Control of Information:
Mormons feel pressured to participate in many services, which are known as callings. Being tired and busy all the time keeps the person isolated from people who are not part of the cult. As a result, a person’s way of thinking is gradually changed and controlled through the lack of information.
Environment and Behaviour Control:
Each cult tries to control the person’s environment, especially the way he or she dresses and eats. Mormon missionaries dress alike: white shirt, black tie, and a black backpack. Moustaches and beards are not permitted
Pressure their members to strive towards perfection.
one’s diet is controlled. Forbidden to drink tea, coffee or anything that has caffeine or alcohol.
Identity association:
This creates in the group a special identity and way of thinking, and at the same time is useful for isolating the followers. Some examples are: the use of the word brother or elder.|||YOU COULD NEVER BE DUPED INTO A CULT...COULD YOU?
(taken from Steven Hassan%26#039;s book %26quot;Combatting Cult Mind Control%26quot;)
Do you belong to an organisation that .
- has lots of meetings?
- keeps you so busy you don%26#039;t have time to think?
- has an infallible leader?
- expects purity?
- has rigid principles?
- expects confessions?
- speaks a cliché-ridden language?
- is at odds with the world?
- has simple answers to most of life%26#039;s questions?
- makes you feel secure?
- makes you feel more special than non-members?
- frowns on expressions of doubts?
- claims absolute truth?
- expects significant financial contributions?
- is reluctant to allow you to leave?
- controls information about its own history?
- always says you are free to choose?
UMMM within mormonism thats a YES, YES, and a YES!!
from...http://www.salamandersociety.com/cultqui…
Some interesting quotes....
Joseph Smith said, what he says is SCRIPTURE!!
%26quot;I have never yet preached a sertuon and sent it out to the children of men, that they may not call Scripture. Let me have the privilege of correcting a sermon, and it is as good a scripture%26quot; (Journal of Discourses, vol. 13, p. 95; also see vol. 13, p. 264).
Brigham Young pushed aside the teachings of the Bible!
%26quot;I think these preliminaries will satisfy me, and I feel prepared to take my text. It is the words of Jesus Christ, but where they are in the Bible I cannot tell you now, for I have not taken pains to look at them. I have had so much to do, that I have not read the Bible for many years. I used to read and study it, but did not understand the spirit and meaning of it ...%26quot; (1854 Conference discourse, October 8). [Brigham Young obviously did not understand the Bible, and neither do any of the other Mormon prophets!]
Nothing that is true is %26quot;anti-mormon%26quot; unless the church is anti-truth.|||If you are offended by the teaching, you should leave.
There is no point in denigrating a religion that you lost faith in.
If not for you, it could be for someone else.
If you scoff, you lose.|||Truth seeker---what a misnomer to begin with.
A. I have never felt pressured to participate in anything. I go to church when I want and meetings when I want. If I don%26#039;t want to accept a calling, I don%26#039;t and I still have my temple recommend and am in good standing. As far as environment, your definition would also qualify the NBA as a cult because there is a dress code. Or a football team because they dress alike. It is a stupid assertion.
The final identity issue, people who have things in common tend to congregate together. By your interpretation, cliques at highschool are cults...you need to keep looking for truth. No matter where you look, you will not be able to rationalize your behaviors and the way you feel with happiness and what is right. No matter how many negative Troll questions you ask. Right feels right and wrong feels wrong, no matter how badly you badmouth something that is right.|||Funny my sister is the room mom for both her daughters classes, the Girl Scout leader for both her daughters troops and holds a calling as a primary teacher in the church.
Mormons are highly encouraged to gain as much secular education and knowledge as possible and going to college is stressed from the time kids are little.
They are one of the largest group of internet users in the country, too, and Utah has the most use of personal computers.
It ranks in the top ten of education as a state.
Missionaries are only missionaries for 2 or 1 1/2 years and are suppose to be dedicating their lives to this service which is why the rules exist. You dont have to become a missionary to be a mormon.
Moderation in ones diet is taught by health experts, too.
The only forbidden things are coffee, tea (not herbal) and non prescription drugs and tobacco. Mormons can eat or drink anything else. Yeah, real controlling.
We are ALL brothers and sisters. Its a title of respect for each other and if a non mormon came thru the doors on sunday they would be called brother or sister too. We dont do it in everyday life because most people dont understand the connotation. It has NOTHING to do with isolating people.
Not a single mormon is being taught to kick out and never associate with people that leave the church. What a bunch of BS.
