Again, HardHobbit, you’re trying to lecture me on what Christianity should be or how I should behave when you yourself have admitted to denial of Jesus Christ and of God.

I’m an agnostic, so no, I don’t believe that.

1 John is quite explicit about what that means — and makes it obvious that it especially applies to you.

Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.

1 John 2: 18 – 23

And further:

Many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist. Watch out that you do not lose what you have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully. Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take him into your house or welcome him. Anyone who welcomes him shares in his wicked work.

2 John 1: 7 – 11

In short, you haven’t a pot in which to pi$$ when it comes to Christianity, because you have denied its central and fundamental tenets. You’re sitting here bashing V the K over your claim that his religion doesn’t believe in Jesus or God when you yourself have stated that you don’t believe in Jesus or in God.

Brigham Young taught that God had sexual relations with Mary. Joseph Smith began writing and speaking about beings inhabiting the Moon as early as 1837. According to him, they wore outfits similar to those worn by Quakers. Also, the name Mormon is a liaison of more and the Egyptian word mon, which I believe means ‘good’. Joseph Smith taught that the Pyramids at Giza contain secrets of the origins of the Mormon church and its history. (Was Smith a Mason, by any chance?) This is what I have read in several sources and I’m not making this up. I think, though I’m not sure, that Mormons believe that Jesus existed on the North American continent for awhile.

Yeah, I can tell you find it really humorous, your ‘LOL’ and such notwithstanding. Laughing at people, especially your previous comment that implies contrition on my part would require a miracle, I would bet doesn’t exactly find itself within the Lutheran canon. You might ask your pastor about that.

“And my answer is simply this: who cares?”

Yep, you sure don’t care. Not enough to continue to post comments re. same, right?

“What is really funny is when nonbelievers like yourself try to manipulate religious people into attacking each other.”

You seek bigotry everywhere you turn, don’t you? It is no mystery as to why you come across as so miserable. The joy and comfort religion is supposed to bring is so utterly absent with you, what with all your lies and misappropriation of comments, your timorous ‘anti-religious bigot’ slurs, your assumption that non-belief is inherently malevolent, your insistence that my refusal to join in attacking an atheist automatically puts me in agreement with him and anything he writes, etc.

Mormonism teaches that God has a wife and together they have what are referred to as ‘spirit-babies’. No Christian denomination or organization teaches similar doctrine and neither does Judaism. Does this make Mormonism bad? No. Is this teaching necessarily untrue? No. But it does stand far outside the teachings and texts of Christianity. Who decides what is ‘Christian’? I believe it is Christians who decide.

Actually, you ask it to be provocative.

And my answer is simply this: who cares?

What we know is that Mary didn’t have sex with Joseph until after Jesus was born.

What we know is that she became, as the Bible puts it, “with child through the Holy Spirit”.

Given God’s omnipotence, there are literally an infinite number of ways in which that could have happened. The only reason it matters in the least is to say that God was not limited to “having sex” as we would know it in our context to accomplish matters, but at the same time, He certainly could have chosen to do so.

What is really funny is when nonbelievers like yourself try to manipulate religious people into attacking each other. All it shows is how little you understand of religion — and also how empty your accusations that someone’s behavior is “not Mormon” or “not Christian”.

As an agnostic, I’m not as concerned about a candidate’s faith as some others are. (This kind of concern is particularly consistent with atheism — atheists seem the most concerned and prejudiced of all. fnln, is this true of yourself?) I don’t like the explicit mixing of religion and politics, but like all other aspects of a candidate, I balance the good and the bad and make a determination as to who would do the most good or most harm. Religion is just one consideration and for me, a very minor one.

(Let me add that if the candidate were an avowed Satanist, I would have problems casting my vote for them.)

What Dallas wrote:

*************

Because unlike you, HardHobbit, Jews don’t go around lecturing people that they’re not good Christians and trying to manipulate other peoples’ behavior based on that.

And next:

Homosexuality doesn’t require one to be an antireligious bigot. I take full responsibility for my beliefs.

I give that fifteen minutes.

**************

It should be noted that his quotation “Homosexuality doesn’t require…for my beliefs” is not from me, though he appears to have implied thus by not stating his source.

No, hate need not be directed toward any one person. Islamists hate western ideas, many of them knowing no particular westerner. So, it’s correct to say that hate often (usually) comes from ignorance.

Re. Mormonism:

I don’t hate Mormonism. Why would I? But I do question a Mormon’s contention that it (Mormonism) is Christianity. Why wouldn’t I? Shouldn’t I? I don’t have any vested interest in the answer, but I’m interested in the answer nonetheless. To ask questions of Mormonism and the statements of its founders is natural, especially when Mormons are reversing their own years-ago contention that they aren’t Christians.

Do my (or anyone else’s) questions re. the Mormon religion imply it’s a bad religion? Of course not. It’s a large and quickly-growing religion, so it must be doing something many think is right. But its numbers alone don’t make it a ‘good’ religion and the claims of its adherents alone don’t make it Christianity. This is just common sense.

So when I ask a question re. the idea that God had sex with Mary in order to conceive Christ, I ask because this is what Brigham Young taught his followers. Is this official Mormon teaching, or has this been repudiated? If it has been repudiated, does this at all affect how Brigham Young is viewed by the Mormon faith and/or how then do non-Mormons view such teachings and such Mormon leaders? Are these inappropriate questions? Does my ignorance of the answers to such questions imply hate? Of course not.

Go, Ian, go!

You see, hate attacks individuals, not ideas. Ian’s last two comments are crude personal attacks. Hate also comes from a place of ignorant bigotry. Instead of responding to the substance of what someone has written, Ian just lashes out at people he despises (Republicans, conservatives, people of faith, et c…)

Hopefully, this teaching moment will help HH from making foolish accusations in the future.

do a word count and see who left more verbiage.

Probably Never Does Truth since he just regurgitates tired old comments that never made much sense to begin with.