Date: Tue,  3 Nov 92 12:10:03 MST
Newsgroups: talk.religion.misc
From: $stephan@sasb (Stephan Fassmann, Software)
Subject: Re: Logical (?) opposition to Mormonsim.
Organization: BYU

In article <1992Nov1.201218.60292@cc.usu.edu> ronb@cc.usu.edu writes:
>From: ronb@cc.usu.edu
>Subject: Logical (?) opposition to Mormonsim.
>Date: 1 Nov 92 20:12:18 MDT
>	i may be jumping into this little arguement a few days late, but here
>goes:
>	I'm currently a sophomore in college.  To be more precise, at Utah
>State University in Logan, Utah.  I came here from the Seattle area in
>Washington state, and I have developed a serious loathing of the mormon church.
>Not that I don't have a problem of some sort with religion in general, but
>there are too many things about the mormon church that just grate on my nerves:

Well, I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints so 
maybe I can share my opinions about this. Since I am from New York and 
perhaps have had some insight into this.

>	One:  The mormons are raised to the belief that to be married in the
>temple is the only 'method' of marrige that will allow the married couple to be
>together for eternity.  My problem with this is that I've seen more cases than
>I care to count where a perfectly happy couple breaks up over 'religious
>differences', where in fact there is no conflict at all.  Neither one has any
>problem with the other's beliefs, but the mormon half breaks off the
>relationship simply because they wouldn't be able to get thier temple marrige. 

This is a logical thing for the LDS half to do. You should know that in the 
CoJCoLDS is a Very Important Thing(tm) to be married in the temple. It is a 
vital part of our exaltaion, and so it is not something to do without. For 
us it is as important as baptism.

>	Two:  Religion and science are meant to compliment each other.  The
>mormon belief system is very selective in what scientific principles they
>choose to believe.   In the case of evoloution, thier only problem is that
>evoloution is described in terms of millions of years, where the genesis
>version specifically states that the creation took 7 days.
>	I won't go into depth about my beliefs on that matter, but the fact
>that Genesis gives two separate accounts of the creation - one independent of a
>time factor - tells me that the Bible is trying to tell us, right from the
>beginning, that it is to be taken as TRUTH, NOT *FACT*.  In other words, even
>the bible is not infallable, and that it is to be questioned.  That is why god
>gave us the ability to reason.

If memory serves, sometimes it does anyway, the offical Church position on 
the subject is that the earth was created by God, and that the Laws of 
Evolution are valid, but some of the theories are incorrect. In my view we 
just don't know enough to make anything more then general statements about 
the whole thing. 
Several people I know are trying to resolve in their own mind creation vs. 
evolution. Some go totally creation, some totally evolution. Personally it's 
not that important to me, like do the pearly gates role or swing. I have 
more important things to occupy my mind, like being charitable and Christ-
like. Lots of people latch on to an idea and won't let it go at any cost, so 
I don't think this is native only to LDS people. 

>	Three:  If you've ever seen a copy of the book of mormon, it uses
>references ad nauseum - to the old testament, mostly.  If it is indeed the work
>of God and truth (not fact) then it should be able to stand on its own.

Of course it can stand on it's own, but lots of people have asked 
the question "Where in the Bible is this (insert favorite BoM 
doctrine) supported?" Besides since they are both the word of God they 
should say pretty much the same things, and it is convenient to have the 
references, rather then try to memorize both.

>	Four:  I've been in utah, now for a year and a half, and the worst
>thing I've found in the general mormon populace is a lack of tolerance.

I've noticed the same thing, being from New York. The saints in NOT Utah are 
much different from saints IN Utah. This one Utah family moved to NY and had 
a really hard time of it the first few months until they ajusted to the fact 
not everyone holds similiar views of the universe as they do. It was very 
eye opening for them. I think in Utah, generally, there is a certain amount 
of apathy, complacentcy and provincialism. They seem to think Utah 
culture is mormon culture and it isn't and they have a hard time 
figuring that out when it is pointed out to them, I really hate lime jello 
and carrot shavings. Sometimes I think the Church needs another good dose of 
persecution to shake things up. I can't wait to graduate so I can move away 
from Utah. But mormons aren't the only one's who can be intolerate see what 
measure 9 has done to Oregon, or the Black\Hasidim war in New York a couple 
of years ago. 

>	if you skipped this post, you may want to read it.
>	^^^^^^^^^6^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Addmitted this can't really answer all the variations of your comments but 
it was an attempt. 
I hope you read this and maybe understand a little more.
_____________________________________________________________________
|Stephan Fassmann  Internet: $stephan@sasb.byu.edu  GEnie: S.FASSMANN
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|The Random Acts of Kindness will Continue until Morale Deteriorates|
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Newsgroups: talk.religion.misc