Mormon411: Honda Dealers and Mormonism

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Honda Dealers and Mormonism

Missionaries, when trying to convince their investigators to only read pro-Mormon sources, often use the following analogy:

Would you go to a Honda dealer to learn about Ford? Would you go to a Chevy dealer to learn about Dodge? No. If you want to learn about Honda, go to a Honda dealer.

Their point is that if you want to learn about the Mormons, go to the Mormons.

But let's think this through a little more carefully...

If you go to a Ford dealer, that dealer wants to make the sale. Therefore, he is going to tell you everything great about the Ford and everything bad about the Honda. If the Ford has flaws, and even if he knows about them, he is going to withhold that information from you. Why? He wants to make the sale!

So...

I think it's a great idea to learn about Ford from a Honda dealer. Learn about Chevy from a Dodge dealer. That way, even if their opinions are biased (which they most certainly will be) at least you will be getting two different perspectives.

You would be an utter fool to go to a Honda dealer, learn everything you can about Honda from him, and make the purchase without any other research. The information he will give you will be biased because he wants to make the sale. He doesn't care about you or your car... He just wants the commission.

So don't take the advise of LDS missionaries. Learn about Mormonism from every source you can get your hands on.

In fact, who would be the best person to ask about Honda? A former Honda owner.

Who is the best person to ask about Mormonism? A former Mormon.

LDS, Inc. just wants the sale! They don't care about you or your car.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...: "In fact, who would be the best person to ask about Honda? A former Honda owner."

OR

a CURRENT Honda owner...; December 7, 2009 at 3:19 AM
Mormon411 said...: Yes, also a current Honda owner. I had in mind (and it looks like I expressed it poorly) a former Honda owner because he/she had owned other types of vehicles as well and could give an honest evaluation based upon having driven several.

If Honda is the ONLY car that the current owner is driving, then I would still want to seek another opinion.

Thanks for clarifying; December 9, 2009 at 12:20 AM
Anonymous said...: the only owner of anything i would ask would be an successful one. not a failure. or dropout or careless etc...quote i do not know of any member of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints who is (sincerely) living the gospel who is unhappy. this is a fact.

alayche; December 14, 2009 at 9:02 PM
Mormon411 said...: A fact? You need to be careful when claiming that something is a fact. It is only a fact when it has been absolutely shown to be true. Have you asked every single Mormon in the world if they are happy? If not, then you can't claim that it's a fact.

If all Mormons are happy, as you claim, then why does Utah lead the nation in Prozak consumption (an anti-depressant drug)?; December 14, 2009 at 10:24 PM

