Mormons

From FreeThoughtPedia

The Mormons, or the Church of Jesus of Latter-Day Saints is a sect of Christianity formed in the early-to-mid 1800s in North America.

Mormons believe that around 1830, Joseph Smith was given gold plates by God and translated them into the Book of Mormon. God told Smith personally that all other churches are an abomination to Him and in apostasy. Or so Smith claimed. Smith began practicing polygamy on the sly. He married over 30 women, including a couple of 14 year olds. When he died, the church was taken over by Brigham Young, who moved them all to the Utah territory because the polygamy was getting them in a lot of trouble. They stopped the approving polygamous marriage in 1890.

The problem is that the Book of Mormon is supposed to be a history of early America, and it is obvious when you read it that it is just a fantasy written before we knew much about the Native Americans' history. Like his other 'translations', the Book of Abraham and the Kinderhook plates, it is obvious there was no skill or inspiration involved.

Joseph Smith was a con man who had been in court 3 times for con involving digging for treasure before writing the Book of Mormon. He'd get farmers to pay him and promise them gold. He also started an illegal bank that fleeced his followers, and he destroyed a newspaper that was about to expose his polygamy. He just wasn't a very nice man, and seems an unlikely candidate for a prophet.

The theology is hodge podge of masonry, Campbellites, Swedenborg and more. They have a lot of temple rituals from masonry. They will baptize you Mormon by proxy after you are dead, for example. They believe if worthy enough, they will become gods after death.

The church believes they are headed at all times by a current living prophet and seer, and the members are taught to obey the prophet. The LDS puts a lot of emphasis on family, although in Utah where they have the highest density among the population, there is also some of the highest prescription rates of giving children mood-altering drugs like Ritalin and Prozac.

Here's a video in-a-nutshell of the beliefs of the Mormon (Church of Jesus Christ Latter Day Saints) religion: