Jehovah's Witnesses And Mormons

This quote helped me get a better idea of a biblical definition of what success is. I am a task oriented person. On a day to day basis I define my daily success by how much I get done on my to-do list. But this book helped me see that my desires for success are focused on the wrong concepts. Batterson writes that our success should be based off how well we are bringing glory to God in “any and every situation (pg 30)”.

We as human beings all strive for success. We use success as a measure of everyday life.

You don’t just get a universe from nothing, it doesn’t just appear from thin air. One of the biggest religions in the world, Mormonism, better known as mormons, believe that our whole planet was made in six days by a man they call, God. It is almost impossible to think that one man created earth, all it’s beings, all its foods, its plants, its animals, and so much more just like that. There is so little proven, and so much unproven that it’s hard not to ask the question of: “Is any of it really true?” Greta Christina wrote one article in Alternet that has a lot of great points, one of the many being: “The proof comes from prophets and religious leaders, who supposedly hear these voices and are happy to tell the rest of us what they say. It

No one has ever been able to articulate just what makes a cult, and what makes a religion different. Yet most people, when listing mainstream religions, name Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism, among others. These religions have existed for thousands of years and have millions of followers; they have thus earned a degree of respect even from outsiders. However, Mormonism—the tradition of the Latter Day Saints movement—is considered strange, and by some, a cult. In the modern age, many consider its very premise a hoax. Mark Twain criticized the Mormon holy scripture, calling it “chloroform in print” (Turner 229), and Jacob Weisberg (editor of the Washington Post) called Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism, “an obvious con man” (Ostling xv). Yet

The meaning of "success" has numerous interpretations, whether it is your own or society's definition. Within Outliers author Malcolm Gladwell explains that being successful has nothing to do with what kind of person you are, so whether you are intelligent and hardworking or lazy and aloof, it depends on your circumstances growing up. Whether your parents happen to be immigrants, you are one of the smartest men in the country or you make a habit of practicing an activity for a certain amount of hours a day, your own personal success, according to Gladwell is defined by the conditions you grew up in; the idea of being successful varies from culture to culture, therefore, there is no definite meaning of success other than one's interpretation.

“Persecution is not an original feature in any religion; but it is always the strongly marked feature of all religions established by law,” Thomas Paine (Like Success). Under the first amendment, people are ensured the freedom of establishing a religion and allows the religious group to have the free exercise thereof, but millions of individuals are still persecuted because of their religious preferences (Bill of Rights Institute). The many who wish to serve and worship their God peacefully are often the main subjects of ridicule. More often than not these are Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Success is a relative term. To a wealthy CEO, success is making his business one million in sales that day. To a child living on the streets, eating dinner that day is a success. What someone might not see though is that the child can teach the businessman a thing or two about about how to live life: humility. Realising that there is more to life than monetary gains, some people just need to appreciate meeting their basic needs. Furthermore, this easy lesson of humility provides the people living in wealth with a sense of how privileged they are.

Many people might say their goal in life is to be successful. But how is success measured? It’s all a matter of opinion and influence. One society’s idea of success may be different than another society’s idea, just as one individual’s idea of success may be different from another individual’s idea. My idea of success is happiness. When I’m on my deathbed, I want to look back on my life and be truly happy with it. My goal is to continuously figure out what makes me happy and to strive to keep doing it. Part of the reason I’m going to college in the

Another sociological concept for Jehovah Witnesses is norms. Some norms for Jehovah Witnesses are no sex before marriage, no gambling, very little drinking, no abortion, and no war. Sex before marriage is a major sin in all religions, but Jehovah Witnesses see it as something that should not even be thought of before marriage in any form (religionfacts.com, n.d.). Gambling is a form of greed, and should not be done. A little drinking is allowed for the Jehovah Witnesses but if they end up drunk, it is considered a sin (religionfacts.com, n.d.). Jehovah Witnesses condemn people that abort their children (religionfacts.com, n.d.). Jehovah Witnesses also refuse to participate in wars because they are not in the Battle of Armageddon (religionfacts.com, n.d.). Most things that almost all Americans do nowadays are banned from the Jehovah Witness religion like drink, sex before marriage, and gamble.

As the story goes, in the early 19th Century, a young Joseph Smith received a series of visions including a visit from the angel Moroni. The angel Moroni directed Smith to a set of golden plates inscribed with a history of an ancient Judeo-Christian civilization in North America. This history is known now as the Book of Mormon and set Smith's religion apart from other Christians. Violence broke out between the Mormons and the non-Mormons when Smith led his people to the prophesied City of Zion, in Independence, Missouri, sometimes called "New Jerusalem". When they arrived in Jackson County, the Mormons already had preconceived notions that the non-Mormons were their enemies, because it was revealed in Doctrine and Covenants, another Mormon

Joseph Smith established the church of Jesus Christ (Mormon Church) in the 1830, New York. It was established due to a lack of churches that wasn’t organized by Jesus Christ (Bushman, 517-18). The church has been growing larger since then, with 6 million members in the U.S. and 14 million members worldwide (Lyon, 622). Mormonism has been known for having different values and norms compared to other Americans, the ones that seemed most interesting and different were their lifestyle choices, and their views on polygamy.

The Mormon religion is very unique in many of its doctrine. While technically a Protestant faith, the Mormons generally share more doctrine with the Catholics. Because of its unique nature, I will be analyzing the Mormon faith, its history, organization, and doctrine, in comparison with the beliefs held by both Catholics and Protestants.

Spirituality is also very key because I believe without god you can’t have true success because you can do whatever you want but you have to follow gods plan for you without him there would be nothing. Possessions is how a lot of people measure success but to me it’s not really that big of a determining factor because some value certain things differently then another would.

In this age in which we live, success is generally measured by the amount of money you earn, or the amount of wealth or power or number of promotions you’ve accumulated. I find that the older I grow, the more I view the people who are most happy and content with their lives as the most successful. Rich, poor or in between, they’ve tended to treat life as a journey, not a final destination. They took that trip when they were 25 even though they really couldn’t afford it, they ordered the $55 bottle of wine with their filet because they knew that even though it was expensive it would enhance the meal so much more than water would. They took a chance on a start-up company, moved to Europe or Asia and experienced things that most people only dream about. If they managed to grow wealthy from the experience, so much the better. As long as moderation with most things is practiced, things won’t spin out of control.

Human flourishing can be defined as the concept of members of society growing to become the best person they can be. In religion, human flourishing occurs when everyone is searching for everlasting happiness and they achieve it with the only way possible: through God (Religion lecture, Oct. 23, 2015). In order to flourish, everyone must do what they ought to do, and do what they want to do (Zuberbueler, 2015). However, these should either be the same thing or very similar, and will reflect the intentions or desires of God and his word. In addition, flourishing cannot occur without forgiveness. In regards to human flourishing in society and religion, challenges arise when members come together; specifically, certain aspects of life and culture can compromise human flourishing.