Yes yes, I am being mind controlled and manipulated.
Forget that you repeat the same anti mormon questions and statements over and over again as every other mormon basher. It is us that are being mindlessly controlled, lol|||this particular cut %26amp; paste you have here might be the most laughable you%26#039;ve put up yet. i%26#039;ll just elaborate on a few of the lies here:
1. members are NOT forbidden from associating from former/excommunicated members. that is a blatant lie.
2. members are NOT forced to take callings. if they don%26#039;t want one, they can say no, and they are NOT rebuked or reprimanded in any way.
3. my personal favorite lie of the list: our diets are NOT controlled! hahaha......not drinking coffee or BLACK tea is hardly diet controlling. we are allowed to drink caffeine. anybody with an IQ over 7 knows that the ingredients in a mountain dew aren%26#039;t the same as a cup of coffee......
seriously, is this cut %26amp; paste the best you can do? a bunch of BS and intelligent people see right through it.
nice try though|||Those points are ignorant and inflammatory. Thanks for asking.
-Control of Information
Lol...we are NOT isolated from people who are not part of our religion! I live in Illinois. 75% (at least) of the people I interact with are NOT Mormon!! We are the only Mormons in my neighborhood. My family does more with our non-Mormon neighbors than any family in my congregation. The church expressly encourages us to get involved in the community, not to seclude ourselves from it. Whoever wrote this is either ignorant or lying.
-Environment Control
Nope, our diet isn%26#039;t controlled. The church counsels against alcohol, tea, coffee. That%26#039;s it! And if I went out and drank a beer right now...no on in the church would know! No one is forcing me not to drink alcohol. And no one tells me what to eat every day. My diet isn%26#039;t controlled at all. And neither is my wardrobe.
-Identify association
So referring to each other as %26quot;brother%26quot; and %26quot;sister%26quot; in church isolates us? I showed above that we are hardly isolated. Most of the people I interact with are NOT Mormon. There is some sense of identity among Mormons, just like there is a sense of identity among Americans, among Cubs fans, among sci-fi fans, among members of a book club, among alumni of a certain college, etc.
-Control of Feeling#1
I%26#039;ve never been told NOT to associate with members who have been expelled. In fact, I%26#039;m told that it%26#039;s more important than EVER to interact with them to help them come back. We want them to come back. Whoever made these %26quot;points%26quot; doesn%26#039;t know what they are talking about.
-Control of Feeling#2
The same arguments are made against all religious people. Of course someone that doesn%26#039;t believe in God will argue that the spiritual experiences people do have are artificial. If the person making these assertions is religious...then they are a hypocrite...who are they to say their spiritual experiences are real and someone else%26#039;s are manufactured.
-Control of Information
I was a missionary and never heard of such a thing. We are taught to build on the common beliefs that we have (e.g., believe in Jesus Christ and the Bible), but we do not hide the differences. Joseph Smith is taught in the first lesson...that right there is a difference with Christianity and we don%26#039;t hide it.
Again, whoever made these %26quot;points%26quot; is way off base.|||I think you need to do some real research on the LDS church.
This list is garbage.
You could dig up similar point about my daughters kindergarten class. This is written by a bitter fool.|||Just FYI about removing family members names from LDS church records.
Legally, one can only remove their own name and any minor children that they are the legal guardians over. You cannot remove family members posthumously. So if you are saying Steve Benson removed his own name and his minor children%26#039;s names, that is possible. But he could not have any other family members names removed, especially family members that had chosen to be members in life and died (such as his grandfather).
I had to deal with this in a previous calling. A mother that did not have legal guardianship of her children (due to abuse and drug use, according to the court documents I saw) wanted her children%26#039;s names removed, but their grandparents (who were the court appointed legal guardians) did not. The church and courts sided with the grandparents.
Besides that, I think you%26#039;ve already gotten several good responses to the original quesiton. Not that I think you%26#039;re actually interested in any amount of truth.|||Therre is no such thing as mind control in the LDS church! You have the ability to go as far as you want, as long as you are willing to work, to get there!
There is no pressure to do anything that you don%26#039;t wish to do! If you do not want to serve a calling, you don%26#039;t need to do so! Most churches have a dress code, as they think you are coming to church to worship, therefore you show respect with your manner of dress!
Other churches don%26#039;t have a dress code, and that is ok, too!
As far *** the missionaries?, you see them, and you know who they are! It is not about them, it is about them sharing good news, as the bible says, to do!
