Anyone Else Raised in a Kooky Religion?

[twickster]

@dhkendall

One non-mainstream (somewhat) religion that’s been conspicuously absent from this thread is Mormonism. I’ve lots of questions about it, and they tend to be very secretive. Short of “Ask the ex-Mormon” thread popping up (since it’s assumed a current LDS member can’t talk), this is the best place for it.

I believe Monty is a Mormon – perhaps he’ll stop by.

[Kamino_Neko]

@olivesmarch4th

That’s interesting. I don’t believe it is considered mainstream in the U.S. Most of the people I knew definitely thought we were weird.

The descriptions I’m seeing in this thread are…really a different beast than what I’m used to - no TV, hair cutting, or pants wearing? My very, VERY devout great aunt would be kicked out in a heartbeat - I don’t think I’ve ever seen her in a skirt.

I actually get that feeling about most Christian churches between the US and Canada.

[Noone_Special]

@gaffa

Very mainstream ones. Bill Clinton was a shabbas goy for a Jewish family in Little Rock when he was a boy according to his autobiography.

Note – according to Judaism it is not a sin for a non-Jew to act in a way sinful for Jews – all of humanity is supposed to be bound to the seven Noahide laws, but only Jews are bound to the rest of the Covenant.

@Wiki

According to Judaism any non-Jew who lives according to these laws is regarded as a Righteous Gentile and is assured of a place in the world to come (Olam Haba), the Jewish concept of heaven.

In fact, Judaism would strongly frown upon a Jew attempting to force a non-Jew to perform an act that would be sinful for the non-Jew to perform.

[gonzomax]

I had 2 friends who dropped out of the Univ. of Michigan to move into an Ashram following Maharaji Ji. He was supposed to be a perfect master of some kind. They worked on home roofing and turned all the profits into the church which gave the money to Ji. When he was seen driving in Limos and living the good life, while they were eeking by. They said the money was not enough to help a bunch of people and he deserved it. It was nuts.

[dhkendall]

@gonzomax

I had 2 friends who dropped out of the Univ. of Michigan to move into an Ashram following Maharaji Ji. He was supposed to be a perfect master of some kind. They worked on home roofing and turned all the profits into the church which gave the money to Ji. When he was seen driving in Limos and living the good life, while they were eeking by. They said the money was not enough to help a bunch of people and he deserved it. It was nuts.

As long as he was a “perfect master” and not the Perfect Master, we all know who that is!

When abouts was this, gonzomax? “Dropping out of school to follow an Indian mystic around” seems to be commonplace for the 1960s (at least from the perspective of this Doper born in 1972 and only learning about the 60s from history books and the entertainment of the time), but I haven’t heard of this happenening really at all since the 1980s at the latest.

[twickster]

The late '70s and early '80s were actually huge for non-mainstream religion in the U.S.

[Reloy3]

@dhkendall

One non-mainstream (somewhat) religion that’s been conspicuously absent from this thread is Mormonism. I’ve lots of questions about it, and they tend to be very secretive. Short of “Ask the ex-Mormon” thread popping up (since it’s assumed a current LDS member can’t talk), this is the best place for it.

There have been a number of “Ask The Mormon” threads on this board, including a fairly recent “Ask The Ex-Mormon Missionary thread” at Ask the former Mormon missionary (and current atheist) - Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share - Straight Dope Message Board. There are a few practicing LDS members on this board - Monty, Dangermom, emarkp, myself - that have historically been open to questions. There are also former members who are open and not particularly hostile - Erdasian, TokyoPlayer - and those who seem much more negative - Dogzilla - for a different perspective. We also have nonmombers who live in heavily LDS areas - pepperlandgirl - who also seem open. I will not talk about the details of Ordinances that take place in the temples, but I feel comfortable talking about a lot of it.

My own view is that I, and most of the LDS posters here, are open to honest questions, but almost all threads on Mormonism quickly turn into:
“How can you believe such crap?”
“Mormonism is just another brand of the invisible pink magical unicorn mythology, same as with all religions.”
“<Insert joke about polygamy or “magic underwear”>”

Because of that, I have become reluctant to discuss Mormonism in detail on this board. I am willing to try again in this or a different thread, and will be as honest and open as I can be. However, I won’t really participate in a bash session.

[Erdosain]

@dhkendall

One non-mainstream (somewhat) religion that’s been conspicuously absent from this thread is Mormonism. I’ve lots of questions about it, and they tend to be very secretive. Short of “Ask the ex-Mormon” thread popping up (since it’s assumed a current LDS member can’t talk), this is the best place for it. To this point the best information I recieved about the “secretive” practices of the Latter Day Saints are three SDSAB reports that still leave a few questions.

Well, Rico did chime in on the first page of this thread (he also wrote the first of the columns you linked to). If there’s anything you really want to know, start a thread (assuming your question wasn’t answered in the thread Reloy3 linked to) or send me a PM. I have no qualms about answering any question. Even the “secret” stuff! (It’s not that exciting, mostly just Masonic hand gestures, but I still think knowledge is better than artificial secrecy.)

@dhkendall

Hopefully one of these days we’ll get a Doper whos a Mason and we can learn something about them too!

Has there ever been an Ask the Mason thread? I would like to read that. Especially as there is a lot of overlap with the Mormonism.

[Monstera_deliciosa]

@dhkendall

I don’t see it as “mockery” either - rather (like most of my visits to the SDMB) an eye-opening fascinating read into something that I, as a “mainstream Christian” know nothing about. No one has really “made fun of” their particular non-mainstream religion, but rather, as per the OP’s request, said what their experiences were, and gave us a lesson in something we didn’t know, which is why I eat up the Dope!

One non-mainstream (somewhat) religion that’s been conspicuously absent from this thread is Mormonism. I’ve lots of questions about it, and they tend to be very secretive. Short of “Ask the ex-Mormon” thread popping up (since it’s assumed a current LDS member can’t talk), this is the best place for it. To this point the best information I recieved about the “secretive” practices of the Latter Day Saints are three SDSAB reports that still leave a few questions.

Hopefully one of these days we’ll get a Doper whos a Mason and we can learn something about them too!

Here is another Ask the Ex-Mormon thread from a few years back.

[gonzomax]

@dhkendall

As long as he was a “perfect master” and not the Perfect Master, we all know who that is!

When abouts was this, gonzomax? “Dropping out of school to follow an Indian mystic around” seems to be commonplace for the 1960s (at least from the perspective of this Doper born in 1972 and only learning about the 60s from history books and the entertainment of the time), but I haven’t heard of this happenening really at all since the 1980s at the latest.

It was about 1965 .In Ann Arbor Michigan. They were both graduating when they decided he was the one. He held a “thing” for his followers and it was in The Astrodome. so it was not small time. It was hard to be polite when they tried to talk me into it.

[gonzomax]

@dhkendall

As long as he was a “perfect master” and not the Perfect Master, we all know who that is!

When abouts was this, gonzomax? “Dropping out of school to follow an Indian mystic around” seems to be commonplace for the 1960s (at least from the perspective of this Doper born in 1972 and only learning about the 60s from history books and the entertainment of the time), but I haven’t heard of this happenening really at all since the 1980s at the latest.

It was about 1970 .In Ann Arbor Michigan. They were both graduating when they decided he was the one. He held a “thing” for his followers and it was in The Astrodome. so it was not small time. It was hard to be polite when they tried to talk me into it.
Whatever Happened to Guru Maharaj Ji ? - Maharaji - Elan Vital - Cult - Prem Rawat - The Prem Rawat Foundation - Divine Light Mission This is about him.