Religion built upon a god who failed.

[MickeyS]

Originally Posted by alanmolstad

This is like what the Mormon church seems also to be getting their followers ready to face....Getting ready to deal with the next shoe to drop
The shoe that Joe Smith did in-fact sleep around with underage girls, and that this should not matter to Mormon people still putting their trust in his motives.


This means that regardless of what shoe falls next when dealing with the sexual exploitation of children that Smith will be shown guilty of, it does not matter.

The true follower of the Mormon teachings is being some how "insulated" from facing the fact that the guy was a pedophile, a child molester, who abused his position within a religion that he came up with for self-promotion....




So, at that point what else could a Christin say to a Mormon in an effort to reach them?

Once a Mormon states that it really does not matter to them about Smith's sexual history with children, what point is there in thinking any other argument I might bring up would matter to them?...............

Did you just infer that I would condone pedophilia? Do you really believe that? When did I say it didn't matter if Joseph Smith were a pedophile? I thought i made my words clear as well. I never stated that. I would never follow the teachings of a sexual deviant. I think you misunderstood...I can't let the information I do not have affect the testimony that I DO have. I do not believe him to be a pedophile. In regards to Helen Mar Kimball...this wasn't a "marriage" in earthly terms or for "time" it was a sealing for eternity. There is no indication that they consummated said marriage (it's never been stated, inferred, suggested, or implied) as she, again, was not married to Smith in a conventional earthly way, and did not even live with Smith, but continued to live with her parents up until Joseph's death. This was dynastical in nature to link the families in the eternities. This was not some underage sex circle...she didn't live with him, she was not married to him for "time" but sealed for "eternity". Why would she continue to live with her parents if the goal was to purely to have sex with underage girls??

I am more likely than not wasting my time explaining this to you because you seem pretty hung up on sex... And I just feel it necessary to clarify what I meant by the plural marriage and that it would not sway my testimony. I never said anything about sex (except to ask YOU if that's what YOU were hung up on...and it appears it is) I suppose I can still see how it would appear, especially if you have a shallow perception on the practice and view it strictly as a physical sex fest. Maybe you should look into why you are so hung up on the multiple underage girls you believe Joseph Smith had sex with. I hope it's not something you think about regularly...that's just not healthy Alan. I'm not going to ***ume you are a sexual deviant, just like I would appreciate you not implying that I condone pedophilia.

Now....as far as the historical practice of polygamy in general...yes, I have unanswered questions, absolutely. But I do have speculations (that I truly believe are very possible) that I will not share, simply because you may take them and use them for a future story for another forum member, I don't speculate when it can be misconstrued as "doctrine". But I have some strong ideas. It would not be the first time God has commanded His children to do things that were not popular in worldly views or considered socially acceptable. That's where I say "....lean not unto thine own understanding" "...If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.." "And be not conformed to this world:" The road to discipleship is not going to be easy...it's going to be accompanied by persecution, it has always been that way, and will always be so. So, again, I cannot let the opinions of man interfere with my testimony of God.

However...You made your words clear as well...that it wouldn't matter to you if he was or wasn't a sexual
deviant...that you would flatly reject God if He isn't who you want Him to be, or if He required anything of you that you believe to be silly or a waste of your time...simply put, you would reject God if He did not fit your criteria of who you believe He should be. You have created God in YOUR image, in your little box labeled "God"
And He must fit your image of Him to be worthy of your worship. That's a bold statement to make...very bold. But yes...you have made yourself perfectly clear.