They say "Anti-Mormon", we say "Anti-Christian".

If your ever in a conversation with someone who is LDS you will no doubt hear them call you an Anti-Mormon. So what makes one an Anti-Mormon? When your in those conversations I would suggest you ask the person your talking with to define it. Because of this I will be taking a look at some comments made by LDS apologists and show you how they will generalize you in with everyone else.

"On any LDS forum that is open to the general public, individuals who are hostile to the Church will inevitable gather and attack our beliefs. It is the manifest hostility that is apparent that makes them anti-Mormon. It is an obsessive compulsion that drives them to almost continual confrontation with latter-day saints. The qualifying mark of the anti-Mormon is the level of obsession."

"Anyone hostile to the church." Now that is interesting because because I think we need to take a look at the definition of hostile if we are to get an idea of what he is referring to.

hos·tile

 

–adjective

1.

of, pertaining to, or characteristic of an enemy: a hostilenation.

2.

opposed in feeling, action, or character; antagonistic: hostilecriticism.

3.

characterized by antagonism.

4.

not friendly, warm, or generous; not hospitable

–noun

5.

a person or thing that is antagonistic or unfriendly.

6.

Military . an enemy soldier, plane, ship, etc.

O.K. So I wouldn't say that we are their enemy would you? We have nothing against them personally so that would rule out definition number 1. Opposed in feeling is kind of broad so we would need to clarify that first. Because if we are talking about feelings on if the Book of Mormon being true then yes. However I wouldn't say that character is that far off. And what about antagonistic? I will give that one for a select few but not to the extent that they try and use it. So option 2 is possible and I will get to that which falls in with option 3 later. And since I have been labeled Anti-Mormon by them I can tell you number 4 doesn't apply because I am extremely friendly until you give me a reason not to be. Warm is subjective to feelings and we all know about that don't we? My favorite about option 4 is generous and hospitable because I have invited them into my home and fed them so that we could talk (see our meeting with missionaries videos on YouTube). Option 5 we gave pretty much gone over and 6 doesn't apply.

This part makes me laugh. "It is an obsessive compulsion that drives them to almost continual confrontation with latter-day saints. The qualifying mark of the anti-Mormon is the level of obsession." I love my daughters to the point I will go to the ends of the earth to makes sure they have what they need. Is being obsessed a bad thing if it is done out of love and concern? For I know for a fact that all of us in this ministry and all the other ministries we work with don't do what we do because we hate them. We want them to rid themselves of religion and come to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. By no means is this done out of anything but love. So with this in minds we need to ask them what we have personally done that they would consider hostile.

Now this next part I couldn't make up if I tried. He trys to give an analogy to show what it is those of us to try and share the gospel do. Here we go...

"I have a friend who has a fantastic Dodge truck. His father has always owned Dodge trucks. His brother owns a Dodge truck. He is devoted to Dodge trucks. To him, nothing else comes close. Another friend owns a Chevy truck. Sometimes, when the two of them are together, there is some friendly teasing that goes on about trucks, Dodge vs. Chevy. Now, lets suppose that my friend who loves Dodge trucks decides he wants to convince my Chevy-owning friend that he likes the wrong kind of truck. Is he going to succeed? It's possible that, if the Chevy-owner decided to test drive the Dodge, he might find features that he liked. He might like them well enough to "convert." That's an unlikely possibility, knowing these two friends. They each have their strongly held preferences, but the occasional wisecrack or teasing doesn't do any harm. Now let's suppose that the Chevy-truck guy decided he wanted to eliminate Dodge-truck owners altogether. Instead of saying that his preference is for Dodge trucks and recognizing that others might like something different, he sets up a blog or web site and begins to publish his prejudices along with some half-truths and outright lies about Dodge trucks. Instead of promoting Chevy as the best truck, he spends all his time trying to prevent people from buying Dodge. He actually becomes so involved in the anti-Dodge work that the attention he gives his Chevy pickup begins to take its toll and it starts to have some mechanical problems. It chugs and coughs and smokes, but it's still the best to him. Pretty soon, he doesn't even drive his Chevy because his anti-Dodge work takes up all his time. In the process, the attention he brings to the Dodge actually becomes a form of free advertising. His behavior escalates. Before long, he stands out in front of the Dodge dealership with a sign, shouting at the people that they're making the wrong choice. He vandalizes and defaces the Dodge trucks on the lot. He tries getting into confrontations with car shoppers. He eventually, he decides to vandalize the Dodges and make physical threats to scare people away from the Dodge lot."

