I have been raised a mormon my entire life. I believe in god, I believe in Jesus Christ, and I believe joseph smith was a true profet. but I don't believe in the organised church of jesus christ of latter day saints. the bishops just screw me and my family over. I tryed the good little Molly mormon thing and I still got tormented and I was unhappy with myself. so I do what I wanted with my appearence. I chopped my beautifull long hair off and dyed it blue. I gave all my nice preppy clothes away and made my own clothes or got different ones from goodwill. I acted the way I wanted. I was happy being myself, but all the other mormons were pissed off that I was doing things that they didn't want me to do. I still have the basic moral values instilled in me. but I wont have all my shirts have sleeves or have my shorts go down to my knees. And I DO NOT believe that church is "the one true church" I believe that all churches have truth in them. Krishna, budha, and Jesus all were born from a mortal mother and devine father (please corredt me if Im wrong). They all could have been the same person but with a different name. Mary magdelen could have been jesus' wife, and the holy grail (the holy grail I believe is not a cup, but a metaphor for the divine unity) and the real twelth opostle. I think bush is the anti-christ(yes I truly believe that)and that ALL churches are true in some aspect.

this is a religious arguement board so please argue with me about it.

jenos, psycopoe was pretty much saying that he/she doesn't like the Mormon culture, but believes in the Mormon religion. (Sorry if I'm wrong about that presumption) If he/she believes that Joseph Smith was a true prophet, you cannot convince him/her that the Book of Mormon is untrue, so don't bother.

psycopoe, I'm LDS, and I know what you mean. Just try YOUR best. They're wrong to judge you. *starts Yoda voice* A flaw more and more common among Mormons *ends Yoda voice*

If you believe in the LDS religion, but don't like the LDS social circles, maybe you could find an LDS yahoo group, and see if you can find other LDS people who feel that way, and get to know them.

I promise that your bishop doesn't overlook you. Maybe he just doesn't know that you feel that way. Try and be more social with him if you feel that way, or if you really feel like that, find a different ward. I know my bishop would NEVER be like that.

I guess you could call me a "Molly Mormon" and all, and I like it. If you want to argue more, you can NOISEmail me, and we can talk privately, but I don't know what to say more on such a public level.

Oh no, don't apologize. You didn't offend me. It just amuses me to see how all the religions claim (simultaneously) that they're the one true religion. I study religion, too, which is why I'm not religious. Once you know a certain amount of dirt on your religion, it gets kind of hard to believe in it any more. When I found out that Jesus' divinity was voted on by a bunch of Romans four centuries after he died, I pretty much gave up on being a Christian.

Clpo13, I told you what I believe to be true. Don't get me wrong; I respect other religions. In fact, I like to study them. After all, this is the YOUTH NOISE site to stand for what we believe to be and how to make the world better. I'm sorry if I offended you;but that's how I look at it humbly.
Oh, and before I forget...Maybe they have "Jack Mormons" in UT, but where I am from I've never heard of them. No Worries!

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Edit: Jesus Christ Superstar is also interesting. It's "PG", so there's no problem with ratings. Basically, the movie says that Mary Magdaline *could* have been Jesus's wife.

This isn't quite on topic, but "Lamb, Life of Jesus as Told By His Best Friend Biff" may appeal to you if you like that movie.

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Youre mormon and like rancid?

Read the entire post. He's more of a Jack Mormon. (No offense to Psychopoe)

Jack Mormon = a mormon who doesn't follow all of the rules of the church.

Youre mormon and like rancid?

I'm actually not a Mormon, but I'm from Utah, and I'm probably the only person around here who knows what a Molly Mormon is. (To anyone who doesn't know: They're really, really conservative. I've met molly mormons who can't watch PG-13 movies and refuse to play any card game with a set of poker cards.)