And beards and mustaches reflect personal ideas of appearance! And are not appropriate while serving a mission!
And the diet part??? DUH! Alcohol is NOT good for you be any stretch of the imagination! Tea and coffee have caffeine, which are not good for you
And that is NOT a matter of striving for perfection, or identity, it is for good health!
And as far as brother and sister, believers think of god as their father, what is so hard to understand about calling each other brothers, and sisters?
And Elder is a title of respect, as is calling a priest, Father!
the LDS church is no more of a cult, that any other religion is, they all have the same definition, whether you want to admit it or not!!
Truth seeker, you seem to have serious issues with this church!
And since that is the case?, you need to just turn around and walk away!
Members of this church do not CARE about the opinions, of ex Mormons who constantly attack them!
In fact these attack do not come off as being helpful, they come off as sounding petty, and childish!
The people who are faithful members of the church follow the tenets with whole hearts, and do not have a problem with anything that they believe!
So, what harm does that do to you, or anyone else!
I could study up on, and find things about EVERY sect of christianty, to make fun of!
But, what would be the point, as what they believe does not effect me in any way!
We all have ideas that we believe, or DON%26quot;T believe, but when the LDS start attacking all of you on this site, , then you will have the right to persecute them, to the extremes that you do NOW!!!
So you should take your hate,and your poison, and your biased opinions about the LDS church, and either take them elsewhere, or swallow them, and forget it!
You impress no one with your silly,derogatory questions!|||It%26#039;s (I%26#039;m sorry) a load of crap.
First, we don%26#039;t feel pressure to do our callings despite being busy all the time, etc. We are told constantly that our FAMILY comes first. If our callings are interfereing with family business, then one goes to one%26#039;s bishop or stake president (as the case may be) and explains this to them and they graciously excuse you from your calling, in order that you may take care of your family.
Then, another BIG part of our belief is to SPREAD THE GOSPEL to those who don%26#039;t have it. How in the WORLD are we supposed to do that, if we are ISOLATED from non-members?? It%26#039;s not just the full time missionaries who do all that work. In fact, the baptism rate of people who were introduced to the church by full time missionaries is about 1%. Most of those who eventually accept baptism are those found by other members.
Lack of information? We are encouraged HUGELY to get as much education as possible. To get an education, one must get as much information as possible.
MIssionaries all dress alike (elders, anyway) but they are a tiny fraction of the total membership of hte church. Once they get off their mission, they can dress how they like.
Perfection is a goal that GOD wants for us. JESUS said, Be ye therefore perfect as our FAther in Heaven is perfect.
forbidden to drink coffee, tea, etc.
And what%26#039;s wrong with this? Besides, we aren%26#039;t forbidden, unless you are talking about going to the temple.
Two groups with the lowest health problems are the two groups with specific dietary rules; the Seventh Day Adventists, and teh Latter-day Saints.
We call EVERYONE Brother or sister, even those not in our church, when we are at church. We believe that, thru our Heavenly Father, we are all brothers and sisters.
I don%26#039;t know anyone who has been %26quot;threatened with expulsion%26quot;. Unless they have done grievous sins, like sins of morality, and even then, no one is EXPELLED. their names are removed from teh rolls, but they are strongly encouraged to come to church, and repent of their sins and come back to full fellowship.
Since most people who work for LDS are in Utah, then fear of losing one%26#039;s job is getting rarer all the time. Most Mormons live outside Utah, and work for non-Mormons. Therefore, losing one%26#039;s job is not a problem if one chooses to not believe.
Also, since most LDS now are converts, losing one%26#039;s family is also a rarity.
And, quoting one %26quot;bishop%26quot; does not prove a church wide problem exists.
%26gt;%26gt;Speaking of those who criticize and try to correct the leaders of the church%26lt;%26lt;
If one chooses to criticize the church leaders, then one shouldn%26#039;t be a member of said church. And to try to %26quot;correct%26quot; a man who millions believe to be a prophet of God is to try to correct God. This is apostasy.
%26gt;experiences a lot of love (which in fact is false, or at least superficial)%26lt;
Excuse me? We do not show FALSE love, or superficial love! I have felt it from non-LDS Christians, however. Does this condemn all Christianity?
Overwhelmed with kindness? Lower their defenses, for what? We don%26#039;t %26quot;make sure%26quot; someone has spiritual experiences. But we do give new members suggestions on what it feels like to feel the Holy Spirit. If this is bad, then again, it condemns all of Christianity.
