[Inquisitor]

Isherwood Dear Inquisitor, I wish I could continue to try to keep up with your unique form of logic, but I'm afraid that if I stray that far out into left field, I'll get a nosebleed. When you get back to Earth, let me know. Maybe we can debate something based in reality. Pax.

Thank you. According to Saint Seraphim of Sarov (http://www.russia-hc.ru/eng/religion...d/SerSarov.cfm) a true Orthodox must be rejected by the world and all is needed to be rejected is to confess the true faith.

Flip Jackson Joseph Smith and his brother confirmed their faith with their lives. Not to mention all the other types of persecution Mormons faced in the early days of its existence. Enough said. More generally, didn't men like Martin Luther die for their religious causes? Martyrdom doesn't automatically validate a belief, only one's dedication to the belief. This would apply to all "saints." The belief may have been true, but be careful not to mix cause and effect.

True, martyrdom doesn't automatically validates faith. Yet, I said confirmed with their lives! and death. Read lives of saints and you will understand what I mean.

Flip Jackson Inquisitor, I looked at the site you gave, and I hate to break it too you, but a lot of that is untrue. Whoever made that summary used two very different sets of sources. Some were by Mormons about our history. Others were obviously heavily biased in the other direction, and often represented our views incorrectly. I will point out a few problems with the site. ---Mormon polygamist groups do not currently exist and haven't for years. The practice stopped years ago. Those who practice it nowadays are excommunicated. ---That is an interesting take on Joseph Smith, nothing like I have heard before. I feel the need to check the sources validity on that one. ---If Joseph was poorly educated, how could he possibly create the best counterfeit of the Bible? ---I have never heard of a pair of spectacles that could interpret the plates. That is not taught in our religion. Someone else concocted that entire part about what was with the Book of Mormon. ---The claim of our beliefs in God is almost entirely false. The only correst part i saw was that we believe God, Christ, and the Holy Ghost are separate beings. I have never been taught that Adam was God. Nor have I ever heard that Adam-God brought the birth of Jehovah through the virgin Mary. These are fantastic tales that no Mormon has ever been taught, but someone else made up to make us look bad. ---It also says that the Book of Mormon isn't supported by archeological evidence. Uh, also wrong. At the time that Joseph got the plates, it was unheard of to find gold plates from previous people. But since then other gold plates have been found. Not religious, but historical. Apparently ancient people realized metal plates would last awhile. Not to mention word printing, or the fact that many customs in the Book of Mormon reveal Jewish culture, such as Chiasmus. Could an uneducated Joseph know these things? I haven't finished your article, but I will address the rest later.

So polygamy was fine once and is not fine anymore? True faith doesn't change because God is unchangeable. If your faith changed that much in mere 150 years, is it truth?

You believe that God, Christ and Holy Ghost are separate beings? So you don't believe in Holy Trinity? Moreover you believe them to be beings? Part of Orthodox's liturgy says, " to them who say that God is being and not spirit - anathema!".

My personal problem with mormonism is, how do you imagine that for 1850 years after The Christ has risen the truth didn't exist? So apostles and saints, bishops and priests, kings and princes , monks and laymen were all wrong? Makes no sense.

Isherwood Congrat, Flip Jackson. Now you know a little of how it feels to be a gay atheist. Isn't it amazing that much of what's presented as "facts" about group X are manufacturered by people who have never been a member of group X, have never studied much about group X and in reality, know next to nothing about group X. One reason I feel I can fairly comment on christianity is because I was a deeply involved one, for many years. I know few christians who have ever been atheists. Straight culture is around me constantly, and I lived as a straight person for 20+ years before accepting my true nature. Again, I don't know any straights who were once gay, although I do know a lot of gays who still live as straights. Inquisitor's points are fun to poke holes in, but I wish you luck in getting anywhere with it.

I am sorry that your ancestors sins were so great that you have been punished for them ( homosexuality). The best option for someone in your situation is monastery, yet I understand that you are very much against this option.

Starboy Yikes! A gay atheist. Its hard enough being an atheist, I can't imagine what it must be like to be a gay atheist. The Christians like to pretend that they are somehow persecuted. Someday I would like them to have actual knowledge of it. They cannot imagine what it is like to be persecuted by a group that thinks they are persecuted.

I fail to see your point. I found life when I was an atheist was much easier. I could do many pleasant things I cannot now. I felt no prosecution whatsorever. Frankly, I don't feel prosecuted being an Orthodox Christian. This time has yet to come.