So, yesterday we had our annual family get together for Easter. We go (myself, DW and DS) to this because we skip most other family functions. My entire extended family are TBMs. Every single one of them. We live in the Morg.

Anyway, we mingle and try to enjoy ourselves as much as we can. We skip the Easter message crap and all that stuff surrounding Easter that the family does, as none of us believe in any of it. We just recently resigned.

Anyway, as we were getting ready to leave (this was at my brother's house) I enquired about my niece. She is on a mish in a Central America country that has recently had some large earthquakes. Just trying to be nice, and ask if she was okay (we knew she was). Anyway, when I asked my SIL this she said "Yeah, she's fine. Actually, it's been great for her. Most of the people down there are Catholic and they have been taking the earthquakes as a sign of the coming of Christ, so it's been really easy for them (the mishies) to call people to repentance and get them to take the lessons." I just kind of blew it off at the time, but I got thinking about it and I find this disgusting. It's okay to use people fears and concerns against them to hornswoggle them into taking the lessons?

Is it just me, or does anyone else find this kind of stuff offensive?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/21/2014 11:43PM by JediMasterAFC.

It's okay to use people fears and concerns against them to hornswoggle people into taking the lessons?

This is nothing new. They use fear and intimidation in everyday life. They use "Families are Forever" as a weapon. They use guilt as a weapon as well. It's just what Mormons do.

It's disgusting. One of the missionaries here told me I should read a book about all the bad things that happened to the people who opposed JS. I didn't think anything of it until my DH asked me later if I thought the kid was trying to threaten or intimidate me into staying in the fold. Creepy. I can't believe that I bought into this bs so long!

Using fears to lure people in to the LDS church is nothing new.

Fear of not going to heaven, fear of not being with your family (Families are Forever/Temple worship) fear of not being blessed with health, wealth, children..(Word of Wisdom) .fear of lack of community and lack of acceptance.(Belong to the true church!)

Fear of the unknown..(Gee, the Prophet will show the way!)

Fear of being married to a non-virgin! (Law of Chastity) Fear of going hungry!(Food storage!)

Fear of not being modest/inappropriate attention (Garments!)
Fear of being found unworthy (See all the above plus 1000+ other fears)

LDS memebers just lack common sense! The best thing I ever did for myself was ditch my fears!

The fear is one thing. It's the big weapon in the Mormon arsenal.

What I cannot stand is the fact that Sister Righteousness and her mother, Sister Holier Than Thou, think she needs to call these people to repentance. It is arrogant. It is judgmental. It is quintessentially Mormon.

This disgusts me.

Yes, thank you! I was really referring to the arrogance of thinking that people need to repent. Repent of what? Who the hell is she to judge that?

I find virtually everything about TSCC offensive and a lot of it dangerous.

A good reason to resign from Mormism s as to not associate or be associated with such a group.

I've seen missionaries in hospital waiting rooms before. Lower than lawyers, some are.

Perhaps enacting Mormon sharia law might interest her.

Absolutely true..guilt is the weapon of choice for LDS control. I felt this so early while going through adolescent years. It is so blatantly obvious, yet there is no attempt to dilute it, even a bit..failure vs pride..stupid, but ok with the result.

Mormons send out their 18/19 year-old kids to call other adults to repentance. And then they think people respect them. With the younger age, most have never set foot in a college class.

Mormons' inflated self-worth is astounding.

"Hornswoggle"

Best new word ever.

It's disgusting. But it also sounds like folklore. Mormons love to imagine that people react to world events by recognizing the end is near. And that events prepare the way for the missionaries.

I really doubt Catholics are reacting to earthquakes as a sign of the second coming. They're probably just feeling very vulnerable on a continent where earthquakes are so destructive, so many people have died over past decades and the infastructure makes earthquakes so dangerous. They may be open to anything that gives them hope, but I hardly believe they view any of this as Christ returning.

