Not sure if he sat around memorizing them, but he was definitely instructed on what to say. When I was living down in NC I had a number of my friends come up to me with a puzzled look and start to ask me if I believed X or Y. Sometimes X or Y would be pretty much true, sometimes it would be distorted, and sometimes outright false. And I’d ask why they wanted to know that. Then I’d get the response that they had heard a sermon the previous Sunday on why Mormons were not Christian and how to respond to them. One preacher said if you take their book you’re going to hell. :s
[color=blue]So, there’s definitely some coaching going on[/color].[/quote]
Yeah but obviously not on the bicycle brigade side. Those boys looked rather inept. See how they were in a hurry to leave when they were being taught a lesson about the bible. As the black dude says they were plenty willing to stay until they ran up against some well versed and learned chrisitan brethren.
PS See those Mormons could not answer why they were not Christians who really believed in Jesus? They looked embarrassed
Once again, he really didn’t who he was that well versed. Quoting chapters and verses and then paraphrasing-- and taking some really serious liberties when doing so-- does not make you well versed. What he showed was that he could argue and not let the other side speak.
The Mormon elders were no doubt prepared to teach their lesson. They were not prepared to deal with someone so antagonistic. You have to know how to raise your voice and make the other side stop talking long enough. They lacked that ability and their youth showed through.
Sure, the guy knew something, and maybe knew the Bible better than the elders. But we can’t see that from the video because meaningful discussion never took place. I say maybe because from the sound of his paraphrasing he didn’t sound like he knew what the verses actually said, but perhaps he was doing that on purpose and actually had the verses memorized.
Why did the missionaries want to leave? Because they knew they weren’t going to have anything positive come from this. He was telling them they didn’t believe this or that and wouldn’t listen to them when they tried to reply. There’s nothing else to do in that case but leave if you can’t actually hold a conversation.
The only answer to that question is: You’re wrong and you don’t know what you’re talking about.
The Mormon elders were not prepared to say that, and in that case they should have done so. But again, missionary training is to avoid contention and don’t argue. Just bear testimony and leave when someone wants to be confrontational.
The only answer to that question is: You’re wrong and you don’t know what you’re talking about.
The Mormon elders were not prepared to say that, and in that case they should have done so. But again, missionary training is to avoid contention and don’t argue. .[/quote]
Well in that case they ought to be prepared to be at least more firm in their convictions. Are Mormoms always going to run away from religious arguments? There was no threat of physical violance.
[quote=“Fortigurn”][quote=“R. Daneel Olivaw”][quote=“Toe Save”]Isn’t the standard King James version entirely a paraphrase, rewritten to suit His misogynistic needs?
Just asking…[/quote]
No, the KJV is actually a relatively good translation. It was the work of top scholars of the day.[/quote]
Unfortunately it isn’t even a ‘relatively good translation’. It was arguably a ‘relatively good translation’ 400 years ago. It isn’t now.[/quote]
Relatively is relative.
Talking someone down isn’t cool. It’s an easy victory; everyone’s smarter than someone else just like everyone is bigger than someone else. Hitting the small kids doesn’t make you strong. Hectoring a kid on a bicycle does not make you a learned orator; persuading the kid or bringing him round to your way of thinking could be considered a ‘victory’, if you consider his beliefs to be less important than yours. Seems that that would be a mean and pompous thing to do, though.
He was being racist. This may not make sense out of the American context, but “white boy” is frequently used in a derogatory manner by American blacks. It would comparable to saying “darkies.”
You need to watch the video again. He doesn’t quote the Bible about Israelites at the end of the video, he says that Israelites are the anti-Christ. You won’t find anything in the Bible making that claim.
There isn’t anything they could have done. He was obviously too insecure in his position to debate them, so he just shouted them down when they tried to reply. That’s plain cowardice. If he had any guts, he would have let them responded to his points.
He was being racist. This may not make sense out of the American context, but “white boy” is frequently used in a derogatory manner by American blacks. It would comparable to saying “darkies.”
You need to watch the video again. He doesn’t quote the Bible about Israelites at the end of the video, he says that Israelites are the anti-Christ. You won’t find anything in the Bible making that claim.
There isn’t anything they could have done. He was obviously too insecure in his position to debate them, so he just shouted them down when they tried to reply. That’s plain cowardice. If he had any guts, he would have let them responded to his points.[/quote]
Well, he certainly was proud of himself, eh? Does that count for anything? What I have realized when talking to Brits and Aussies who haven’t spent any time in The States or Canada is their propensity to shy away from words like Abo or Nigger (in any form) as a form of PCness. To me, and I’m not saying that it’s a golden rule, but I have called me friends the famous N word without repercussions. You just have to live in the culture to know. Just like here in Taiwan or elsewhere in order to get a firm grasp on how to present yourself.
It depends entirely on how the words are used and in this case “white boy” was definitely in the form of domination after the ‘victory’.
I’m surprised that this video is being shown on F.com. It’s been out there for quite sometime. When I had first seen this video, my initial reaction was that this dude DID bully these kids. The gloating at the end with the “Jew” comment was merely icing on the cake. Sure, the guy was swift with his wit and what not but that does not excuse the fact that he’s a 30+ year old man with 5 of his 300lbs friends (oh and a camera), talking down and OVER kids in their late teens/early 20’s.
I think people are missing the key point here. The purpose of mormon missionary work isn’t to make more Mormons. It’s to socialize the missionaries in the experience of their religion. Mormonism is a Leninist belief with a strong element of authoritarian social control. An element of that control is of course the belief that “others persecute us” a common element of many similar beliefs. And of course – “the persecution of others is validation of our position.” Congratulations to the Christian – by validating the Mormon internal propaganda, he simply reinforced their beliefs and helped further socialize them in their religion. That’s the real purpose of missionary work. If they convert some idiot to provide yet another income stream to the home office, so much the better.
I realize it is hard to avoid talking down to Mormons – all newbies are virgins but Mormons are so clueless they arrive here in a state that can only be described as prepubescent – but I think it would be better to stick to the stupidities that can be fixed, like that nasty habits of blocking doorways while they talk, interrupting people on busy streets, the dehumanizing and destructive effects of missionary work, Mormon support of right-wing Christianity (which will only get them destroyed if the Dominionists ever get power) and so on. Frankly, young Mormon missionaries in Taiwan are so Biblically illiterate and so impaired at critical thinking, it is basically pointless to argue religion with them. They don’t know enough to participate, let alone meaningfully interact.
