Question for those who are non-LDS only.

[Cow Poke]

Jeff,
It seems that the old "drama" canard is the closest CP will ever come to acknowledging a point that may damage one of his lines of attack. Oh well. It seems to be his preferred fall-back position when he is faced with the alternative of retreating and retracting.

Leave the drama to Jeff, OC. He's MUCH better at it than you are.

[Hamster]

Questions such as "Is it really, actually, shockingly, disgustingly true that you Mormons believe you can BE LIKE GOD?" are not really "have you stopped beating your wife' type questions" except in the sense that they both seem to be crafted with an agenda of...what was the word?....maligning the target.


Okay, as long as you won't complain when the answer to "Do you believe that humans have the potential to become like God?" involves a series of supporting statements that ultimately lead to the "yes" answer.

How about "Do Mormons teach that believers can become a god like God is?" That's not loaded is it?

[RBerman]

Okay, as long as you won't complain when the answer to "Do you believe that humans have the potential to become like God?" involves a series of supporting statements that ultimately lead to the "yes" answer.

The Mormon answer to that question should be straightfoward: "We believe that the being we call 'God' was once a man in another universe/dimension/reality ruled by its own god, who was also once a man. He achieved perfection and, having birthed many spirit children through his one or more celestial wives, was granted permission and power to create his own universe, populate it with humans, and imbue those humans with the souls of his spirit children. He is our God, and he offers that we may possibly be allowed to repeat this cycle ourselves, if we meet certain qualifications." Then the Mormon could offer evidence as to why he thought this was a good and true doctrine, and his audience would really know what he believed and why.

The problem is that Mormon missionaries not only don't bring up these distinctive beliefs when they come to the door. They are, in some cases, trained to avoid the topic entirely. It would be like a McDonalds representative who said, "We have parking lots and tables and clean restrooms, and we serve cow meat, just like Outback!" It's not a lie, but it's certainly not a straightforward presentation of the truth.

[themuzicman]

This question is to be answered only by those here who are non-LDS. Your answer must be either "yes" or "no" and must be free of explanatory verbiage and/or protestations or complaints. Here is the question:

Is the God you believe in and worship, an extra-terrestrial alien?


a) yes

b) no

Using the terms as commonly understood, no.

[nrajeff]

Do you have a performance tonight? Hence, you're practicing your DRAMA?

I'm the invited guest speaker at a local Protestant church:

the Supercilious Unitarian Charismatic Knights of Evangelical Republican Snake-handlers---S.U.C.K.E.R.S. for short--so I need to turn on the charm.

Speaking of snake-handling--you said you were looking for a job?

There is an opening in snake-handling Christianity for a pastor--have you applied for the job yet?

http://www.kansascity.com/2012/06/01...ng-pastor.html

I'm glad there are at least two other Mormons weighing in here to volunteer that Millet's "style" is not the best way to go.

Is the Sparko-CP Tag Team Attack Method the best way to go?

[nrajeff]

Using the terms as commonly understood, no.

Ah, a "qualified" answer. I will allow it as long as anti-LDS folks will allow LDS the same privilege.
BTW, if extraterrestrial means "not originating from Planet Earth" and "alien" means "foreign to us" how is your God NOT an E.T. alien? I have been told by more than one Evangelical that God is "holy" and that means that He is totally "other" --foreign-- to us.

[themuzicman]

Ah, a "qualified" answer. I will allow it as long as anti-LDS folks will allow LDS the same privilege.

BTW, if extraterrestrial means "not originating from Planet Earth" and "alien" means "foreign to us" how is your God NOT an E.T. alien? I have been told by more than one Evangelical that God is "holy" and that means that He is totally "other" --foreign-- to us.

Because the Christian God is the creator of earth and the rest of the universe. In Christianity, God is indigenous, and we are novel. He didn't come from "somewhere else." There was nowhere else to be but where God was when the universe was created. He didn't come to a pre-existing planet from another planet and start something here. He doesn't have a heritage of gods who came before Him. God is the original inhabitant of the entire universe. There is no place that is foreign to Him, because He was there when it was created.


In Mormonism, god is another creature from another planet who brought his wives along to watch the show. In that sense, the Mormon god is alien to this planet, as his home is somewhere else in the universe.

[Cow Poke]

Ah, a "qualified" answer. I will allow it as long as anti-LDS folks will allow LDS the same privilege

You're being a real Jerk, Jeff... and a bit disingenuous. I can't believe you're stupid enough NOT to understand the difference between what Millet teaches and your goofy "yes or no only" schtick.

[RBerman]

Ah, a "qualified" answer. I will allow it as long as anti-LDS folks will allow LDS the same privilege.
BTW, if extraterrestrial means "not originating from Planet Earth" and "alien" means "foreign to us" how is your God NOT an E.T. alien? I have been told by more than one Evangelical that God is "holy" and that means that He is totally "other" --foreign-- to us.

"Foreign" can mean several things. God's holiness means that he is distinct and unique. There is nothing else like him in any universe, never has been, and never will be. That's one reason the Mormon doctrine of god is offensive to Christians: it denies God's holiness.

[nrajeff]

How about "Do Mormons teach that believers can become a god like God is?" That's not loaded is it?

I don't have a problem with it, as long you're asking it in a respectful or sincere tone of voice.

[nrajeff]

You're being a real Jerk, Jeff...

"Sticks and dramatic ad homs can break my bones, but names can never hurt me."

[nrajeff]

Because the Christian God is the creator of earth and the rest of the universe. In Christianity, God is indigenous, and we are novel

Other Christians have told me that God is indigenous to another dimension. They say it's impossible that He is forced to exist, er "subsist" in His own creation, aka our universe.

He didn't come from "somewhere else."

"Outside our time-space continuum" is the term several of them have used. I'd say that qualifies as somewhere else.

There was nowhere else to be but where God was when the universe was created.

Those other Evangelicals claimed that if God had no where else to exist except within the universe He created several thousand or billion years ago, then it would Him a contingent being or something. Which they say is impossible.

He didn't come to a pre-existing planet from another planet and start something here.

That much is indeed standard Trinitarianism.

....In Mormonism, god is another creature from another planet who brought his wives along to watch the show.

That's all they were there for, eh? Dang women, sitting on the sofa watching soap operas...

In that sense, the Mormon god is alien to this planet, as his home is somewhere else in the universe.

My question was about whether YOUR beliefs could be sensationalized into a claim that YOUR god is an alien. And I think the answer is "yes."

[Cow Poke]

"Sticks and dramatic ad homs can break my bones, but names can never hurt me."

But they do make you complain a lot. (and ad homs can break your bones? )

[Bill the Cat]

The whole "some Christians" fallacy

[Sparko]

Great "answer," IMO.
So you agree that if someone asks a question that is so vague, so misleading, or so fallaciously worded in some way that doing what was demanded--answer with a simple yes or no--would be a bad idea, that it's actually okay, and a good thing, to "avoid" answering it with merely a yes or no, and instead give an explanation?

or you could just ask for clarification before answering, ya idjit.