From what I've researched, mormons traditionally believe that having dark skin is the mark of Cain(Genesis 4:10-16) and that all blacks are descendants of Cain and therefore unholy.
I had looked into converting to Mormonism. But after I found out about that(as well as exhaltation, Jesus creating the universe and heavens, Joseph Smith's magic glasses) there was way too much.
Yes but that's all religion is until someone uses it for other reasons. A theory with no proof or real evidence other than anecdotal. Repeated for centuries. Rebranded over and over again. If negative thinking is going to doom you, and life is all we have, then people who are pessimists by nature are SCREWED. Do you know how hard it is to weed out pessimism in some people? Have you noticed that people who read and live by The secret (rightly or wrongly) stay AWAY from negative people? Don't get me wrong, no one is saying that it is the same in scope or size. But it is exactly the same idea on a smaller scale IMO. Someone appealing to those in need of a boost. So just like the "rich" are always the enemies or bad guys in historical religion, I doubt there's a pessimistic multi-billionaire out there going "I really need to change and buy into this positive thinking thing!" The idea that something super-natural affects our daily decisions is something I strongly disagree with and is one of the main reasons why I left behind a lot of stuff I believed in before. Staying positive may be helpful in creating a certain state of mind for some people, but that state of mind is created by the ideology IMO. There are people in the world who's lives won't improve no matter hos positive they think. On a similar note.. <object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/WbS9jZOlQjc?fs=1&hl=en_GB"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/WbS9jZOlQjc?fs=1&hl=en_GB" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object>
da_juice, Just a small warning. IMO ATW is not respectful of these types of personal answers so you may want to watch what you say to him, if anything.
Your comment is very irresponsible. You're basically advocating that a personal truth detached from reality should be respected as real and true. If someone's faith doesn't make sense and none of its claims are verifiable then by definition it's not true.
I think this depends on if you are reading these stories literally or metaphorically. Metaphorically a belief in them is still logical as they illustrate important principles. Another thing to consider, especially with the Gospels, is that they represent different viewpoints of events of Jesus' life written years after Jesus' life. In that case you could still believe in them while acknowledging that there are contradictions to them or evidence not clearly supported by trying to glean what is the true from subjective and observations and distortions of time. For instance for a long time many considered the existence of Troy to be completely mythological until Hienrich Schielmann using the Odyssey as a guide found the ruins of a city(s) that is very likely the basis for mythological Troy. I think hanging on to an exact literalist interpretation of a holy text is illogical when other evidence, especially in the text, contradicts it but otherwise religious belief in general isn't illogical. Like most things it depends on context. Also as I stated earlier I don't think even a literal belief is necessarily problematic but how you act on those beliefs.
I've never read The Secret and am skeptical about some of its claims but I wouldn't dismiss the power of positive thinking. There have been a lot of psychological and physiological studies showing that positive thinking does have real benefits and studies on Buddhist monks and Yoga Gurus have shown that mental states can directly affect physical well being. Let me be clear that I don't think staying positive can make you rich or get dates with supermodels but I think it is something that can help overall health.
That's basically my argument...positive thinking (along with meditation, imo) can have a tremendous affect on self-esteem, depression, and over-active minds. I have seen it in my own life and countless others. like I said though, it's not a magical cure-all. Positive thinking won't get you your dream job or the perfect partner, but it can help you look at what you DO have in a new light and process it differently. That's what I truly value about how positive thinking manifests itself in peoples' lives. It's all about mindset...I TRULY believe that. "The Secret", upon closer inspection, does seem more like religion, or more specifically the prosperity gospel. If you give this tithe, if you help this person, if you buy this book - it's not going to magically make things all sunshine and rainbows, though that's what Joel Osteen and the authors of "The Secret" might make you think.
These principles are all common sense principles that your average human can figure out on their own without religious text.
I was waiting for this to come up. I was baptized and raised as a Protestant(UCC) however, Protestantism never satisfied. Ever since I was about 13 I've been experimenting with different religions, Cao-Dai, Mormonism, Baha'i, Islam, UU. So far I haven't really found a religion that really fits. Islam is probably the cloest fit.
What important principle does the passage I quoted illustrate metaphorically? Do most Christians believe in that passage literally or metaphorically? I think even Christians that have very liberal interpretations of the bible have to believe in some parts literally (like the immaculate conception that establishes Jesus' divinity, resurrection etc.), or it becomes more of a philosophy book than a religious text. (oooh, Brooks to Lee for alley-oop!)
and the fact that all these principles learned are pure common sense... I really see no point in religion.
Follow up question: if mormons actually view black people in that light, how does the Utah Jazz entice anyone to play for them that isn't white?!
