Why do mormons always build opulent temples? (salvation, Baptist, bishop)
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Location: Everybody is going to hurt you, you just gotta find the ones worth suffering for-B Marley
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What I was told by a Mormon is they're obeying a part of the Bible that says to make the House of God from the finest materials. Even then, they're being modest.
If you do believe in a God, what could be more respectful than to worship in the beautiful fields and hills that "God" created. Why should you have to erect these spectacular, sterile looking temples. Do you think God measures love in square footage? i think it would be much more respectful to "God" to use the money from the luxurious temples to feed his children. This is the problem that i have with the Mormon Church. God, if there were one, would not care about marble floors and gold plated angels. God would care about how we treat each other, not how glittery your temple is. God does not need 10 percent of your money every month. Earthly excess is just that, not respect for GOD. If you want to respect "GOD" then love your brothers, dont spend millions of dollars trying to take the rights away from 1/10th of the people who just want to love each other. the hypocrisy is killing me.
Location: Everybody is going to hurt you, you just gotta find the ones worth suffering for-B Marley
9,516 posts, read 20,019,552 times
Reputation: 9418
Quote:
Originally Posted by LogicIsYourFriend
If you do believe in a God, what could be more respectful than to worship in the beautiful fields and hills that "God" created. Why should you have to erect these spectacular, sterile looking temples. Do you think God measures love in square footage? i think it would be much more respectful to "God" to use the money from the luxurious temples to feed his children. This is the problem that i have with the Mormon Church. God, if there were one, would not care about marble floors and gold plated angels. God would care about how we treat each other, not how glittery your temple is. God does not need 10 percent of your money every month. Earthly excess is just that, not respect for GOD. If you want to respect "GOD" then love your brothers, dont spend millions of dollars trying to take the rights away from 1/10th of the people who just want to love each other. the hypocrisy is killing me.
Like God says in the Bible, Your ways are not my ways.
If you do believe in a God, what could be more respectful than to worship in the beautiful fields and hills that "God" created. Why should you have to erect these spectacular, sterile looking temples. Do you think God measures love in square footage? i think it would be much more respectful to "God" to use the money from the luxurious temples to feed his children. This is the problem that i have with the Mormon Church. God, if there were one, would not care about marble floors and gold plated angels. God would care about how we treat each other, not how glittery your temple is. God does not need 10 percent of your money every month. Earthly excess is just that, not respect for GOD. If you want to respect "GOD" then love your brothers, dont spend millions of dollars trying to take the rights away from 1/10th of the people who just want to love each other. the hypocrisy is killing me.
Wow. So much wrong in such a small paragraph...
First of all, it isn't a matter of "respect" with regard to where we worship. It is fine and perfectly valid to "worship in the beautiful fields and hills that 'God' created." On the other hand, when it is raining or below freezing or 100-degrees with 100% humidity, sometimes some protection from the elements can actually help with worship. Then, too, group worship is a critical part of faith in God, and when you have groups, flush toilets are a nice thing to have. Also, children, the elderly, and the infirm can often be helped by protection from the elements. I really don't understand the reason people rail against the idea of people creating "sacred places" for their worship.
Second, the assertions about LDS use of, and believe about, funds are absurd. He is asserting or implying that LDS Christians think God is impressed by buildings or money. Oh, and I would contend that God not only "wants" 10 percent of the money but He wants 100% of everything.
Third, we have a person who apparently doesn't believe in God, and yet wants to lecture the rest of us about what God "should" be like while telling us what he thinks we believe about God.
And finally, we have someone who exaggerates and misstates the issues from Prop 8 while bitterly complaining about things he doesn't seem to understand...
