by bluecanary 53 Replies latest jw experiences
That cartoon is a great find, Chalam!
Is this a new thing, the females going door to door? I thought only the young men on bicycles did their mission work from door to door. How common is this? Do females have to do a mission, too? Is it only for a short period of time?
Here's an indepth analysis of Mormonism:
Mormonism Against Itself by Maurice Barnett.
I'd suggest letting the missionaries talk and present their material for the first visit. Note what they're saying and then when they come back say you did some research on the Internet and have some questions for them.
The Bible is an authentic piece of ancient literature. The Book of Morman is not. There's all kinds of things you could do to point this out
You could ask them why the Book of Mormon is written in Jamesian 16th and 17th century English, when that is not the era Joseph Smith lived in. Was Joseph Smith deliberately trying to give the book a "Biblical" flavor by putting it into the same English as the King James version? If he was, then his unfamiliarity with Greek would have tripped him up:
For example, you could ask them how the word "Synagogue" found it's way into the Book of Mormon, since the word wasn't coined until Alexander conquered the holy land and the Jews began speaking Greek for normal day to day activity. The BOM was allegedly written before this happened.
You could ask them how a Greek expression that only John used, Amen Amen lego soi - "Verily, verily I say unto thee" found it's way into the BOM (Again in Jamesian English)
You could thumb through the BOM and look at some of the pictures. The prophet Abinidai standing before King Noah for example. The picture, and more importantly the narrative upon which it is drawn from depicts an advanced culture on par with the Roman Empire.
You could observe, "Cultures at that level produce durable objects. Masonry ramparts, walls, arenas, temples and columns. Kiln, fired pottery, tile and mosaic work. Steel swords, armor, spear and arrowheads. Gold and silver jewelry, coins, statues, temple ornaments, etc. These things last many thousands of years. You can go to any good museam and see Egyptian artifacts that were already many centuries old at the time of Christ."
You could ask, "Where is the evidence that any of what the BOM describes actually took place? Where are these type of artifacts?
Even if the Bible were purely a work of fiction, it would still have historical value. There is no doubt in anyone's mind that the Roman, Greek and Egyptian empires existed because the durable objects they produced are still with us today. The pyramids still stand. Greek and Roman temples still stand. You could tour the holy land and see the wailing wall, the ruins of the house of Caiphas, Hezekiah's tunnel, the pool of Siloam, the mount of Olives, etc. Why should anyone accept the BOM as an historical work?"
I've not even scratched the surface here. This kind of stuff goes on and on. DNA evidence refutes the Lamanite theory. The horse was unknown on the American continent at the time the events described in the BOM allegedly took place. Then there are the Kinderhook plates, substantial differences between Joseph Smith's handwritten account of his first vision, and official church history, etc.
Glad you liked the cartoon BabaYaga :)
Here's one from the same producers on JWs.
All the best,
Stephen
Joseph Smith's 33 (at least) wives, one as young as 14, and quite a few were already married to someone else. The New Testament teaches that even local church elders must be 'the husband of one wife.' So wouldn't at least that standard apply to someone claiming to be God's mouthpiece to restore the Church in the last days? .... Adultery, of course, is condemned in both the Old and New Testament.
Hi Bluecanary- This site may prove usefull- http://www.4mormon.org/ They have printable pamflets that you can use during your discussion, questions and testimonies from ex-mormons
a sister site to this one is- http://www.4jehovah.org/ Same things just JW styled.
or you could just tell them your grass needs cutting and your walls need painting.... when i had them call here they didnt fancy looking at any mormons suck sites, but they had a look at jwd,
and i found they like helping or doing jobs because its time they can knock off their door work hours, dont know if its the same over where you are.
i always make it clear theres no convert hope in my house but i will make them a cup of fruit tea or some other allowable drink if theyre passing.
they also wear id badges and will show their wallet id, which they say is a legal requirement. i still cant work out why they have to have this and jws dont. they also said they get moved on by the police if people complain, never heard of that happening to jws here.
when i emailed the charity commission and asked why mormons show id and jws dont have to they didnt deign to reply.
mormon women going door to door?
Be careful , I had my door open and two mormon guys were standing there and one of them showed me a tract
They could see that I had company and I took the tract. They came back later and I said that I read it and if I had
any questions I would talk to a family member about their beliefs. One snapped at me with is he a jw?!!
I said no and they said oh. and smiled and left my porch. Some one in my apartment must have told them that I was a witness because I never told
them. So much for the fading. Hope they will be nicer with you. Thought the whole thing was kindof funny afterword. Try to keep a open mind.
Take care not to fall into another cult. Just show them the comment things that JW and Mormon faith have. You can make a search to an ex-mormon webside and you will get all the info you need
