What is an anti-Mormon?

[_Shulem]

Shulem, are you serious?

(guys, is he serious?)

Remember...I'm new here and fresh from a forum in which people say that sort of thing and very much ARE serious.

So.

Is he serious?

Shulem can certainly speak for himself: I'm totally serious. I want my Goddman money back!

[_Niadna]

It's called Karma.

This is the result of lying about everything and to everyone. This is the result of stealing Masonic rituals. This is the result of screwing 14 year old girls and other men's wives. This is the result of mocking the ancient Egyptian scrolls and blaspheming their gods. This is the result of burning a free press in a fit of rage.



He deserved what he got!

No, I don't go along with that. It's lynch law, not karma. We have too many people defending vigilantism as it is. The murder of the Smiths was used later as justification to murder again in Mountain Meadows. Violence perpetuates violence. I take no satisfaction in his death no matter how low my opinion of him. He was not the first or the last cult leader to die violently. They usually live on as an excuse for more horror as martyrs. And so the lethal loop repeats.

....well, Joseph Smith murder wasn't the only thing going during the MMM, but that it was part of the excuse? Yep. There was also the little problem of Buchanan sending an army of a good percentage (not quite half) of the army against Utah without so much as letting BY know that they were coming or why...I mean, really; BY found out they were coming because a mailman overheard something and decided to pass on the message.

There were a couple of other things, as well.

Not that I am justifying MMM even a little bit. I'm not. However, it was NOT as simple as revenge for the murders of Joseph and Hyrum. If it were JUST that, one would think that there would have been more such incidents and considerably sooner.

Not that it matters, except that the MMM gets used to justify everything done TO the Mormons two decades earlier. (sigh)

[_Niadna]

Perhaps I SHOULD change my avatar?

You should change your avatar. Does it generate a deceptive message about who you are and what you stand for? When a poster uses a picture of the Salt Lake temple as their avatar it is almost universally accepted that they are pro-LDS, especially when defending Mormonism. When a so-called evangelical poster uses a dove it just means more of the same.

Oddly enough, I have never seen an LDS Temple with a burgundy ribbon and a motto for Multiple Myeloma awareness plastered in the window.

And it does NOT generate a deceptive message about who I am and what I stand for. I have multiple myeloma. I'm neck deep in fund-raising/awareness about that. I didn't choose the motto, but I like it. It just doesn't have anything specific to do with my religious beliefs, and it doesn't need to.

However, I CAN, if you insist, go on for hours about how 'Faith, Hope, Love" are appropriate attributes for cancer patients, caregivers and their medical teams. I don't think that's actually appropriate for this particular forum, however.

Avatars represent the person. I see quite a few here that really do not have anything to do with Mormonism, including, forgive me, yours.

So I think I will not take advice from you. No offense or anything, but........nah.

[_Shulem]

Oddly enough, I have never seen an LDS Temple with a burgundy ribbon and a motto for Multiple Myeloma awareness plastered in the window.

And it does NOT generate a deceptive message about who I am and what I stand for. I have multiple myeloma. I'm neck deep in fund-raising/awareness about that. I didn't choose the motto, but I like it. It just doesn't have anything specific to do with my religious beliefs, and it doesn't need to.

However, I CAN, if you insist, go on for hours about how 'Faith, Hope, Love" are appropriate attributes for cancer patients, caregivers and their medical teams. I don't think that's actually appropriate for this particular forum, however.

Avatars represent the person. I see quite a few here that really do not have anything to do with Mormonism, including, forgive me, yours.

So I think I will not take advice from you. No offense or anything, but........nah.

Then don't take my advice and do whatever you want. I really don't care. But, know this, when someone sees your avatar they are going to connect those words as part of your message just like I did.

Faith? Faith in what? Jesus? Screw Jesus and the donkey he rode in on.

You silly girl.

[_Niadna]

Oddly enough, I have never seen an LDS Temple with a burgundy ribbon and a motto for Multiple Myeloma awareness plastered in the window.

And it does NOT generate a deceptive message about who I am and what I stand for. I have multiple myeloma. I'm neck deep in fund-raising/awareness about that. I didn't choose the motto, but I like it. It just doesn't have anything specific to do with my religious beliefs, and it doesn't need to.

However, I CAN, if you insist, go on for hours about how 'Faith, Hope, Love" are appropriate attributes for cancer patients, caregivers and their medical teams. I don't think that's actually appropriate for this particular forum, however.

Avatars represent the person. I see quite a few here that really do not have anything to do with Mormonism, including, forgive me, yours.

So I think I will not take advice from you. No offense or anything, but........nah.

Then don't take my advice and do whatever you want. I really don't care. But, know this, when someone sees your avatar they are going to connect those words as part of your message just like I did.

Faith? Faith in what? Jesus? Screw Jesus and the donkey he rode in on.

You silly girl.

You are quite right. I am silly, quite frequently. However, in this I think I will simply keep my avatar until I find something I like better, and you, sir, can take your impressions of it and...er... pass the message on to Shulem.

[_Fence Sitter]

To be honest I hadn't really paid that much attention to her avatar. But given what she is dealing with personally, it seems quite apropos.

[_Dr. Shades]

Avatars represent the person. I see quite a few here that really do not have anything to do with Mormonism, including, forgive me, yours.

Shulem's avatar has everything to do with Mormonism. Care to tell her what your avatar represents, Shulem?

[_Ceeboo]

Hi Niadna!

Welcome to the board! It's nice to see a new face in the crowd - especially a face that is found on the body of a believing Mormon. It is fairly rare to read contributions/perspectives/thoughts of believing Mormons around here and in my opinion, it adds a significant and valuable dose of diversity to the mix.

In my mind, there are many reasons that I don't like the term "anti-Mormon." Among the many reasons, it strikes me as so personal, with countless implications that surround individual human beings. Unfortunately, these implications, that are trotted out and create discussion stop signs, come from both sides of this equation and it is done with clear intent and by design - in my opinion.

I have always preferred the term anti-Mormonism. To me, this is really what we find most of the time if and when we dig deep enough. Many of the people who are Mormon are decent, loving and kind (I have had the great pleasure of getting to know a few over the years). in my opinion, Mormonism is an entirely separate animal from an individual human being that identifies as a Mormon. Not only should we recognize the separation, we ought to consider encouraging the separation.

Anyway, welcome!

Peace,
Ceeboo

[_Shulem]

You are quite right. I am silly, quite frequently. However, in this I think I will simply keep my avatar until I find something I like better, and you, sir, can take your impressions of it and...er... pass the message on to Shulem.

Fine. I hope you find something you like better, soon. I'll let Shulem know you're in the market for a better avatar.

[_Lemmie]

To be honest I hadn't really paid that much attention to her avatar. But given what she is dealing with personally, it seems quite apropos.

Truly, but the discussion over it was a pretty funny Who's On First-type comedy of errors. Shulem never fails to entertain.