First of all, it isn't a matter of "respect" with regard to where we worship. It is fine and perfectly valid to "worship in the beautiful fields and hills that 'God' created." On the other hand, when it is raining or below freezing or 100-degrees with 100% humidity, sometimes some protection from the elements can actually help with worship. Then, too, group worship is a critical part of faith in God, and when you have groups, flush toilets are a nice thing to have. Also, children, the elderly, and the infirm can often be helped by protection from the elements. I really don't understand the reason people rail against the idea of people creating "sacred places" for their worship.
It's one thing to protect from the elements. It's another thing to do that and then spend a bunch of money on extravagant excessive things instead of using the money for good.
Quote:
Second, the assertions about LDS use of, and believe about, funds are absurd. He is asserting or implying that LDS Christians think God is impressed by buildings or money. Oh, and I would contend that God not only "wants" 10 percent of the money but He wants 100% of everything.
If they don't spend excessively on temples to impress God, then why? to attract followers for more tithing? Spend money to make money?
Quote:
Third, we have a person who apparently doesn't believe in God, and yet wants to lecture the rest of us about what God "should" be like while telling us what he thinks we believe about God.
No one knows what God really is like. If that were possible, religion would be united, not divided.
Quote:
And finally, we have someone who exaggerates and misstates the issues from Prop 8 while bitterly complaining about things he doesn't seem to understand...
The mormon church spent 20 million dollars campaigning for prop 8.
It's one thing to protect from the elements. It's another thing to do that and then spend a bunch of money on extravagant excessive things instead of using the money for good.
Okay. We're making progress. So constructing building is not a bad thing.
What we do next is start exploring what kind of buildings would be acceptable to LogicIsYourFriend, who apparently has thought more about this than the billions of religious people have for the last, what?, 8,000 years. Now, does this building have to be the very cheapest possible? Are wooden floors acceptable to LIYF, or has this extravagant feature crossed his invisible line between what is good and what is bad?
Quote:
If they don't spend excessively on temples to impress God, then why? to attract followers for more tithing? Spend money to make money?
Readers should note a few things here. First, LIYF has buried in the question the idea that the spending IS excessive. That is, anyone attempting to answer his question will be immediately granting his (unwarranted) assertion that to build non-small, non-ugly places of worship is to "spend excessively." It's a nice little rhetorical trap for someone to try to win his argument without really ever having to fight for it.
Second, it is important to note that LIYF seems to be asking a question, but provides the reader with HIS answer: greed. He can only imagine that people are interested in money. Even his suggestion that the reason for a fancy building might be to attract members is colored by his continued reasoning that this desire to share with others is motivated by nothing more than greed. His small-minded and close-minded approach to this leaves him without the ability to imagine why his fellow humans would do something that might be a net money-loosing activity.
One last thing to note, LIYF hasn't yet in this discussion considered the implications of his argument on the definition of "worship." He must believe that "worship" is limited to chanting, singing, and meditating on one's navel. It is apparently beyond him to imagine that worship can take the form of giving and sacrificing time, talents, money, and other things. So for him, the workman who chooses out of a love of God and a sense of worship to exercise his skills to create some nearly perfect part of a building that no one will ever notice when the building is finished, that person who sacrifices something that returns neither praise nor reward nor even notice, is NOT worshiping.
As one who seems to think he doesn't "worship," LIYF understandably doesn't seem to have a clue about why someone else would. And this ignorance about who, what, and why of worship leads him to condemn those who DO worship, and it leads LIYF to attribute the basest of motives in the face of their solemn protestations to the contrary.
All of this tells us nothing really about religious people or their motives for building non-ugly places of worship, but LIYF's comments certainly open up a window into his own mind for the rest of us to view his own biases, small-mindedness, and inability to grasp or admit the noble motives in others.
Quote:
No one knows what God really is like. If that were possible, religion would be united, not divided.
Wow, yet another display of lack of serious thought on the topic combined with a huge leap to a false conclusion. (1) There are lots of reasons why "religions" are divided, and "knowing what God really is like" might well only result in people being divided over other issues. And (2) your comment betrays your apparent assumption that the divisions among religions means that all are wholly wrong and that certainly none is right.
