Wicca is a modern pagan, witchcraft religion

Wicca is a diverse religion with no central authority or figure defining it.

Wicca often involves the ritual practice of magic, though it is not always necessary

Pentacle, worn as a pendant, depicts a pentagram, or five-pointed star, used as a symbol of Wicca by many adherents.

Beliefs in Wicca range from hard polytheism to even monotheism.

Wicca is typically duotheistic, worshipping a god and goddess traditionally viewed as a mother goddess and horned god.

The term Wicca first achieved widespread acceptance when referring to the religion in the 1960s and 70s

Application of the word Wicca has given rise to "a great deal of disagreement and infighting".

The Goddess and the God may be regarded as the Divine Feminine and the Divine Masculine

The God and Goddess are generally seen as lovers and equals, the Divine Couple who together co-create the cosmos.

Traditionally the God is viewed as a Horned God, associated with nature, wilderness, sexuality, hunting and the life cycle

The Horned God is given various names according to the tradition, and these include Cernunnos, Pan, Atho and Karnayna.

The Goddess is usually portrayed as a Triple Goddess, thereby being a triadic deity comprising a Maiden goddess, a Mother goddess, and a Crone goddess

Some Wiccans, particularly from the 1970s onwards, have viewed the Goddess as the more important of the two deities, who is pre-eminent in that she contains and conceives all. In this respect, the God is viewed as the spark of life and inspiration within her, simultaneously her lover and her child.

Showing posts with label mormon studies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mormon studies. Show all posts

Monday, July 21, 2014

Fundamentalist Mormon Beliefs Explained For Us Sister Wives

Fundamentalist Mormon Beliefs Explained For Us Sister Wives
A COMMENT WAS ADDED THAT WAS SO ELOQUENTLY PUT THAT I FELT IT WAS A MUST READ FOR ANYONE TRYING TO DECIPHER THE BROWN RELIGION. THIS IS WHAT THEY BELIEVE, AND TEACH THEIR CHILDREN. IT'S A MUST READ, PLEASE DO SO. FOR MANY OF US, IT IS ALSO A VERY SCARY LOOK INTO WHAT THE CHILDREN ARE TAUGHT. IT IS NOT BIASED, IT'S A NON PARTIAL STRAIGHTFORWARD VIEWPOINT, SO YOU CAN DECIDE FOR YOURSELVES WITHOUT PREJUDICED WHAT YOU FEEL ABOUT THEIR BELIEF SYSTEM.

I KNEW NOTHING OF THIS WHEN I STARTED WRITING THIS BLOG, I SIMPLY ENJOYED THE SHOW. AND I WANT THIS BLOG TO STAY IMPARTIAL TO A POINT- I'D LOVE TO HEAR FROM THE BROWNS. YOU CAN LIKE SOMEONE BESIDES THEIR BELIEF SYSTEM- HOWEVER, HOW THIS AFFECTS THE KIDS IS MIND BOGGLING TO ME. HOW DOES IT MAKE YOU FEEL TO READ THIS?

The Browns are former members of the AUB polygamy group, a sect of fundamentalist Mormons. Christine Brown has stated that they are independent Mormon fundamentalists at this time in a You Tube video. This means that they believe in the Mormon fundamentalism, but they do not recognize the spiritual leader or prophet of any one polygamy group (such as Lamoine Jensen, the high priest and prophet of the AUB) as their spiritual leader. Kody would therefore be considered their "prophet" or spiritual leader or "priesthood holder" for his family of independent polygamists. This is the equivalent of someone being an evangelical Christian, but not belonging to a particular denomination, and holding home prayer meetings / worship services in lieu of church attendance.

In Mormon fundamentalism, the husband of a family seeks to become a polygamist with a minimum of three wives. When three wives are obtained, a man obtains the rank of High Priest Apostle. He will become a god in the afterlife, ruling over his own planet, which will be populated by his wives and children, and his wives will be perpetually pregnant in the afterlife, bringing more souls into existence to populate their husband - god's planet. In Mormon fundamentalism, a woman is not worthy to "go beyond the veil" in the afterlife and enter the presence of God. She may only enter the afterlife if her husband calls her by a secret name assigned to her at the time of her "endowment ceremony" - only when her husband calls her beyond the veil may she enter the presence of God. If a woman does not live in polygamy she may be forever damned (See Mormon Scriptural Document Doctrines and Covenants Section 132) Mormon fundamentalist women usually wear long hair because they believe that a woman will wash their husband's feet and dry them with her hair, just as Mary Magdalene did for Jesus. Mormon fundamentalists teach that Jesus was a polygamist, having multiple wives, among them Mary Magdalene, Mary, and Martha. Mormon fundamentalists are taught that they should continue to have as many children as they possibly can, to fulfill the imperative to bring holy souls out of pre-existence into life, thus activities other than child bearing and child rearing are discouraged for fundamentalist Mormon women. No matter what they say, Mormon fundamentalist women are permitted, yet discouraged from attending college. If they do enter a profession, it is usually something traditionally female, such as nursing, midwifery, or teaching. Having children and having as many children as they possibly can have is their goal as fundamentalist women. "(Courtesy of Friend of Flora commenter) "

"COMMENTS? THOUGHTS?"

