September 24 What Do Warren Jeffs and Osama Bin Laden have in common?

Here's a question to think about for a minute: 

What do Warren Jeffs (Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, a Mormon sect with over 10,000 followers mostly in southern Utah, northern Arizona and uh, southern Nevada-- some near us!) and Osama Bin Laden (worldwide leader of Al Qaeda, a fundamentalist Islamic sect) have in common?

Warren Jeffs has been in the news because he was convicted (this week) of conspiracy in aiding the rape of a minor by an adult and other crimes.  He could serve a life prison sentence for his crimes.

Here's my answer:  both are the REAL DEAL when it comes to their faith.  Warren Jeffs is a REAL Mormon and Osama Bin Laden is a REAL Muslim.

Why do I say that?  First, Jeffs.  He is following exactly what the first Mormons both taught and practiced.  Joseph Smith had 43 wives and 55 children.  Some of Smith's wives were married to other men and many were minors.   Brigham Young-- similar.  The Mormon scriptures encourage it:

  61 And again, as pertaining to the law of the priesthood—if any man espouse a virgin, and desire to espouse ^aanother, and the first give her consent, and if he espouse the second, and they are virgins, and have vowed to no other man, then is he justified; he cannot commit adultery for they are given unto him; for he cannot commit adultery with that that belongeth unto him and to no one else.

  62 And if he have ^aten virgins given unto him by this law, he cannot commit adultery, for they belong to him, and they are given unto him; therefore is he justified.  (Doctrines & Covenants, 132:61-62)


Second, Osama Bin Laden.  The world is after this guy but he is just a good Muslim.  He is following the Koran which teaches that the whole world needs to convert to Islam, live the good life people lived in 650 A.D., pray five times a day toward Mecca, submit to Allah in all things and, hopefully, die in Jihad so you can be guaranteed a reception in heaven with 70 virgins (see above)-- pretty sexual too by the way.  Oh, a reference:

"Fight those who neither believe in Allah nor the Last Day, who do not forbid what Allah and His Messenger have forbidden, and do not embrace the religion of the truth, being among those who have been given the Book (Bible and the Torah), until they pay tribute out of hand and have been humiliated." (Surah 9:29)

"...restrain their hands, take them and kill them wherever you find them." (Surah 4:91)

"...O Prophet, urge the believers to fight. If there are twenty patient men among you, you shall overcome two hundred, and if there are a hundred, they shall overcome a thousand, for they are a nation who do not understand." (Surah 8:65)

So, with all the commotion, let's not lose our senses-- this is what real Mormonism is and real Islam is.  Pretty scary if you ask me.

Comments

[matt]

I would have said they both have this in common:

There idea of heaven involves them and many virgins.

[Sarah]

We watched a doc. on a muslim that gave his life to Jesus...he was drawing similarities of muslims and mormons...wow, I say. (I'll have to recall who did the doc.and where we saw it)