Survey

Church Group

Our site will ask three people with different backgrounds in religion to answer some questions about god. We are asking people with different religious views so that we could get viewpoints from contrary perspectives. Here are the questions we asked and their responses.

Q: If all Christians worship the same God, why can they not put aside their theological differences and co-operate actively with one another?

• J:Because they lack the moral power to unify as one religion, as nobel Jew did.
• G:I believe they can't put aside they theological differences because they want to show to god that they care more about him than anyone else does and that they have more faith than others do. Also many people believe it's their responsibility to convert others because they need to worship god.
• R:They should! Conflict arising from religion is a result of the fact that people are not perfect, and they get distracted by differences in their beliefs or forget that all Christians believe in trying to follow the example of Christ. In my experience, fellow Christians often do set aside theological differences and appreciated our shared core beliefs.

Q:How could a loving Heavenly Father create an endless Hell and, over the centuries, consign millions of people to it because they do not, cannot or will not accept certain religious beliefs? And, having done so, how could he torment them forever?

• J:To punish all who disagree with him, and torture them for their unique opinions.
• G: I believe that hell was created because all of religion is a game. Religion dates back thousands of years to when people didn't really do much with their lives. Religion was created to take up time and in doing so the creators said that god created hell, which in turn made others try to live a better life to avoid going to hell. I don't believe there is such a thing as heaven or hell. It's all a way to take up time.
• R:Mormons do not believe in Hell. We do believe that Heaven is the place where God lives and the future home of those who do God’s will and follow the teachings of Jesus Christ. The hope of our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and the purpose of life on this earth is to teach us and prepare us that we, along with our families, might live with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ eternally. After death, we are judged for what we are accountable for and rewarded for the good things we have done in life. Even after death, everyone has the opportunity to learn about and genuinely accept God. Those who choose not to follow God and Jesus Christ will receive a reward according to what they have done in this life, but they will not enjoy the glory of living in the presence of God. So- we don’t believe that God sends millions of people to eternal torment.

How do I know what God’s will is? How do I know if I’m called to ministry?

• J:It's like calling a black man the N word, you just don't.
• G: Again, I believe religion was just created to take up people's time and to try to change people's ways. I do not believe in god and I don't believe there is such a thing as call to the ministry from god.
• R:We know what God’s will is through studying the scriptures (the Bible, the Book of Mormon, and Doctrine and Covenants) and listening to the words of His prophets. An important part of our religion is also knowing for oneself that what is said by prophets or read in the scriptures is true by praying and asking for confirmation. Studying, pondering, praying. Hmm..called to ministry? Do you mean helping to teach the gospel? The bishop of the congregation asks individuals (men and women) to teach various classes on Sundays. Also, many young men and women volunteer to serve “missions” for one and a half or two years in any area of the world doing service and teaching about the gospel. For example, my dad went to Taiwan for two years and my mom served in Los Angeles. In our Church, we don’t have any professional clergy or ministers.

What do you do if you have parents/siblings who are living the wrong way? (one way in church, another way at home, dad on the internet) How do you avoid wrong influences when you live with them?

• J:Read the Torah and worship it.
• G: I would recommend people to a take a spiritual journey to cleanse the mind perhaps, that is of course if they believe in something that cannot be proven.
• R:One of the pillars of our beliefs is that you are here on earth to make your own choices, learn from your mistakes, and become a better person through a personal relationship with God. Naturally, it would be wrong to force someone to “do the right thing”. That said, you are always responsible for standing up for your beliefs and not enabling (helping) someone to do bad things.

Why should you go to Bible college for a year after high school?

• J:I'd go to Torah training school to become a G.I. Jew
• G:The only reason I would go to Bible college would be for the ladies. Or if someone was religious maybe they would want to go because they would feel "more connected".
• R:This is not something Mormons do. High school students do attend Seminary, a class that meets 6-7 M-F during the school year. We spend a year studying each of our four books of scripture (The Old Testament, the New Testament, the Book of Mormon, and Doctrine and Covenants) and learn about Church history. Waking up at 5:45 is not awesome, but I like that I am able to answer most questions people throw at me because I have learned so much about my Church. I think it is important to fully understand whatever you put your name to. It is also useful to know the background of Christianity (Judaism) by thoroughly studying the Old Testament

What’s wrong with rock/country/CCM/jazz music? How can you tell what music is good and what is bad?

• J:Nothing is wrong with those sorts of music
• G: The only bad music is country because it's about a bunch of drunks running around shooting at signs and also their voices are extremely irritating.
• R:Mormons enjoy music from all genres- there’s nothing wrong with rock or country or jazz or Christian radio (we ARE Christian!). The head singer of The Killers is mormon, as is David Archuleta, Kaskade, the entire Neon Trees band, and one of the guitarists for Maroon 5. The Church advises people to AVOID music that “encourages immorality, glorifies violence, uses foul or offensive language, or promotes Satanism or other evil practices.” There are certainly no guidelines that advise against entire genres because no one genre is solely made up of negative messages.

Questions derived from an atheist source and a christian source.