After reading only
Under the Banner of Heaven I had some very similar thoughts. I started to think of these groups as our own kind of Taliban.
And I did start wondering just who was, in truth, running Utah.
However this case, and many others, are in different states and it still goes on.
And all of these splinter groups operate independently of both "Main-stream" Church and each other. And while they operated as self-contained units, and claim to hate all Governments, they just love to milk the welfare system:
As noted in several of the news stories, all of these un-married women claim and collect monies.
"Polygamy is outlawed everywhere in the United States but the male followers of such sects typically marry one woman officially and take the others as "spiritual wives."
This makes the women single in the eyes of the state which can entitle them and their children to various welfare benefits."
Quote:
Originally Posted by EE-BO
Hey guys,
To clarify my statements earlier- I did a fair amount of research on my own years ago for a couple of papers in school on the Mormon Church and that, plus my own tracking of recent events, is what informs my opinion.
The Mormon Church has a very deliberately crafted power structure based in legal and private sector influence that dates back quite far. The ZCMI stores are a good example. It is also worth noting that Coca-Cola products became acceptable (though not for the Temple-Worthy) when the Mormon Church bought a large share of the Coca-Cola company. This is a religion based in commerce and power- and it always has been.
There is much historical evidence to support specific stories in various texts held sacred by Christians, Jews, Muslims and Buddhists- evidence that is thousands of years old. And yet there is ZERO physical evidence of the claims of the Book of Mormon regarding events that are not even 200 years old. Add in the fact the Church's founder ran West to escape what he saw as persecution for his paganistic ways, and it is very hard to put any credence in the accounts in the Book of Mormon. Certainly faith cares not for historical evidence, but one has a right to wonder why- in the context of how the Book of Mormon came about- why there is absolutely nothing to suggest the accounts are based in anything factual when all other religions can claim that.
Mormon power in Utah is great. Warren Jeffs ran his cult with the support of local law enforcement and government officials in a fairly open manner.
And yet it took YEARS after he made media headlines for there to be any action- and it was federal action, not state action by a government elected by a state dominated by Mormons.
This is a crowning example of how "mainstream" Mormons- by virtue of the sin of omission- tolerate the extremists among them. To say "I don't support that" but to keep on supporting the church is meaningless. Either you support the actions of your church or you don't.
And yes, you better believe I have the same disdain for the Catholic Church of 200+ years ago that engaged in history's greatest child molestation ring. My scholastic knowledge of that- and the literature of Europe during the medievel and Renaissance period- is very high. And there is no sugar coating the horrible reality of the church at that time- again as with the Mormon church (though to a greater degree with Catholicism back then) based on a religion driven by economic and political power.
And that is how religions must be judged in the context of their existence in a world society that has finally come to recognize the importance of the difference between Church versus State.
Israeli Jews ruthlessly prosecute Jews who engage in terrorist acts against Palestinians. American Christians as a group have little sympathy for those who kill doctors who perform abortions or for those who commit acts of terrorism and claim they were done in the name of Christianity.
And yet on an ongoing basis, Mormons tolerate and fail to demand action against the Warren Jeffs among them.
I am a very liberal and open-minded person for the most part. But I have zero empathy for the Mormon "faith" and what comes with it. I do not even recognize Mormonism as a legitimate denomination of Christianity.
Sorry, but there it is.
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