Why do they choose to live under a rock?

Question

Recently my family (as well as myself) have looked into the history of the LDS church. They have all been LDS there entire lives. My Mothers Dad was a bishop only a few years ago. What they have found, as well as thousands of others, proves the relegion to be a hoax.

Since their discovery, many family members are upset. My parents have tried to talk to them about why they are leaving and what they have found, but no one will even hear it. They just assume we have sinned or were offended.

Why is that when something has been proven to be false, people will refuse to even listen to what was found? Why would they choose to live under a rock and shelter themselves from truth? If you believe something so strongly, shouldn't you have ALL the facts and not disregard very important facts?

The proof found is obvious lies in the book of mormon. Certain animals, grains, and metals were not in America and the supposed time that the book of mormon was written.

Then entire Book of Abraham was proven wrong as well. Joseph Smith received scrolls from Egypt and "translated" them, making the Book of Abraham. Back then, people could not translate hieroglyphics.
Now we can. They translated his scrolls, he didn't translate any of it.

As well, the Book or Mormon contridicts itself many times. It contridicts the bible even more.

These facts are not totally hidden from the relegion, but no one considered the fact that what they were reading was either not possible, a lie, and condriticted somewhere else in the book.

I supsect a mormon believer giving the majority of these great answers a thumb down!

For those of you who are wanting more facts. Go grab your BOM. It's right in front of you.


http://www.utlm.org/onlineresources/bibleandbomcontradictions.htm

http://www.irr.org/mit/bombible.html

http://www.utlm.org/onlineresources/contradictionsinldsscriptures.htm

http://www.bible.ca/mor-contradictions.htm


And no, it's not Anti-Mormon. This is what you are told so you will avoid it.

Doc, do you often stalk people? Wow.

I'm so glad you could pull up so much information about myself, and make so many assumptions about myself based on a few comments on Yahoo! Answers. Good for you.

My parents leaving has NOTHING to do with my boyfriend. They have left due to false doctrine.

Answer 1

I agree totally with you. I did some research on this religion and was surprised at the many false teachings i.e their view on the scriptures, life and death, marriage, concept of the Father and Son.....

I also just read an article in where the bishops (as you mentioned your grandfather was) and other church officials who spend much of their time in counseling are acutely aware that ‘all is not well in Zion,’” wrote Mormon Church historian Leonard Arrington.

In Utah, for example, where the Mormon Church claims 70 percent membership, government records show that the divorce rate is higher than the national average, and 7 out of 10 teenage mothers conceived their first baby out of wedlock. All the religious and social programs of the church have brought little, if any, real advantage to its members. On the contrary, the demands in time, effort and finances that such programs place upon its members only add to their frustration, disappointment and depression. As a result, the suicide rate of both adults and teenagers in Utah is also above the national average, and consumption of tranquilizers and pep pills, among other drugs, by Mormons far exceeds that by the population at large.

You should not be made to feel as if you are doing someone wrong by finding out for yourself the facts. Even a person in court has the right to have all the facts established. And when it's as something as important as religion, you are doing exactly what Acts 17:11 says, ..."carefully examining the Scriptures daily as to whether these things were so. "

Just because someone else wants to bury their head in the sand doesn't mean you have to.

Answer 2

There has not been a single thing that has "proved" the book of Mormon false or true for that matter. (Nor the Bible for that matter).

You need to talk in terms of supporting evidence and non-supporting evidence. If Joseph Smith would have "written" it at the time using contemporary knowledge alone. Had he used only contemporary knowledge, it would have been more popular at the time, however as time went by the "contemporary knowledge" would change and he would be proved wrong. The opposite has happened. As time has gone by, there have been more and more things that have come to act as supporting evidence for the Book of Mormon.

He was mocked for including horses in the Book of Mormon....until horse skeletal remains were found dating to Book of Mormon times. He included elaborate ancient poetry called chiasmu's that he 1. had no knowledge of and 2. never mentioned personally. They were found within the text in recent decades and in perfect form.

I could go on. There are many examples of this. However, this is not where the problem lies.

The problem is that you're seeking spiritual truth in textbooks and in history (accurate or otherwise) rather than from God.

Open up a dialog and relationship with God and ask him if the LDS prophet is indeed his prophet. Ask him if the Book of Mormon was written by Joseph Smith or translated by him? Ask him if the prophets of the Book of Mormon really lived and were prophets or if they're just fictitious characters.

There's a difference between what we believe to be true (as mortals and scientists) and what we KNOW to be true. We don't always know the difference. Often we think we know something only to learn that we were wrong. This happens on micro and macro scales.

The problem is that we never know what we don't know. Even though you can walk the streets of Jerusalem today, it doesn't prove that Christ walked on water or healed the sick. Those are matters that must be learned of by and through faith and not evidences or proof.

In a nutshell, you have not "proved" Mormonism false. You have found some things that look strange to you and you're labeling them incorrectly.

My guess is that you listen to them about as much as they listen to you when it comes to listening to thier perspective.

Answer 3

Dear Miss Melissa,

First, let me say that I am sorry for your depression. I am sure it is hard when someone you love cheats on you. Do you suppose your parents would still love him so much if they knew he had cheated on you? Just out of curiosity, how do you reconcile your belief that cheating is wrong, yet “In the sense that you are having a very intimate moment with something you love and care about it, how could it be wrong.”

Two years ago, when you were just 18 and he was 23, you kept your dating of him a secret for a time, because he was not a Mormon. You also kept secret from your parents that you no longer believed in the Church. When did YOU first decide the Church wasn’t true? On what basis did you make that conclusion? And when did you first have sex? I think there is good reason to believe you have sinned.

