Posted on by Abe Austin

Criticizing Another’s Faith- Motives Behind Attack

Satanic Evangelism)

I think the most important question when one starts criticizing another’s faith is, “why are you doing this?” What compels one to just start going off with all the things they see as wrong in another religion? To disparage something that they know others hold as sacred?

The answer that I always hear is the same: “I’m trying to help you to see what that you’ve been misguided, so you can be saved. I’m doing this because I love you.”

Which is about as sensible as when a man strikes his wife and says he does so because of how much he loves her. Berating people for their sincerely held beliefs and insulting that which they hold sacred is abusive. It is not loving. It is not caring. It comes from a desire to tear down and not to build up. It does not seek to save. It seeks to condemn. It is not Christian. It is devilish.

Dabbling in the Dark)

I know this, because I participated in it on my mission. Back in 2009 I left on a two-year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. On that mission, I often came across evangelists from other faiths, and I am sorry to say that we would occasionally get into lively sparring sessions on why we believed in our church…and why they shouldn’t believe in theirs. “Bible bashing” is the common term.

Now, when we were trained as missionaries, the potential for these Bible bashes came up, and the guidance we were given for what to do in such situations was always consistent and clear: “just don’t.” Don’t look for scriptures to prove the other side wrong. Don’t criticize or demoralize. Don’t try to win. Just don’t.

Unfortunately, pride and ego are very strong, and at times I did enter into these verbal mud-wrestling matches. And from that experience, I can attest to the motives and the feelings that are behind the dismantling of another person’s faith. It is not love, it is not charity, and it is not a desire to help them. It is cruelty. It is wanting to beat them, to make them lose. It is hoping for their damnation and rubbing their faces in it.

It is evil, pure and simple, and I repent that I ever participated in it to any degree.

The Pleasure of Domination)

The instruction of our missionary trainers was absolutely correct. No one should ever descend into Bible bashing another person’s faith.

Does that mean to never discuss spiritual differences and never respond to attacks against your faith? No. I do think there is a place for defending oneself and clarifying one’s position. I do think one ought to correct the record when his faith is misrepresented in public forums. I do think there can even be value in structured and civil debate. But if one cannot see the difference between these and disparaging and insulting another’s faith, then they cannot see the difference between righteous defense and devilish destruction. Or he is willfully ignoring the distinction because he still wants the pleasure of breaking what another has.

Because, at the end of the day, insulting someone else’s beliefs does feel “good.” It feels powerful and addicting. It rewards the carnal sensibilities within. It both satisfies and deepens one’s hunger for contention.

A person who ridicules another for their sincere beliefs does not want to save that person. He wants to dominate that person and feel superior to them. He is lashing out from a place of insecurity. I know this because I sadly experimented with those behaviors myself. I know the genuine darkness that I felt in my heart when I gave in to this temptation, and now I recognize that same darkness in those who disparage my faith. I know the ill will that it is behind it, so I do not excuse it. Not in myself and not in them.

Not only is this sort of theological bullying evil, it is also ineffective. If a person actually did sincerely wish to save a brother or a sister, then this would never be the method that they should use. We’ll take a look at what that better method would look like next time, and even consider the example of a skeptic of the LDS faith who uses it correctly.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Criticizing Another’s Faith- A Strange Resentment

A Rejection of “Mormons”)

I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Most people still refer to us as Mormons, though that has never been the name of our church. In general, people speak of us as being extremely nice and neighborly, but they often describe our faith as being either very weird or very sinister. Whether it is claims that Joseph Smith was a charlatan and a huckster, or assumptions that the whole religion is demonic, you do not often hear people expressing that there is anything worthy in our beliefs.

This has always been the case, but as of late, the volume of criticism against us seems to be increasing. I suspect that it has to do with the broader cultural and political shift in America. When conservatism and Christianity were on the back foot, targeting your own didn’t make sense, but now that they are having a revival of sorts, some members want to gatekeep who really gets to be a part of that coalition.

My exposure to the increasing criticism came about by seeking media voices that I thought I could relate to. Being an active Christian myself, I enjoy hearing spiritual viewpoints online. Sadly, over the past couple years, every mainstream Christian blog, podcast, or YouTube channel has made it a point to periodically inform their audience how much they disagree with “Mormonism.” Not only is the rhetoric growing more frequent, it is also growing more pronounced, with posts designed around “destroying Mormonism,” and channels that are dedicated exclusively to criticizing the church. Most shocking of all was the people who showed up on social media following the slaughter of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They would “correct” anyone making the “mistake” of calling us Christians when reporting on that tragedy. This seemed a very perverse reflex, and it was deeply hurtful in our time of mourning.

Overall, the attacks against my church seem to be becoming more rampant and more sensationalized. Not an honest disagreement of doctrine, not a genuine desire to save lost souls, but a mean and vicious mockery, at times with full-on fabrication and outright bigotry. This is a trend that has me worried greatly.

A Broader View)

Of course, I have to remind myself that the loudest voices rarely speak for all of the group, or even for the majority. For every YouTuber trying to tell me what my faith is, and why it is wrong, I hope that there are still many other mainstream Christians who would rather leave the judgment to God. Also, I have to remember that mine is not the only Christian minority in the West, and others face similar criticism also. In fact, I recently saw a video from Jonathan Pageau, an Eastern Orthodox, where he described some outside criticism that seemed sounded very similar to my own experience.

Before I continue this study, discussing the resentment I see directed towards my church, I want to make it clear that I know these are individuals who are choosing to attack the faith of others, and I am not making an indictment of any larger denomination as a whole. I know that I have many brothers and sisters in these other denominations, and I am sincerely grateful for them. I have met some of them, and had conversations with them, and I know that they are true Christians. Of course, we have differences in views, and we each champion what we believe to be the fulness of the truth, but we trust God to sort out those differences in His own due time, and we will happily submit to Him as He reveals the truth to us.