I'm not surprised to hear you say you're a Catholic. Nine times out of ten, when I run into a Christian who genuinely acts like he's a follower of Jesus Christ, he turns out to be Catholic. And here's something I'll bet you didn't know: Mormonism has considerably more in common with Catholicism than it does with Protestantism.
No, I am not aware of what similarities there are between Mormonism and Catholicism not shared with Protestantism, only because I have too many other priorities in my faith to concern myself with.
As to your post #237:
Yes, I agree, that many different people can carelessly or purposefully present an account of what some other religion teaches and it can be extremely erroneous. I am sure I fell for this more than once. But Scripture does say (somewhere) that “security lies in the counsel of the many.” So I imagine if I read it or see it reported by rather trusting sources in various places and at various times in history I would be inclined to accept it as fact.
You said >>>
I personally believe that God cares more about how we live our lives than He cares if we could score 100% on a multiple-choice test regarding Christian doctrines.
Actually, I agree with that statement as well, by and large. I base that on Matthew 25:31-46 as well as on what Catholicism emphasizes. Plus passages like
“faith without works is dead” and
“in the end what remains is faith, hope and charity, and greatest of these is charity.”
Catholics, by instruction and theological understanding, heavily preach that man shall not ever judge another soul. Nor shall that man ever say that person deserves to be cast into hell, or the like. So do not expect me to violate that command. We do not know where another comes from, their tribal origins, what opportunities they were given or not given, etc.
And I could expound on all that. But because of my Catholic teaching I truly believe any person of any faith or no faith can be allowed into heaven. I believe the good works that Mormons do will will greatly benefit their standing with God. I believe in heaven and hell, but I also believe that many or most souls go to purgatory when they die before they are allowed into the kingdom. There is where God’s justice and mercy are made perfect. Revelations says “nothing defiled shall enter the kingdom.” And Jesus may very well have died for our sins and saved us from hell, but we cannot make light of this eternal gift and act like selfish little devils until we get there. We will first be made pure. (And to anyone reading, yes, it most definitely is Scriptural.)