Now I don't know about you but I highly doubt that the kind of vehicle one drives has an impact on where a person spends eternity. However the manner in which a person decides he will try and get there does so for the sake of argument I will give this to him as funny as it may be. Did you happen to catch this part "Now let's suppose that the Chevy-truck guy decided he wanted to eliminate Dodge-truck owners altogether"? Can you see how he tries to stretch this to make it personal? How many of you want to get rid of them altogether? It is the churches doctrines we oppose and not the people but because you oppose their doctrine you must hate them as individuals as well.

He also makes a comment that we all post half-truths and outright lies. Is this the raisin making fun of a grape? I can't tell you how many times I've been in a conversation with these apologist and try and get a simple answer out of them about something very minimal and they have to dance around the issue rather than give Biblical support for their statements. They want to try and call you a liar before the truth comes out. I believe this is done in hopes that those on the outside may question your motives and discredit you first and any evidence is subjected to prejudice. He also claims that we need to spend our time promoting ours instead of preventing them from buying into theirs. How did Mormonism start again...Oh that's right. All our creeds are an abomination, professors corrupt.... yeah I can see that one, NOT. The issue is that when they are using the same terms as us but with completely different meanings we have to help people understand where Mormonism changes the definition so we can present our side of things. We have to understand the differences first.

I believe I saw you shaking your head at this statement...

"He actually becomes so involved in the anti-Dodge work that the attention he gives his Chevy pickup begins to take its toll and it starts to have some mechanical problems. It chugs and coughs and smokes, but it's still the best to him. Pretty soon, he doesn't even drive his Chevy because his anti-Dodge work takes up all his time."

Does he honestly think that we give up our faith so we can invest more time in tearing down his? At what point is he going too far? We are more than happy to talk with Mormons but how can you have an honest dialog with someone who writes this kind of stuff? By focusing your conversation on the Word of God.

Why is it that these LDS apologists are wanting so badly to silence us? He made a comment that we give the LDS church free advertising. Somehow I highly doubt that. Although there are some who stand out on the streets yelling I don't think it will convince someone who isn't LDS to becomes so. It is his next statement that is the icing on the cake. "He tries getting into confrontations with car shoppers. He eventually, he decides to vandalize the Dodges and make physical threats to scare people away from the Dodge lot." Really? Now I realize that in our small part of the world we don't see much interaction however just because a church is vandalized doesn't mean it was done by anyone who opposes Mormonism. There are countless churches that have been vandalized, burned down, and ridiculed and I have never heard of anyone accusing Mormons. Is this to show the extent to try and make it seem like they are being persecuted?

Now as funny as his little scenario was we need to look at what I feel makes an Anti-Christian. Let me make this very clear from the beginning that not all Mormons fall into this definition. I would say that it is people such as the one who wrote the article in question who fall into it. It is those who are so desperate to defend Mormonism they will label you as they please to make them feel better about themselves. It is those who are so offended by those who disagree with their beliefs they will label you with such hatred to the likes of Hitler, Stalin, and Osama Bin Laden. It is those who refuse to allow people to do research on their own without chastising them for not having a pre-disclosed opinion on the churches history, statements, and doctrine before looking at it.

I again want to state that those of us involved in ministry to the LDS are not Anti-Mormon, that would be better classified as Anti-Mormonism. We love the people. So much in fact that we are willing to loose an earthly friendship in order to tell you the truth. Because we are called to be salt and light to the earth. Salt on an open would hurts and light will cause those who have been blind to strain their eyes.

I hope this helps you in your efforts to reach the LDS. Be prepared that if you haven't been labeled Anti-Mormon already you soon will be. Don't let that be a hindrance in you sharing the Gospel. For if we don't share the Gospel then Satan has already won.