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Monday, January 28, 2008
R.I.P - Gordon B. Hinckley (June 23, 1910 – January 27, 2008)
Gordon B. Hinckley is worth remembering:
"My forebears left there [England] in early times, two of them on the Mayflower, another in 1635, whose son became governor of Plymouth Colony, and others who fought in the Revolutionary War, which made of America a separate nation, but still joined together in brotherhood with a common language, a common culture, a common system of justice, a solemn respect for the dignity of man, and above all an attitude that human freedom and liberty are more precious than life itself." (Convocation for Honorary Degrees, BYU, March 5, 1996.)
"When you speak to the average citizen concerning the provisions of the Constitution he is likely to think of it in terms of the Bill of Rights rather than the Constitution itself. The Constitution sets up the machinery of government. The Bill of Rights denies to government those basic and fundamental elements of freedom which belong to the people as their divine inheritance and which they refuse to surrender to the whims of politicians." (Sons of American Revolution Dinner, May 4, 1990.)
Gordon B. Hinckley
Posted by Matthew Johnston on January 28, 2008 | Permalink
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Comments
Defender of liberty? Are you kidding me Matthew? The man headed up the largest enslaving cult in the world. Seeing that you are an atheist I am suprised you would lend any suppport to this man?
Do some research and wastch Sept dawn the movie and then tell me how liberating this cult is ok!
Posted by: Merle | 2008-01-29 9:04:02 AM
It seems though that this man saw evil for what it was and called it such and seemed to support the liberation of Iraq from Saddam. Wow Matthew supporting a neo-con!
"In April 2003, Hinckley gave a speech in which he addressed the ongoing war in Iraq. He said, “…as citizens we are all under the direction of our respective national leaders. They have access to greater political and military intelligence than do the people generally,” adding, “Furthermore, we are a freedom-loving people, committed to the defense of liberty wherever it is in jeopardy.” He also noted that “It may even be that [the Lord] will hold us responsible if we try to impede or hedge up the way of those who are involved in a contest with forces of evil and repression.”[15]"
wiklepdia
Posted by: Merle Terlesky | 2008-01-29 9:09:58 AM
"The man headed up the largest enslaving cult in the world."
Where perchance does Islam show up on your enslaving cult-o-meter?
Posted by: atric | 2008-01-29 9:14:58 AM
Well I dont think Islam is a cult as the same as Momonism is. There are similar traditions in Christianity and Islam and most cult researchers dont consider islam to be a cult in modern terms.
Backward as it may be; it is not a cult. Furthermore we were not talking about Islam either.
Posted by: Merle Terlesky | 2008-01-29 9:28:04 AM
I am suggesting that perhaps you should do a little more research before delcaring Mormonism to be "The largest enslaving cult in the world".
Watching a movie and making up your mind is not really a wise thing to do. If that were the case, you would be sharing the views of the Michael Moores and Al Gores of the world.
And no, I am NOT a Mormon. Never have been, never will be.
Posted by: atric | 2008-01-29 9:36:28 AM
atric
I don't think merle realizes how similar these movements really are. Both started violently. Both encourage male domination of women. Both seem to be trying to conquer from within. Both have "limited" racial diversity.
Posted by: dp | 2008-01-29 9:36:58 AM
DP, agree somewhat however I can't really equate
Islam with Mormonism despite some similarities, as you have noted.I can't really articulate it but it just seems rather odd to me. The Mormons I have met over my lifetime have all appeared to be well adjusted and happy people. Rather than overtly dominating women, I viewed them as just a ultra-conservative sect that espoused "family values" by encouraging the women to be housewives and mothers. Their beliefs are a bit whacky for sure but I believe they are ultimately harmless.
At least they don't call for the death of the non-believers.
Posted by: atric | 2008-01-29 9:58:04 AM
The Mormons derail from sound biblical teachings. I could care less if they are nice people. the book of Mormon is a load of hooey and it was made up by Jospeh Smith no angel was involved ever!
The mormons teach a lot of non-biblical cult like ideals. If you dont this its up to you to read not me to tell you.
I have studied Mormonism and JW and Islam and I myself am a Christian.
Atric I never said you were LDS.
Posted by: Merle Terlesky | 2008-01-29 10:10:12 AM
somewhat agree with you there dp
Posted by: Merle | 2008-01-29 10:11:31 AM
The biggest difference, I think, is that the Morman movement started in more civilized times.
As for "sound biblical teachings", an outside observer would see more similarity than difference.
Posted by: dp | 2008-01-29 10:15:41 AM
There should be no question that the LDS are not Christian. Even a very elementary examination of Mormon teaching will reveal this to be true.
However, everbody should have the benefit of being evaluated by their best deeds. It is not wrong to consider the deeds that happened at the Mountain Meadow Massacre or to consider the views of author Arthur Conan Doyle in "A Study in Scarlet" when considering a historical view of Brigham Young. However, in the consideration of Mormons today, Brigham Young's actions should be given less weight. As Atric has pointed out, Mormons today do not exhibit these characteristics that Young exhibited.
My condolences to the Hinckley family.
Posted by: Brent Weston | 2008-01-29 10:23:19 AM
That's all that needs to be said Brent.
Posted by: dp | 2008-01-29 10:27:35 AM
Merle
While I have read about Mormonism I have never studied it so I will defer to you. As a Christian, I thought that one was obliged to accept others despite their differences provided that they behaved in a rightous and peaceful manner. I really don't care whether or not the angel Maroni led Smith to the golden tablets or whether Smith was nothing short of a scam artist.
The point is that Mormons are, by and large, a peaceful and law-abiding lot dedicated to freedom
and good old American values. My opinion only, of course. Perhaps this sorry world would be better off if there were a few more of them and less of the zealots that are trying to take our freedoms
away.
By the way, I wasn't suggesting that you accused me of being a Mormon. I was rather defending them and I wanted it known it wasn't out of some affiliation to them.
Posted by: atric | 2008-01-29 10:52:01 AM
Wow...I just stumbled on this article and it is amazing how many bigots there are in this world. You may not consider members of The Church of Jesus Christ Christians but my question is, are you a TRUE Christian Merle??? You got to walk the walk not just talk the talk. I pray that you might be able to start walking the Christian path instead of talking about it. Is it tough to believe what happened to Joseph Smith Merle? Yet you, as I do, so readily believe the virgin birth of the Savior, his death, and resurrection of our Savior. Interesting. I ask you start looking for similarities between people and not differences - you may have a much happier life. Not to mention who you may affect positively by your positive attitude.
Posted by: russ | 2008-01-30 4:47:37 PM
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