[Paragon Defender]

Seekers of truth,

If you peruse the Free Republic religion forums you will notice a pattern. There's an anti-Mormon group of people here that spends a great deal of their time attacking the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. They post regurgitated propaganda on an almost daily basis.

They have a misguided obsession. You can witness many different tactics employed that you might find quite interesting. The straw man argument is a big favorite and is frequently preceded by cherry-picking quotes or other material. After the "quotation" the attacker will misrepresent what has been said or what was meant and then attack their own interpretation.Later they will have the audacity to claim they were "only" quoting our own material.  

They will of course insist ad nauseum that they are merely using our sources and are therefore innocent of any deceptive practice. LDS persons have no issue whatsoever having our scriptures or leaders quoted as long as it is presented fairly and accurately. This is rarely (if ever) done.

Another favorite is posting scripture or statements which on their own really present no dilemma. They make something out of nothing while never bringing up a single objection that hasn't been addressed a hundred times before.

You might note a couple of other tactics used to try to antagonize is the use of disrespectful or insulting terms or language and/or pictures. That's a Christlike thing to do right? Yeah I don't think so either. It does speak volumes about them though.

Some of them claim being some sort of special witness to you as being supposedly former Mormons. So someone who is an ex-member of any organization would never have an axe to grind or have reason to try to justify their actions by any means? Perhaps not but perhaps so. The LDS Church gains members from other denominations as well as others faiths all the time. This doesn't make them an expert on anything and you certainly won't hear them attacking their former Church.

Frequently they cruise the headlines of the day seeking any story that might be twisted into making the Church look bad. Anything will do, just watch the progression of posts following it and see what I mean.

After reading their posts, I invite you to seek the truth about whatever "issue" they seem to be "revealing" or "exposing". I promise that if you do so with honest intent, the "ahah" moments you will have will be many and frequent. You will start to recognize the tactics employed to cleverly twist and attack and will likely chuckle the more you see. In actuality, there's nothing new here. It's all been addressed many times before.

The latest twist in the anti-Mormon propaganda machine is to actually go to the links provided, but then they cherry pick what they want, quote and straw man attack that. Almost without fail you will see examples of this following this post.

Clever. It almost appears that they are helping you out by doing some footwork for you. Not so much. Don't be insulted, look for yourself. It's not the haystack they want you to think. So again, seek the truth. They aren't providing it. Use your God-given brain and discernment.

Here's a few links to get your started from a different viewpoint. I have found that the vast majority of the "issues" brought up can be found and addressed at http://www.fairlds.org/ but here's more:

http://scriptures.lds.org/
http://www.lds.org
http://www.fairlds.org/
http://www.mormonapologetics.org/
http://www.mormonwiki.com/Main_Page
http://www.lightplanet.com/response/index.html
http://www.jefflindsay.com/LDS_Intro.shtml
http://www.answeringantimormons.com/index.htm
http://promormon.blogspot.com/

Now you will likely notice the "you never address or answer our points" posts pop up as usual. All after providing the answers just as you have here.

Sometimes it is claimed that these sites present a needle in a haystack. Far from it. But if you give up before you try you won't know will you? They often state that these sites provide no answer. They just don't want you looking. It is as simple as that.

Will you wear blinders too? Seek truth. Find out for yourself. Want to chat with someone on any topic? A few of these sites provide just that. So do your homework sincere seeker of truth. Listen and read from both "sides". Make up your own mind.

I witness to you of these truths and wish you the best, in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

 

[Emperor Palpatine]

So you deny that your founder Joseph Smith was a convicted felon?

[SZonian]

Hey! Thanks for taking that prejudicial statement out of your post. Oh, wait. You didn’t. Never mind.

In direct contradiction to your claims that you’re open to “honest” investigation of both sides. No matter how carefully parsed the comments/statements are, the language/words used in your posts creates a prejudicial atmosphere.

Instead of using more accurate terms or words like “church critic”, the word “anti-” is used as it relates to the mormons as a people, “anti-mormon”. That it is a personal prejudice. To draw parallels to many “anti-” [such as anti-semitism] pogroms from the past and currently.

It’s an incendiary word that is already loaded with negative connotations that arouses in people a reflexive response that is neither necessary or relevant, almost feral in nature.

