There will be a BBC interview of Jeffery Holland that will be presented in the USA sometime before November, 2012. Here is a link to a summary of it:
http://www.cityweekly.net/utah/blog-24-7707-bbc-interview-with-lds-leader-earns-controversy.html
Some of the highlights:
*Holland is asked if Joseph Smith was arrested and convicted. At first Holland says, "I have no idea. When the interviewer says there is an actual court record, Holland backs down and says it is incidental to his character. By the way, here is the link to that document supporting his arrest and conviction:
http://byulaw.blogspot.com/2005/09/joseph-smiths-arrest-records-found.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzKm7rBhTBQ
*Holland is asked if Romney had covenanted in the temple to slit his throat rather than tell what he learned in the temple. This did in fact existed in the temple up until 1990 and was then taken out. Since Romney had in fact gone through the temple before 1990, he would have made these oaths. When pressed, he attempts to back down.
*The church spokesman, when at first asked about the Strengthening the members committee, at first denied any knowledge about it. When pressed, said he knew about it, but couldn't give any information about it. When Holland was asked about it, he said its primary purpose was to protect against polygamy. Do you know what its primary purpose is?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strengthening_Church_Members_Committee
http://www.mormoncurtain.com/topic_scmc.html
http://peace-in-paradise.blogspot.com/2012/05/strengthening-church-members-committee.html
*Holland was asked if the church practices shunning. He said he would not shun a child. All I can say to that is I have several family members who will not speak to me because I am no longer a member of the church. I am estranged from the rest of them. My now ex-husband told me he would not support me when I told him I could no longer attend the mormon church. Seems like shunning to me.
Can the church stand up to scrutiny? Its about time the media asked these hard questions.
Showing posts with label buried treasure. Show all posts
Showing posts with label buried treasure. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Saturday, June 2, 2012
Magic?
Everyone makes mistakes. No one is perfect.
That said, if you were god and you were going to trust bringing
back your church, would you trust such an important job to someone who believes
in magic? Would you trust that important job to someone who had been convicted
of treasure seeking? Would you trust someone who had been convicted of
conning people out of money by telling them treasure can be found on their
property through seer stones? Then, those same seer stones are put in a hat and
used to translate a magical book? Even according to the church records, this
is what happened: http://byulaw.blogspot.com/2005/09/joseph-smiths-arrest-records-found.html
Now, the modern day church shows photos of Joseph looking at golden plates and then translating them. However, all first hand reports say he actually put those same seer stones he used for treasure hunting into a hat and that is how we have the BofM today: (church friendly sources)
The question remains, then, why does the modern day church go out of its way do deceive its members? It depicts Joseph as using gold plates to translate the BofM through photos and stories when in fact there is no documentation to support this.
Joseph was convicted of treasure seeking.
Joseph believed in magic stones long before the advent of the mormon church.
It is time the believing member were made aware of these facts.
Monday, January 9, 2012
Standing for Truth
Why I am no longer a mormon?
The Church makes no apology for its selective story-telling policies. Boyd K. Packer, a high church official, has said that “some things which are true are not very useful.”
These are exact quotes from the following article. It is time for the people who are members of the mormon church to wake up:
http://www.ripoffreport.com/religion/the-church-of-jesus/the-church-of-jesus-christ-of-b071a.htm
What is it about the LDS Church which warrants the distinction of being singled out as a ripoff? Isn’t the Mormon church just like all the others, taking money from members to fund the day-to-day operations of the church?
Four aspects of how the Mormon Church operates makes it a ripoff:
1. Since 1959, the LDS Church does not disclose their financial holdings. Why the secrecy? Simple. They are building an empire.
2. Members who do not pay the prescribed 10% have privileges withheld. This is extortion.
3. New recruits are not informed of the sordid origins and evidence contradicting the foundational claims of the faith. This is unethical.
4. Blatant meddling in politics, unethical for a tax-exempt organization.
The Church makes no apology for its selective story-telling policies. Boyd K. Packer, a high church official, has said that “some things which are true are not very useful.”
These are exact quotes from the following article. It is time for the people who are members of the mormon church to wake up:
http://www.ripoffreport.com/religion/the-church-of-jesus/the-church-of-jesus-christ-of-b071a.htm
What is it about the LDS Church which warrants the distinction of being singled out as a ripoff? Isn’t the Mormon church just like all the others, taking money from members to fund the day-to-day operations of the church?
Four aspects of how the Mormon Church operates makes it a ripoff:
1. Since 1959, the LDS Church does not disclose their financial holdings. Why the secrecy? Simple. They are building an empire.
2. Members who do not pay the prescribed 10% have privileges withheld. This is extortion.
3. New recruits are not informed of the sordid origins and evidence contradicting the foundational claims of the faith. This is unethical.
4. Blatant meddling in politics, unethical for a tax-exempt organization.
Since 1959, the LDS has not disclosed their financial vibrancy. Only in the UK and Canada, where it is required by law, does the church come clean with their financial holdings (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finances_of_The_Church_of_Jesus_Christ_of_Latter-day_Saints). The LDS church stands alone among the major religious denominations in the USA in this secrecy....
MONETARY EXTORTION
Tithing in most religions is considered a gift, but the LDS Church makes it an obligation. Fear is often used as a motivator to get people to pay a full tithing. The member often hears the term 'fire insurance' associated with tithing. He who is tithed shall not be burned at Christ's' 2nd coming. Malachi 8:10 is often quoted - "Will a man rob God, yet ye have robbed me".
