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  • Well, let's talk about

  • being a part of a cult

  • now whether or not you believe

  • that Mormons belong to a cult, when you tell them that they do it kind of comes

  • across as a four-letter word and it

  • makes it seem like you're just ruling off their beliefs without wanting to discuss what

  • they are or anything like that so

  • Mormons don't believe that they're part of a cult, and here's why. And I took some

  • notes to make sure that

  • I get everything down.

  • If you compile all of the dictionary definitions together about what a

  • cult is, it has

  • has these particular

  • elements in common and they are, and I'll list these:

  • Relatively small group,

  • excessive devotion to a person or idea,

  • unethical techniques,

  • controlled by threats and isolation,

  • powerful group pressures, fear of consequences for leaving,

  • abnormal dependency on the group,

  • and strange beliefs. So let's look at all of these different elements that are

  • part of the definition of being in a cult and see how

  • Mormons fit into them.

  • The first one: Relatively small group.

  • Mormons actually have fourteen million members in a hundred and thirty two

  • countries

  • and in America there are more mormons and there are Presbyterians

  • or even than there are Jews, so it's definitely not a relatively small group.

  • Chances are you probably know a Mormon whether you know it or not.

  • Okay, the next one is excessive devotion

  • to a person or idea.

  • Well, Mormons are very devoted and pride themselves on being devoted to the

  • Savior

  • and they want to follow Him and His teachings, so in that way, they are

  • very devoted to a being,

  • but in a way that they feel,

  • or that we feel, would be acceptable to Him, so

  • I guess you could weigh that one either way depending on how you look at it.

  • The next is unethical techniques.

  • I can't think of a single one. I've been a part of this church for a long time and

  • and there just aren't unethical techniques because if you follow the

  • Savior, then

  • it rules out doing anything unethical. You should be ethical. Now,

  • people in the church of course aren't perfect but we definitely strive for

  • ethics, so I don't think that one qualifies.

  • Uh, the next one is control by threats

  • and by isolation, and this is another one where there just isn't any evidence.

  • In fact, Mormons are taught to love everybody and to not isolate people.

  • Uh... if anybody feels isolated by Mormons, then those Mormons are making

  • mistakes and they don't understand

  • what the LDS Church is about in that regard, so we are taught to love

  • everybody. So if people are actually following Mormon doctrine,

  • then they won't use any kind of control

  • by threats or by isolation.

  • The next is powerful group pressures.

  • Um, I guess if you consider charity, love, and kindness to be and kindness to be

  • powerful group pressures

  • then...

  • maybe they qualify, but I don't think that's what these dictionary definitions

  • are referring to.

  • The next is fear of

  • consequences for leaving, and this is an interesting one because

  • other than the eternal consequences that would follow

  • uh... somebody who leaves the church,

  • when that person is leaving the church, they don't believe in those eternal

  • consequences anyway so it means nothing to them, and that's really the only

  • consequence that happens when somebody leaves the LDS Church is that their names are

  • removed

  • from the record books of the church, and

  • that's it. We are still taught to love people who leave the Church.

  • We may not agree with everything that they do or say, but we're not supposed isolate them.

  • We should love them and

  • there really shouldn't be any fear of consequence for leaving,

  • other than the eternal ones which

  • that person wouldn't believe in anyway, so tah dah!

  • The next one is abnormal dependency

  • on the group, and

  • the LDS Church actually teaches the opposite. Self-reliance and independence

  • are very important in LDS Church teachings

  • which is why education

  • and emergency preparedness and avoiding addiction and staying out of debt are common

  • subjects that are discussed

  • through the LDS Church and our leaders.

  • And then the final one is strange beliefs.

  • Uh... I guess we're busted there. We do believe in the Book of Mormon, we

  • believe in angels, but we also believe that Moses parted the Red Sea and that

  • Christ walked on water and all of the miracles that happened in the New Testament

  • times so

  • maybe were not the only one ones on this Earth with strange beliefs. And

  • finally, when you think of a member of a cult, you probably don't think of somebody who is

  • down to earth

  • and can function in normal society with no issues,

  • and this is how Mormons tend to live their lives.

  • A lot of people I know, and the most down-to-earth people I know are members

  • of the LDS Church.

  • And, I mean, c'mon, if you think about the Mormons you know, do they really seem

  • like somebody who would

  • mindlessly follow a leader

  • off a cliff into

  • boiling hot lava? No.

Well, let's talk about

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B1 中級 美國腔

摩爾門教徒的信仰。邪教 (What Mormons Believe: Cult)

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    Pedroli Li 發佈於 2021 年 01 月 14 日
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