Reference: esoteric-soup.blogspot.com

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Ask Mormon Girl Do Mormons Believe People Can Become Gods

Ask Mormon Girl Do Mormons Believe People Can Become Gods
I 'VE BEEN HOLDING ON TO THIS When THE Person in charge OF THE See. SEEMS JOANNA BROOKS IS Perceptive OF A HOT COMMODITY NOW AS SHE EXPLAINS Quite a lot of OF THE Treat Arguable DOCTRINES OF THE Independence MORMON Religion ON HER BLOG, IN HER Lately PUBLISHED Newspaper, AND IN AN Market research In the company of HUFFINGTON Guard.

"Pleased 2012, friends! May this be a thud, sharp-witted, and resonant court for you. It certain looks to be a blooming one, as Mitt Romney is roasting out of bed if not to a win in Iowa next practically certain to the GOP nomination. And if he does, you can bet that questions about new Mormon beliefs leave non-discriminatory a marker of media trouble.

A few weeks ago, this census clothed in from an old friend now teaching at a open-minded arts college in the Northwest. She wrote:

"A census came up in my class today: do Mormons recognize that band can become gods? "

"A.L."Yes, I was raised to understand that this is Mormon code of belief. But the way it's skilled on any liable Sunday sounds advanced for instance this:

Mormons recognize that we are the children of Charming Parents, that our spirits lived with our Charming Parents previously our animal lives, and that we came to earth on the object that we have got to help convene point end and run through to return to our Charming Parents. Similar to traditional Christians, Mormons recognize that helping hand from sin point Jesus Christ is what makes this return realistic, but the adorable of eternal convene the guts gets to break up in and furrow depends on his or her education. And it is a Mormon teaching that souls reservation to type, rebel, and convene in the eternities, and that part of that spacious convene is to become for instance our Charming Parents.

Represent is no lounging in the Mormon sketch of illusion. No clouds, no wings. Nope. We reservation do the maximum recipe supplies that souls are capable of-learning, put up the shutters, creating-but on a advanced sanctified, devotedly generative level. We maintain families and care for them. A short time ago as our own Charming Parents did.

So, yes, as I understand it, it is a traditional Mormon teaching that everyday beings can become gods, but in the vastly spirit that children can type up and become parents exclusive of displacing the superiority and disinterestedness of their own parents.

This code of belief is viewed as heresy by the rest of the Christian world. It's next one of the boldest claims Mormon code of belief makes, so it has been the theme of a ample concurrence of sensationalism. Anti-Mormon ministries that were maximum agile in the 1980s (BUT RESERVATION TO THIS DAY) love to play up this idea. The maximum egregious of the anti-Mormon movies, The Godmakers, courteous in on this idea, hand out in part to ahead the cartoonish sensationalization that Mormons recognize in in receipt of our own planets, which I've never heard anyone talk over completely.

Possibly in way out to this sensationalization, LDS Priestly Journey Gordon B. Hinckley appeared to detach himself and the Priestly from this code of belief in interviews liable in 1997 and 1998. This and proof that the sketch of godhood is less repeatedly addressed in consultation by LDS Priestly leaders than it was a few decades ago maintain led Mormonism's maximum significant observers to startle if the code of belief is years deemphasized. Jana Riess exactly wrote in the Christian Century: "Does that mean that Mormons no longer recognize that they can become gods? It is difficult to say. Countless Mormons no longer think about the discipline at all; it has become an small aspect of at hand theological air. The idea may someday standard sideways, rectangle as the church's stanchion of plural marriage-once a cornerstone not rectangle of Mormon practice but of its belief system-has lightened sideways."