The guilt placed upon Latter-day Saints can be considerable. Members are not considered in 'good standing' if they are not paying a full 10% tithe. They cannot attend the temple if they do not pay in full. They cannot have temple-related callings or any high-profile positions if not full tithe-payers. And those who are full tithe-payers are often counseled to then start paying generous fast offerings, contributing to the missionary fund, etc. Extracting as much money as possible is the theme, and guilt is always knocking at the door. This is a destructive mind control technique, which in turn reinforces the escalation of commitment human bias.
Tithing in most religions is considered a gift, but the LDS Church makes it an obligation. Fear is often used as a motivator to get people to pay a full tithing. The member often hears the term 'fire insurance' associated with tithing. He who is tithed shall not be burned at Christ's' 2nd coming. Malachi 8:10 is often quoted - "Will a man rob God, yet ye have robbed me".
The guilt placed upon Latter-day Saints can be considerable. Members are not considered in 'good standing' if they are not paying a full 10% tithe. They cannot attend the temple if they do not pay in full. They cannot have temple-related callings or any high-profile positions if not full tithe-payers. And those who are full tithe-payers are often counseled to then start paying generous fast offerings, contributing to the missionary fund, etc. Extracting as much money as possible is the theme, and guilt is always knocking at the door. This is a destructive mind control technique, which in turn reinforces the escalation of commitment human bias.
SHAKY FOUNDATION
The Mormon faith is built on the foundation of a latter-day prophet, Joseph Smith, who was purportedly called by God to restore His true church, this being accomplished by direct revelation and restoration of authority through divine messengers from the heavens in 1820. Besides taking Smith at his word, the primary evidence that the sincere investigator is given to evaluate this claim, are the ‘revelations’ Smith received via translation from Egyptian-type writings; the Book of Mormon and the Book of Abraham, and other ‘revelations’ from Smith.
What the investigator is NOT told, incredibly, is virtually criminal. The sincere investigator deserves to know a bit more than just one side of the story, including:
1. In the trial of 1826, Joseph Smith was brought before the court on charges of fraud (money digging for profit). At this trial, Smith freely admits, under oath, that he was incapable of locating buried treasures using either his peep stone or while being carried away in vision.
The Mormon faith is built on the foundation of a latter-day prophet, Joseph Smith, who was purportedly called by God to restore His true church, this being accomplished by direct revelation and restoration of authority through divine messengers from the heavens in 1820. Besides taking Smith at his word, the primary evidence that the sincere investigator is given to evaluate this claim, are the ‘revelations’ Smith received via translation from Egyptian-type writings; the Book of Mormon and the Book of Abraham, and other ‘revelations’ from Smith.
What the investigator is NOT told, incredibly, is virtually criminal. The sincere investigator deserves to know a bit more than just one side of the story, including:
1. In the trial of 1826, Joseph Smith was brought before the court on charges of fraud (money digging for profit). At this trial, Smith freely admits, under oath, that he was incapable of locating buried treasures using either his peep stone or while being carried away in vision.
2. The method of “translation” of the golden plates which supposedly produced the Book of Mormon was Smith looking into his hat through a peep stone. The golden plates Smith claimed he possessed were never anywhere in sight during the so-called ‘translation’. Every eyewitness account of the translation of the Book of Mormon describes Smith using this peep stone and hat method. Russell M. Nelson, Dallin Oaks, and other church leaders have also confirmed this. Does this sound like a method which would be used by a prophet of God or a con man?
3. It is a documented fact (multiple accounts diaries, personal histories, and the LDS family search website) that Joseph Smith Jr. took multiple plural wives without the knowledge or consent of Emma. If this was a commandment from God, why the secrecy? He persuaded women who were already married to marry him. Five different people (Joseph Smith, Joseph F. Smith, Benjamin F. Johnson, Mary Lighter, and Lorenzo Snow) assert that an angel of God with a sword commanded Joseph to institute polygamy or the angel would slay him.
4. The Book of Mormon cites cattle, elephants, sheep, horses, wheat, silk, chariots, steel, and glass, yet these things were unknown to native stone-age Americans when the European pioneers arrived. And the Book of Mormon makes no mention of what DID exist in abundance on this continent; potatoes, corn, llamas, buffalo, etc. Yet the LDS church claims the book represents an accurate depiction of American history. How does a culture forget how to make wheels?
5. The other LDS canonized scripture which Smith purportedly ‘translated’ from Egyptian is the “Book of Abraham”. The original papyrus scrolls that Smith translated into the Book of Abraham were found in 1967 and authenticated by LDS and independent scholars. Over a half dozen Egyptologists, including the expert hired by the Church, verified that the scrolls are Egyptian funerary documents typically found buried with mummies, and post-date the time of Abraham by 1500 years. The information contained on these scrolls bears zero resemblance to the Book of Abraham and could not have been “in Abrahams own hand” as asserted by Smith. Joseph’s own cross-reference showing the characters and the corresponding meanings is complete nonsense, according to every Egyptologist who has examined the documents, some of which are in Smith’s own hand, according to handwriting analysts.
6.The account of the first vision, where Smith purportedly received, in 1820, his calling from God and Jesus to be a prophet is not reconcilable with historical information. Neither Joseph Smith nor anyone else prior to 1838 referred to the event at all. Smith claimed intense persecution due to the vision as a teen, and it was during a time of “great excitement on the subject of religion”. However, no one, friend or foe, remembers any persecution or even a claim to have experienced a vision prior to 1827.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)