Everyone here has to admit that watching these kinds of anti-religion, fallacious reasonings is utterly fascinating. Plus it is always a learning experience to see one haughtily arrogant in his deep-seated belief that HE has thought through all things and seen the truth but that the millions of others who think differently are blinded by ignorance and stupidity.
Stunning, actually...
Quote:
The mormon church spent 20 million dollars campaigning for prop 8.
As you know, the Mormon Church didn't give a penny to the Prop 8 campaign. Either you are ignorant about this or you are trying to deceive or mislead people here. Either way, everyone here would be better off with your keeping quiet about whatever thoughts are pulsing through your mind on this matter.
Okay. We're making progress. So constructing building is not a bad thing.
What we do next is start exploring what kind of buildings would be acceptable to LogicIsYourFriend, who apparently has thought more about this than the billions of religious people have for the last, what?, 8,000 years. Now, does this building have to be the very cheapest possible? Are wooden floors acceptable to LIYF, or has this extravagant feature crossed his invisible line between what is good and what is bad?
Readers should note a few things here. First, LIYF has buried in the question the idea that the spending IS excessive. That is, anyone attempting to answer his question will be immediately granting his (unwarranted) assertion that to build non-small, non-ugly places of worship is to "spend excessively." It's a nice little rhetorical trap for someone to try to win his argument without really ever having to fight for it.
Second, it is important to note that LIYF seems to be asking a question, but provides the reader with HIS answer: greed. He can only imagine that people are interested in money. Even his suggestion that the reason for a fancy building might be to attract members is colored by his continued reasoning that this desire to share with others is motivated by nothing more than greed. His small-minded and close-minded approach to this leaves him without the ability to imagine why his fellow humans would do something that might be a net money-loosing activity.
One last thing to note, LIYF hasn't yet in this discussion considered the implications of his argument on the definition of "worship." He must believe that "worship" is limited to chanting, singing, and meditating on one's navel. It is apparently beyond him to imagine that worship can take the form of giving and sacrificing time, talents, money, and other things. So for him, the workman who chooses out of a love of God and a sense of worship to exercise his skills to create some nearly perfect part of a building that no one will ever notice when the building is finished, that person who sacrifices something that returns neither praise nor reward nor even notice, is NOT worshiping.
As one who seems to think he doesn't "worship," LIYF understandably doesn't seem to have a clue about why someone else would. And this ignorance about who, what, and why of worship leads him to condemn those who DO worship, and it leads LIYF to attribute the basest of motives in the face of their solemn protestations to the contrary.
All of this tells us nothing really about religious people or their motives for building non-ugly places of worship, but LIYF's comments certainly open up a window into his own mind for the rest of us to view his own biases, small-mindedness, and inability to grasp or admit the noble motives in others.
Wow, yet another display of lack of serious thought on the topic combined with a huge leap to a false conclusion. (1) There are lots of reasons why "religions" are divided, and "knowing what God really is like" might well only result in people being divided over other issues. And (2) your comment betrays your apparent assumption that the divisions among religions means that all are wholly wrong and that certainly none is right.
Everyone here has to admit that watching these kinds of anti-religion, fallacious reasonings is utterly fascinating. Plus it is always a learning experience to see one haughtily arrogant in his deep-seated belief that HE has thought through all things and seen the truth but that the millions of others who think differently are blinded by ignorance and stupidity.
Stunning, actually...
As you know, the Mormon Church didn't give a penny to the Prop 8 campaign. Either you are ignorant about this or you are trying to deceive or mislead people here. Either way, everyone here would be better off with your keeping quiet about whatever thoughts are pulsing through your mind on this matter.
Wow, who's arrogant?
You said earlier that God was not impressed by money, then why spend so much money on worshiping? Why do the angels have to be gold, for one thing? That money could be spent on charity. Spending more than you need to is excessive. For a person that's understandable, but for a church...
