Do you find Mormonism to be less authentic than other major religions?

[edro]

The major religions, Christianity, Judaism, Islam, are all three based off of the Old Testament. They all three diverge after this relationship.
Of each, they further diverge into denominations and sects.

Mormonism, and similar religions follow one of these paths for a while and then diverge later, based on actual (or fictional) events. In Mormonism's example, it would be the actions and events surrounding Joseph Smith.

Does a religious sect that was created more recently hold less credibility with you?

Even if you are an agnostic, atheist or Buddhist, do you put more "faith" in someone who follows one of the major 3 religions' older sects, opposed to someone following one of the more recent sects?

 

[clamum]

They're all the same to me.

 

[Saint Michael]

They're all equally illogical, but Mormonism is so recent (like Scientology) that not seeing the idiocy of it is a bit more unforgivable.

 

[skace]

No more or less authentic than Scientology.

 

[legoman666]

Originally posted by: skace
No more or less authentic than Scientology.

Win. They're all loony.

 

[Oyeve]

You should add another poll option, like:

All religions are bogus and are invented by man to keep people in check and in line. There is only one true religion, YOU.

 

[XxPrOdiGyxX]

Originally posted by: skace
No more or less authentic than Scientology.

The face in the hat thing ruins it for me.

 

[Mr Pickles]

You know what really gripes me the most about mormons? They are awesome. They are like the best Christians that I know. If they would just be Christians then Christians wouldn't have such a bad name. But no, they have to go on about some new book that this pligram found bla bla bla. If they would have just left crap the way it was they could be awesome.

 

[Miramonti]

Mormonism and Scientology are religions just as much Christianity and Judaism are.

Otherwise it would be like saying The Simpsons are less of a television show than a National Geographic documentary, just because its a cartoon.

 

[maziwanka]

fuck no. many many other religions aren't based off the old testament. it's insulting that you would think mormonism is less of a religion than christianity or islam.

 

[K1052]

Originally posted by: Saint Michael
They're all equally illogical, but Mormonism is so recent (like Scientology) that not seeing the idiocy of it is a bit more unforgivable.

yep

 

[pulse8]

Originally posted by: K1052

Originally posted by: Saint Michael
They're all equally illogical, but Mormonism is so recent (like Scientology) that not seeing the idiocy of it is a bit more unforgivable.

yep

 

[bignateyk]

Originally posted by: pulse8

Originally posted by: K1052

Originally posted by: Saint Michael
They're all equally illogical, but Mormonism is so recent (like Scientology) that not seeing the idiocy of it is a bit more unforgivable.

yep

:thumbsup:

 

[thepd7]

Originally posted by: edro
The three major religions, Christianity, Judaism, Islam, are all three based off of the Old Testament. They all three diverge after this relationship.
Of each, they further diverge into denominations and sects.

Mormonism, and similar religions follow one of these paths for a while and then diverge later, based on actual (or fictional) events. In Mormonism's example, it would be the actions and events surrounding Joseph Smith.

Does a religious sect that was created more recently hold less credibility with you?

Even if you are an agnostic, atheist or Buddhist, do you put more "faith" in someone who follows one of the major 3 religions' older sects, opposed to someone following one of the more recent sects?

Wrong. Christianity, Judaism, and Islam diverge after the 1st 5 books of the old testament.

And Mormons use the Bible, they just added a book.

 

[Miramonti]

Originally the Mormon doctrine was designed to take the best of Islam, and improve on it (thus allowing Mormons all the boob they could handle before they die.)

 

[DougK62]

They're all equally silly in my mind, but I sure don't mind that others enjoy being a part of them.

Oh, and what criteria did you use for picking the "three major religions"? Judaism has relatively few followers compared to the others. If you're going by size then I think your third one should be Hindu. Or maybe even non-religious.

 

[Homerboy]

What a loaded question to ask on ATOT....

90% of the people here are already anti-religion. Throw in Mormonism on top of that and its just taunting the "upper class" to jump all over it.

 

[feralkid]

Originally posted by: edro
The three major religions, Christianity, Judaism, Islam,

Stop right there.


Here it is, by the numbers:

1. Christianity: 2.1 billion
2. Islam: 1.5 billion
3. Secular/Nonreligious/Agnostic/Atheist: 1.1 billion
4. Hinduism: 900 million
5. Chinese traditional religion: 394 million
6. Buddhism: 376 million
7. primal-indigenous: 300 million
8. African Traditional & Diasporic: 100 million
9. Sikhism: 23 million
10. Juche: 19 million
11. Spiritism: 15 million
12. Judaism: 14 million
13. Baha'i: 7 million
14. Jainism: 4.2 million
15. Shinto: 4 million
16. Cao Dai: 4 million
17. Zoroastrianism: 2.6 million
18. Tenrikyo: 2 million
19. Neo-Paganism: 1 million
20. Unitarian-Universalism: 800 thousand
21. Rastafarianism: 600 thousand
22. Scientology: 500 thousand



Mormans are Christians.



