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Romneys Mormon problem
BTW: Which of his grandfather's many wives produced Mitt's dad George again?
it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests
The founder of the church, one Joseph Smith, was a fraud and conjurer well known to the authorities of upstate New York. He claimed to have been shown some gold plates on which a new revelation was inscribed in no known language. He then qualified as the sole translator of this language. (The entire story is related in Fawn Brodie’s biography, No Man Knows My History.* It seems that we can add, to sausages and laws, churches as a phenomenon that is not pleasant to watch at the manufacturing stage. Edmund Wilson wrote that it was powerfully shocking to see Brodie as she exposed a religion that was a whole-cloth fabrication.) On his later forays into the chartless wilderness, there to play the role of Moses to his followers (who were permitted and even encouraged in plural marriage, so as to go forth and mass-produce little Mormons), Smith also announced that he wanted to be known as the Prophet Muhammad of North America, with the fearsome slogan: “Either al-Koran or the Sword.” He levied war against his fellow citizens, and against the federal government. One might have thought that this alone would raise some eyebrows down at the local Baptist Church. …
Cult
1 : formal religious veneration : worship
2 : a system of religious beliefs and ritual; also : its body of adherents
3 : a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious; also : its body of adherents
4 : a system for the cure of disease based on dogma set forth by its promulgator
5 a : great devotion to a person, idea, object, movement, or work (as a film or book); especially : such devotion regarded as a literary or intellectual fad
b : the object of such devotion
c : a usually small group of people characterized by such devotion
Originally posted by thesungod
reply to post by knightsofcydonia
Wow really?
All religions are a cult by definition.
Cult
1 : formal religious veneration : worship
2 : a system of religious beliefs and ritual; also : its body of adherents
3 : a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious; also : its body of adherents
4 : a system for the cure of disease based on dogma set forth by its promulgator
5 a : great devotion to a person, idea, object, movement, or work (as a film or book); especially : such devotion regarded as a literary or intellectual fad
b : the object of such devotion
c : a usually small group of people characterized by such devotion
Source
Be careful what you label, lest the label haunt you.
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy indigenous to the Indian subcontinent and encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs, and practices largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, who is commonly known as the Buddha (meaning "the awakened one" in Sanskrit and Pāli). The Buddha lived and taught in the eastern part of Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE. He is recognized by Buddhists as an awakened or enlightened teacher who shared his insights to help sentient beings end ignorance (avidyā), craving (taṇhā), and suffering (dukkha), by recognizing dependent origination and sunyata, and attain Nirvana.
Originally posted by thesungod
reply to post by knightsofcydonia
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy indigenous to the Indian subcontinent and encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs, and practices largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, who is commonly known as the Buddha (meaning "the awakened one" in Sanskrit and Pāli). The Buddha lived and taught in the eastern part of Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE. He is recognized by Buddhists as an awakened or enlightened teacher who shared his insights to help sentient beings end ignorance (avidyā), craving (taṇhā), and suffering (dukkha), by recognizing dependent origination and sunyata, and attain Nirvana.
Source
The Siddhartha Gautama venerates Buddha.
Fits definitions 1 and 2.edit on 17-5-2012 by thesungod because: Forgot link.
CONDITIONS FOR MIND CONTROL
DR. MARGARET SINGER
(Margaret T. Singer, Ph.D., Emeritus Prof. of Psychology, Univ. of CA,
Berkeley)
THOUGHT REFORM = LANGUAGE + SOCIAL & PSYCHOLOGICAL INFLUENCE
In a thought reform program:
the self concept is destabilized
the group/leaders attack one's evaluation of self
SELF: 2 Elements in one's self-concept
Peripheral Sense: adequacy of public & judgmental aspects, social status, role performance, conformity to social norms
Central Sense of Self: adequacy of intimate life, confidence in perception of reality, relations w/family, goals, sexual experiences, traumatic life events, religious beliefs, basic consciousness and emotional control
When you attack a person's self-concept, aversive emotional arousal is created
6 CONDITIONS THAT NEED TO BE PRESENT IN ORDER TO CONSTITUTE MIND
CONTROL:
1. CONTROL OVER TIME
take up as much of their waking time as possible
2. CREATE A SENSE OF POWERLESSNESS
Get people away from normal support systems for a period of time Create a jargon/ separate group
3. MANIPULATE REWARDS, PUNISHMENTS, EXPERIENCES IN ORDER TO SUPPRESS OLD SOCIAL BEHAVIOR
Manipulate: social rewards intellectual rewards
PUNISHMENTS: attack person's self-concept for non-conformity
