I was studying in the library for two hours today about John Donne and Mannerist art and literature. On my way back to Ffridd site, these two boys in suits stop me and ask if I want to hear about Jesus Christ and the Church of Latter Day Saints. You know, Mormonism.
"No thank you."
"Do you have a belief in God?"
That's how they get you. You say yes, they ask what sect and how long and then continue on with their well-rehearsed spiel. If you say no, they ask something else. They're like telemarketers. They have a script that covers every possible choice and the only way to win is to not play.
So I listen to their speech, being polite and thinking I'd get great material to bombard them with, or better yet, I could convince them of their own lunacy. There's nothing wrong with a belief in God or any religion. But if that religion makes no sense then it is stupid.
They ask me what it would mean to me if there was a living prophet. I said it would mean absolutely nothing to me. If there is a good, then it can be known. If there is a good, whether a person is a prophet or not doesn't change the good. I tell them this and they ask me what Moses did that made him so memorable and historic. He relayed God's messages. They tell me "Good!" like it's some hard question, but really they're just happy that we're back on track with their scripts. If God relates the good to Moses, then Moses tells me, all he's done is save me time in figuring out what is good.
But since the days of Martin Luther, there has been no need for prophets. The bible has been open to study by anyone who wants to. They can read it and interpret it and figure out their own good. It's been going on since before then too. It's called philosophy, ethics, not-being-an-idiot/sheep.
I raise this point to. Instead of answering, I get introduced to the second guy, a massive, blemished boy. It looks as though God put a curse of boils on him and all those boils popped leaving him hideously scabby. The guy doesn't say much but the first guy continues to tell me about this new prophet and how they asked God if this guy was the real thing and not some impostor and guess what? God told them yes, yes he is.
So I accept their premise that God talks to his followers. I asked, "Why would I need to see this guy then? If God is telling me whether or not this guy is a prophet, why doesn't God just tell me the message himself? It'd save everyone some time."
At this point they realize I'm not interested, though I'm sure I stated that at the beginning. They don't give up though. Instead they ask me when a better time would be to learn about this prophet? Or to go meet him? I say look, I told you right away I wasn't interested but you had to keep talking. I'm not interested in meeting him for the reasons I said before. You don't have any arguments that convinced me. I've pointed out the flaws in them all. No offense to your religion but it doesn't make sense as you've presented it."
Then I walked off and wrote this post. This is not a reflection of Mormons, but one of these two boys. I was told, very accurately, that if they took no for an answer then they'd never talk to anyone. That's true, but it's still annoying.
"No thank you."
"Do you have a belief in God?"
That's how they get you. You say yes, they ask what sect and how long and then continue on with their well-rehearsed spiel. If you say no, they ask something else. They're like telemarketers. They have a script that covers every possible choice and the only way to win is to not play.
So I listen to their speech, being polite and thinking I'd get great material to bombard them with, or better yet, I could convince them of their own lunacy. There's nothing wrong with a belief in God or any religion. But if that religion makes no sense then it is stupid.
They ask me what it would mean to me if there was a living prophet. I said it would mean absolutely nothing to me. If there is a good, then it can be known. If there is a good, whether a person is a prophet or not doesn't change the good. I tell them this and they ask me what Moses did that made him so memorable and historic. He relayed God's messages. They tell me "Good!" like it's some hard question, but really they're just happy that we're back on track with their scripts. If God relates the good to Moses, then Moses tells me, all he's done is save me time in figuring out what is good.
But since the days of Martin Luther, there has been no need for prophets. The bible has been open to study by anyone who wants to. They can read it and interpret it and figure out their own good. It's been going on since before then too. It's called philosophy, ethics, not-being-an-idiot/sheep.
I raise this point to. Instead of answering, I get introduced to the second guy, a massive, blemished boy. It looks as though God put a curse of boils on him and all those boils popped leaving him hideously scabby. The guy doesn't say much but the first guy continues to tell me about this new prophet and how they asked God if this guy was the real thing and not some impostor and guess what? God told them yes, yes he is.
So I accept their premise that God talks to his followers. I asked, "Why would I need to see this guy then? If God is telling me whether or not this guy is a prophet, why doesn't God just tell me the message himself? It'd save everyone some time."
At this point they realize I'm not interested, though I'm sure I stated that at the beginning. They don't give up though. Instead they ask me when a better time would be to learn about this prophet? Or to go meet him? I say look, I told you right away I wasn't interested but you had to keep talking. I'm not interested in meeting him for the reasons I said before. You don't have any arguments that convinced me. I've pointed out the flaws in them all. No offense to your religion but it doesn't make sense as you've presented it."
Then I walked off and wrote this post. This is not a reflection of Mormons, but one of these two boys. I was told, very accurately, that if they took no for an answer then they'd never talk to anyone. That's true, but it's still annoying.
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