What is it about one religion or another that draws in new members? In many cases it is the use of multiple forms of propaganda to the individual churches benefit. The LDS church is immensely successful in using a multitude of platforms to encourage membership growth. From ‘member-missionaries’ whose purpose is to spread the message of the church during their everyday lives, and full-time missionaries who serve in various parts of the world as representatives of the church to the values and beliefs taught by the church that in many ways can be used as ‘selling points’ of the LDS church. The encouragement investigators receive to really think about the teachings of the church and to pray to know that the messages the Mormon church promotes are …show more content…
Preach My Gospel(Saints, 2004) has the missionaries ask for certain commitments such as “Will you read and pray to know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God?” or simply “May we set a time for our next visit?” but then the missionaries leave, and allow the prospect(s) to decide for themselves what they believe. This ability to exercise one's ‘free-agency’ is a driving method used by the Mormon church when attempting to draw in new members. Church leader Elder Bruce R. McConkie wrote this about free agency “God grant us wisdom in these things. God grant us the courage and the ability to stand on our own feet and use our agency and the abilities and capacities we possess” (McConkie) this essentially plays into a belief that new members have to make the decision for themselves, moreover that they must come to their own conclusion that the LDS church is the ‘true’ church of Christ. This sets up prospects of the church to come to their own decision based off of their own logic -logos- to come to a conclusion about the teachings of the …show more content…
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints utilize more personalized methods to intrigue and entice new members as opposed to simply running commercials in promotion of their beliefs. By utilizing its existing member-base as missionaries to teach non-members the values and beliefs held and taught by the church there is a ‘real’ person who follows and believes in the faith for non-members to talk to providing a foundation of trust. Furthermore, giving non-members the option of saying that they do not believe/ do not want to believe- exercising their free agency- is providing the opportunity for non-members to decide for themselves whether they logically agree with the teachings and lifestyle followed by the LDS church. Lastly the use of pathos in swaying investigators by connecting to them emotionally; i.e. eternal families, is a key tactic used by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in its effort to convert new members. In essence the LDS church deploys multiple methods to entice new members to convert to the faith which are widely
The Difficulties of Mormons and Gentiles Living Together The Mormons and the gentiles found it difficult to get along it was both the Mormons and gentiles fault. When large amounts of Mormons moved to a new settlement e.g. Illinois, the gentiles felt that they were going to take over and rule their area. The gentiles attacked the Mormons to show them who is boss. The Mormons didn't fight back but made a police unit, the Danites this protected the Mormons and tried to keep peace. The gentile's thought that this was an army and attacked the Mormons forcing them to go.
...e early and present members stronger by forcing them to defend their beliefs as Mormons (Roberts 5:294-300).
Scott, Donald. "Mormonism and the American Mainstream." Teacher Serve. National Humanities Center, Aug. 2004. Web. 20 Mar. 2014. .
Exploring Why the Mormons Settled in Salt Lake City Salt Lake City is located in the west of North America. It was a desolate wilderness, dry, and a place where many people assumed was uninhabitable. So why did the Mormons ‘relocate’ to such an area? unattractive and diverse place? Brigham Young, in 1845 organised the mass movement of 15,000 men, women.
"The Living Christ: The Testimony of the Apostles." Letter. Salt Lake City: Intellectual Reserve, 2000. Lds.org. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, 1 Jan. 2000. Web. 15 Feb. 2012.
Cults Each year, hundreds of North Americans join one of the increasing, estimated 3000 unorthodox religions that exist across North America. The increasing number of cults, to date in North America, is due to the fact that cults are a social movement that attempts to help people cope with their perceived problems with social interaction. Cult recruiters target those who perceive themselves as different from the rest of society, and give these individuals the sense of belonging that they crave. Cult literature lures potential cult members by appealing to their desperate need to socially fit in. Cults provide a controlled family environment that appeals to potential cult members because it is a removal from the exterior society.
People join cults as a way of feeling a sense of belonging within a community (Winner 2011:417). This need for belonging is eventually why members find themselves so involved that they cannot get out. This is especially true in the case of the cult created by Jim Jones. He established a cultic Church called the People’s Temple, most famously known for being the largest group suicide consisting of 909 people, including 276 children (Nelson 2006). Between five to seven million young adults between the ages of 18 and 25 are involved in cult groups (“Cult statistics” 2010). Nearly 180 000 people are recruited into cults each year (“Cult Statistics” 2010). The sense of identity, purpose, and belonging are appealing aspects to why people join cults as the use of power and manipulation coerces them to stay.