The only thing that I can say is that it's OK to be a Jack Mormon. (To those who don't know: A jack mormon is a "mormon" who really doesn't follow the rules of the church.) Plenty of people here in UT are, and that's fine. Usually, the issue is that someone drinks alcohol or caffiene, even though the church says that it's wrong. Molly Mormons are creepy beyond belief, in my opinion. Lots of people wouldn't consider you a Mormon, but I say that it doesn't matter much. Whatever works for you.

The thing about the Mormon church is that the prophets contradict themselves and the book of mormon so much that it's unbelievable. The book of mormon basically says that black people are descended from the devil, but when the civil rights movement gained momentum in the '60's, the prophet said that that statement was false. *Shrug*

A good movie to watch that's sort of related to this is "SLC Punk". The main character is a non-Mormon punk who's trapped in Mormon-filled Salt Lake City. Go watch it. It's rated "R", but I trust that that's OK with you?

Edit: Jesus Christ Superstar is also interesting. It's "PG", so there's no problem with ratings. Basically, the movie says that Mary Magdaline *could* have been Jesus's wife.

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The Church of Jesus Christ is the only church that has the full gospel

I bet the Muslims would have something to say about that. You see, they're the ones who think they've got the real deal.

But hey, psycopoe, good job on realizing organized religion isn't all it's cracked up to be. Do things you believe to be right, not what a book tells you.

Dear Psyopoe,
You are right. All churches have some good and true things in them. All religions are good, no doubt about that. The Church of Jesus Christ is the only church that has the fullgospel. Listen, I'm LDS, and I'm not writing to try and get you to come back. You however, invited us to state our opinions, so I will. If you believe in Christ and Joseph Smith and the Living God, how can you say you don't believe in the way the church was organized? I mean, I'm not saying to take a religon without asking questions. You should be questioning when you are unsure. I remember I was having trouble with being modest. I wanted a prom dress that wasn't modest when the time came for prom. I thought it wasn't a big deal since it would be a one time thing. I was questioning other things as well about the church. And you know what. I felt the spirit leave me. At first I don't think I realized it, but during the church meetings I felt like something was missing. I had a negative look at life. I tryed praying and I asked the lord why I felt so empty. For a while I felt like I wasn't getting anywhere. It took me along time to realize that it was me. I disconnected the line, and now I had to reconnect it by changing how I was looking at life. I altered my dress so it fit the standerds, and I started to pray for forgiveness. It took longer than I thought, but when I was up at Young Womens camp, and we were bearing our testimonies at the fireside, I remember that I stood up and bore my testimony. And as I was talking, I was filled with the spirit. I couldn't believe it. I had been empty for so long, and then I was filled. Psycopoe, no one is perfect except Jesus; All of us has different weaknesses, but I know you can get through this. I know how you feel. I remember showing my dress to one of the young women in my grade, and she wasn't rude but she did point out what she thought about it. At the time it seemed like she was jealous and not understanding. After my experience, I realized that she was trying to help someone who was negative. The "other mormons" should not be ..um.. angry with you, but as I said, no one is perfect. If you believe in Christ, try and be like him.There are no fence sitters, you're either on the Lords side, or satans.I think we've all experienced both sides. It least I have, and the Lords side is much better, I promise. And, I promise if you start to pray and ask about what's troubling you you will be helped; it might take some time, but I promise that it's worth it. I hope I have helped. The Lord will help you if you let him.