A number of Mormons, too many in fact, fall away from the Church at the age of 12 or so. Is it any wonder that their understanding of Church teachings is only at the level of a Primary aged child? The supposed contradictions between the Book of Mormon and the Bible, and with other LDS scriptures, that you and your references point out, can all be answered. I read all the references you gave, and there was nothing new to me in them. I myself have answered many of these questions in various forums. Time and time again I’ve listened to what they think they have found. There is an answer for each question, each supposed discrepancy or contradiction. Yet many of the doubters will not seek the answers, but prefer, as you put it, to live under a rock. Yes, it appears to me that it is the non-believers that wish to shelter themselves from truth. Why do you wish to not have ALL the facts? It has been my experience that people like you will not even listen to the answers of questions you pose, unless those answers support what you want to believe just now.

I think you are a good person, Melissa. I think you have a good heart. I’d just like you to know that some of us have examined all the facts, questions, and objections that non-Mormons have, and we think we have the answers. Some of the quotations your references talk about have taken many things out of context, or rely on peculiar interpretations of the Bible not shared by Christians in general. In some cases certain facts have been skillfully laid before you in a way to deliberate mislead you.

And the Mormon Church I have known all my life does not teach us that we shouldn’t talk to those who have been disfellowshipped. We see that you haven’t found that to be the case here on Yahoo!Answers. Sounds like your family did cause a ruckus trying to convince other members of the Church that the Church was false.

You can’t convince me to follow you in your unbelief. I know too much.

Doc

P.S. It was your cheating boyfriend, the older person you trusted and looked up to, who with his winning personality won over your parents, who lead them to believe Mormonism was a hoax, wasn't it? Showed them "the history of the LDS church." Taught them, falsely, that there were inconsistencies in the scriptures. Why do you trust this person?

It isn't slander when it is just what a person has already admitted to on Yahoo!Answers

Answer 4

I have seen this information before, and yes, I am sorry to inform you as you have so obviously bought into it - it does come from anti-mormon sources. The Tanners are based in SLC and have been actively anti-mormon for many years. I knew Jerald before his death - years ago. They are good people who believe what they do - irregardless of that, I do disagree with them.

These sights do not take things out of context of print, but they do often take things out of context of spirit.....and they seldom leave any room for any mistakes to be made by anyone. A fault that all humans have by nature is the art of mistake making. Prophets are no exception.

I am sorry you and your family have lost your faith, but I have to agree with answerer 6 - if you are willing to disregard one religion based on the contradictions you have sighted, you should in all fairness apply the same scrutiny to the bible and any other teachings you consider. You will find that they are all frought with inconsistency and points that you can revolt on. Consider this - when you are looking for fault - it will always be easy to find some.

Good luck and God bless.

Oh, and about the whole 'if you aren't mormon you just can't live in utah' crap - that's just what it is. Crap.

Answer 5

You probably happened on information that is not as factual as you assume, Information that was written by Anti-Mormon Scholars. Maybe not. You claim to have proof but you don't have any documentation of it. I read a lot of so called "proof" on here all the time that I know is blatently incorrect. Like when they say what happens in the temple that I know for a fact does not- because I go a lot.

They most likely don't want to talk to you about it because you are probably trying to argue. Most members will engage in a discussion with others, as long as the discussion is not argumentative or contentious in nature. Maybe you need to change your method, they may listen to you but not agree and that is their right.

So I am just wondering- Did you start this quest after you stopped going to church and reading your scriptures and saying your prayers? Or were you doing all of that when you started this quest? Did you ask the Lord to guide you in your quest?

If you look hard enough you may even find so called evidence that the world was created by an explosion (which makes entirely no sense).

Answer 6

You are experiencing the typical response of mormons when people leave their church. All of my family was slandered when we left the Mormon church. People my parents thought were friends stopped talking to them.

If you live in Utah the reprecussions will be even greater. If your parents are employed by a Mormon, they will lose their job soon. If you rent a home from a mormon your lease will not be renewed.

I suggest you contact Concerned Christians for more information.

http://www.concernedchristians.org/

I also suggest you report doc for slander.

Answer 7

I work for someone who is a Mormon. He is one of the nicest people I have ever met. His very extended family is Mormon. Almost everyone he knows is Mormon. He is a bishop in the church and president of a Mormon professional group.

I think he has doubts about Mormonism. And I think one of the things that has a solid hold on him is....almost everyone he knows, and that counts the dozens and dozens of family members, would be very upset if he were to leave the Mormon church. That is alot of peer pressure.

Needless to say, I am praying that God will enable him to find the true Jesus Christ, follow the bible only, and stand in the midst of darkness as a light.

Answer 8

How do you know that the "history" you discovered proves to be right? How do you know that your church members & friends now believe wrong? It's called a preference... each one of us is allowed to believe or have ideas about religion or anything else as we see fit. Who are you or who is anyone else to push your new views onto someone else? What makes what you say correct, a book? Someone had to write the book! Do not ask someone to change just because you did. All you can do is give your knowledge & "ideas" then back off! You can take the horse to water, but you cannot make him drink it!

Answer 9

One thing I have learned is that each person has the ability to see just what they want to see. Your extended family will pray for you and feel sorry for you and those emotions are just as real as your conviction that you and your immediate family are right.
Don't worry about convincing them, just live your life in a positive constructive way and they will eventually calm down, but they will never give up trying to reach out to you. have patience with them, they believe just what you did not so long ago. Good Luck brave soul!!!

Answer 10

I see no real truth in any religion, only "hoaxes" that people buy into because they are scared of the afterlife. I think people are so brainwashed from what they were raised to believe that they don't even question why they believe it, it just is. You would have trouble convincing anyone from any religion that what they believe is a hoax even if you had proof. That is the definition of belief:the conviction that something is true or exists without question.