She said: "I told them "'I don't believe in God' and ran off!" But they chased me! The one said he was sorry for me!" (Moomins! She has a very good sense of humour!)
They are a right pair of idiots.
Someone on the RFM board suggested reporting them. I considered that suggestion, but then I thought better of it. Because the best thing is to just let them keep on putting people off their ersatz multi-level marketing scam church!
Showing posts with label fake. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fake. Show all posts
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Sunday, March 23, 2008
COV for Sunday 24th March
Hello. Welcome to the COV for Sunday 24th March.
First off a contribution from Eric
A flashback to my Mormon days... Ode To Me, Ward Clerk.
A poem I wrote a few years ago for The Sugar Beet, an online Mormon satire magazine. I was a frustrated ward clerk in one of the most conservative wards in Happy Valley (my mustache/goatee was a constant source of contention in the stake, causing issues ranging from leading the young men astray to upsetting Jesus). I put some of my frustrations into this quick poem, which I submitted to be published in The Sugar Beet's printed edition. It never made it to the online or printed magazines, but eventually made it to The Sugar Beet's compendium of humor, The Mormon Tabernacle Enquirer.
My days as a ward clerk feel like a lifetime ago, but the emotions and frustrations are still as real today as they were then.
(MATT: Being a ward clerk sucks. About as much as being the Ward Exec Sec. All of the work, none of the benefits. (What benefits??))
And next from Runtu:
Here's my first contribution in over a year:
http://runtu.wordpress.com/2008/03/18/life-without-mormonism/
As for your tag line, try this:
Reality sucks. Try Mormonism!
(MATT: Thanks! A very thoughtful article. Mormonism DOES use fear to keep members down.
And maybe I could try that tagline! Sorry about the hyperlink not working. I can't figure out how to create hyperlinks in Firefox. Anyone got an idea, please?)
Here's one from Fr33kishly Paranoid.
An interesting post. He knows where the Golden Plates are!
And now we step over to South Bay Soliloquies where we read an interest post on running, running shoes and on how you can't stop in life.
http://south-bay-soliloquies.blogspot.com/2008/03/something-profound.html
And now here is mine (Without the hyperlink. Dang!)
http://notamormon.blogspot.com/2008/03/why-joseph-smith-is-not-prophet.html
I had a Mormon post a comment on my blog that Joseph Smith was a prophet even if physical reality told him it was not true.
I attempt in my post to examine Joseph Smith's false prophethood by comparing him to a fake doctor. (Actually a true story.)
Well, that's it for now. Easter is almost over for another year and I'll see you in another two weeks.
Why Joseph Smith is not a prophet
Joseph Smith is not a prophet. Why? Because he wasn't a prophet. It is as simple as that.
A practising Mormon called Andrew made the following point on my blog:
"Matt my friend,
But eventually, other people start to ask questions. Dr Smith starts to prescribe some really bizarre treatments. The drugs he prescribes are often the wrong drug, or in the wrong dosages.
Or he prescribes two teaspoons of hair shampoo for an internal complaint.
He tells someone that there is nothing wrong with them, and it is found out when he collapses in the street that he has a cancer which, if Doctor Smith had referred him to hospital, would have been curable. But now it is too late.
Eventually the medical authorities step in and, at the outraged instigation of a pharmacist, they conduct an investigation. They discover that Smith had not attended medical college as he should have done, but had been asked to leave for various nefarious practices. He borrowed a genuine Doctor's certificate and has a perfect copy made but in his own name.
When this is discovered, many patients come forward with stories of how he failed to identify a wide variety of medical conditions. They had complained to the authorities but had been ignored as Dr Smith was such a popular doctor with the other doctors in the area.
The physical evidence that Smith was a fake Doctor was merely evidence that he was a fake medical practitioner. Not that his certificate was a fake.
Anyone can want to pretend to be a doctor, or an architect, or a police officer, or a general, or whatever. Only a man like Joseph Smith can desire to pretend to be something (in Smith's case, a prophet of God) and then to continue to put this desire into practice.
What about Frank Abagnale? He used falsehoods and faked papers to pretend to be a number of things. Including a teaching assistant at BYU.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Abagnale
Incidentally the story of the fake doctor who was spotted when he prescribed shampoo as an internal medication? It really did happen in Northern England, several years ago. And the local pharmacist, who had warned the medical authorities for several years about his suspicions that the doctor was a fake was eventually proved right.
Rather like when William Law published the Navoo Expositor in order to expose Joseph Smith as a fake prophet.
A practising Mormon called Andrew made the following point on my blog:
"Matt my friend,
Truth is found through prayer, fasting, and study, not through physical evidence.
I know Joseph Smith was a prophet because God Himself told me. He truly did. No amount of physical evidence, however persuasive, could convince me otherwise."
My reply was
"Andrew, my dear old mate, thank you for your comment.
I prayed. Long and hard. I fasted I prayed and I studied for a very long time.
And God told me that Joseph Smith was NOT his prophet. That the LDS church was NOT his church.
This came as something of a surprise, as I was firmly convinced that when I received an answer from God that it would confirm my testimony. But it did not.
