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Top 10 Embarrassments of the Mormon Religion
ListVerse.com ^ | Oct. 5, 2012 | Zabrina

Posted on 10/03/2013 5:57:19 AM PDT by Colofornian

Mormon is allegedly a prophet-historian who was the native American believed by Mormons to have written the Book of Mormon – the main religious text of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormonism). Mormonism is a religion less than two centuries old, but in this short time it has managed to accrue a long list of embarrassments which the church leaders would prefer were kept silent. These embarrassments range from textual inaccuracies to scandals in the life of the founder, Joseph Smith. Of all religions, it’s difficult to believe this one has caught on given the long list of embarrassments that follows! Mormonism and its faults is a particularly interesting topic at present given that Mitt Romney is a Mormon and he is campaigning against President Obama in the upcoming US Presidential elections. It will be interesting to see whether Romney 2012 becomes President Romney – only time will tell.

10 False Book

Embarrassment: Book of Abraham

The Book of Abraham, one of the central texts of Mormonism, is a poor translation of Egyptian papyri. Fragments of the original text were found and studied by renowned historians with credentials and experience. These experts discovered the fragments to be scraps of funeral spells used to help spirits move on to the afterlife. There were no resemblances between the text and the supposedly divinely-inspired translation that Smith invented. As well as the mainstream Mormon church, other related churches, such as the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, still believe it to be a canon work that represents the will of God. Apologists for the Book claim that modern Egyptologists are simply translating the text wrong – basically meaning that Joseph Smith is the only human to have lived who understood Egyptian hieroglyphics correctly (aside from the Egyptians themselves of course).

9 Martyr or Coward?

Embarrassment: Smith’s death – suicide, heroic, or somewhere in between?

Some say that Joseph Smith, founder of Mormonism, fought back bravely against attackers, but others believe he committed suicide by jumping out of a window. A few things are certain – he shot and was shot, and at some point, fell out of a window. He used a smuggled pistol to shoot at a mob and did not die a martyr’s death in any case, as is claimed by many Mormons. There is quite a stark contrast between Christian martyrs who – in virtually every case – trusted God enough to welcome their death and Joseph Smith who so lacked belief in his own “religion” that he was terrified of dying.

8 Missing History

Embarrassment: No archaeological evidence

The claims made by the Book of Mormon mention specific tools, technologies, crops, and animals that simply didn’t exist in those regions at the times stated. For example, horses, cattle, sheep, and swine weren’t roaming between 2500 BC and 400 AD, as claimed. Most of these species were introduced in 1493 by Christopher Columbus. Similarly, barley and wheat weren’t grown, iron and steel weren’t being produced, and systems of weight and measurement such as the Mormons claim existed simply aren’t supported by archaeological evidence.

7 Plagiarism

Embarrassment: Plagiarism of the King James Bible

There are specific quotes in the Book of Mormon that are found in the King James Bible and other modern works that Joseph Smith had access to. For example, Alma 5:52 is identical almost word-for-word to Matthew 3:10. Smith plagiarized 478 verses from the book of Isaiah, and 201 are identical to the King James Bible. If this book were truly divinely inspired, it wouldn’t have been pieced together from pieces of the books that Smith read!

6 Mormon Underwear

Embarrassment: Magical underpants

The temple garments worn by Mormons supposedly provide protection against temptation and sins. They are even credited with saving people’s lives during natural disasters in Mormon urban legends, which is ridiculous to most people without supernatural beliefs in magical clothes. They are seen as sacred and cannot be removed unless absolutely necessary, but then should be put on again as soon as possible. One wonders whether Mitt Romney’s underwear is “Mormon-approved.”

5 Polygamy

Embarrassment: Polygamy – now it’s valid, now it isn’t?

The first forty years of Mormonism involved plural marriage, a form of harem-keeping by men who were taught by Joseph Smith that it was a doctrine worth following. Smith then proceeded to marry half a dozen women in 1843, yet he denied to the public that he practiced this polygamy. He had at least forty wives in his lifetime, some of whom were thirteen years old, and Brigham Young had fifty wives. Now, the modern view is that polygamy is unacceptable, which seems to be a revelation brought about by the illegality of polygamy. The Mormon god can has changed his mind, it seems!

4 Lost Text

Embarrassment: First translation mysteriously lost

The Book of Mormon, when first translated, was given to a friend who supposedly lost them. Joseph Smith should have been able to retranslate them from his “golden tablets” – the original source of this book – and yet he found an excuse to avoid this. He said that they were not allowed to be in the Book of Mormon anymore, clearly because if the original were to be found and compared with the new translation, the inconsistencies in the text he made up would be discovered. Pictured above are seven lines that Smith claimed he copied directly from the mysterious (and missing) golden tablets on which he said the Book of Mormon was written.

3 False Witnesses

Embarrassment: Witnesses were excommunicated

Two groups of witnesses supposedly saw the translation of the Book of Mormon, yet they were all excommunicated after disagreements with Smith. It seems the first group of three witnesses found it too much of a hoax to stay in the church after witnessing this, so a second group needed to be found. These eight men signed statements claiming to have seen and handled the golden plates, though it was later revealed that they hadn’t actually done so. In other words, Smith forced them to lie about seeing the plates.