Quotes & Thoughts

New Rule: Churches don't get to offer their commentary on political matters until they start paying taxes!
"...reading the Bible is what has made me an Atheist." ~ The Citizen Atheist
Faith is just gullibility. ~ The Atheist Experience
Don't teach creationism in my school and I won't preach evolution in your church!
In your fiction book, your fiction god did a fiction miracle and that's all the proof you need!
"It's called FAITH because it is not KNOWLEDGE" ~ Christopher Hitchens
"...faith, by definition, is believing in things without evidence and, personally, I don't do that because I'm not an idiot." ~Kate Smurthwaite
"If you could reason with religious people, there would be no religious people." ~House
"Developing a critical mind and having your own view of the world takes education, reflection and time. Having faith is much easier. People prefer to be deceived." ~Michael Shermer
"It's hard to free fools from the chains they revere." ~ Voltaire
"Just because you don't understand something, it doesn't mean it's wrong." Arthur, Sword in the Stone
A diety who remains silent and invisible should not be angry or surprised when its existance is doubted.
Intelligent Design: Because it's so much easier to just invent an answer.
99% of people who DENY evolution can't even DEFINE it!
If money is the root of all evil, why do churches want it?
The Bible was written by the same people who said the earth was flat.
When you don't see the truth, it's easy to accept the illusion.
What most anti-evolution supporters don’t realize is that to nearly anyone educated in biological sciences, an anti-evolution world view today is almost equal to holding a position that the Earth is flat, and the sun revolves around the Earth.
There once was a time when all people believed in God and the church ruled. This time was called the Dark Ages.
"Does religion work? It brings some of us solace, impels some to do good (and others to fly planes into buildings), and buttresses the same moral truths embraced by atheists, but does it help us better understand our world or our universe? Hardly." ~ USA Today
Mormonism is enforced religion.
"What's so merciful about a god who punishes Adam and Eve and all of their descendants over a stupid piece of fruit?" ~ Khalid Thalib
"If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for a reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed" ~ Albert Einstein
Isn't it ironic that both you and your god hate the same things?
"Santa Claus never asked for 10% and I still got everything I wanted. And I wasn't good all the time either. I paid the Mormon church 10% and got zip." ~ Let Go
"For god was such a cowardly chicken shit, that he had to send someone else to do the hard stuff." Mormon411
"The good thing about Atheists is they wont knock on your door and they wont blow you up!" ~ Bumper Sticker
"I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours." ~ Stephen Roberts
"You believe in a book that has talking animals, wizards, witches, demons, sticks turning into snakes, food falling from the sky, people walking on water, and all sorts of magical, absurd and primitive stories, and you say that we are the ones that need help?" ~ Dan Barker, Losing Faith in Faith
"Religion is excellent stuff for keeping common people quiet." ~ Napoleon Bonaparte
"Philosophy is questions that may never be answered. Religion is answers that may never be questioned." ~ Unknown
"To the simple mind everything can be explained with one three letter word." ~ Michael Pain
"The government of the United States is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion." ~John Adams, 2nd President of the United States
A watered down long island iced tea: $7.00. A lap dance from your favorite girl: $20.00. Feeling absolutely no guilt for any of it: Priceless!
"I have a hard time with historians, because historians idolize the truth." ~ Boyd K. Packer
"...if God told us to brush our teeth with mud I would do it." ~ Anon TBM
Some of you are probably thinking, "Why don't you just leave them (the Mormons) alone?" So I ask you, if you saw a thirsty man drinking water from a well you knew to be poisoned, would you let him continue to drink or would you guide him to a safe well? ~ Christopher Miller
"Just as you can always tell sea water because it tastes salty, you can always recognize enlightenment because it tastes like freedom." ~ The Buddah
"What have I got to lose? My family? No. They are already gone. They were gone as soon as I was gone from their "family oriented" church." ~ ex-Mormon
"He (Joseph Smith) may get drunk every day of his life, sleep with his neighbor's wife every night, run horses and gamble... but the doctrine he has produced will save you and me and the whole world." ~ Will Jarvis
"My most painful Mormon experience was learning that having faith in something does not necessarily make it true." ~ Anon
"The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction." ~Richard Dawkins
"If a faith will not bear to be investigated; if its preachers and professors are afraid to have it examined, their foundation must be very weak." ~George Albert Smith
Prayer: How to do nothing and still think you're helping.
"Being an atheist means you've been able to see through the social pressure, black balling, guilt trips, propaganda, threats against your eternal soul, etc. and be a rational person in an otherwise irrational age. We think that's something to be proud of." ~The Arrogant Atheist
"Every member a missionary? Every member a revenue generator" ~Brian, ex-Mormon
"I love god. He's so deliciously evil!" ~Stewie Griffin
"We met in a little place called the MTC... If you don't know what the MTC is, then you're not cool." ~April Fenn, LDS church member
"This is our most devastating problem... retention." ~Sister "Nana" Barker, LDS Missionary
"Each of us has to face the matter—either the Church is true, or it is a fraud. There is no middle ground. It is the Church and kingdom of God, or it is nothing." ~Gordon B. Hinckley
What's the difference between a teenager and a Mormon? Eventually the teenager will realize that he doesn't know everything.
"How we treat others is a measure of what we think of ourselves" ~Sharon Bower
Atheists have morals too.
If complexity necessitates a creator, wouldn't our creator also need a creator?
Santa Clause is to children as Jesus Christ is to adults.
"If you are truly searching for the truth, then you must be prepared to admit that you don't already have it." ~Myself as a former LDS missionary
"It's impossible to reach good conclusions with bad information...We're all entitled to our own opinions, but none of us can afford to be wrong in our facts." ~Mort Crim
"...it's not a lie if you believe it." ~George Castanza