Why did Joseph Smith NOT mention the several groups that did live in the Americas? Because he was not a prophet of God. It's that simple.
At times, I wondered if it would have been better to rely on the testimonies of others, not to do as I did to pray for my own, personal answer. Because the answer I got was a hard one. All I had been taught since my parents had converted to Mormonism was,God told me, wrong.
But as I grew older I came to accept the will of God more. If God had wanted me to have continued being a Mormon, he would have left me as one. He saved me."
But eventually, other people start to ask questions. Dr Smith starts to prescribe some really bizarre treatments. The drugs he prescribes are often the wrong drug, or in the wrong dosages.
Or he prescribes two teaspoons of hair shampoo for an internal complaint.
He tells someone that there is nothing wrong with them, and it is found out when he collapses in the street that he has a cancer which, if Doctor Smith had referred him to hospital, would have been curable. But now it is too late.
Eventually the medical authorities step in and, at the outraged instigation of a pharmacist, they conduct an investigation. They discover that Smith had not attended medical college as he should have done, but had been asked to leave for various nefarious practices. He borrowed a genuine Doctor's certificate and has a perfect copy made but in his own name.
When this is discovered, many patients come forward with stories of how he failed to identify a wide variety of medical conditions. They had complained to the authorities but had been ignored as Dr Smith was such a popular doctor with the other doctors in the area.
The physical evidence that Smith was a fake Doctor was merely evidence that he was a fake medical practitioner. Not that his certificate was a fake.
Anyone can want to pretend to be a doctor, or an architect, or a police officer, or a general, or whatever. Only a man like Joseph Smith can desire to pretend to be something (in Smith's case, a prophet of God) and then to continue to put this desire into practice.
What about Frank Abagnale? He used falsehoods and faked papers to pretend to be a number of things. Including a teaching assistant at BYU.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Abagnale
Incidentally the story of the fake doctor who was spotted when he prescribed shampoo as an internal medication? It really did happen in Northern England, several years ago. And the local pharmacist, who had warned the medical authorities for several years about his suspicions that the doctor was a fake was eventually proved right.
Rather like when William Law published the Navoo Expositor in order to expose Joseph Smith as a fake prophet.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Sometimes, things take you unawares
Like when I prayed to God to tell me how I was getting it wrong, asking for my testimony in the Mormon Church to be returned to me. I worked so hard at getting my testimony back. I worked hard at being a perfect Mormon, never breaking the Word of Wisdom, for example.
Eventually, after much praying and heart-searching and angst and worry and fear and being so desperate for the answer I got an answer that blew my mind. God told me that the Mormon Church was not his church.
How it actually happened was this: I asked one last time “why can’t I be a good Mormon? How come if the Mormon church is your one, true church, membership makes me feel so bad? Why am I such a horrible, evil sinner?”
To my shock and then joy the answer I got back was: The Mormon Church does not have to be my one, true church.”
In shock, I said: “God, Lord, are you telling me that it ISN’T?”
I am sure I heard a chuckle, and then: “If you need me to spell it out for you, then, it is not my church.”
It was as if a ton weight had been lifted from my shoulders. I suddenly felt free. It was also as if a long, long sentence in jail had been scrapped and I was allowed out to breathe the free, clean air, again.
A total subject change. And a plea for information!
I run several online magazines using Blogger to publish them all. It is free and I get income from Google ads, too.
Until recently, I got a modest number of hits. I got 154 page impressions on a very good day. On a bad day? About a quarter of that amount.
Until, that is, when I decided to get a My Yahoo button installed on my site, htpp://thatsnews.blogspot.com. Suddenly my page impressions went up from 154 a day to 65,134 page impressions…With a fairy surprising rise in advert income, too.
Could adding the My Yahoo link have done that? Anyone else wanna give it try?
Eventually, after much praying and heart-searching and angst and worry and fear and being so desperate for the answer I got an answer that blew my mind. God told me that the Mormon Church was not his church.
How it actually happened was this: I asked one last time “why can’t I be a good Mormon? How come if the Mormon church is your one, true church, membership makes me feel so bad? Why am I such a horrible, evil sinner?”
To my shock and then joy the answer I got back was: The Mormon Church does not have to be my one, true church.”
In shock, I said: “God, Lord, are you telling me that it ISN’T?”
I am sure I heard a chuckle, and then: “If you need me to spell it out for you, then, it is not my church.”
It was as if a ton weight had been lifted from my shoulders. I suddenly felt free. It was also as if a long, long sentence in jail had been scrapped and I was allowed out to breathe the free, clean air, again.
A total subject change. And a plea for information!
I run several online magazines using Blogger to publish them all. It is free and I get income from Google ads, too.
Until recently, I got a modest number of hits. I got 154 page impressions on a very good day. On a bad day? About a quarter of that amount.
Until, that is, when I decided to get a My Yahoo button installed on my site, htpp://thatsnews.blogspot.com. Suddenly my page impressions went up from 154 a day to 65,134 page impressions…With a fairy surprising rise in advert income, too.
Could adding the My Yahoo link have done that? Anyone else wanna give it try?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
