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Is Mormonism A Cult?
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Some reasons why the Mormon Church takes on significant cult characteristics:
- In Temple recommend interviews, members are told that the interviewer represents Jesus and should answer all questions as if they were talking to Jesus. This is a break down of barriers designed to condition the member to completely submit to church's authority.
- Naked touching in the temple washing and anointing ritual also breaks down barriers, creates submission to church authority (Note that this has recently been changed to touching only the forhead).
- New name, suggests reassignment of identity.
- Temple endowment experience is hypnotic, produces a relaxed, even sleepy alpha like state for receptivity to church indoctrination, oaths, instruction, commitment. Similar to Moonie repetetive indoctrination sessions where chanting, singing, and long periods of lecturing happen.
- Secret signs, tokens, passwords to get into Mormon heaven. If one does not have this exclusive information, they will be denied access past certain angels along the way back to God's presence. This is an element of control designed to produce exclusivity
- Requirement to wear church approved underwear night and day, conditioned to believe they possess special protections. Another design to control via exclusivity
- Strict tithing requirements. Yearly face to face confrontation with a high church authority to declare to him (as the lord's representative) how much money the member was able to give to the church. Encouraged to give everything that the lord blesses you with even ones time, talents to the building up of the LDS church. In addition to tithes, generous fast offerings are encouraged. Giving to other charities or worthy causes outside the church is heavily discouraged. The member intuitively knows that the tithing, fast offering, missionary funds and perpetual education funds must be donated to first... and only THEN should outside charities be considered. This cult characteristic falls under extreme duress to give only to the church organization. The member is even told that if the tithing is not "honest" they will literally burn up at the Lord's 2nd coming.
- Outsiders not permitted to enter the temple. Exclusivity.
- Members believe Jesus literally walks the halls of the temples and no other buildings on earth receive this priviledge. There is only Faith promoting rumors to back this up of course. Yet it is a very strong and widely held belief in the church that this is so.
- There is a blatant Us vs Them mentality. The LDS testimony conditions members to "know" based on feelings that they are the only ones on earth with the Truth or approved plan of God. Everyone else is wrong and must be saved or baptized into the LDS church. This doctrine goes as far as to maintain that every living human who has ever lived in this earth must be baptized. While logically impossible, the doctrine is widely believed. God will figure it out. This rationality is supposed to support this impossibility
- LDS church has more evidence to prove it false than it does to prove it true, yet members see this as a test of faith and God's way of strengthing his "Elect". Or members have been conditioned to never look at this material. Very similar to the Moonie approach that outside information was evil and falls under satanic origins. Anything that could potentially deprogram a Moonie was satanic. Family members, spouses, newspaper articles, radio... you get the idea.
- Members are encouraged strongly to never look at "anti" literature. Yet early apostles encouraged the discovery of truth and preached openly that truth would stand up to highest degree of scrutiny. This was before damning evidences to the church's platform of ideology was widely known or even challenged. During this era, the church had a sense of infallibility as the saints were securely sequestered in the desert of Utah. Completely isolated from the outside world.
- Bishop interviews are obsessed with sexual purity for youth & missionaries. Adults have been told which sexual acts are permissable and which are not. Though, this is not consistent throughout the church. Young people must disclose any sexual acts, even minor ones. This young person (male or female) believes they are talking to Jesus Christ's representative in these interviews. Lying to the bishop is equated to lying to Jesus.
- Bishop Temple Recommend interviews require that the person state that they believe that the current Mormon leader is a Prophet of God. If they do not believe, they do not receive a recommend and are told to fast and pray and return.
- Mormons are not allowed to research and produce their own curriculum to teach in a Mormon church. All lessons are pre-planned by the LDS Corporation and sent out to all Ward Houses. All Ward Members are taught the same thing in every class including Priesthood, Sunday School and Sacrament.
- Missions are extreme examples of Cult experience:
- 80 hrs a week free labor (Missionary makes no money) in fact the missionary pays largely for his own meals, lodging, transportation and clothing out of his own pocket. The missionary is told that the 2 years in service is a "tithing" of the first 19 years of his life that God gave him/her.
- When not working in field one is encouraged to read scripture & pray constantly
- High amounts of self-indoctrination and mass indoctrination at zone, district meetings. Guilt tactics are used. If low recruit numbers are happening, the missionary is frequently blamed. Reasons for low recruit numbers are tied to unlikely reasons such as a lack of dedication or commitment to mission rules or even a suggestion that too many missionaries were masturbating too frequently in the past month. This is a gross abuse of mind control.
- Encouraged to frequently recite scripture and hymns, carry a prayer in ones heart at all times so as to fortify ones efforts to keep rules, remain "sanctified to the cause" and not have impure thoughts or masturbate.
- No outside influences, no TV, no radio
- Must always be with companion except for showers and toilet
- Confined to one area, not permitted to go outside geographic boundaries
- Extreme limited contact with family, letters once a week, no phone call home but twice a year
- Primary job is to recruit new members, give the prospect milk and NO meat doctrine. Deception (by only telling the rewritten version of the church's history and doctrine) is encouraged most often without the missionary NOT knowing he is testifying to untruths.
- Every person met is sized up as potential recruit,
- Current members are badgered for referrals for new recruits, friends and neighbors
- Loaded language, acronymns. Outsiders cannot follow many regular LDS conversations
- If one ever leaves the church, they are told and conditioned to think they will be sent to outer darkness in the afterlife. There is a fear of iminent damnation if they leave the group.
- One man (the prophet figure) speaks for God. Members see this as extremely positive as they believe the prophet will never lead them astray. When confronted that prior prophets in history have been wrong or even preached harmful doctrine that was widely held up as God's word (racial discrimination) the member quickly dismisses this. This is supported by the percieved good works the church produces and the notion that mormonism produces good people and strong families.
And here is another list:
- They take the money of their members, usually trying to make the members who don't donate feel bad for not contributing to the welfare of the group. The authority figures within the group hoard all this money for themselves, spending it on bigger buildings (see 550 billion dollar conference center), more temples, shopping malls, resorts in Hawaii.
- They discourage members from associating with people who have different beliefs from the group. Members are especially discouraged from marrying or getting into a long-term relationship with anyone who isn't a member. And those outsiders they do get involved with are encouraged to become part of the group before any marriage / relationship will be recognized by the group.
- They use fear tactics to inspire members to adhere to the group's rules. Members are threatened with terrible outcomes and made to feel guilty about their actions if they do anything against the rules of the group.
- Those who question the group's beliefs too much are disciplined and censured. Questioning the beliefs is severely frowned upon, and members who try to work against this or fight certain beliefs are usually cast out and demonized to the remaining people in the group.
- Children of the group are indoctrinated from an early age with the group's beliefs, and are discouraged from exploring any belief system save for that of the group.
- Group leaders are given special priviledges. Certain rules that apply to the lay people often do not apply to them. In extreme cases, the group works to allow its leaders to break or avoid the laws of the established culture, or covers up transgressions against the same.
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