WHY DO PEOPLE DISLIKE MORMONS

I have been responding to questions about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on "Yahoo Answers." I have decided to post them on here for anyone else to see what kinds of questions people are asking, and my responses to them. If you have any questions yourself, please, feel free to ask and I will respond.


QUESTION:
Why do people dislike mormons?

Why did people come up with an idea that we dont belive in god or jesus Christ? i mean our church is called The Church Of JESUS CHRIST of the Latter Day Saints! Its funny how people come up with so many ways to make us think were wierd like "i thought Mormons arent allowed to eat pickels" how stupid is that i eat pickels all tha time! and at our church we do church we dont say hateful things about other churches, dont you think god is a little disapointed that some churches use there time at church to say bad things about other groups of people? and just because we found another sacred book called the Book Of Mormon doesnt mean we dont belive in God! And no, we dont think that our prophets is another god or something they are just important to us cause they teach us very good things. Another thing that bugs me is that people that dont know anything about Mormons make up stuff and think its real, and that perents teach there kids to be afraid of other people that have different beliefs


RESPONSE:

I understand your frustration. The bad news is that this is something you can expect throughout your life as a member of this church.The good news is WHY we will experience this.

Whenever there has been something good, something of God, something that improves mankind, Satan has always been there to try to thwart it. There has always been opposition. Think of Noah, Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and the many other prophets of the Old Testament. When they were upon the earth, they were revealing God's truths to all men and women that would listen. All Christians recognize them as prophets today, but so many people at that time were blinded to this reality and rejected them, persecuted them, and eventually killed them.

When Christ was on the earth, He too was rejected and persecuted by many. Many Pharisee and Sadducee leaders (the spiritual leaders of that time) taught against him saying that he preached against the law, against the scriptures, and that he was a Sabbath breaker, and many other things. Even Christ, the Son of God, experienced this opposition and persecution. Satan was truly at work to convince men that this man - who was purely good, the Son of God, and the Savior of Man kind - was blasphemous, a liar, and many other false things. These men were blinded to the truth. Yet we know today, that Jesus of Nazareth was truly the Savior of man kind.

So as for today, if God sets forth a work, a church, a people, or anything, you can expect that Satan will be in the picture too, deceiving as many as he can. He will convince people to not read the Book of Mormon or sincerely pray about its truthfulness. He will call us blasphemous, he will spread forth lies about our church to confuse and instill fear within man kind. However, this does not mean that the work itself is not good and true, if anything, this should show people that there must be something to this church and to this work that we are about that is worth looking into. If there is not any strong opposition to something professing to be of God, that is when I would become skeptical.

Even still, there will be this opposition. You can count on it. The best way to overcome this opposition is through the persuading influence of example. Live the gospel of Jesus Christ. Love and serve God and mankind. Seek to come to know your Father in Heaven and Savior, Jesus Christ, so that you might become more like them. This may not get rid of all the persecution, as Satan will still be around, but it will certainly soften the humble hearts and open people up to, at least, being willing to listen.

God bless you and keep you. Do not become frustrated, but pray for Charity with all the energy of your heart. I hope this helps.

Sincerely,
Jonathan