What are mormons?

The quick and dirty definition of mormons... Yes they are a Christian sect founded by a man named Joseph Smith who claimed to have found another testament of Christ in North America. They believe in Jesus as their saviour and most of the normal protestant symbolism. They do not recognize the pope. The differences are difficult to sum up since there are several sects within the sect. In the more fundamental sects, bigamy is a common practice as well as marriage of older men to very young girls. Other beliefs include tithing (10% of your earnings go to church), abstention from certain products/chemicals that go as far as coffee and chocolate. Their hierarchy is somewhat secret but that is common to all religions, and is related to power more than theology. Skeptics would point out that Joseph Smith's claims appear highly dubious when viewed at arm's length, and there is no supporting evidence. The religion is largely based on his word alone. They have experienced steady growth since settling in Colorado as their base but have been rocked by scandals ranging from the bigamy issue to problems with forged documents.

They are a "modern" Christian group founded in the 1800's by Joseph Smith. They believe the are the "true Christians" and are trying to return the Christian church to it's original intent. There are many myths and half truths floating around about what it means to be a Mormon (Latter Day Saint). I urge you to go to their site www.lds.org to find out the truth. They are NOT secret but often are persecuted and ridiculed for their beliefs, "private" would be a better word than "secret". They are similar to other Christian denominations in the sense that they follow the Bible how ever they have a 3rd volume, called The Book of Mormon, in addition to the Old Testament and the New Testament. They do have "rules" in addition to standard Christian rules but I'd rather refer you to their site than chance misquoting them here.

They scare me whoever they are. I know as much as they are christian although not catholic so don't recognise the pope. They follow the bible very literally but have some weird ideas. Modern technology seems to be frowned upon. A friend of mine is a member of the mormon church although he didn't really talk about it much but it always seemed fairly normal, although he seemed to follow the bible very closely (much more so literally than other religious friends i have). Almost two years ago he told us that he was going to do some charity work for a year with his church in Scotland and we haven't seen him since. We e-mailed him and sent him texts to begin with but never got a reply, when we went round to his mums she informed us that he isn't allowed a mobile phone or computer and we had to write to him. We also asked if he would be back for christmas and she informed us that he isn't allowed to see anyone for the whole year (not even his family). We did finally send a letter and a couple of weeks later got a reply back saying "the contents of your letter contained details we felt were unsuitable and as such were unable to pass onto James" (very odd because all we talked about was what we had been doing at uni etc) we finally got a reply but it was very brief and said just "hello, i am very well and really enjoying it here". That is the only time we have heard from him. So what they do i am not sure but it doesn't seem normal and we worry about him, expect that when (or if) he finally returns he will have been brainwashed and we wont recognise him (i hope thats not the case). I should mention that i believe there a multiple different groups of mormons so they may not all be the same.

I do not know much about mormons except that they are some sort of religion people or something like that.

This may not be the best answer to your question because it is somewhat biased. Christopher Hitchends has recently written on the Mormons and as usual he pulls no punches. I was going to use this in a post but since it answers , in a way, your question I will post it here. http://tinyurl.com/27dm2u

Wow, certainly people can be bias when it comes to religion.. Dont you just love that ? =P Well lets see, Mormons have been attacked & criticized, what religion hasnt ? They have their own claims and believes - And as my friend Missak and I were discussing, being a part of the Christian enviorenment this "sect" has a few similiraties with Opus Dei .. but also has some HUGE counterarguments as bigamy, while a mormon can practice it an Opus Dei memeber (depending of their role on the hierarchy) must remain chaste - women and men are often separated even tho they live in the same building and are not allowed to interact (just a few exceptions and at certain times of day). So if all of these "little" sects are part of a bigger mass like Catholicism, Christianism, or whatever you want to call it.. how come none of them stick to the foundation and principals of the grand religion itself ? Its complicated. My personal belief is that, perhaps they have their own ways of thinking and obtaining salvation or just being happy - but mainly, all this nonsense or practice or ideals are political and economical related. Nowdays no one has come to preach or set a number of holy rules without trying to gain something back, either power, money, influence, adoration, followers.. No one is really being faithful just for the heck of it.. On the long run, I think as long as humankind maintains the gift of being able to think and decide for themselves, discussions like this will arise cause is just natural to take positions and defend or punish :)

I am not one? But Mormons are definitely Christians! The whole belief they have is based on one man in upstate NY saying that he met the coming back of Jesus in the woods near..I think it was Elmira? And he was called a prophet. (The man..not Jesus.)They believe Jesus has already come back and has been seen and spoken to. And they believe Jesus comes back at various times and speaks here on Earth. Nope..they are not a secret. They follow the 10 commandments and the "golden Rule," like any other Christian does (or are supposed to) and are otherwise just people like any others. I don't know enough about them to know what they think about the pope? But that's what I know. They are definitely Christians! (Called the Church of Jesus Christ and Latter-Day Saints, I believe.)

I keep getting into "trouble" when I say this, but it needs to be said, because it is the TRUTH... Mormons are NOT a Christian sect!!! There are SIGNIFICANT differences between what mormons believe and what the basic CHRISTIAN doctrines are. If you would like to read more about these differences, please see the link: http://www.gotquestions.org/Mormons.html And let me simply say that JUST because some religion recognizes Jesus does NOT make them a Christian sect. As a PERFECT example of this is Islam. The Islamic faith recognizes Jesus, but that does NOT make them Christians. Trust me... don't EVER say to a Muslim, "So, you believe in Jesus, so that makes you a Christian, right?" Another website which discusses the mormon religion... honestly... is: http://exmormons.org/ Again... I know there are a LOT of people out there... especially the mormons.. who WANT them to be called a Christian sect, but the simple matter of FACT is they are not. Unpopular as this view is, I cannot deny the truth, and I cannot allow it to go unspoken.