And I don%26#039;t see how missionaries are taught to say how we are the same as others, like Catholics, except for the obvious, that we believe in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour.|||Let me let you in on a little secret. The greatest %26quot;mind manipulation%26quot; as you would call it, is the host of supernatural events that are promised, and then occur. If God stopped answering our prayers, new membership would drop dramatically, and we would be no better than any other church.
Every worthy member of the LDS church who is over the age of 14, can recieve a revelation or prophecy known as a Patriarchal Blessing. It is preceeded by fasting and prayer. It is personal, and highly individual. In prayer we ask the Lord for those blessings that we desire. In the blessing, the Lord tells us which blessings he will give us. It is a revelation of the future, based on our continued obedience to God%26#039;s commandments. Everything in my blessing has come true (except for the rising in the morning of the first resurrection - but I%26#039;m not in a hurry). As members of the church we are continually promised that God will answer our prayers, that priesthood blessings will come true, and that the gifts of the spirit will accompany us, as we keep the standards which God has given. Our own experiences verify that these things are true, that there is a God in heaven who knows the future, and who answers prayers. Why would we ever want to give up a close relationship with God to join some other church that struggles to believe in things we have already seen?|||Steve Benson, the noted Arizona Republic cartoonist, is a grandson of the late High Muckamuck of the Mormon Church. He came to the conclusion that it was all bullshit, and asked that the church remove his name and the names of his family from their rolls. Because he came from a very influential family, they didn%26#039;t want to do it. He had to threaten them with a lawsuit, and they finally did.
If he could do it, so can you.|||YES, SPOT ON, GOOD JOB!! I LIKE HOW THESE MORMONS SAY IT IS OK TO HANG WITH EX MORMONS OR APOSTATES. THEY ARE LYING!!! THEIR OWN TEMPLE REC. INTERVIEW ASKS%26quot; DO YOU KNOW OR ASSOCIATE WITH KNOW APOSTATES OR THOSE WHO SPEAK ILL OF THE CHURCH?%26quot; LOL MORE MORMON BS.|||The best way to avoid analysis and creative thought is to keep busy to the point of exhaustion. If there is any time left over for family, it is sheer selfishness.
How many parishes have a schedule like a Mormon ward of about 600 people:
1. 3 hour block meeting - Sunday
2. Priesthood Executive Committee meeting - Sunday
3. Bishopric meeting - Sunday
4. Bishop youth committee meeting - Sunday
5. Brain numbing firesides - Sunday
6. General conferences - Saturdays and Sundays
7. Stake conference - Saturdays and Sundays
8. HQ and Utah firesides (broadcast to global chapels) - Sundays
9. Other *special* broadcasts from HQ and Utah - Sundays
10. Relief Society conferences - week-ends
11. Young men program - evenings
12. Young women program - evenings
13. Relief Society meetings - non-Sunday
14. Seminary %26quot;indocrination%26quot; (quoting kimball) – Monday to Friday
15. Personal priesthood interviews
16. Home teaching - evenings
17. Visiting teaching - evenings
18. Young men%26#039;s camp – otherwise valuable vacation time
19. Young women’s camp - otherwise valuable vacation time
20. Chapel cleanups - Saturdays
21. Stake Sports – Saturdays / Public Holidays
22. Seminary “Super Saturday” - Saturday
23. Seminay Graduation – Saturday Evening
24. Temple interview bishop - any time
25. Temple interview stake - any time
26. Genealogy research - any time
27. Temple attendance - any time (even week-long trips)
28. Service projects - any days, but mostly Saturdays
29. Ward committee meetings - whenever
30. Letter writing to missionaries - any time
31. Lesson and callings preparation time - any time
32. Scripture reading - every day
33. Road shows - evenings %26amp; Saturday
34. Missionary service conversion - 2 years
35. Missionary service Temple - 2 years?
36. Church courts prosecuting and judging - any time
37. Official curriculum study and absorption - every day
38. Stake presidency meeting - any day
39. Stake high council meeting - evening
40. Stake bishops meeting - evening
41. Ward welfare meeting - evening
42. Stake welfare meeting - evening
43. Priesthood leadership meeting - evening
44. Stake training meetings - evening or Saturday
45. Church Employment courses - any day
46. Christmas (Smithmas) concerts - evenings and Saturday
47. Genealogy open house - Saturday
48. Ward correlation meeting - any evening or day
49. Ward Choir - Sunday
50. Stake Choir - can be multiple evenings in a week
51. Journal keeping