"Growth of the Church - LDS Newsroom." LDS News | Mormon News - Official Newsroom of the Church. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2011. .
Opinions vary as to why people are drawn to cults. “Martin Marty, professor of religious history at the University of Chicago, attributes the growth of cults to the frustrations of seemingly rootless people”(U.S. News and World Report 23). Marty’s classification of a rootless person is a person who is overly frustrated by modern life and is at a loss for direction. Often the rootless individual will “short-circuit and try to hook their lives to any guiding spirit” (U.S. News and World Report 23).
Imagine living in a society where everything is uniform. Anything you wear, eat or think is controlled. Then you realize that your life is not actually yours. This sounds bizarre, but it’s true. Without knowing it, everyone dreams of the same things in life; the perfect job, the perfect family, or the perfect house. We may not all agree to this, but the fact is that we all dream the same dream. In some way, we are all part of one big “cult” because our desires are similar to one another. When the word “cult” comes to mind, it has a negative connotation. American society makes most of its profits by the use of advertisements. In Kalle Lasn’s essay “The Cult You’re In,written in 1996, he uses rhetorical tactics such as ethos, pathos, and logos to illustrate how ads increase a person’s desire for goods and services that he or she may not want. There are some aspects of as in his essay that are rhetorically effective; however, there are some aspects of his essay that are not.
Cult activity has been on the rise over the past few decades. With it there has been an increase in the fear surrounding it. From this fear, society has learned much about cults, how they get members and what to look out for as far as cult recruiters go. Society as a whole has also learned what can be done to deal with cults.
During the postbellum and early 19th century, people started to challenge what religion meant to them. Lincoln questioned how warring factions could both pray to the same God, yet he concluded that God had “his own purpose” for this war. From these notions, such thought as “the Lost Cause”, was spurred. Another important aspect is people started to challenge their theology with the advent of new science and technology. The effect was to create a competitive marketplace in religion that allowed men and women to shop for religious institutions that they thought best meet their needs. The growing prestige of science compelled Americans reformulating theology; two popular theologies include New Theology, Theodore Munger, and Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy (Goff and Harvey 21-25). These religions are known as NRM, encompassing newer religious groups and old alternative groups, which, together, have challenged mainstream religious traditions and the secular society back in the 19th century, and still to this day. The three popular NRMs during the 19th century are Christian Science, Church of Latter Day Saints (Mormonism), and Jehovah’s Witnesses. According to Daschke and Ashcraft, people are intrigued by NRMs for a number of reasons: new understanding, new self, new family, new society, and new world (Daschke and Ashcraft 1-13). Conversely...
The Mormon population holds true to their unique religious beliefs. Most Mormons are similar to those who practice Christianity, however there are some differences. Over the past two centuries that Mormonism has been founded by Joseph Smith, this faith has expanded across the United States. Even though the faith has been powerful to many believers it is becoming less frequently practiced. This religion not only practices God and Jesus as separate people but also believes that God is seen in everyone. Since, Mormons are very religious and godlike we have to be competent to these differences when working with this population. There is very little information about how to perform Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) with a child that is practicing
Williams will continue to act in civil disobedience against some of the beliefs held in the Mormon Church; questioning everything she is taught. She attributes her work in part to her faith. This is perhaps because of her upbringing in Mormonism and her vision of a person in white that confirmed her faith. The love she had for her mother was perhaps another reason; Williams’ mother was a devout Mormon who took her religion seriously and closely followed its traditions. The independent spirit that she possesses, however, keeps her from accepting Mormonism in its entirety. She believes that it is right to challenge one’s beliefs, that it prevents one from blindly accepting everything.
Still, some narcissistic people gravitate towards religion in order to be praised by followers, exploit for personal gain, or dominate others (Sandage & Moe, 2012; Kernberg, 2014). In essence, what Sandage and Moe (2012) refer to as exterior religiosity (e.g. structure, benefit, and gain) are what often attracts narcissists to organized religion. For instance, several religious organizations are comprised of layers of hierarchy in which narcissists can entrench themselves, several church leaders have abused their posts for personal gain, and some organizations offer rewards for the faithful–such as the early Mormon Church’s offer of bigamy, worlds like the Earth for the deceased, and to eventually become god-like when one dies (Young, 1852).