But it next may be the pill that this code of belief is rectangle one that Mormons shy sideways from discussing obviously. I grew up hearing the phrase: "AS MAN IS, GOD WHEN WAS, AS GOD IS, MAN MAY BECOME," resistance official to the nineteenth-century Mormon post Lorenzo Snow. And in preparing to share this blog entry, I read anew the 1844 Joseph Smith words shared as the "EMPEROR FOLLETT SEMINAR": "God himself was when as we are now, and is an grand man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens!... It is the first best of the Gospel to know for a legitimacy the Vibes of God, and to know that we may reason with him as one man converses with sundry, and that he was when a man for instance us; yea, that God himself, the Opening of us all, dwelt on an earth, the vastly as Jesus Christ himself did." Smith continued: "Data is eternal and exists upon a self-existent best. It is a spirit from age to age and present-day is no vocation about it. All the minds and spirits that God ever sent wearing the world are finely tuned of arise."

Unorthodox Mormon but I may be, I am struck by the beauty of these resistance and this idea. It's one of the maximum powerful and definite elements of traditional Mormon code of belief. It's one I'm on cloud nine to own.

Quite a lot of OF THE Comments Not here ON THIS Line WERE As well Enthralling. Report ON THE Affiliation TO Interpret THEM:

http://askmormongirl.wordpress.com/2012/01/02/do-mormons-believe-people-can-become-gods/

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Prophets For Profit Pt Iii Are Mormons Christians

Prophets For Profit Pt Iii Are Mormons Christians
If you are a Mormon, please listen to this interview and check out the following links.

http://www.exmormon.org/whyileft.htm

http://www.vftb.net/archive/vftb095.mp3

http://www.mrm.org/

http://www.mrm.org/questions-for-lds

If you are not a Mormon, listen to the above interview and view the links prior to reading my writing.

What follows is a study for Christians who don't know much about Mormons, and for anyone else who doesn't know about Mormonism and thinks it may just be another denomination of Christianity.

A few months ago, i saw two Mormons at the mall, presumably proselthyzing(sp?) to two young guys. None of them looked very joyful.

I thought about going to talk to them, but chickened out, since I'm rather poor in face to face interaction especially if I'm on the spot. I did pray for them, and maybe that was all i needed to do. Maybe i should have talked to them. One of the reasons i didn't talk to them is because it's very difficult and tricky to share the Gospel with Mormons.

Mormons for the most part are friendly and kind people. I met some in Utah once and they were decent. But Mormonism is very, very complex. Before going further, ask that God lead you in the name of Jesus Christ, and that His Holy Spirit will lead you. Since Mormonism is complex, don't let me or my words get in the way.

The tricky thing with Mormonism is they have many things and in common with main-line Christianity. The terms are all the same. To get a flavor of this, here's something from a prominent Mormon website. (http://www.aremormonschristian.org/). This of course makes it hard to evangelize Mormons-they already think they are saved.

Here's a good example from that site.

"Most will agree that Christians believe...

that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ, foretold in the Old Testament of the Bible. that Jesus of Nazareth is the Savior of the world. that God loved us so he sent His Son Jesus to suffer for our sins that after Jesus died on the cross, he was resurrected. that we must accept Jesus as our Savior to return to live with God.

that the Bible is God's word."

The site goes on to say that Mormon's also believe these things. In short, many Mormons believe that they are truly Christians. But the trick is, they move from the foundation of truth (the Bible, the Gospel, who Jesus is, Jesus' death and resurrection) and begin talking about Joseph Smith and certain special revelations he is said to have received. Some of these visions were not known even by Smith's early followers. He allegedly met with Jesus and angelsd and received "hidden knowledge."

Many paint Joseph Smith as a spiritual seeker, and he very likely encountered spirits. They indicate that he went out to pray felt an evil presence, but continued to pray and had a spiritual encounter-allegedly with Jesus Christ. I say allegedly, because Mr. Smith never tested the spirit (1 John 4:1-3) and this would have been a good idea given the evil presence that he admittedly felt. It also does not specifically say who he was praying to, or for. That alone is worth looking at his theology with a wary eye.

Not to mention that seeing Jesus, or someone we believe is Jesus, does not mean it's really Him.

Lynn Dickie of Set the Captives Free has stated that she met a spirit (when she was stil into the New Age) that sold itself as Jesus, and she now states that it was not. The "Jesus" she saw, was a spirit masquerading as Jesus and led her further into the New Age, something the real Jesus would never do. Remember, that satan and his minions can present themselves as something they are not. (2 Corinthians 11:14-15; 1 Timothy 4:1) So just because Joseph Smith "saw Jesus" doesn't actually mean it was the real Jesus. That's the whole point of testing the spirits.

