Mormon Church Cancels Missions To Venezuela

[Judi Lynn]

Oct 24, 2005 4:55 pm US/Mountain

Mormon Church Cancels Missions To Venezuela

SALT LAKE CITY The LDS Church has put a stop to missions in Venezuela.

Spokesman Dale Bills says difficulties concerning visas for missionaries has led The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to remove its missionaries from Venezuela.

Bills says the problem involves renewing visas and obtaining new visas for missionaries serving in that country. He says the church will reassign missionaries serving in Venezuela to other Spanish-speaking missions in Latin America, the United States and Canada.
(snip/...)

http://kutv.com/topstories/local_story_297102957.html




Photographer:Santiago Padilla [e-mail]
http://www.vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=46493

[aquart]

1. And Venezuela says Hallelujah!

[cantstandbush]

38. Was that before or after Chavez kicked them out? n/t

[VegasWolf]

45. Yes, and the problem is?!? Venezuela should set a great example!

[GrpCaptMandrake]

2. Venezuela Gets A Break!

Guess those Mormon elders have never heard of the Yanomamo. Those dudes even kill off other villages to steal the women for multiple marriages. You'd think the missionaries would fit right in. Hell, they've probably already translated the Book of Moron into Yanomamo just on geneological principle.

On the other hand, if I was part of a religion that believed Jesus hung out with the Native Americans while they rode their unicorns to hunt the dinosaurs, I'd hate to miss out on a chance to talk to primitives who probably have a similar myth.

Venezuela dodged a bullet. :rofl:

[ErisFiveFingers]

10. Unicorns and Dinosaurs?

Unicorns like in Num 23:22, 24:8, Deut 33:17, Job 39:9-10, Ps 22:21, 29:6, 92:10, and Isa 34:7? Unicorns are a pretty traditional animal in the bible. There are not, however, usually pink. And invisible. (Bonus points if you catch the reference!)

Oh, and a whole lotta christians have believed in arguments that man co-existed with dinosaurs, the LDS church doesn't have a monopoly on that belief.

Edit: Removed emoticons.

[0007]

43. Good one.....and I'm sure Hugo is laughing his ass off. n/t

[arcos]

3. Fuck no!! What is Venezuela going to do now with no missionaries??

:sarcasm:

[sarcasmo]

42. Maybe they can learn to accept a Flying Spaghetti Monster

missionary.

[IndianaGreen]

4. No missionaries!

Viva Chavez!

[NAO]

5. Other Countries Demand to Know How to Qualify for this Program

And I am wondering if the LDS church offers any way for individual residences within the US to "opt out" of their missionary work.

[killbotfactory]

6. They won't be missed

[ErisFiveFingers]

7. LDS bashing...

In less than 2 posts. On DU. Imagine that. :(

I think what people are missing here is that the story is about worsening US-Venezuala relations.

[Erika]

9. Don't 99.8% of LDS vote GOP?

Quit acting like a poor little victim. Thank you.

[ErisFiveFingers]

11. Even if they did...

That still leaves .2% who are potentially actual DU members (I've "met" several in various threads, they're active, but often quiet about their faith on these boards, because... well, I guess it's obvious why). Oh, and don't forget the current Senate Minority leader.

Here's a link to peruse:
http://www.deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,600108572,00.html

In my experience, most of the current LDS, and former LDS members (myself included) that I know are hardcore liberals, usually of the libertarian (vs. authoritarian) variety. The libertarian tendency pulls them toward the right wing, the liberal tendency pulls them towards the left.

[WindRavenX]

14. sorry dude

The mormon church is FUCKED UP. Read Under The Banner of Heaven.
I'm dating a Mormon (well, ex-mormon)...they are NOT liberal. The ones that are are a rare and awesome breed.

[ErisFiveFingers]

26. Under the Banner of Heaven...

Mainstream LDS book? Nope. That's a fundamentalist split from the church, as well as some folks with severe mental issues. Might as well judge all of Judaism by KACH, all of Catholicism by pedophile priests, and all of Islam by Al-Queda.

Are LDS liberals a rare and awesome breed? I like to think they're awesome, but I wouldn't say they're very rare.

Some core LDS tenants that I would describe as liberal:
1. Every human is not only equal, but rich or poor, everybody has equal ability to achieve godhood (they take a *lot* of flack for this, especially from folks who are big on punishment, or want to point to older church teachings).
2. Taking care of the poor and needy is an *obligation* for all church members. A good chunk of their tithing money goes to fund food and clothing for the poor and needy, and it's *expected* that church members check in with other church members to assist in times of hardship.
3. Women are not consistently blamed for the "downfall of mankind" (original sin).
4. Positions in the church are democratically voted on (though the process is subject to peer pressure).
5. Marital sex simply for pleasure is not considered "sinful", "wrong", or otherwise improper.
6. Everyone has an equal conduit to god, no preachers, cardinals, rabbis, Imams, elected officials, appointed clergy (etc.) telling people what is, and isn't, truth.
7. Separation of church and state, which stems from *severe* anti-mormon laws enacted in the 1800's.
8. (etc.) WoW and medical marijuana, animal rights, progressive revelation, and other "anti dogma" beliefs.

