When you hear a believer state something to the effect of: "the evidence that Jesus was real is overwhelming."
Really? Where?
"The Bible."
That's overwhelming evidence? The Bible also has stories about talking snakes.
"The authors of the New Testament were eye-witnesses of Jesus."
Um, actually, no they weren't. The four gospels weren't written until nearly a century after the supposed fact.
"Ok, but I still believe."
Knock yourself out!
4 comments:
I am bookmarking your blog--we recently moved to a southern state and my daughter is surrounded by a group of very nice mormons... she went to mormon girl's camp--I didn't say no as that would have given her a reason to fight us. However, since then, I have been deeply concerned about the mormon conversion tactics. she wants to go to camp next year, is a "mentor" despite not being mormon, and other little slips have suggested to me that she is being manipulated by these "nice" people. If you can shed any insight into how to combat this without pushing her to the other side, I'd appreciate it. she's an only child too--i didn't go through years of infertility to have her only to lose her to this cult.
Let her go but make it clear to them that she is not going to be baptized. Once they see you're serious, they will probably stop calling. Keep in mind however, that they believe that they can eventually "soften your heart" with cookies and testimonies. So you've got to be very firm about it. Good luck. Keep me posted.
Thank you for your advice. Actually, cookies won't work with me... I prefer wine.
We're going to drop the camp subject till it comes up again in the new year. Meanwhile, my husband has worried about the mentor thing as he believes they'll use that as a way to "teach" her about mormonism. We will firmly say no to that idea.
I am hoping it fades away as the year progresses, but a lot of them are in the theater/musicals and that's my girl's cup of tea. They told her that "all mormons who audition for the show get in." If one particular girl gets in, I'll believe it. But for now, I think it's not true.
Regardless, she'll be around them due to her theater activities. I'm counteracting it with a gentle nudge back into the Methodist Church to reground her, there's debunking mormonism books laying around, and we're circling our wagons with other non-mormon friends.
I admire your strength. It took real guts and a strong faith in yourself to leave the mormon church. Being brought up in a lifestyle where you're inundated with the very big reality that you'll lose your family if you leave it is a huge sword to have over one's head.
I think you can politely stand your ground, Anonymous, without having to "circle the wagons." There are good and bad Mormons, just like any other group. The best advice I would give you is to try to befriend them yourself - find out who really wants to be friends, and who is just looking for conversions. Those who care about loving and serving others more than conversions are the good kind. It IS possible to reach across the religious divide. You can be upfront with telling the Mormons that you would NOT like them to share their beliefs, but that you would welcome a friendship.
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