What is an anti-Mormon?
Posted: Sat Jun 02, 2018 8:32 pm
I have been dealing with this issue for years.
Some Mormons think that everybody who isn't for Mormonism is against it...the Matthew 12:30 approach.
I'm not going to talk about false dichotomies here....well, not much....
But I can see how they might think so, after dealing with internet forums. ;)
I'll admit that I AM tired of those who call us "Satanists," "Baby killers" "brain-washed," getting all upset because we might refer to them as 'anti-Mormon."
As for me, I divide non-Mormons into categories:
non-Mormons...everybody who isn't a Mormon, except of course the joke is that everybody IS a Mormon of some type: non-Mormon, anti-Mormon, prospective Mormon, ex-Mormon....never mind.
non-Mormons are those who are not members of one of the several Mormon groups. this group comprises most of the population of the world, who have, by and large, absolutely no interest in or knowledge of Mormonism. They don't care, either, most of 'em.
friends of/at least not enemies of Mormonism: folks who know Mormons as neighbors and like 'em OK, but don't really want to get into religious stuff. These are they who are polite when they close the door on missionaries and then go back to eating lunch.
critics: those who are interested in Mormonism and have honest disagreements with doctrine and/or policies, and who like to discuss, even argue, with Mormons about those things in a civil manner. No insults. No personal bashing. They have, sometimes very strong disagreements and can express them strongly, but they don't cross that "you are an idiot" line and don't think that their goal is to destroy Mormonism no matter what.
anti-Mormons: these are the folks who think that the ends justify the means; who, as Ed Decker supposedly remarked, think that 'anything goes when dealing with the devil Mormon church"...or words to that effect. These are they who deliberately misrepresent our beliefs, take them out of context for shock value (Jesus and Satan are BROTHERS! GASP), and outright lie in order to achieve their goal...that of destroying Mormonism. They are verbally abusive, insulting...and utterly predictable if one has spoken to them for any length of time. These are also the folks who get the most upset when someone CALLS them 'anti-Mormons."
......................then there are the extreme anti-Mormons. I had to split the group, because most simple anti-Mormons only throw words.
Extreme anti-Mormons throw rocks. One woman has threatened to have me hauled out of her church in handcuffs if I so much as showed up to her service, loves to tell about how her neighbor set her dogs on the missionaries for daring to tell her the the Bible wasn't inerrant, threatened to set HER dog on me, and told me that if I were stupid enough to walk down a public street that had a store front church meeting going on, then it was entirely my fault if those in the meeting ran out and threw rocks at me. What in the WORLD was I doing 'flaunting' myself (yeah, those missionary badges are really ostentatious, aren't they?) in a place where there might be people who didn't like Mormons?
She is also fond of feeding people she doesn't like to alligators.
SHE is an extreme anti-Mormon. She's also highly amusing in her incredible seriousness, but that's beside the point.
So....on internet forums I seem to run into...mostly...anti Mormons with a few critics (I love the critics) and quite a few extreme anti Mormons.
How close do you think I am in this analysis?
Some Mormons think that everybody who isn't for Mormonism is against it...the Matthew 12:30 approach.
I'm not going to talk about false dichotomies here....well, not much....
But I can see how they might think so, after dealing with internet forums. ;)
I'll admit that I AM tired of those who call us "Satanists," "Baby killers" "brain-washed," getting all upset because we might refer to them as 'anti-Mormon."
As for me, I divide non-Mormons into categories:
non-Mormons...everybody who isn't a Mormon, except of course the joke is that everybody IS a Mormon of some type: non-Mormon, anti-Mormon, prospective Mormon, ex-Mormon....never mind.
non-Mormons are those who are not members of one of the several Mormon groups. this group comprises most of the population of the world, who have, by and large, absolutely no interest in or knowledge of Mormonism. They don't care, either, most of 'em.
friends of/at least not enemies of Mormonism: folks who know Mormons as neighbors and like 'em OK, but don't really want to get into religious stuff. These are they who are polite when they close the door on missionaries and then go back to eating lunch.
critics: those who are interested in Mormonism and have honest disagreements with doctrine and/or policies, and who like to discuss, even argue, with Mormons about those things in a civil manner. No insults. No personal bashing. They have, sometimes very strong disagreements and can express them strongly, but they don't cross that "you are an idiot" line and don't think that their goal is to destroy Mormonism no matter what.
anti-Mormons: these are the folks who think that the ends justify the means; who, as Ed Decker supposedly remarked, think that 'anything goes when dealing with the devil Mormon church"...or words to that effect. These are they who deliberately misrepresent our beliefs, take them out of context for shock value (Jesus and Satan are BROTHERS! GASP), and outright lie in order to achieve their goal...that of destroying Mormonism. They are verbally abusive, insulting...and utterly predictable if one has spoken to them for any length of time. These are also the folks who get the most upset when someone CALLS them 'anti-Mormons."
......................then there are the extreme anti-Mormons. I had to split the group, because most simple anti-Mormons only throw words.
Extreme anti-Mormons throw rocks. One woman has threatened to have me hauled out of her church in handcuffs if I so much as showed up to her service, loves to tell about how her neighbor set her dogs on the missionaries for daring to tell her the the Bible wasn't inerrant, threatened to set HER dog on me, and told me that if I were stupid enough to walk down a public street that had a store front church meeting going on, then it was entirely my fault if those in the meeting ran out and threw rocks at me. What in the WORLD was I doing 'flaunting' myself (yeah, those missionary badges are really ostentatious, aren't they?) in a place where there might be people who didn't like Mormons?
She is also fond of feeding people she doesn't like to alligators.
SHE is an extreme anti-Mormon. She's also highly amusing in her incredible seriousness, but that's beside the point.
So....on internet forums I seem to run into...mostly...anti Mormons with a few critics (I love the critics) and quite a few extreme anti Mormons.
How close do you think I am in this analysis?