That being said, I don't agree with their teachings on abortion, homosexuality, pre-marital sex, (etc.), which is why I left the church. They are a mix of the left and the right (like many spiritual systems). They are not hardcore GOP. They *are* about hardcore belief.

[Kolesar]

33. Welcome to the Democratic Underground!

:hi:

[ErisFiveFingers]

34. TY n/t

[Demeter]

37. Nobody's Forgetting Reid the Conciliatory

never fear--he's under 24 hour watch for potential sellouts.

And what about that wanker Romney? Not exactly what you'd call sterling examples of anything.

[Momgonepostal]

40. Raising hand!

Liberal Democrat Active LDS reporting for duty!

:hi:

[wmills551]

12. The Democratic leader in the Senate is LDS.

It is never good when one feels comfortable attacking a religious group. No one is acting like a "poor little victim". You are being a bigot.

[Erika]

15. I stated facts not bigotry

There was a "poor us" tone. By the way, I was raised Mormon and my brother is a bishop, so lay off the bigotry talk.

[wmills551]

20. Sorry, your right!

You were stating facts. I just get a little dismayed with all the knee jerk attacks on fundamentalist, or conservative branches of Christian churches at DU. Many of these people are future Democrats.

[ErisFiveFingers]

29. Sources for the facts on voting? n/t

[rawtribe]

16. DINO

maybe he should drop the LDS for some LSD!


:evilgrin:

[ErisFiveFingers]

35. Spock, is that you?

This is not Pon Farr.

If you ate the brown....

[Judi Lynn]

17. It's possible these DU'ers are well aware of the material covered

in previous D.U. conversations on the subject. Here are a few which covered this area very recently:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=1845525

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=1865465

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=1850712

Believe me, it's a subject US/Latin American relations-watching DU'ers have been studying.

[krkaufman]

21. Yes. It's unfortunate. And maybe even scary.

<tinfoil> Are they withdrawing because they're privy to inside information of an imminent destabilization effort on the part of the US? </tinfoil>

[NAO]

22. I was missionary bashing - not meant to be limited to LDS

but to any religion who sends out indoctrination agents to secure new converts.

[Judi Lynn]

24. At some point certain "missionary" groups intersect with CIA, etc.

You may find interesting new information if you've not heard about it already, by checking this DU thread from earlier this month at DU. This one, by ozone_man is very worth considering:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=1845525#1845742

[Zhade]

23. Mormonism = cult started by fraud known in his own time.

Ex-mormon here. Read the history. It's not bashing to point this out, btw.

[ErisFiveFingers]

28. Hello Cthulu!

*Love* the dancing icon.

Like I said, it's pretty normal to see liberal folks who grew up with, or were converted to, mormon traditions, even on DU.

I have no problem with folks presenting interesting historical tidbits about a given faith, but when they start disparaging or attacking a faith or even a non-faith (cthulu, bob, eris, FSM) is when I get annoyed.

In that light, there's a reason why the word "cult" has been displaced by the phrase "emerging religion". Calling someone a fraud personally, of course, has little bearing on their message (Joe Wilson, Cindy Sheehan) and ancient "frauds" included the "king of the jews", of course.

Bashing, from my perspective, would be blaming *believers* for acts commited in the name of a *belief*. For example, blaming the atrocities of Stalin on atheism.

[Erika]

8. But Bush says we're all happier and at peace

Maybe he'll send Karen Hughes there to explain it.

[Bigmack]

13. NOT Mormon-bashing....

... just noting that Chavez is trying to keep divisive outsiders from fragmenting his country.

Fundie churches unique to the US need to stay in the US.

[wordout]

18. Orgasmo to the rescue!

[rawtribe]

19. Great movie

Don't forget Latter Days

http://www.latterdaysmovie.com

[NVMojo]

25. Good, how lucky for Venezuela!!!

[ElectroPrincess]

27. Kool! So could you guys (Mormons) also cancel trips to my neighborhood?

:think: :bounce:

[ErisFiveFingers]

31. Can you make your neighborhood...

A functional socialist state?

;)

[ElectroPrincess]

32. Too cute! :P

Touché and witty ... INDEED! :applause:

[Nostradamus]

30. Should raise the IQ of both countries..

[Demeter]

36. Good!

Intelligent Democracies of the world, take note!

[malaise]

39. Do I hear an AMEN n/t

[ozone_man]

41. More good news for Venezuela.

U.S. based evangelist missionaries need to stay out of developing countries. Let them keep their culture and make their own choices about religion.

[leesa]

44. So this is what you need to do to get rid of them.I'll bet the Venezuelans

are jazzed.

[mitchtv]

46. don't let the door hit your magic undies

on the way out. Agents of hate, destroyers of indiginous cultures.(all Xian missionaries)