Sethbag wrote:I'm just approaching the question from the point of view of the LDS church as a pseudo-organism, which has evolved in ways that maximize survival. Other churches have evolved their own responses to the same stimulus. In Islam, the penalty for apostasy is death. With Jehovah's Witnesses, the penalty is never being able to speak with your family and friends again, ie: complete ostracism. With Scientologists, you're labeled a "suppressive person" and become "fair game". These responses are all scabs, forming over the wound caused by the apostasy, in order to protect the organism from further damage through infection through this wound.
Don't get me wrong; I totally agree with everything you said. All I'm getting at is that for a church the purports to be the church of god, it doesn't really act or treat people in the same manner that they attribute to their god as a matter of church policy.
It's just a fun irony.
God belief is for people who don't want to live life on the universe's terms.
Yes it is, and it applies to them all, because they all claim to be the true church, whether of God, Allah, or Xenu.
My primary point is that there's really no reason why the LDS church would want to stop its members from thinking badly of apostates, and considering them discredited and not to be listened to or believed. There's a reason why these behaviors exist in the first place, and that's to defend the church, like a scab protects an open wound. Asking the church to change this is like asking an organism to go against one of its evolutionary prime directives.
Mormonism ceased being a compelling topic for me when I finally came to terms with its transformation from a personality cult into a combination of a real estate company, a SuperPac, and Westboro Baptist Church. - Kishkumen
My primary point is that there's really no reason why the LDS church would want to stop its members from thinking badly of apostates, and considering them discredited and not to be listened to or believed. There's a reason why these behaviors exist in the first place, and that's to defend the church, like a scab protects an open wound. Asking the church to change this is like asking an organism to go against one of its evolutionary prime directives.
I agree with you. This is why the animus between believer and exbeliever has existed since before the church was even formally organized.
We hate to seem like we don’t trust every nut with a story, but there’s evidence we can point to, and dance while shouting taunting phrases.