Focu Assumptions Essay

A homegrown religion originating in the late 1820s, Mormonism arose as a rejection of the existing Christian sects and a return to what the Mormons considered to be pure Christianity. Similarly, the members believed their desire for a new kind of government stemmed from their disillusionment with what they believed was a corrupt government and a desire for the reestablishment of true American values and the original intent of the founding fathers. This sentiment is epitomized by Joseph Smith’s presidential platform, which states “No honest man can doubt for a moment, the glory of American liberty is on the wane; and that calamity and confusion will sooner or later destroy the

People and religion are a part of everyday life. The world is sure to be empty without the existence of God’s creation. When people and religion are viewed as different, the history, beliefs, and practice are formed unrealistically by outsider, more so than an insider. In an interview with a LDS, the author attempts to write and summarize a Mormon‘s journey through life with God and others.

During the Second Great Awakening many Americans were stirred by passionate religious movements and Mormonism was one of them. Although it initially began as a revelation given to Joseph Smith, his strong beliefs led to powerful revivals in the New York area that drew people from across the northeast. Despite strong interest and numerous converters to the faith, the Mormon community would not remain in the New York area for long. Though they had an objective of spreading Mormonism throughout America and other parts of the world, this was only part of the reason for their move west. Religious persecution, government issues, spiritual revelation, financial problems, and land disputes ultimately led to their decision to settle in Utah.

D: Introduction As a teacher living in a highly religious state, it is important for me to know more about the main religions in Utah. The two most prevalent, being the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS) and the Catholic faith. I would like to know more about their beliefs, holidays, and family traditions. Some of the main beliefs in the LDS culture are Jesus is the Savior of all man, The Word of Wisdom, and the church was restored by their Prophet Joseph Smith. Some of the main beliefs for the Catholic faith are the Bible, the different Saints, and baptism. There are many holidays that are celebrated by both religions. Both Catholics and LDS members celebrate Christmas and Easter. The LDS faith in Utah has a special state

He provided a good example due to the Market Revolution in the early 1800s. Joseph Smith, the founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints, or Mormonism, created another model of a religious utopia (Keene, 301). Smith grew up in western New York, where the fires of the Great Awakening burned hot. In Smith’s Christian Religion environment, had a revelation on which Mormonism was based (Keene, 301). The Book of Mormon was published in Palmyra, New York, in 1830 and this town became the site of one of the earliest Mormon communities (Keene 301). Smith was influenced by the widespread belief that the millennium was at hand, bringing with it an end to debt and the return of Christ and a new era of peace, happiness, and prosperity. Smith’s revelations detail struck a resonant chord with small farmers and etc whose experience with the expanding market economy had been largely negative (Keene 301). The revelation attracted thousands of followers. Joseph Smith members were popularly known as Mormons. With the exception of the first generation of Mormon converts, American society does not seem to have been receptive to him; they were pushed from one location to another, and eventually after Smith’s assassination, they moved to Utah. Prior to their exodus the Mormons endured a long period of internal dissension and harassment by their non-Mormon

The Mormon service I visited, had a few similarities but also a few distinct differences from the Catholic service that I am used to. Before this particular Sunday, I had never attended a Mormon service, nor had I spoken to anyone who believed in Mormonism or the “Latter Day Saints.” With that being said, I was welcomed much more openly than I had originally thought. Before entering, I was approached by two members of the church; two young women (sisters) between the ages of roughly 19 to 22. I arrived about an hour before service, that way I could ask a few people some questions, but the two girls beat me to the punch. They initially asked me if I had visited before and I responded saying that it was my first time, and I was attending as a student observer, with no intention of converting, but would love to learn about the faith. They nodded and proceeded to explain to me the reasons as to why they believed so strongly, and also a bit of background information on the faith. One of the girls, explained to me that there has been a lot of skepticism about Mormonism due in part to the fact that Joseph Smith Jr, was so young and how his explanation of “Moroni” (An angel no one had ever heard of), and his entire religion and the scripture used, “Book of Mormon,” could have just been a part of his imagination. The other girl told me how she was beginning to lose faith a couple years back, but she then regained it, after she experienced her own tests, and was able to get passed her

All these differing theological issues pale in comparison to the disagreement that many Christians have with the LDS Church’s origins. In 1830, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was founded after Joseph Smith claimed to have received a vision of God and Jesus Christ telling him that the true church was not on the earth at that time (Perry). If this is true, it implies that all other Christian religions are false. Prior to the Church’s organization, Joseph Smith published The Book

their depression by changing their view of their role of homemaker and mother in the church. Unhappy LDS women sense that something is fundamentally

Mormonism began with a man named Joseph Smith. He was born on December 23, 1805 in Sharon, Vermont. His family moved to Palmyra, New York where Smith was exposed to a traveling magician who claimed he could find treasure using seer stones; Smith spent much time with this magician while he was looking for treasure. He eventually began to use the peep stones himself, which would later help him start Mormonism.

Women make up 56% of the Mormon population and as a group Mormons are younger than most religious groups with 66% being under the age of 50. Approximately three-quarters of all Mormons are married and are known for having large families. Caucasians make up 86% of the membership compared to just 71% Caucasians in the general population of the United States. IN the area of education, 61% of Mormons have some college education which leads to more Mormons being in the middle-income bracket ($50,000 to $100,000) than the general population. Now that the Christian knows a little about the demographics the next step is to study the Mormon worldview.

Interviewer: What was the main reason(s) for you to decide to follow the Mormon faith?

Mormons are well known for the missionaries that come door to door to proselyte non-believers, this is done in efforts to share the love of God and the mercy for His people. They want to unify the community in God because they are commanded to by their scripture and they believe this with better sustain society spiritually. I have known many Mormons in my life and while I never converted to Mormonism I do believe that their strong conviction to the family principals would definitely benefit society. We as a secular community have stayed from our traditions not only in faith & religion but with our funeral traditions that are dying out with cremation, “green burial”, and water resonation become increasingly more popular. Mormons place their traditions very high in the Mormon life.

Sunday February 7, 2016 Gorge Mason University Religious studies class attended a church meeting at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) or commonly known as the Mormon church. The church meeting was broken up into three hours. The first hour was the sacrament meeting and announcements from the bishop. This hour was unique because it was the first Sunday of the month. Which is fast and testimony Sunday and members of the church fast for 24 hours to get revelation or to remember and scarifies something like eating for Jesus Christ. The second hour was Gospel principles where we talked about Joseph Smiths first vision. And lastly the third meeting males and females are separated to ether relief society

Mormonism became less frowned upon and cumulated hundreds of thousands of followers. To date there are over fourteen-million members, half in which live in the United States. According to mormonnewsroom.org, “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' missionary program is one of its most recognized characteristics. Mormon missionaries can be seen on the streets of hundreds of major cities in the world as well as in thousands of smaller communities. The number of full-time missionaries serving missions for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is 74,079.” Before a person can go out on missions, each person is required to do a training where, “There they learn how to teach the gospel in an orderly and clear way and, if necessary, they begin to learn the language of the people they will be teaching. The largest training center is in Provo, Utah, with additional centers in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic, England, Ghana, Guatemala, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, the Philippines, South Africa and Spain.”