I too was raised blind faith christian and really didn't start asking any questions about anything until I was reaching adolescence, at which point I said to myself "why would a loving God allow my alchoholic father to beat me and my mom on a regular basis and get away with it?"
Research into this allowed me to realize that God does not dictate the actions of man and he doesn't oft intervene when we make our own mistakes, especially where pride is concerned as a catalyst for mistakes. While I had to pay for the mistakes of my mother and father, I am now my own man and my trials strengthened me and made me less likely to repeat the mistakes of my parents.
As for Mormonism and Catholicism go, my personal research (based on others' research) has found that both directly contradict scripture and would fall under cult status, especially mormonism. John Smith was basically a David Koresh that didn't get burned down and actually turned quite successful. Catholicism has basically become a political entity moreso than a faith and is stuck on ritual and self preservation as norms.
One thing that the bible warns us about is false prophets and false teachings as well as the corruption of the church. We are told that near the end times many false prophets will come and mislead christians, some will even be able to perform miracles and things of that nature. The church was steeped in corruption at the time of the advent of jesus and is probably just as guilty of his demise as the romans. Don't you think there is a reason that God showed us an example that even his son cannot escape from the corruption of his church?
The story of jesus and the moneychangers whether taken literally or as a parable definitely shows that god is not pleased with the mingling of commercialism and christianity, a tradition that seems to have taken root heavily here in the capitalist united states of Americash.
If you would like to make good decisions regarding your own faith and christianity, I suggest that you read the bible and then consult parts that intrigue you and look to others' research. There is nothing wrong with asking questions, I've found that it can strengthen your faith moreso than sitting and doubting.

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(It's in the title, man) It doesn't contradict the bible at all.

Oh yes it does. Read it and you'll see why.

Annotated Book of Mormon

Several passages in the Book of Mormon directly contradict several of the passages in the Bible. It is as simple as that.

What you have to understand about the Book of Mormon is that it is ANOTHER testament of Jesus Christ. (It's in the title, man) It doesn't contradict the bible at all. It reinforces what we feel the Bible is trying to tell us.

O.K. I see. I personally think the Lord put like Revalations in the Bible so that Christians will have a sort of reasurrance or in some way to encourage Christians of what will happen after we die and in the future. I think the Lord used symbolism to challenge us so we would in some way wonder what it all meant. The book still confuses me in some of the things it talks about. I believe that the resurections was real because all four of the gospels talk about Jesus and his life and the other things are not symbolism. This is what I think.

Christianity today is a capitalistic, commercialistic compaign. Christianity today can be put on a bumper or a t-shirt.

Catholicism, claiming to be a denomination of Christianity, put more emphasis on Mary than Jesus Christ, and pray to dead saints, when the Bible claims that the dead are dead and such kind of communication cannot occur. Mormonism, another so-called denomination of Christianity, has the Book of Mormon - wherein pages upon pages of passages contradict the Bible. How can this be if it is supposedly a new testament of Jesus Christ? Some parts of the Bible itself also dwell a good bit on symbolism, yet some parts are meant to be quite literal, or so Christians argue. Jesus' resurrection is supposed to be taken literally, saying he physically died and rose again in three days. Yet the entire book of Revelation is utter symbolism all the way through. How does God expect us to tell the difference? What if the ressurection is only symbolism as well? What if what Revelation says will actually happen literally? This does not make sense to me, although I am continually researching it.

Hey Jenos I was just wandering but what sort of things to you think didn't make sense in Christianity.

I believe in God, or rather, one supreme Being that created the world, but I do not follow any organized religion. I find many flaws with Christianity, and although I was raised in a strict Christian household, mant aspects of the religion fail to explain themselves. And then you have the many idiots, like Jamaica that make outworldly claims without any factual basis for backing them up, that give the religion a foul association. I still attend Church, for although I do not believe in many of the things preached to me, I find it all very interesting anyway, and enjoy learning things about different religions. Almost my entire church, including my family, despise the way I dress, but I decided that I didn't care much for their opinions. Considering what I did was in no direct violation of the Bible, they just enjoy being conservative and restricting how anybody else in the church dresses and acts.

I have actually been studying Mormonism for quite a long time, 2 years in fact. I find it an interesting religion, yet ultimately flawed like all of the other denominations of Christianity. I remain to be a believer in God, and I am looking into some other religions, but I refuse take hold until one makes perfect sense. I did believe in Christianity, until I simply began to realize many parts of it just didn't make sense, and so I broke away.