2 Stolen Rituals

Embarrassment: Stolen temple rituals

Symbols and rituals for Mormon temples were stolen from Freemasonry. Some of these rituals include the symbols on the “magic underpants” worn by Mormons, a secret handshake that Freemasons exchange somehow becoming the handshake people must give angels in order to enter the highest heavenly kingdom, and more. Joseph Smith was expelled from the Freemasons for this theft, though he still tried to appeal to the Masons in the mob that came to kill him by giving the first words of a Mason signal of distress, abandoning his created faith in his last moments.

1 Slaughter of Innocents

Embarrassment: Mountain Meadows Massacre

In the Mountain Meadows Massacre of 1857, a gang of Mormons banded up to attack a wagon train of families from Arkansas on their way to California. The aggressors pretended to be Native Americans so they could achieve a political goal, and when they feared discovery by the victims, murdered about 120 men, women, and children over the age of seven in order to avoid leaving witnesses to testify as to who was really behind the attacks.These embarrassments add up to a damning conclusion: Joseph Smith managed to string along his followers for decades, and even today, churches and communities exist that believe these ridiculous fantasies. The embarrassments listed above are just the beginning for the Mormon community, who would just as soon explain away each reason to doubt their deeply-held convictions – a sad state of affairs for any logical human being.


TOPICS: History; Other Christian; Other non-Christian; Religion & Culture; Theology
KEYWORDS: coverup; embarrassments; lds; ldschurch; mormonism; scandals; top10
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To: Ripliancum
...precisely because of his/her anti Mormon tactics and the bad taste coming of these threads.

Oh BOY!

The IDIOT count just went up in MORMOn circles!

Doesn't ANY one care about THEOLOGY these days?

121 posted on 10/05/2013 6:32:54 PM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: Ripliancum
...precisely because of his/her anti Mormon tactics and the bad taste coming of these threads.

Oh BOY!

The IDIOT count just went up in MORMOn circles!

Doesn't ANY one care about THEOLOGY these days?

122 posted on 10/05/2013 6:33:18 PM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: Morgana
I personally don't care what this or anyone else like them do as long as they don't force it on me.

Doesn't Anyone care about THEOLOGY thewse days?

123 posted on 10/05/2013 6:34:33 PM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: Elsie; metmom; CynicalBear; boatbums; daniel1212
Sadly, only non-cult members care about THEOLOGY these days. The rest are on a roller coaster of fun, Fun, FUN! It's just one fun day after another. And here we stand, Bible in hand, preaching, teaching, rebuking, and exhorting with everything in us. We just don't have anything "FUN!" to offer them. They think.

God must be crying now. All the care He took sending His Son to do what we could never do for ourselves. And so few care. That crying is going to turn into laughing soon. He will laugh them to scorn. As He has them in derision. It's coming. He's told us so.

124 posted on 10/05/2013 6:39:06 PM PDT by smvoice (HELP! I'm trapped inside this body and I can't get out!)
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To: smvoice

1 Peter 2:2

As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:

 


125 posted on 10/05/2013 7:16:30 PM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: IronJack; Colofornian

What did Colofornian post in post 19 that is not true?

Why not address Colofornian’s comments instead of attacking the messenger? It smacks of distraction from the issues because there is no way to contest Colofornian’s points. Meaning they are valid.


126 posted on 10/05/2013 7:22:32 PM PDT by metmom ( ...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of faith....)
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To: Elsie

Yep. Who can drink milk and blood at the same time...


127 posted on 10/05/2013 7:23:33 PM PDT by smvoice (HELP! I'm trapped inside this body and I can't get out!)
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To: metmom
Why not address Colofornian’s comments instead of attacking the messenger?

I'm not attacking anyone. I'm just asking questions.

128 posted on 10/05/2013 7:26:20 PM PDT by IronJack (=)
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To: Colofornian; alphadog; infool7; Heart-Rest; HoosierDammit; red irish; fastrock; ...
+

Freep-mail me to get on or off my pro-life and Catholic List:

Add me / Remove me

Please ping me to note-worthy Pro-Life or Catholic threads, or other threads of general interest.

129 posted on 10/05/2013 7:27:12 PM PDT by narses (... unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you.)
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To: metmom
Why not address Colofornian’s comments instead of attacking the messenger?

Remember the scene from Blues Brothers when Jake turns to Elwood and says, "The band. The BAND!!!" ?

Well, THIS time it's "The memo, mom - the MEMO!!!"




Office of First President & Living Prophet®:

July 1st, 2011

The message for this month is -

...to EMPHASIS the FACT that the Christians on FR HATE us!
 
We've been taking a beating on the Internet - especially from those hateful ANTIs on FreeRepublic!
 
We MUST keep the media constantly informed of those things the world considers christian.
 
We must NOT allow our MORMONness to show thru, as it has gotten a really bad rap thru history - lord only knows why...
Tommy


130 posted on 10/06/2013 4:22:21 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: narses
Freep-mail me to get on or off my pro-life and Catholic List:

Trolling for MORMONs?

They don't like Catholic cereal, I assume, for they've said SO many nasty things about them!



  "Both Catholics and Protestants are nothing less than the 'whore of Babylon' whom the Lord denounces by the mouth of John the Revelator as having corrupted all the earth by their fornications and wickedness. Any person who shall be so corrupt as to receive a holy ordinance of the Gospel from the ministers of any of these apostate churches will be sent down to hell with them, unless they repent"
 
 (The Seer, p. 255  Orson Pratt )

131 posted on 10/06/2013 4:25:37 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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