I myself am actually a member of the LDS church, interestingly enough. However I have had my time away from the Church deciding if I really wanted to be a part of it or not. In that time, I have become friends with quite a few people who are not members of this church-often not religious at all. Actually I know quite a number of people who look at the LDS church in an incredibly negative way, and it makes me wonder what in the world happened to make them feel so strongly about one faith, which more often than not they barely know anything about. This post is honestly just about clearing up some misconceptions and misleading parts about the church I have come across in my 20 short years of meeting new people and seeing the Church from an outsiders perspective. (I'll do my best but I am human-forgive me if I make any mistakes!)
#1. No we do not have horns. (When I heard people say they've been asked this question before, I always laughed-until it happened to me!)
#2. We are people. Just like everyone else in the world we make mistakes. In keeping to that, we are taught not to judge. Now for those of you who have met those incredibly judgmental Mormons who won't talk to you because you have a tattoo?? Guess what-a very big number of Mormons hate those judgmental Mormons cause they judge EVERYONE including other Mormons! Please do not judge our church based off of those types because I guarantee we are not all like that.
#3. Our church activity is completely voluntary. Meaning no one in our church is paid. Not the Bishops or Presidents or anything. Many of you know that we pay 10% of our income to tithing; and many believe it must go towards paying our leaders, but it doesn't. The tithing we pay goes towards building our churches and temples, towards helping the needy, operating funds for the church, etc. On that note, tithing is also voluntary, however if you choose not to pay it you will not be able to participate in the temple work which we do. (Why should you get to participate in it if you don't help pay for it?) :)
#4. Here's a sticky one that I probably should not go into but here I am. :) (This is something that I struggle to explain and understand myself so be patient please!) On the subject of homosexuality. We do not believe being gay is a sin. However, we do believe that acting on those feelings is a sin. We believe that this life is about overcoming sin and the natural man, which is part of why we do not believe in having sex outside of marriage. Lustful feelings are a part of the natural man, and so gay or not gay, to act on those feelings is where the sin comes in. I don't want to go any further on this because it's a sensitive subject for everyone; I'm just wanting to clarify that we are not one of those faiths who believe a homosexual person will go straight to hell, do not pass go. (And this is not about gay marriage. That ties into this, but I'm not discussing gay marriage so keep those comments away please!)
#5. Everyone hates Utah because of the Mormons right? (I admit, sometimes I kind of do too ;) Obviously not enough to move though!) Now, when you start getting angry about the Utah Mormons, and how we are all Republican, and all those other nasty things that come with this subject, keep in mind one thing. We settled Utah because there was an EXTERMINATION order against us in Missouri. You all know what extermination means right? Well this order was given in 1838. In fact, it was in continuation until 1976 (meaning it was legal to kill a Mormon for being a Mormon until 1976). So excuse us for wanting our own little conservative state where we didn't have to worry about being persecuted anymore.
#6. No one in this church has been coerced or forced into doing anything. If someone tells you otherwise? They're probably lying. We all believe in free will. Therefore, if we have made the decision not to drink alcohol, or smoke, or the ten million other things we choose not to do? Leave us be. We made the decision for ourselves, and we don't need people getting on our case about it. If ya'll don't want us to judge you? Then you sure as hell better not judge us for our decisions.
#7. No one claims we are perfect. Actually it's a big comfort to us that no one can say we are perfect, because like I said before, we are human and we mess up. We believe that Jesus Christ was the only perfect person to ever live, and we do strive for perfection as impossible as that is. That being said, be nice! Just like everyone else in this world, we are doing the best we can with what we have.
#8. I have been asked about the scriptures that are unique to the Mormon Church, namely the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants. They do not replace the Bible by any means, we still study and believe in the Bible. It's just another book of scripture that we believe in and use just like other Christians use the Bible.
#9. Chances are, if you treat the Mormons respectfully, we will do the same for you. :)
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