From: jwindley%asylum.utah.edu@cs.utah.edu (Jay Windley)
Subject: Re: MORMONISM ??????
Date: 12 Apr 92 14:30:52 MDT
Organization: University of Utah CS Dept

vbaker@hamp.hampshire.edu writes:
>Before I subject you to my opinions, you should know that I left the 
>Mormon church on moral grounds about ten months ago.  I am likely as
>biased as Jay Windley, but in the opposite direction.

Well, join the club.  I don't profess to be entirely objective, but I
do try to be honest about where my opinions come from.

>I agree with Jay's opening paragraph but would recommend making an
>intelligent judgement based on a heck of a lot more than one viewpoint.

I don't recall suggesting the poster stick to one viewpoint.  I
understood him to mean that he was looking for sources besides the
Book of Mormon which explained the Mormon position.  I assumed it was
obvious that he would know where to go if he wanted another opinion.

>I've never interacted with a missionary who would discuss anything at
>any depth.  They've been ordered not to engage in arguments and told
>that the best way to do this is to avoid disagreement.  They'll nod
>politely and then disregard everything you've just said.

This is true -- the missionaries aren't apologists.  It is their duty
to explain the LDS position, not to defend it.  As such, they focus
their efforts on those who don't necessarily wish to debate, but
simply to understand.

Inasmuch as I considered the original poster's questions to be
requests for information, not requests for justification, I provided
him with a source of information.  If you want a source of
justification, you should probably look elsewhere.

>> One last thing.  This newsgroup is a good place to ask your question,
>> but probably a bad place to get answers.  There are readers and
>> contributors of all faiths in this group, and the discussions vary in
>> quality.  It is not religion at its best.  The picture you get of any
>> religion or of all religions from reading this group will be wrong,
>> and may leave you with the impression that we're always at each
>> other's throats.
>
>Way to cover your butt.  I'm good, but any response that disagrees with
>me is bad . . . .

Well, you've sure proved my point, which was that the participants in
this group seem more interested in discrediting the "opposition" than
in discussing religion calmly.  This group has a real potential for
broadening horizons and promoting religious tolerance, but instead it
has the tendency to do the opposite.

>Mormonism, all told, is a really cool religion if you're into white 
>supremecy, gender-based role-systems, misogyny, scapegoating, a strict
>hierarchy of authority starting with your home-teacher and ending with
>God, spoonfeeding,

etc., etc., etc.,

...meaning that not everyone is guaranteed to like Mormonism.  But if
you want to find out what it's about, a good place to start is to ask
a Mormon.

--------------------------------+---------------------------------------
Jay Windley                     | jwindley@asylum.utah.edu
Department of Computer Science  +---------------------------------------
Univ. of Utah, Salt Lake City   | "I have detailed files."  -- T2
Newsgroups: talk.religion.misc