Later on, Smith claimed to have met Moroni, an angel who supposedly revealed "hidden knowledge," (echoes of Revelation 2:24) something common in nearly every false teaching. "Deeper truths" are often used by spirits to make an individual feel special. The angel reportedly revealed things about the "lost tribes of Israel", a theory which has been debunked quite thoroughly by Chuck Missler and I'm sure other serious scholars. They also revealed that "Jesus" allegedly visited these tribes, which gives us a Quetzalcoatl-esque vibe, after His resurrection. This is attractive, i almost fell for this too a while back and discussed this in my Quetzalcoatl blog.

But, these hidden archeological "truths" about the lost trives and Jesus coming as Quetzalcoatl have no evidence to back them up. One such claim is that the pre-columbian tribes used Egyptian/Hebrew style writing, which is completely false. The book of Mormon makes a number of these types of archaelogical claims which are easily refuted.

"There is a general consensus among non-Mormon archaeologists (and even some Mormon archaeologists) that the archaeological record does not substantiate the Book of Mormon account, and in some ways directly contradicts it."

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archaeology and the Book of Mormon

While i've shared some basic information about Mormonism above, as well as a few reasons to question it, it certainly does not exhaustively study or refute the many claims Mormons adhere to. It shouldn't be necessary to look at every whit of Mormon doctrine to figure out if they are truly Christians or not.

This can be revealed easily with three things.

1) What do they teach about God and His Son Jesus Christ? 2) Who was Joseph Smith really? 3) What gospel do they preach?

1) Mormons believe that God is a physical being. They also believe that "god" was a regular human being like us, but because He performed enough good works, He evolved into "god" and received a planet to rule and lives on a world called Kolob. (http://www.hiddenmysteries.org/religion/lds/mormondoctrines.shtml)

Here's an excellent article breaking down the beliefs and details of Mormonism.

http://bible-truth.org/LDStheism.html

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kolob

Who created him, and gave him the planet to rule remains a mystery. As with the ancient aliens or ancient astronaut theory, the question of who made the advanced aliens and so on is shrouded in mystery. And how is it that a man can evolve into a god?

In other words, without an eternal, self-originating, self-sustaining creator God, as outlined in the Bible nothing makes any sense. To say that God was a normal being who evolved is nonsense.

Furthermore, Mormons believe that this god had physical sexual intercourse to create the souls of people, "spirit babies" and with Mary to conceive Jesus. (http://www.hiddenmysteries.org/religion/lds/mormondoctrines.shtml)

This is in direct contradiction to one of the Bible's central points of doctrine. That is, the Holy Spirit conceived Jesus in a virgin, miraculously, without sex (hence why she was still a virgin at Christ's birth) (Matthew 1:20 as cited in the below link) Mormons deny the Holy Spirit and His part in the virgin birth.

http://mmoutreachinc.com/mormons/morchristjesus.html

This link further contrasts the differences between the created, Mormon god and Mormon-jesus and the Eternal, Son of God Jesus as revealed throughout scripture, the Holy Bible.

One key item, is that Mormons believe Jesus and Lucifer are brothers (http://www.hiddenmysteries.org/religion/lds/mormondoctrines.shtml) which is completely unBiblical. In other words, Mormon doctrine makes lucifer into an equal of the Jesus. That is another common element with deceiving spirits. They downgrade Jesus and elevate themselve. Lucifer was a created being, while Jesus is uncreated and an integral part of the Godhead. Any time Jesus is dethroned from deity to equality with angels or other creatures, that's a clue a teaching is false.

Galatians 1:8-9

8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. 9 As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.

2) Who was Joseph Smith?

Getting the real dirt on Joseph Smith is like trying to organize the origin story of Boba Fett. There's a number of conflicting accounts, and they all seem plausible.

To start, the wiki on Smith (for what thats worth) indicated that his parents played fast and loose with religious beliefs, including partaking in folk religious practices (i.e. occult) which definitely sounds like an open door to false spirits to me. His father and brother were also possibly Freemasons, which would likely open that door further.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mormonism and Freemasonry

He was also apparently inspired by Freemasonry and seems to have been a Mason.

http://www.utlm.org/onlineresources/masonicsymbolsandtheldstemple.htm

"Smith and several prominent Mormons had become Freemasons and founded a lodge in Nauvoo, Illinois, in March 1842. Soon after joining Freemasonry, Smith introduced a new temple "Endowment" ceremony including a number of symbolic elements that were essentially identical with their analogues within Freemasonry. Smith remained a Freemason until his death; however, later Mormon leaders distanced themselves from Freemasonry."

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mormonism and Freemasonry

In addition to this Mason connection, he seemed to have a general affinity for the occult.

