On another thread, Agnes Broomhead linked to a comment by a new convert who was about to be baptized, asking for volunteers to dissuade this person.

The problem comes up a lot when non-Mormon parents have a teenager or young adult child who is about to be baptized. I put together this questionnaire that might be of use to get the new convert to do some self-examination.

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QUESTIONNAIRE FOR THOSE CONSIDERING MORMON BAPTISM

This questionnaire is not intended to be submitted anywhere for evaluation; it is to help you in making your decision and in explaining your decision to others.

What are the most important things that led you to consider becoming Mormon? (Mark those items according to importance: 5 = very important; 1 = minor importance)

__ The LDS church is God's only true church
__ The Mormons I know are the kind of people I want to be like
__ The Book of Mormon is divinely inspired and contains the Word of God
__ I want to be with my family in the afterlife
__ Living as Mormon will make me a better person
__ I would like to become a god
__ I believe that Joseph Smith was a prophet called by God
__ I believe that the LDS church has prophets of God leading it
__ I like the services each Sunday in the Mormon ward I attend
__ I am impressed by the honesty and sincerety of the missionaries who have taught me
__ My best friends are Mormons, and they would be pleased if I became a Mormon
__ Mormons are good husbands and wives - I would like to be married to a Mormon
__ I am impressed by the Mormon emphasis on families and family togetherness
__ I know that I can depend on the Mormon church if ever I need help, financial or otherwise
__ I am impressed by the tremendous growth of the Mormon church
__ I am impressed by the great financial wealth of the Mormon church
__ I am afraid that I will go to hell if I do not get baptized
__ (for a male:) I would like to hold the priesthood so I could bless the sick, baptize, etc.
__ I want to serve a mission for the church, like the missionaries who have been teaching me
__ I prayed to God to find out whether the Book of Mormon was true, and I felt the Spirit say "yes"
__ Other:__________________________________________________________

About your investigation of Mormonism:

How long have you been considering becoming a Mormon? (mark one)
__ a few weeks
__ a few months
__ about a year
__ longer than a year

What materials have you studied about Mormonism? (mark all that apply)
__ I have read the complete Book of Mormon
__ I have read about half the Book of Mormon
__ I have read only a few passages from the Book of Mormon
__ I have read the complete Doctrine and Covenants
__ I have read some of the sections of the D&C, namely: _________________
__ I have read Joseph Smith's history in the Pearl of Great Price
__ I have read the Book of Abraham in the Pearl of Great Price
__ I have read the "Proclamation on the Family"
__ I have read the "topical essays" at www.lds.org, (list which ones: ________________)

What materials have you read that were critical of Mormonism?
__ None - I was told that anything criticizing the church was from Satan
__ The "Letter to a Church Education System Director" (www.cesletter.com)
__ Materials at Mormon Research Ministry (www.mrm.org)
__ Materials at the Insitute for Religious Research (mit.irr.org)
__ Materials at www.exmormon.org
__"To Those Who Are Investigating Mormonism" (http://packham.n4m.org/tract.htm)
__ Other (list:____________________________________________)
How much total time have you spent studying Mormon critics? __________

