Hi there, Im new, so excuse me if Im posting in the wrong place! And also if this subject has been flogged to death already!
Im Irish. I have spent all my life in Ireland to this day, and its probably 98% Roman Catholic here, so I dont get to learn much about other faiths and beliefs here. I feel that part of learning about my own beliefs is understanding what distinguishes my faith from others.
I had heard of Mormons, but knew little of their origins until recently, when I met a young couple from Utah who were on holidays here.
They were willing to discuss their beliefs with me, but I was really surprised at how silly it seems. My mouth was open while they told me about Joseph Smith....I was almost waiting for a punchline!
Do these people actually seriously believe this stuff? Im convinced this couple were two perfectly nice people, but can they really believe this story?
It has charlatan written all over it surely?
I thought Scientology sounded absolutely ludicrous, but Mormonism certainly gives it a good run for its money!
Is it popular in the USA or other countries? And how do Christians perceive them? Do you agree with their notion that they are Christians? Im not so sure if I do, regardless of what they might claim.
Sorry for such a longwinded post and thanks for reading.

No, I would not classify them as Christians. Definition of a Christian is somebody that believes in Jesus Christ, and the NT and OT of the bible. ( That's what the definition is in my dictionary anyway.) The Bible warns us about false prophets such as Joseph Smith also.

Christians don't often classify Mormons as Christians, though they classify themselves as Christians most of the time. They do believe in God, in Jesus and in the Bible, although like how not all Christians believe the same thing, not all Mormons do either. There are different levels of spirituality, and some of their beliefs are open to interpretation, even if there is a general consensus as to what the answers are.

They say that there was another person led by God to uncover untold truths. I don't agree that it's "right", but I've seen a lot of very ignorant and disrespectful articles aimed at Mormons: that they're all racist, that they were "special underwear", that they have multiple wives, all of which are more absurd versions of the actual facts- strongly worded arguments meant to ridicule, rather than to dissect their beliefs.

The recent Presidential debates (US) caused me to do a lot of research on Mormonism. I wanted to know what people were talking about. I was once Roman Catholic too, and yeah- they are REALLY different from each other!

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"And there's no greater love, than the one shed his blood for his friends..." (Thrice, "For Miles")

Changing perceptions..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtGT2apOlKw

I have been working with (attempting to witness to) Mormons for several months. So I have A LITTLE experience. Here's what I have found out - much of it from their own mouths. They once believed in polygamy but gave it up because they received "a new revelation" not to do it. Actually it was government pressure. They once believed that Negroes were a sub-normal race. They have changed that belief (mostly, I believe, again due to government pressure. They believe that God was once a man like we are and that man will become gods. Try to figure that one out!!! They can't explain it either but they do believe it. They believe that Jesus and Lucifer (Satan) were/are brothers. They believe that the Bible (the one we use) is God's Word but the Pearl of Great Price and Doctrines and Covenants are 2 additional "scriptures" that are also God's Word. Those 2 books contain A LOT of extra information that the Bible does not mention and much of it is contradictory to the Bible and even to each other. And all of that is just started starters in mentioning the "weird" stuff they believe. So... you can see it is a REALLY mixed up hodge-podge and I like you wonder how it is someone can go that far astray. The answer I have to that is that they are so brainwashed by the Mormon leaders but even more so Satan has so blinded their eyes that they are willing to believe anything.

Mormonism is very much a social institution with attractive programs and opportunities of various kinds. Their ritualistic and mysterious taint might also appeal to some, but I guess most who joins themselves to them do it for reasons other than directly fancying their beliefs. Yet, they are very active in missionary work and would proselyte whereever they can. To today's christianity's bad it could be said that we ought to be more active in reaching out, in missions, in knocking doors and meet people at their place in life than we are. If we don't do this, someone else will.

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Prov.1:22 How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?

Ps.139:21-22 Do not I hate them, O LORD, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee? I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies.

To God alone be the glory.

You just described the majority of churches, regardless of denomination, in the United States. All hype, no substance.

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God's grace is not His ability or His willingness to simply ignore our sin. Rather, God's grace is the divine power of His love to transform a life thus breaking the power of sin that binds us to the desires of the flesh. - Yours Truly

Thank you so much for replying.
I just find the whole thing so utterly unbelieveable to be honest. It has all the hallmarks of a horrible scam to me.
I understand it may seem harmless if these people devote their lives to helping others, but if their entire faith is as false as it appears, they are on the wrong path.
The couple I met had a Bible, and another book from which they said they learnt and prayed. Immediately I remembered reading in the Bible about how no other literature or scripture was valid. Only the Bible. When I quizzed them on this, they seemed uncomfortable and hinted that I didnt understand. Well, I still dont understand how they can justify that.
Again, thanks for the information.

Mormans believe that they only mormons go to heaven and if they do good in this life they will be a god over a different world. They believe the god they serve is a mormon that did good in life and was given godship over this world. They don't serve the creator of all things, just a fellow mormon. They hold other books above the bible. Who knows, maybe they believe the god of this world is joseph smith himself. Farmers may want to serve john deere. They look foward to the chance of being a god over another world someday and have multiple wives. I never saw an actual picture of joseph smith but I'm guessing there was no halo, maybe horns though. They are normal people and very nice. And christians should do more soul winning and door knocking maybe but mormons are not christians. The fact that they use jesus to decieve people like they do, their punishment will be worse than just never accepting jesus. New converts don't go door to door. These missionaries were raised mormon and can not be swayed easily. They were raised mormon from birth. Its best to just avoid them rather than risk a spirit of deception come against you.

Mormons also believe in baptism for the dead. For example if I was mormon and you are not, and you died, you would go to hell. But I could be baptised again for you and make you a mormon, and bring you out of hell and into heaven. If you wish to learn more about mormonism, perrystone.org has a cd teaching called the golden hoax, or something like that, all about joseph smith and mormons.

Correct me if I'm wrong on any of this (or debate on it I guess), but they collectively don't believe in Hell like we do- they instead believe that there is an "outter darkness", which leaders of the Mormon church have stated that they are fuzzy on. It is not stated directly what "Hell" is, to them.

Also, they do believe in 3 layers of heaven- but they do not believe that other Christians go to Hell. They are unclear on who goes into this "outter darkness", although it is my understanding that one must do something horribly evil to end up there. It may be true to them, however, that Mormons go to the top layer of Heaven to be with God.

__________________
"And there's no greater love, than the one shed his blood for his friends..." (Thrice, "For Miles")

Changing perceptions..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtGT2apOlKw

Yes, you have it exactly right.