"Pretending Christians"
Whenever the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has an important event, such as the opening of temples, or the bi-annual General Conferences held in Salt Lake City, there are visitors not of our faith who also come. However, for some of these people, their purpose for being there is not to participate in our worship of God, but to denounce what it is we believe. And it is precisely because these people proudly proclaim their allegiance to Jesus Christ, that they feel compelled to come to these LDS events in order to publicly and loudly denounce “Mormons” for not being Christians.Although these people are sincerely convinced in the correctness of their assertion, the question which the honest seeker in truth needs to ask themselves is, “Are the actions of these Christians against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in keeping with what Christ expects of His followers?” Since these protesters unabashedly claim to accept the Bible as being the complete, final, and authoritative word of God, it would seem reasonable to compare their behavior towards “Mormons” to what the Bible says concerning how a follower of Jesus should respond to others.
It was our Master, Jesus Christ Himself, who said “Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of Thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit” (Matt. 7:16-18)
What kind of “fruit” should true believers in Christ bring forth? There are many. The Bible specifically tells us that “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: (Gal. 5:22). In contrast to these, the fruits of the non-believing Christian are “hatred, discord, jealousy, rage, anger, dissention and the like”(vs 22, NIV). With this biblical guideline, let’s take a look at the “fruits” of those who protest against the LDS church and its members.
The first fruit of the Spirit Paul mentions in his epistle to the Galatians is “love.” It was the Master, Jesus Christ, who said, "Love your enemies” (Matt. 5:44). Even though it would seem strange to classify a fellow Christian as being an enemy simply because they have a different point of view, these protesters nonetheless consider the LDS church as their enemy. Their reason for doing so is because they claim Mormons are only "pretending" to be Christians and are therefore leading people away from Jesus Christ through the use of their deceptive and false doctrines. By such reasoning, they sincerely consider Mormons to be enemies of God.
Yet, using their own logic, we can ask ourselves, “Is it appropriate for them to disrupt someone else’s worship of God for the specific purpose of publicly maligning and denouncing them?” Not only does such behavior violate the words of Christ, whom they claim to be followers of, to "love your enemies," but, worse yet, it is impolite and rude even by the standards of civilized societies. In Italy, where I come from, such behavior is considered offensive and disrespectful!
But it is worst than that. These very people who claim they are doing the Lord’s work by denouncing Mormons for worshiping a “different” God, are also violating the beleifs of other Christians as well. The National Conference of Christians and Jews issued the follow “Statement on Religious Freedom and Mormonism,” which was adopted by the Virginia board of Directors in 1994. It states:
“It is the position of the National Conference of Christians and Jews of the Virginia Region that the First Amendment right to the separation of religion and state and the right to freely exercise one's own faith is fundamental and inviolate. The right of any group to practice their faith in whatever manner consistent with public health and safety cannot and must not be infringed.
“We further recognize that with every right there are also responsibilities that are equally part of our democratic process. Religious freedom is not the right to condemn, impugn, ridicule, or attack the beliefs of others. The responsible exercise of religious freedom includes the acknowledgment of according the same right to all others and a tolerance for the differences between and among all faiths.
“The National Conference is particularly concerned with the growing number of attacks on religious beliefs and practices by a number of groups and individuals within our society. Such attacks, that utilize false or misleading information that is intended to promote religious bigotry, are acts of intolerance and prejudice. They are both irresponsible and anti-democratic in nature.
“The recent attacks from a number of sources on The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons) reek of the same prejudice that, in the past, we have often seen used against Jews, Catholics, Muslims, and many others. This kind of behavior needs to be identified and condemned for what it is: religious intolerance and blatant bigotry.
“These attacks on the Mormon Church have come in three forms: preaching, publications, and video presentations. Honoring the freedom to speak and preach from the heart, the National Conference takes issue with using the pulpit, any pulpit, to promote misleading, distorted, false and/or bigoted views of any religious body. An example of such a distortion is the growing use and presentation of two videos: ‘The Godmakers’ and ‘The Godmakers II’. These videos, developed by an anti-Mormon group intent upon vilification and hatemongering, are designed to misstate, malign, and encourage the hatred of a well established group of Christian believers and they ought to be repudiated by all people of good will. We quote from the NCCJ ‘Programs in Pluralism’ of April 1984:
‘‘The Godmakers’ ... does not, in our opinion, fairly portray the Mormon Church, Mormon belief, or Mormon history. It makes extensive use of half-truths, faulty generalizations, erroneous interpretations, and sensationalism. It is not reflective of the genuine spirit of the Mormon faith. It appears to us to be a basically unfair and untruthful presentation of what Mormons really believe and practice.’
Mrs. Gillian Martin Sorensen, immediate past president of the National Conference, noted in news release in December of 1992 that:
“ ‘…Godmakers II carries the odious scent of unreasoning prejudice. Let the public beware ... Frank discussion of the truth of claims of different faiths is a legitimate avenue of inter-religious dialogue. But base appeals to fear and hatred have no place in such efforts, and must be condemned wherever they are encountered ... ‘Godmakers II’ is an affront to religious understanding.’
“As people of good will, we in the National Conference of Christians and Jews join with our national leaders in the condemnation of any attempt to use one's first amendment religious freedom as a smoke-screen behind which one might hide while engaged in actions which must rightly be named as religious bigotry.
“It is not the policy of the National Conference to promote one religious faith over another or to champion the views of any religious group. However, it is our intent and our very purpose to oppose vigorously the actions of any group, religious or secular, that would enhance or engender religious prejudice.
“It is the view of the National Conference that videos, tapes, books, and other media that are used to foster religious prejudice are deserving of our contempt and condemnation. Thomas Jefferson, one of Virginia's greatest citizens and the author of the Virginia Statute for Religious Liberty, wrote in that document that, ‘... all men shall be free to profess, and by argument, to maintain, their opinion in matters of religion, and that the same shall in no wise diminish, enlarge, or affect their civil capacities.’
“We, the Board of Directors of the Virginia Region of The National Conference, are in full agreement with Mr. Jefferson and we call upon all people of conscience and good will to acknowledge and protect the religious rights of every citizen as they would also desire to have their rights acknowledged and protected. Adopted with a unanimous vote by the Virginia Regional Board of the NCCJ, February 4, 1994.”
Despite this statement, here are some actual pictures which illustrate how some “Christians” behave during LDS events. I have seen similar protests here in Mesa, AZ at the lighting of the temple during each Christmas season.
If Jesus said we can know a person by their fruits, then we can clearly see that the fruit of these people is not one of loving your enemy or any of the other fruits of the Spirit which the Bible says should be manifest in the lives of true Christians. Instead of being good and sweet, the fruit they show forth is distasteful and bitter.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.Matthew 5
3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake
12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
They have no idea about what means this scripture because they don't practice it!!!
Matthew 7
12 Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.
some good scriptures that could apply to themselves because they fulfill them all.
Luke 18
9 And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:
10 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.
11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.
12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.
13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.
14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
They are doing this because Jesus explained
John 15
18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.
19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.
21 But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me.
Clearly if we are supposed to acknowledge them from their fruits we have just one conclusion: their fruits are bad and bitter as their behavior.
Btw, maybe their leaders also preach in a way and maybe they support these "Christians" under the table as Saddam Husseim is condemning Bin laden but........
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