Either God is impressed by gold or it's excessive. Sorry
And when a church does everything but require 10% of members' income, that sounds like greed. Other churches ask less of members because they get by without golden statues and excessive spending.
Readers should note a few things here. First, LIYF has buried in the question the idea that the spending IS excessive. That is, anyone attempting to answer his question will be immediately granting his (unwarranted) assertion that to build non-small, non-ugly places of worship is to "spend excessively." It's a nice little rhetorical trap for someone to try to win his argument without really ever having to fight for it.
Second, it is important to note that LIYF seems to be asking a question, but provides the reader with HIS answer: greed. He can only imagine that people are interested in money. Even his suggestion that the reason for a fancy building might be to attract members is colored by his continued reasoning that this desire to share with others is motivated by nothing more than greed. His small-minded and close-minded approach to this leaves him without the ability to imagine why his fellow humans would do something that might be a net money-loosing activity.
One last thing to note, LIYF hasn't yet in this discussion considered the implications of his argument on the definition of "worship." He must believe that "worship" is limited to chanting, singing, and meditating on one's navel. It is apparently beyond him to imagine that worship can take the form of giving and sacrificing time, talents, money, and other things. So for him, the workman who chooses out of a love of God and a sense of worship to exercise his skills to create some nearly perfect part of a building that no one will ever notice when the building is finished, that person who sacrifices something that returns neither praise nor reward nor even notice, is NOT worshiping.
As one who seems to think he doesn't "worship," LIYF understandably doesn't seem to have a clue about why someone else would. And this ignorance about who, what, and why of worship leads him to condemn those who DO worship, and it leads LIYF to attribute the basest of motives in the face of their solemn protestations to the contrary.
All of this tells us nothing really about religious people or their motives for building non-ugly places of worship, but LIYF's comments certainly open up a window into his own mind for the rest of us to view his own biases, small-mindedness, and inability to grasp or admit the noble motives in others.
Wow, yet another display of lack of serious thought on the topic combined with a huge leap to a false conclusion. (1) There are lots of reasons why "religions" are divided, and "knowing what God really is like" might well only result in people being divided over other issues. And (2) your comment betrays your apparent assumption that the divisions among religions means that all are wholly wrong and that certainly none is right.
Everyone here has to admit that watching these kinds of anti-religion, fallacious reasonings is utterly fascinating. Plus it is always a learning experience to see one haughtily arrogant in his deep-seated belief that HE has thought through all things and seen the truth but that the millions of others who think differently are blinded by ignorance and stupidity.
Stunning, actually...
As you know, the Mormon Church didn't give a penny to the Prop 8 campaign. Either you are ignorant about this or you are trying to deceive or mislead people here. Either way, everyone here would be better off with your keeping quiet about whatever thoughts are pulsing through your mind on this matter.
I wonder why you get so upset about my opinion. The question on this thread is why do Mormons build such excessive temples. I never even mentioned most of the things you accused me of. First of all I never said "spending" is excessive. We all know that buildings cost at least some money. But you never told me why Mormons need golden angels and marble floors. I also never said churches need to be ugly. I have seen a lovely church that was built by hand by those who worship there.
I also never said that wanting to share is somehow greed. Greed is church leaders who charge a life long fee in order to attend temple.
"It is apparently beyond him to imagine that worship can take the form of giving and sacrificing time, talents, money, and other things."
The whole point of my post was that these and other things should be more important than a huge sparkling temple, so this statement is misleading. You obviously have no good argument because you completely ignore the point of my post. WHY DO MORMONS SPEND SO MUCH ON WHAT IS OBVIOUSLY NOT NECESSARY: GOLDEN ANGELS, MARBLE FLOORS, LUXURIOUS FIXTURES and such. You typed a lot of words but they have little meaning. So aside from putting words in my mouth do you even have anything to say on this subject.
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Respect for God?
