Saturday, March 15, 2014

Why is it Okay to Offend "Mormons"?

I received a newsletter in my mail the other day from a Christian group that gives movie reviews.  The newsletter is called "Movieguide".  I don't even know how I got signed up for their newsletter, but I'm considering asking them not to send it anymore because of their views of my religion.

First let me back up and tell you about a blog post I recently read by "A Well Behaved Mormon Woman".  She is an AWESOME LDS blogger who doesn't deviate from church doctrine.  She is a great writer, and a great role model for LDS women.  Recently she wrote about having seen the movie "Frozen", and came away feeling there was a hidden "gay agenda" written in to the movie.  Now, I haven't seen the movie myself, but I felt she made some good points.  She was SLAMMED with critical comments and media backlash.  But honestly, I have seen the agenda within my own state of California, and especially in the media, so I do not doubt that she is on to something.  I'll make up my mind further after I see the movie for myself.

While I have had gay friends, and gay family members, and I love and support them, I do not support the gay agenda that is trying to redefine the definition of marriage.  I support them being able to have legal rights to share insurance, and things like that, but I do not support changing the very definition of marriage.  I do not condone anyone being unkind to any other person, regardless of their gender preference or political standing.  I believe that you can stand up for what you believe, and still be kind to others.  I just wanted to explain that before I go on with my story.

So in the latest newsletter I received, they also slammed her for her views, as well as another pastor for having the same thoughts about the movie.  But they didn't stop there.  They went on to say that our church is not even Christian, and is a cult.  Wow, talk about ignorance!

So after I read it, I went to Facebook and left a message for that blogger, and gave her the link to the newsletter so she could see the attacks they had launched at her.  She responded to me that it didn't sadden her as much to receive personal attacks as it did to have them call the church a cult.  After reading her message, I decided to go back to the website and try to leave a comment.  I did leave one, and told them that they were incorrect in calling our church a cult, and that they needed to educate themselves on the subject.  I also mentioned that many Christian pastors today are recognizing that our church is not a cult, and that we are Christian.  I told them they owe an apology to LDS members who receive their newsletter.  I wrote that comment to them about 20 minutes ago.  Then I went back to Facebook and told "AWBMW" that I had done what I could to give them my feedback.  Then I immediately came to my blog to write a post about the subject.  But guess what!  As I was writing this post, I went back to the newsletter to grab the comment to include in this blog post, only to find they had removed it!  So I must not be the only one who was offended by their remarks.  I haven't been on the computer today until tonight, so between the time I first read it and now, they made the changes.

Honestly, I still think they owe an apology.  Not only an apology, but they owe it to us to do a little more research about our beliefs so that they can understand why we are NOT a cult, and why we can claim ourselves to be Christian.  I am happy they removed the offensive statements, but I'm not happy that this kind of narrow-mindedness still persists.  In today's world it is a moral crime to offend a Muslim, but not to offend a Mormon.....

5 comments:

Looney said...

From my discussions with post-Christ Christian theologians, it seems that their sense of the proper cosmic order is that there is no sexual restraint on anything, anywhere, and at anytime. "The Agenda", is then defined to be anything that disturbs the proper cosmic order. Decency is The Agenda that they are at war with. Thus, to suggest that what they are doing is part of an "Agenda" will send them into a contrived apoplectic fit.

Inklings said...

Why is it okay to offend anybody? I wish some people didn't feel like they have to express every single negative thought they have. Is it ever wrong to err on the side of kindness? This is why I never argue religion or politics, though, it just gives a negative feeling to everything and never convinces anyone.

Euripides said...

Anti-Mormons and Same Sex Marriage activists are two of the biggest hate groups in America. When you get them together, they really could care less who gets in the way of their agenda. More power to you as you take them on!

jen said...

Ellen de Generes said it best:
"Why are we caring about who is gay and who is straight? Let's just love everybody and go back to judging each other by the car they drive."

Funny, but there is an ounce of truth here--why be cruel to anyone. Kindness is the answer.

Rummuser said...

Can't such insensitive ignoramuses just be ignored?