From: vbaker@hamp.hampshire.edu
Subject: Re: Even more Mormonism!!!!!!!!
Organization: Hampshire College
Date: Sun, 12 Apr 1992 21:07:10 GMT

In article <1992Apr11.205215.1@acad3.alaska.edu>, fsrla@acad3.alaska.edu writes:
> WHAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO,
> Just a second, I need to catch my breath!!!!!!!!!
> When I first posted asking questions on Mormonism, I was not
> prepared for the amount of anger I  was about to stir up!!!!!
> I was not even thinking about who kept what secrets from whom
> and who wrote what about this person or that......
> Very few people actually answered my post straight forward in 
> language I could understand.  My thanks to those who did and
> those who emailed me.  You, I could understand!!!!!!!
> Now, my questions were simple......well, what I thought was simple.
> I know, for a fact, that Mormonism is NOT based on lies and deciet!!
> Nor is it some white-facist we-will-rule-everbody mentality.  Up here
> there are quite a few black mormons and I'm quite sure they don't walk
> around spouting Amis & Andy lines. 

I assume that you are refering to a statement of mine.  I have been taught,
as a Mormon, that a dark skin is a curse of God, that in the ressurection 
all people will be fair-skinned, and that Jesus was honey-blonde; I have
met only two or three black Mormons in my life.  I think the perception 
that Mormonism is white-supremist is justified, at least from my experiences.

>                                     They don't go around saying all the
> religions other then mormonism is wrong.....  No, it seems to me, up here
> anyway, that those are the Bible Baptists....  OK?

It has been within the past ten years that Mormons were forbidden to refer
to other Christians as `followers of Satan,' and it is fundamental to Mormon
beliefs that all other religions are wrong.  Ask _any_ Mormon if, for instance,
the Methodist church is true.  He or she might hem and hah, but the final
answer will be some brand of `no.'

Let alone non-Christian religions.

> Now, there are at least two people (whom I won't mention) that can actually
> give me straightforward answers.  Could someone else PLEASE answer me
> open and honestly, about Mormonism, their practices, and baptisms.

Mormons believe that Jesus was in fact Christ and was himself punished for
our sins so that we will not have to be.  Mormons believe that God is
incapable of forgiving those who are truly penitent without first strictly
and sorely punishing someone who is innocent and completely uninvolved.

Mormons believe that God has a physical, biological, of flesh-and-blood but
perfected body, is male, is married (possibly polygamous), is both perfectly 
just and perfectly merciful (a contradiction that no one has ever sufficiently 
explained to me), is omniscient and omnipotent, `loves the sinner and hates
the sin,' and `was once as we are now.'

Mormons believe in a Heavenly Mother, God's wife, who is not worshipped or
prayed to at any time or in any way, and who is in fact rarely even mentioned
because something to the effect of `God loves Her so much, and is so careful
of Her, that He doesn't want us to know about Her because we might take Her 
name in vain.'  (This is a direct quote from a lesson taught to fifteen-and-
sixteen-year-old young women.)  She is completely without power, position or 
authority.

Again, it is a common but not universal Mormon belief that the Celestial
Kingdom (heaven) and the Millinium (when Christ rules the earth) will be
polygamous, and hence, God may have more than one wife.  Polygamy is not 
currently practiced by Mormons and has not been for a hundred and fifty 
years.

Mormons believe in four eternal afterlife locations:  the Celestial Kingdom,
the Terrestrial Kingdom, the Telestial Kingdom, and Outer Darkness.  The 
Celestial Kingdom is the best; God lives there, and it is the dream of every
Mormon to go there as well.  There are degrees of glory within this kingdom;
the highest, reserved for couples married for eternity in the temple and 
faithful to all of their covenants, grants Godhood of worlds to the couple 
in question (or more likely, the male in question -- compare God and
Heavenly Mother).  The Terrestrial Kingdom is next; people who are basically
good and keep the law of Moses -- the ten commandments -- end up there.  It
is assumed that all good Christian non-Mormons will go there, along with
many unfaithful Mormons.  Next is the Telestial Kingdom, where go those who
fail to keep the ten commandments -- the murderers, adulturers, false-witness-
bearers, pit-for-neighbor-diggers, Lord's-name-in-vain-takers, and so on;
roughly equivalent to mainstream Christian Hell.  Finally, Outer Darkness is
the place where Satan and his minions live, into which only those people
who have lived Celestially and turned therefrom to do evil are thrust.  Not
a place that most people ever have to worry about.  Also, probably, Satanists
go there, but I don't know if that's official policy or just a widespread
opinion.

Mormons believe in a very real and personal Satan with a number of minions
equal to half of the number of people who ever have, are, and ever will live
on the earth -- i.e. one third of God's spirit children.  Mormons believe that
these devils are here on the earth, and that their goal is our condemnation.
Mormons believe that people -- sorry, I mean men -- who hold the priesthood
may protect against these devils, but in practice this only very rarely
happens.

Mormons believe that sex is only to be practiced by righteously married (male-
female) couples when there is at least a possibility of conception occuring.
Hence, birth-control in any form, including the rythm method, is disallowed,
as well as masturbation, oral sex, anal sex, homosexual sex, or anything else
that doesn't involve the sperm being discharged into the vagina.  I don't 
know whether sex during pregnancy is allowed or not; sex after menopause seems
to be but I don't know the rationale for it.

Mormons believe that abortion is murder and that (with minimal exceptions)
anyone participating in an abortion will go to the Telestial Kingdom with the
rest of the murderers.

Mormons believe that people who do not recieve Mormonism in this life will
be able to in the time between death and the final judgement, but that it is
better to recieve it in this life.

Mormons believe that a person's physical sex has a great deal of bearing over
his or her emotions, reasoning ability, career choices, potential authority
within the church, worth, and so on -- for instance, that women may not hold
the priesthood, should not provide financially for the family, and should be
solely or near-solely responsible for the upbringing of children -- and that 
modes of speech, gesture, and clothing are and should be specific to each sex
-- for instance, that males should not wear `female' clothing, nor makeup, nor
jewelry; however, women may wear `male' clothing, though not to church, and 
go without makeup and jewelry.  (I know, I don't understand it either.)

You may be wondering why I stated these beliefs instead of beliefs more
specifically about the Mormon gospel.  I wanted to include some of their more
political and social beliefs, assuming that you have access to the Articles
of Faith and so on for the strictly religious ones.

> Thank you!                                                 ROG!

Vincent

As always, if you agree, disagree or otherwise feel strongly, I'm glad to 
talk about it.
Newsgroups: talk.religion.misc