To elicit a sympathy response from an outsider who may or may not understand what has actually been said in previous discussions, only reflexive outrage.

“Propaganda” falls into the same category.

How’s them works coming along? Earned enough points to guarantee that you’ll qualify for one of the kingdoms?

[Colofornian]

Sometimes it is claimed that these sites present a needle in a haystack...But if you give up before you try you won't know will you?

(Oh, sure. Let's all play "fill-the-milk-in-the-glass Mormon scavenger hunt!")

"How do you play," you ask?

Well first, you follow a PD link to locate a hospitable Mormon dairy farmer...
...Then driving to that dairy farm in the middle of a Midwest winter...
...Arriving @ 4 a.m...
...You have "free agency" to either hand-milk -- or, with a few of PD's links, robotically milk (harvest) all the cows...[doesn't matter to PD which you do...he may prefer the impersonal "bot" style because it comes "natural" to him]...
...Merge the milk into one storage container...
...Transport the milk...
...Conduct lab testing of the milk...[of course, with such Mormon "milk" if the "King James Version" of the lab report doesn't cut the mustard, the local Mormon head hauncho just writes a "Joe Blow Translation" (JBT) of it to give it the official spin]
...Pump the milk into storage silos...
...Pasteurize it...
...Homogenize it...
...Have it undergo further processing (micro-filtration)...
...And then consume it...
...Digest it to see if it produces the magical "burning bosom" effect...
...And then see if LONG term it produces one of those forced testimonies you might hear at a Mormon monthly testimony meetin'...

Oh, and if you have time for a three-minute nap in the barn's haystack, be sure to locate that Mormon needle while you're snoozin'...(Hint: It's located right next to the maps of the Book of Mormon)

But, hey, other than that, at least PD's links take you to a fair # of unofficial dairy associations in various areas.

P.S. Those unofficial Mormon dairy farmers are strictly told NOT to breath a word about how they slaughter those cows and the actual Mormon "meat" it produces...somethin' 'bout protectin' their "sacred cows" & rumors of some kind of "M.A.D."* disease those "Mormon gospel cows" are said to be producin'. * M.A.D. = Mormon After Death

[Elsie]

 

 

 

Acts 8:27-39 NIV 27 So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian[a] eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake (which means “queen of the Ethiopians”). This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet. 29 The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.”  30 Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.  31 “How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.  32 This is the passage of Scripture the eunuch was reading:    “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter,    and as a lamb before its shearer is silent,    so he did not open his mouth. 33 In his humiliation he was deprived of justice.    Who can speak of his descendants?    For his life was taken from the earth.”[b]  34 The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?” 35 Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.  36 As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?” [37] [c] 38 And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing.

Acts 8:27-39 (PD Version, ©2010) 27 So he logged on to FR, and on his way he met a Potential Investigator, a Noobie in need of Salvation (which means “Living forever in the Presence of GOD”). This person had gone to FreeRepublic to learn, 28 and while he was reading threads; he was also sitting in his computer chair reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet. 29 The spirit told PD, “Reply to that person and stay in the conversation.”  30 Then PD replied to the Noobie and asked. “Do you understand what you are reading?”  31 “How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So PD invited himself to continue to chat with him.  32 This is the passage of Scripture the eunuch was reading:    “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter,    and as a lamb before its shearer is silent,    so he did not open his mouth. 33 In his humiliation he was deprived of justice.    Who can speak of his descendants?    For his life was taken from the earth.”[b]  34 The Noobie asked PD, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?” 35 Then PD fumbled with that very passage of Scripture and was unable to tell him the Good News about Jesus; but explained that it COULD be found in the Book of MORMON and OTHER non-official sources.  36 As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the Noobie said, “Look, I've asked all kinds of questions; but you seem to be unable to answer even just ONE of them.   37 Why are the ANTI-mormons (as you lovingly call them) so much better at supplying answers?"   38 "They are hateful bigots; only capable of spewing regurgitated LDS teachings.  Pay them no mind.  Seek for yourself the TRUTH in the OTHER books I've refered to."   39  Discouraged by the VAST amount of information that had to be sifted thru; the PI went away in a hopeless mood.

 

[humblegunner]

You might note a couple of other tactics used to try to antagonize is the use of disrespectful or insulting terms or language and/or pictures.