Please check the following Mormon doctrines and practices that you are familiar with:
__ Ban on use of tobacco, alcohol, coffee and tea (D&C 89)
__ Requirement to pay of 10% of gross income as tithing
__ Payment of tithing will protect you from "burning" at Christ's coming (D&C 64:23)
__ Annual private meeting with the bishop or branch president to discuss amount of tithing paid
__ The finances of the church are confidential and no accounting is available to church members
__ Tattoos are discouraged
__ Body piercings (other than one in each ear for females) are discouraged
__ Facial hair (mustaches, beards) is discouraged
__ Long hair in men is discouraged
__ "Modest" clothing encouraged (no bare shoulders, short skirts)
__ Women encouraged not to wear pants to church
__ Men and boys should wear white shirts to church, preferably with necktie
__ Masturbation is condemned as sinful
__ Homosexuality is condemned as sinful if acted upon
__ Working on Sunday is discouraged, as well as shopping or any recreational activities
__ Watching R-rated movies is discouraged
__ The ideal role for women is to be a stay-at-home wife to a Mormon husband, raising his children (large famlies are encouraged)
__ Proxy baptism for dead ancestors; genealogical research to identify them is encouraged
__ Marriage is for eternity, but only if wedding is performed in the temple
__ Admission to the temple is for "worthy members" only, with a certificate issued by church leaders after a "worthiness interview"
__ Non-Mormons and children are not allowed to witness a temple wedding, even if related to the couple
__ Children living with parents in a same-sex marriage cannot be baptized
__ There is only one "true" church (the LDS church) and all other churches are an "abomination" and of the devil (PoGP;JS-Hist 1:19, 1 Nephi 14:10)
__ If you prove yourself worthy, obey all the church commandments, pay a full tithe, you will be allowed to receive your "endowment" in the temple and/or be married "for eternity"
__ Part of the "endowment" requires you to take several oaths ("covenants"), such as obedience to church authorities, chastity (no sex outside of marriage), and willingness to devote everything you have to the church
__ Part of the endowment ceremony is to teach you the secret passwords and secret signs for admission into heaven, as well as a "new name" which you are never to reveal
__ In the endowment ceremony you will be required to covenant never to "speak evil of" (criticize) church leaders
__ Once you have gone through the endowment ritual you will be required to wear special underwear (the "garment") at all times, 24/7, except while bathing. The garment covers the body from neck to knee, is white, and has four "sacred markings"; you must buy the underwear from the church. You will be asked during your worthiness interviews whether you wear the garment at all times
__ Polygamy (men having more than one wife) will be practiced in the Celestial Kingdom; women will have only one husband
__ In order to merit a place in the highest level of the Celestial Kingdom, one must be married for eternity in a "sealing ceremony" in a Mormon temple to a Mormon spouse
__ A dark skin is a sign of a curse from God for unrighteousness of one's ancestors; dark skin will turn white if the individual becomes righteous (by becoming Mormon -1 Nephi 12:23, 2 Nephi 5:21, Alma 3:6, Jacob 3:8, 3 Nephi 2:15, Morm 5:15)
__ There was no death in the world before the Fall of Adam
__ The Garden of Eden was located in Missouri (D&C 116:1; see also D&C 107:53)
__ The Great Flood in Noah's time covered the entire earth
__ The earth is only about 6000 years old, and will exist for a total of 7000 years (D&C 77:6)
__ There are many worlds, each with its own god.
__ God was once a human being like us, who became God through obedience to the law
__ God lives on a planet near the star Kolob (Book of Abraham 3:3-16)
__ God has a tangible body of flesh and bone (D&C 130:22)
__ The story of the Tower of Babel is historical, not myth or legend (Ether 1:3-33)

Please check each of the following facts about the history of Mormonism that you have been told (ALL are historically verifiable):

__ The "first vision" of Joseph Smith, in which God and Jesus appeared to him, was unknown to the members of the church until about twenty years after it supposedly occurred (https://www.lds.org/topics/first-vision-accounts)
__ Until its publication in the "official" version (JS-Hist 1 in the Pearl of Great Price), Smith had privately written other accounts of the "first vision" which are quite different from the later, official version (https://www.lds.org/topics/first-vision-accounts)
__ Joseph Smith took as wives eleven women who were already married to living husbands (https://is.gd/FJbj3r)
__ To translate the text from the gold plates for the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith used mostly not the "Urim and Thummim" or "interpreters" which the angel had given him (described as a kind of divine eyeglasses), but rather a "seer stone" which he had had previously used to magically find treasure. He placed the stone in his hat and read the translation off the stone; the plates were apparently not needed (https://www.lds.org/topics/book-of-mormon-translation)
__ Until 1978, no person with negro ancestry could hold the Mormon priesthood (otherwise available to all male members) or be admitted to a Mormon temple. (https://www.lds.org/topics/race-and-the-priesthood) Thus, no black Mormons could ever qualify for the highest level in heaven.
__ Joseph Smith was killed by a mob while he was in jail in Carthage, Illinois, on charges of treason for having destroyed a newpaper printing press that had published information about Smith's secret practice of polygamy.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/15/2017 06:05PM by RPackham.

are you attracted to Mormonism because of your emotions, or because of Factual, verifiable claims?

> are you attracted to Mormonism because of your
> emotions, or because of Factual, verifiable
> claims?


This is the great weakness of the 'conversion process'. Indeeed, not just a weakness of conversion to Mormonism but in conversion to any religion or belief system.

It seems that most people navigate the world emotionally, in terms of internal states and not in terms of rationality and logic. This will always render anyone who navigates the world in this way (which does appear to be the majority of people) vulnerable to incorrect conclusions about the world around them.

this questionnaire is excellent.

There should be a question along the lines of "Are you attracted to a member of the LDS faith?"

Just sayin', but there it is...

Young people are searching for lots of things: discipline, freedom, knowledge, dependence, direction, but hormonal urgings are right at the top of the list....

Great questionnaire.

I would only change this:

> __ (for a male:) I would like to hold the priesthood so I could bless the sick, baptize, etc.

into:

__ I want the priesthood to be compulsory for all males so they can bless the sick, baptize, etc.

…which can be asked to both men and women.

Excellent Questionnaire! I hope you don't mind if I print off copies of this document to leave in the foyers at the LDS buildings in my area. I particularly enjoy the benign intro, as it leads the reader into the 'deeper waters' of the document without rancor.

While I realize that many of the copies I place in chapels will be immediately destroyed when discovered, perhaps an occasional copy will reach an individual possessing the initiative to read it through and begin the discovery process. That alone is worth the effort.

Thanks for providing me with a wonderful Public Service opportunity!!