Agreed. I don't know about Central American Catholics, but the Catholics I know are not expecting or waiting for a literal Second Coming, like evangelicals and Mormons are. For the ones I know, the Second Coming is more like the vague feeling that you'll meet Christ after you die. After two centuries of waiting for the end, I think they've kind of gotten the idea that they must have misunderstood the gospel. Mormons will adjust too, once enough generations receive predictions that they're of the elect who will see Christ return, and then, oops, guess not. Eventually, the lack of seer, revelator power just gets too much for the institution to apologize for, and expecting a magical end gets quietly dropped. A refocus, as it were.

Not "two centuries," two millennia.

When I was in tscc, I hear a good bit about how we use calamities to get the foot in the door to convert people. they especially talked about when somebody dies in the family, especially a child, they use that to tell the bereaved what they need to do to be with the departed child or whomever forever, etc. Now that's disgusting.

The whole idea of calling a Catholic to repentance is rather ludicrous. Catholics can go to confession once a week if they wish. My bet is they confess their sins and repent with far more regularity than the Mormons do. Catholics get a chance to unload all their sins to a priest in complete anonymity and to be completely absolved of those sins. They pay a "penance" of saying prayers or the rosary afterward. You'll see Catholics leave the confessional and to straight to the altar to kneel and pray.

You have to wonder what this young Mormon missionary thinks people do in other churches. Sit and twiddle their thumbs?

Catholics can do to confession once a day if they feel the need. Most only do so once or twice a year before the Christmas and Easter holiday.

ANYTHING goes if it amps up baptism numbers.

Do the people taking these lessons in this particular case know they are taking lessons? Or is it just the bait before the switch.

After the Sept 11 attacks our Mission Presidency held a special Stake meeting to let us all know that this event was the work of the Lord to wake people up and it was our golden opportunity to bring them in. I thought it was in very poor taste and judging by the looks around the room, I was not alone.

It isn't just the Mormons. Remember how greedily the many churches were wringing their hands after the attacks? Religious pundits were beaming with pride over the sudden surge in attendance across the denominations.

I was wondering if this edict would have come from the MP. It sounds like it's very possible. I could just imagine the MP gathering them all together and telling them the earthquake was a sign from God and to use it to get your foot in the door.

Instructing the missionaries to prey on people's fears and concerns is truly reprehensible. Nothing would surprise me anymore though.

Elder Scott came to my mission shortly after 9/11 and encouraged the Americans to be ready to leave the country on short notice. He implied that it was the start of WWIII, which would usher in the second coming.

Your niece has never had a dick in her and she's tellin' people how the cow ate the cabbage.

What a buncha bullshit.

By the fucking way; Caths do more 'repenting' than a boatload of fucking Mormons.

Mormons don't know anything about those people in SA.

'Repenting'~ I don't recognize this ideology

It's absolutely offensive to anyone on the planet except Mormons. And, they can't see why it would be.

The Catholic Church does more charity work than TSCC and sends out genuine missionaries, not just numbers crunchers.

A friend of mine grew up in the Philipines, and said until he moved to America he didn't even know there were churches other than the Catholic Church, and I'll bet it's the same in staunchly Catholic South American areas. These poor people probably assume the mishies are from THE Church, not TSCC.

This is probably true. When I was in southern Mexico I asked a man about the Church, and other Churches. He said everyone in Mexico is Catholic, and there are no other Churches. He said it the way an American would react if you asked him about the American Constitution, and if it compared unfavorably with other constitutions (are there other constitutions? And if so, why?).

Yes, I would imagine that it's very similar down in Central America.

That is insensitive and quite rude. Wow.

Fear. It's a great tool for control. Is it really any surprise at all that the two major control systems of our society (religion/government) use it liberally?

A simple "she's doing fine" would have sufficed. Did she not realize you probably weren't asking for evidence of her success as a Mormon missionary but more, as her Uncle, showing general personal concern?

And they wonder why we can't stand being around them.

Yeah, I really wanted to say "Thanks for the over share, that's not why I was asking. Nobody gives a shit."

But, I resisted.