"Mormon scholar D. Michael Quinn, has carefully documented that Smith was influenced by the culture of his day and particularly by his immediate family. His father and uncle both used divining rods.5 Luman Walters was likely the individual who introduced Joseph Smith, Jr. to using the "seer stone" for the pretense of discovering treasure.6 The Palmyra Reflector dubbed him as "Walters the Magician" who operated by the use of "familiar spirits," using instruments of witchcraft such as a "stuffed toad, an old sword," and a "seer stone."7"

http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/False%20Religions/Mormons/mormon-kabbalah2.htm

With all of these obvious ties to the occult, any spiritual revelation that Smith had would in all liklihood be with fallen spirits.

3) What is the Mormon "gospel"?

True Christianity relies purely on faith, on the finished work of Jesus Christ's death on the cross and resurrection. It is purely by God's grace that we are saved through repentence and believing that what Jesus did was enough.

"The good news of the Gospel is that Jesus lived a life of perfect righteousness, of perfect obedience to God, not for His own well being but for His people. He has done for me what I couldn't possibly do for myself. But not only has He lived that life of perfect obedience, He offered Himself as a perfect sacrifice to satisfy the justice and the righteousness of God."

http://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/what-gospel/

Sounds pretty clear. Human effort is worth nothing in terms of eternal security with God, and rightly so.

So what is the Mormon gospel? Not a gospel at all, there is no good news of a sure thing. No promise or hope.

"Mormons believe that one's salvation is based on such good works as baptism, good deeds, missionary work, and following Mormon teachings. In The Articles of Faith, by James Talmage, justification by faith in Jesus Christ is called a "pernicious doctrine" twice and he states that it has been "an influence for evil."

http://www.biblebelievers.com/jmelton/Mormons.html

When examined under the light of the Bible, Mormonism's true colors are revealed. It's the same old lie Satan gave us in the garden, "ye shall be as gods". It may have Christian iconography and trappings, but in the end it's just the same old trick of turning people away from the truth of Jesus Christ and Him crucified, resurrected and glorified.

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Vacation Apologetics - Meals And Mormon Beliefs

Vacation Apologetics - Meals And Mormon Beliefs
One of the great benefits on car trips with the family is that it forces families with normally busy schedules to spend a good amount of time together and allows you to talk about things that may not normally come up in conversation. Yesterday was one of those days for us. We had to cover some 430 miles driving from Durango to Cedar City Utah. This drive is incredible with breath taking vistas at every turn. I'm really glad we've shunned the Interstate for this portion of the trip.

We went back through Four Corners (which was closed when we had passed it the first time) hoping to stand in Arizona, Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico all at the same time. Alas, the Navajo Nation is doing construction on the monument so we could only walk around the fenced off circle. Still, I can now say I jogged across four states. Forrest Gump, look out!

Of course Utah has deep Mormon roots, from the names of towns and places (Mt. Carmel, Zion National Park) to the state highway signs which hold a beehive symbol. The state's population is 75% LDS, so I expect conversations to ensue. We check into our hotel (the clerk's name is Krishna!) and after a short swim, we all go out to dinner.

Even in popular culture, Mormonism and polygamy are intertwined. During dinner, my oldest asks a bit about this, allowing me to explain how Joseph Smith taught that polygamy was appropriate and himself took many wives, eleven of whom were already married to other men. One of the goals of polygamy was to produce as many children as possible to help increase the LDS population, but polygamy was illegal in the United States, so the Mormons practiced it secretly. However, it was an affront to the average citizen even then and this practice is primarily why the Mormons were driven out of Illinois.

Because Joseph Smith was killed while awaiting trial in Illinois, it was Brigham Young, the second LDS president, who lead the Mormons to the Utah territory, where they first began practicing polygamy openly. Although the U.S. government had been trying to stem these practices for some time, the Mormons continued them and saw them as a commanded by their faith. This continued until the Supreme Court ruled that the government had the right to seize all church assets and disincorporate the church because of their flagrant violation of the Edmunds-Tucker Act. In 1890, just after this ruling was handed down, LDS president Wilford Woodruf proclaimed a "revelation" form God disavowing further plural marriages within Mormonism.

In our discussion, I noted that modern day LDS become very uncomfortable when the practice of polygamy is brought up, usually saying that such things are far removed from what they believe now. However, apostle Richard Lyman claimed to have a plural marriage as recently as 1943! I also noted that many people splintered from the main Mormon Church once the proclamation was issued, spawning groups such as the FLDS and Warren Jeffs, who have recently been highlighted in the news.

A simple dinner was turned into a teachable moment as our family got to slow down and talk a little bit about what we were seeing around us. We also got to correct some misunderstandings and put a better focus on how beliefs will impact the way people live and how they understand right and wrong.

Reference: esoteric-soup.blogspot.com