
Let me first say that we all have the right to think and write what we wish. Another reason I left was that it was not possible to do so as a Mormon. As I now see, it's apparently not even possible when I no longer identify as a Mormon!
My upset reader's closing statement concluded, "I hope you'll figure out someday that you're [sic] vendetta against the [the following part of the sentence was, for some reason of emphasis, I'm guessing, in bold and green letters?] Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is going to give you much sorrow in the not so distant future.
As the Mormon church is a massive scam and is no more real than a Disney cartoon, but without the lovely cheery song and dances, a veiled threat from Mickey mouse doesn't concern me at all.
So what is his problem? He doesn't like the use of the words CULT and MORMON. He could have just said he didn't like them. But no, he needed to write an epistle with multiple links to point out how right he is and how wrong we all are. Yes, I know, typical cult behavior. Oops, sorry, bad word.
He also feels that the Mormon church is, according to him, the 4th fastest growing religion in the USA and deserves some respect. Well, at the end of 2021, a national US survey reported the fastest growing ‘religion’ by far . . . was, in fact, . . . atheism! Well, isn't that a bummer?
“A Pew Research Center poll published Tuesday indicates that the number of people in the U.S. who describe themselves as religiously unaffiliated increased by 6 points in the last five years and 10 points in the last decade.
When asked about their religious identity, 29 percent of respondents, or about 3 in 10 U.S. adults, said they had “none,” meaning they were atheists, agnostics or “nothing in particular,” according to the Pew Research Center survey.
“If the unaffiliated were a religion, they’d be the largest religious group in the United States,” Elizabeth Drescher, an adjunct professor at Santa Clara University, told The Associated Press.” (BY MONIQUE BEALS — 12/14/21)
And as for the 4th fastest-growing religion in the USA, the Mormon church itself disagrees with my reader. The Mormons are experiencing a nose dive, which has been the case for over 20 years. There is a reason why many local church buildings are being sold off, yes, you guessed it, diminishing membership and attendance. Every honest Mormon knows that only a third of their membership attends church; you don’t have to be the Ward Membership Clerk to know that. And so the actual number is 2,250,000, sorta faithful members, not the paper version of 6,800,000 in the US.
As Jana Riess noted on November 23, 2021, “On the face of it, moving from roughly 1.8% of the population to roughly 1.3% doesn’t sound like a huge decline. That’s not great news, even if it is entirely predictable based on what’s happening with other Christian religions these days.”
Anyway, let me conclude with what was my reader's main point. He doesn't like the word Mormon, and according to him, it was pointed out over thirty years ago that the Mormon church should not be called the Mormon church. It is now deemed offensive. (Although no more offensive than I often heard in Priesthood lessons, such as derogatory terms used for Muslims and those of the Islamic faith). But let's move on.
The strange thing is that the Mormon church used the word Mormon until 2019, and I have to say, in the 35 years as a member, we were all proud of it.
The famous choir, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and was well-known worldwide.
The Mormon church web page was Mormon.org.
And the recent advertising campaign. I’m a Mormon was an advertising and outreach campaign by the Mormon church from 2010 to 2018 that aimed to combat stereotypes and misconceptions about the church by featuring short profiles from church members (also known as Mormons). Although the word Mormon has been used for over 180 years by the Mormon church itself, in 2018/19, the Mormon Prophet Russell M. Nelson decided it should be changed and noted it was a win for Satan if any church member used it. Yes, I know, cult behavior. Oops, bad word.
Ironically my reader's own book title was Answering Challenging Mormon Questions!
If you are not a member or ex-member of the Mormon church, you may not be aware of this gem. The missionary program and the central belief of the church are that everybody, I mean everyone, in the whole world is wrong in their beliefs and, therefore, will not achieve the goal of being with ‘God’ after they die. So from a world population of 8 billion people and from the 117 billion people who ever lived, only a few million Mormons will make it. The Mormons have no issue telling anyone who will listen that they are wrong, yet, …….. we are NOT allowed to do likewise. If it weren’t so sad, it would be hilarious.
© Stephen G. Arrowsmith 2023
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