Or this from Wiki:

# Religion Number of Adherents Remarks[2]
1 Christianity 1.9 billion Has the most followers and most widespread presence of all well-recognized religions. Predominant religion in Europe, the Americas, Southern Africa, Oceania, and the Philippines.
2 Islam 1.1 billion A widespread religion with many countries majority Muslim, particularly in the Middle East, South Asia, Maritime Southeast Asia, Central Asia, North Africa, West Africa and some parts of Eastern Europe.
3 Hinduism 781 million Umbrella term for various Hindu denominations forming the majority in India, Nepal, North Eastern province of Sri Lanka, and the Bali & Java sub-province of Indonesia, parts of Latin America, Eastern Africa, Australia, USA and UK.
4 Buddhism 324 million Largely in East Asia and the Mainland Southeast Asia, and small parts of South Asia and Russia.
5 Sikhism 25 million Mostly in the Indian Punjab; also large numbers in other parts of India and the United Kingdom, the USA, Canada, Malaysia and Southeast Asia, Germany and East Africa [2].
6 Judaism 14 million A widespread religion with a majority in Israel; large populations in North America, Western Europe, and South America.
7 Bahá'í Faith 6.1 million Youngest of the group of 10, second most widely dispersed religion after Christianity; fastest growing (percentage) of top 10.
8 Confucianism 5.3 million Mostly in China proper; and in Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam.
9 Jainism 4.9 million Mostly in India.
10 Shinto 2.8 million Mostly in (and formerly the state religion of) Japan.

 

[Homerboy]

Originally posted by: feralkid

Originally posted by: edro
The three major religions, Christianity, Judaism, Islam,

Stop right there.


Here it is, by the numbers:

1. Christianity: 2.1 billion
2. Islam: 1.5 billion
3. Secular/Nonreligious/Agnostic/Atheist: 1.1 billion
4. Hinduism: 900 million
5. Chinese traditional religion: 394 million
6. Buddhism: 376 million
7. primal-indigenous: 300 million
8. African Traditional & Diasporic: 100 million
9. Sikhism: 23 million
10. Juche: 19 million
11. Spiritism: 15 million
12. Judaism: 14 million
13. Baha'i: 7 million
14. Jainism: 4.2 million
15. Shinto: 4 million
16. Cao Dai: 4 million
17. Zoroastrianism: 2.6 million
18. Tenrikyo: 2 million
19. Neo-Paganism: 1 million
20. Unitarian-Universalism: 800 thousand
21. Rastafarianism: 600 thousand
22. Scientology: 500 thousand



Mormans are Christians.

Holy damn Scientology is 22nd with 500K! That's just scary as shit.

 

[SlowSpyder]

Everything I know about Mormons I learned from SouthPark. So, based on that I do think it's a bit loony. Other things I've learned from SouthPark are, Trapper Keepers are capable of becoming evil monsters, crab people are behind most plots against humanity, and if lava is flowing towards you duck & cover.

 

[thespeakerbox]

Their background story is ridiculous - golden plates, dualing isrealites in america, come on now. Their leader, joseph smith was obsessed with himself and money. He supposed translated hieroglyphics with some stone and a hat, locked in his house for 3 months. He told no one else about his supposed discovery until he bounded the text in leather (at the time ...so stupid) and sold it for profit.

Mormon arent accepted as Christians because they are not. They are mormons.

 

[Dirigible]

All religions seem to have the same amount of hooey if you ask me.

Using the example in the title, I've known and been friends with a lot of mormons. If anything, that religion seems more authentic than many others. The mormons I've known have been almost universally happy industrious people. They've given honest efforts in their jobs and to their families, been very friendly, and been very involved with their church and religion. Their faith seems to do a good job in giving their lives structure and meaning and they follow its teachings more than most others who claim to be christian.

If anything, I'm jealous of mormons and wish I believed as well. It would be soothing. And it would remove the creepy factor from Utah, a beautiful state with a lot of fun outdoor activities and relatively cheap housing prices. But no, I'm a skeptic and an atheist.

 

[nakedfrog]

It doesn't really seem that much wackier than most other religions to me, regardless of age. Genuine Mormons are usually really nice folks, too.

Originally posted by: thespeakerbox
Mormon arent accepted as Christians because they are not. They are mormons.

They believe Jesus was the son of God. Close enough for me.

 

[meltdown75]

It would be hypocritical for anyone of faith to see someone else's beliefs as less palpable than their own. The "authenticity" lies in the individual and what they experience or perceive to experience as faith - that is all that really matters, and basically all that is required for a "religion" to be created is for that person to express his/her ideas. So many of us "feel" faith in our lives and can quantify it as a distinct feeling unlike any other. It makes me wonder, in terms of a hypothetical experiment... if there were a bunch of humans born on an island with no pre-conceived frameworks of "religion" to attiritube their feelings of "faith" to, would they still express their feelings in a way that would result in the creation of a new religion? One could argue that this experiment has run its course many times over many civilizations. Is there an intrinsic need for this inherent in the human condition, or is the phenomena of "faith" something that we do not yet fully understand?

 

[PottedMeat]

all religions are basically the same in my mind.

oh and catholicism/mormonism/protestantism/*isms are all subsets of christianity.