Is the Mormon (LDS) religion a cult? 350,000 DVDs try to prove it

Mormons (LDS) across the state of Utah are upset that another religion would dare speak out against them. The Salt Lake Tribune and many other news organizations have been reporting that a Christian organization was distributing DVDs in the state that did not portray the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in a positive light. Many LDS members are upset that some other group would dare try and convert them. As some people on the PetSmart controversy have told me, GET OVER IT!

Like most religions, the LDS do everything in their power to try and convert others and seem to believe they’re right and every other religion is wrong. This includes sending thousands of people across the globe as missionaries to try and convert others. This includes going door to door in every neighborhood to try and convert anyone who is a “non-believer”. I’ve been told they know who is LDS and who isn’t in each ward, they have lists at the local church showing who the believers and non-believers are.

The LDS don’t like to be called a cult, they want to be called a religion. How can they not be called a cult after they hold 19th century con-man and adulterer Joseph Smith on a pedestal and say he’s a prophet? Hey, people have the right to believe or not believe anything they want, just stop forcing it on others. I do find it interesting that at my local library I picked up a book by Walter Martina and Hank Hanegraaff called The Kingdom of the Cults. And guess what’s listed in chapter 6 in this book all about cults? You guessed it, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons).

Every religion or cult seems to think theirs is the true and right one. Can any of them really be believed? If one is right, aren’t all the others wrong? Or are none of them right?

I looked up the definition of cult in various dictionaries and below is what cult is described as. The definitions sound exactly like the LDS if you ask me. The LDS hate being called a cult just as Democrats hate being called liberals, as if either is a bad word. Why don’t the LDS like to be called members of a cult? Is being called a cult insulting? Why?

• a particular system of religious worship, esp. with reference to its rites and ceremonies
• a group or sect bound together by veneration of the same thing, person, ideal, etc.
• a religion or sect considered to be false, unorthodox, or extremist, with members often living outside of conventional society under the direction of a charismatic leader
• the members of such a religion or sect
• A religion or religious sect generally considered to be extremist or false, with its followers often living in an unconventional manner under the guidance of an authoritarian, charismatic leader