March 6, 2005

• I just read a phenomenal article called Are Mormons Christians?. The article was written by someone who is not Mormon, nor is he even a Christian. It is the most fair, simple, and unbiased approach to the question I have ever found. There are those of you who wish to "refute" my statements that Latter-day Saints are Christians. Before you do that, Please read his extremely short speal on the subject.
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

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  If there is any confusion or controversy regarding whether or not Mormons are Christians, that confusion is regarding the nature of Christianity rather than the nature of Mormonism. If you can tell me what a Christian is, then I can easily fire back at you whether or not Mormons meet the criteria for Christian that you specify.
  But if that is the case, then why do people who raise the question insist on picking apart Mormonism to answer it? The answer to that is that any reasonable definition of Christianity would imply that Mormons are in fact Christians.

  
  

  
  

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  Also, I would encourage any statements made on my site on the above subject to be scholarly, logical, rational, etc. The following ground rules explain what I mean by that.

  
  

  
  
  1. 
     
     Use reliable sources and then cite your sources appropriately. Statements with uncited sources hold no merit.
     
     
  2. 
     
     Avoid personal bias during logical arguments. Personal feelings can and should also be included, but they should not interfere with the logic.
     
     
  3. 
     
     Be extremely careful about telling someone what they believe. Please don't tell me what I believe. I already know what I believe, and will be happy to speak for myself.
     
     
  4. 
     
     Any logic you use is reversible. You must be held accountable for the very same kinds of things that you will hold me (and others) accountable for.
     
     
  5. 
     
     Define your terms. You can't say that a Mormon is not a Christian without defining both the terms Mormon and Christian.
     
     
  6. 
     
     Avoid at all costs Logical Fallacies! I will catch you on them, and I expect you to also catch me on them.
     
     
  7. 
     
     Avoid loaded language. Loaded language includes words that induce an emotional response or offense that distract from what you are saying.

  
  

  
  If you are unwilling to respect my above requests for mature, logical discussion, then please refrain from discussion. Also, hold me accountable to these same rules. I realize that no one is perfect, and I may accidentally break these rules. Call me on it and I will make the correction apologetically.
  
  I wrote this post in part because I was excited to read that article, but also because I have been warned that a statement refuting my stance is coming and I want to set the standards by which I will be judging that statement a head of time. I hesitate to do this because conversations of this nature have happened before on this site, and frankly I get tired of the same old thing. I have been through so many conversations like this the arguments get old. Few opinions have ever been changed through these debates, and honestly, the debates can often distract and detract from the rest of my xanga which serves as a way to keep in touch with friends and bounce ideas on a wide range of topics, not just religion. If I see that happening, I reserve the right to move conversation elsewhere.
  
  P.S. Yesterday's post was recently made public and probably did not make your subscription e-mails.

  
  

  • 3:45 pm
  • 5 Comments