Why do people hate something they know nothing about? HATE is a strong word?

Question

I tell people I am Mormon, and they say they hate mormons. I ask why? And they just sit there with a dumb look on their face, like they don't know why. Is it just straight ignorace? Or have their parents screwed them up so they can't think for themselves? OR is it society?

Answer 1

People tend to say they hate things that they dont know anything about because they are scared. They fear it because it is different from how they are and they dont know it, so its scarey to them.

Answer 2

It's always easier to "hate" than take the time to ask questions and make a decision based on knowledge. The dumb look is probably because they are often around other people who say they hate Mormons and they have adopted this as their own so they will fit in. People should just decide whether or not they like the person, nothing else should get in the way of that.

Answer 3

I know in my rural "Christian" community growing up, Mormons were sort of lumped in with Jehovah's Witnesses and got somewhat a bad name due to the proselytizing, where Mormons would go around cold-calling people door-to-door in their good clothes.

I dislike "cold-calling" people when mainstream Christians do it, and I dislike it when any other religion does it. (Heck, I don't even like it when Verizon does it, to sell me a "better" package than Comcast. :) )

Anyway, many Christians feel threatened because Mormons share some beliefs with them but differ in just enough key ways that they feel the Mormon belief system is heretical and taints their view of who Jesus was and his relevance.

Still, they haven't read up on enough of the Mormon doctrine to be able to understand or articulate their position, they just maintain this vague feeling of dread and unease and let it go at that.

I'm not nearly a Mormon scholar of any type, nor did I ever attend a Mormon church. What reading I did do (a number of years back) brought up a lot of issues for me with John Smith's archaelogical and historical details. He seemed to simply be making many claims that could be checked out since the faith is relatively recent (it started in the US) compared to most faiths, and many of his historical claims were proving false.

This, to me, threw doubt on the "new beliefs" he was adding to Christianity.

I will say that, at least from the outside, it seems Mormons have a wonderful sense of community and support for the nuclear family. Whatever the differences in theology, I see some good stuff in how Mormons live and relate to each other, although I have not experienced it first-hand.

Has that been your experience, growing up Mormon?

Answer 4

Sometimes people judge a whole church/ward/religion by one or a few people they know or have heard about. Just know that the religion is perfect even though the people trying to live it aren't. All we can do is try our best! I am Mormon in Utah so I am around more LDS than any other religion...
Keep in mind a certain being knows what the true religion is and he is trying to fight it and deceive others.

Answer 5

There are definitly certain faiths that have a lot of stigma these days simply because people don't understand. My family is Catholic and I get a lot of **** for that from people because of the past doings of the church and not the modern church. Some of my friends are Muslim and some are Baptists and they all get **** for that as well.

Maybe it's because Mormons have always gone against the grain of society. First breaking from the church, then polygamy, and of course abstaining from alcohol, caffeine, and cigarettes, which all go against social norms.

Whatever the case you should take it upon yourself to educate people of your faith, no preaching though.

Answer 6

You are right in one way. Hate is too strong a word. People disagree with your religion. They consider Mormons as a cult. I am not saying it is or isn't, but some of their beliefs are different than what most believe.

Answer 7

Keep in mind that we have had contact with Mormons and to be told flat out that my faith is meaningless and that the only true religion is Mormonism is certainly strong ground for hatred.

No offense, but what gives you the right to declare my faith to be meaningless? I at least have a faith and a belief in a higher deity. I have a burning bush; you have a golden salamander. Fauna beats out flora?

Or was it a cheap sham to have polygamy?

Answer 8

Before one can hate, they must first care. As to Mormons, I don't care about them one way or another. As to Mormonism, I hate it, as I hate all lies and perversions of Christianity.

This I believe; http://homelessheart.com/testimony.htm

As an additional note, that hate is not born of ignorance of Mormonism, but the knowledge of it.

Answer 9

Some people don't mean hate when they use that term. Lots of people will say that about something they don't understand. So don't take it personal. Besides most of the time I bet they are stupid in the first place

Answer 10

Hate and love are flip sides of the same coin. For every person who hates something without a valid reason, there is someone who loves something, yet they could not explain to you why it is that they do. So, in that respect, I do think it is societal. In today's fast paced world, I think rapid snap decisions are encouraged in the name of efficiency. Perhaps, instead, we could all benefit from a little reflection. Many of our decisions certainly could.

Answer 11

If someone hates something, then that means that they care for it in some way or another. Hate is the next closest thing to love because if you hate something, then it means that you care enough to go out of your way to see something bad happen to the thing that you are hating. The opposite of love would be indifference. I would be more offended if someone didn't care than if they hated me because that shows that if they hate, they care - logicly speaking. Don't feel bad because they say they hate you because they unknowingly are saying that they care.