When there is control of external feedback, the group becomes the only source
-- there are no reality checks
BEHAVIORS REWARDED: participation, conformity to ideas/behavior, zeal, personal changes
BEHAVIORS PUNISHED: criticalness, independent thinking, non-conformity to ideas/behavior
PUNISHMENTS: peer/group criticism, withdrawal of support/affection,
isolation, negative feedback
THE PERSON IS DEPENDENT UPON THE GROUP FOR EXTERNAL VALIDATION OF SOCIAL IDENTITY
RESULTS: confusion, disorientation, psychological disturbances
Manipulate experience: altered states of consciousness (trance) hypnosis
Teach thought-stopping techniques Work them up emotionally to a negative state: re-experience past painful events recall negative actions/sin in past life Then rescue them from negative emotion by giving them a new way to live
4. MANIPULATE REWARDS, PUNISHMENTS, EXPERIENCES IN ORDER TO
ELICIT NEW BEHAVIOR
Models will demonstrate new behavior Conformity: dress, language, behavior
Using group language will eventually still the thinking mind
5. MUST BE A TIGHTLY CONTROLLED SYSTEM OF LOGIC
No complaints from the floor Pyramid shaped operation with leader at the top Top leaders must maintain absolute control/authority Persons in charge must have verbal ways of never losing
Anyone who questions is made to think there is something inherently wrong with them to even question Phobia induction: something bad will happen if you leave the group if you leave this group, you're leaving God Guilt manipulation
6. PERSONS BEING THOUGHT REFORMED MUST BE UNAWARE THAT THEY
ARE BEING MOVED THROUGH A PROGRAM TO MAKE THEM DEPLOYABLE
AGENTS, TO BUY MORE COURSES, SIGN UP FOR THE DURATION, ETC.
THOUGHT REFORM SYSTEM:
Coordinated programs of coercive influence and behavior
control
Use of pop psychology techniques found in sensitivity training
and encounters groups
Who knows if they actually believe in christian fairy tales (everything else about them is usually made up) or not their actions such as allowing the killing of millions of people through bombings and economic warfare certainly go well with the bibles teachings.
Originally posted by zroth
Why is this in politics?
I can't believe that only 'alleged' Christians are allowed to run for office in Amreika these days.
Originally posted by Keeper of Kheb
The mormon religion is NOT christianity.
Here's why...
Some Mormon Facts
1. Jesus is not God but "A son of God" primarily the offspring of a sexual relationship between God the father and his wife.
2. God the father is not All knowing, All powerful, All present
3. The Father, Son, Holy Spirit are 3 seperate individuals not 3in1
4. Jesus's work of salvation was completed in Gethsemene when he wept blood.
5. All life on earth is made up of Angels that remained neutral in the conflict between Lucifer and God and are sent here to make a choice.
6. God the father was once a man like you and I and ascended to Godhood.
7. Man can ascend to Godhood and have a planet of his own and populate it with his offspring with his eternal wife.
8. No translation is correct except the King James Bible "As long as it is translated correctly" in which most cases mormons read either a mormon king james where supposedly Joseph Smith corrected the mistakes or they don't read it all. they mainly read Doctrines & Covenants, Pearl of Great price, & book of mormon.
9. They believe they are part of a lost tribe of israel that migrated here and christ came over here after his resurrection and preached the gospel to them.
10. They believe salvation is through Faith & Works not the truth that salvation is by faith alone and your works is a result of your salvation. No mormon knows if he is going to heaven or not. Christians are assured of their salvation from the beginning.
This is just off the top of my head there is much much more....
Originally posted by Keeper of Kheb
The mormon religion is NOT christianity.
Here's why...
Some Mormon Facts
1. Jesus is not God but "A son of God" primarily the offspring of a sexual relationship between God the father and his wife.
2. God the father is not All knowing, All powerful, All present
3. The Father, Son, Holy Spirit are 3 seperate individuals not 3in1
4. Jesus's work of salvation was completed in Gethsemene when he wept blood.
5. All life on earth is made up of Angels that remained neutral in the conflict between Lucifer and God and are sent here to make a choice.
6. God the father was once a man like you and I and ascended to Godhood.
7. Man can ascend to Godhood and have a planet of his own and populate it with his offspring with his eternal wife.
8. No translation is correct except the King James Bible "As long as it is translated correctly" in which most cases mormons read either a mormon king james where supposedly Joseph Smith corrected the mistakes or they don't read it all. they mainly read Doctrines & Covenants, Pearl of Great price, & book of mormon.
9. They believe they are part of a lost tribe of israel that migrated here and christ came over here after his resurrection and preached the gospel to them.
10. They believe salvation is through Faith & Works not the truth that salvation is by faith alone and your works is a result of your salvation. No mormon knows if he is going to heaven or not. Christians are assured of their salvation from the beginning.
This is just off the top of my head there is much much more....