I do believe the bible to be the literal word of god, as far as it is translated correctly. The bible has been translated so many times that it has been changed for its original intent in some respects. I am a mormon so i also have the book of mormon to compliment the bible. So i do take my morality from more than one source
I have asked my bishop if taking steroids was okay and he said that as long as i am doing legally and not abusing them then i am ok. So in this case i can have my cake and eat it
I am not suprised you are a Mormon. Mormons, "the true chosen people of God" are know for changing "Gods rules" on a daily basis to suit their own selfish needs. When the church was first formed by Joseph Smith (a charlatan, snake oil salesman) he declared that any Mormon can speak with God directly. This is how he recruited millions and got rich. But that proved a calamity. Everyone was coming forward and saying God spoke to me last night and he said this was a sin and that was a sin. This is how they would justify their own wrong doings, one of them polygomy.
Mormons were changing their rules monthly. The church leaders seeing this was a problem decided that the only Mormons that can speak directly to God were the leaders. This also proved problematic because there were more than one leader getting confilicting orders directly from God. Usually orders that benefited the reciever in some selfish way. Today the fundamentalist Mormons, the ones who practice polygamy still believe that any Mormon can talk directly to God, this is how they justify polygomy and other sins, like child molestation.
The only reason Elizabeth Smart went so willingly with her abductor was because she was raised Mormon. She believed that God could actually speak to her and thus believed her abductor when he told her he was sent directly from God to marry her. If she was not brainwashed by the Mormon church into this ridiculous notion maybe she would have screamed and gotten away from this creep. Thanks to a smart police officer, she is alive today.
A good read "Under the Banner of Heaven" By: Krakauer, Jon It is a pretty damning book on the hypocrisy of the Mormon church.
"At the core of his book is an appalling double murder committed by two Mormon Fundamentalist brothers, Ron and Dan Lafferty, who insist they received a revelation from God commanding them to kill their blameless victims. Beginning with a meticulously researched account of this “divinely inspired” crime, Krakauer constructs a multilayered, bone-chilling narrative of messianic delusion, savage violence, polygamy, and unyielding faith. Along the way, he uncovers a shadowy offshoot of
America’s fastest-growing religion, and raises provocative questions about the nature of religious belief."
I am sure there are many moderate Mormons, but the majority are very extreme and they live amoungst us believing that they are the only ones God will let into heaven, the rest of us are going to Hell.
BTW, Every time you stay at a Marriot Hotel you are putting money into the Mormon church.
Thou Sayest.
