Originally Posted by alias

Okay, I address one point at a time so please be patient. Let's take this sentence you wrote: "Are Mormons a religion or a cult? I personally think they clearly constitute a religion".

A religion can be a cult or cannot be a cult so your question is confusing. In my opinion, mormonism is a "Christian cult". It has a lot of Christian doctrine, but then adds another book and another prophet that is not biblical. The bible is the final book of scripture for mainstream Christians. That is why Mormonism is considered a cult by the Mainstream Christian world. Mainstream Christians believe the entire book of Mormon is a fairy tale and not the truth. It was supposedly written by Joseph Smith with some special glasses to read some tablets he said he found in Upstate New York. These became the book of Mormon. Supposedly, Jesus appeared to the Indians in America at the same time he appeared in Israel 2000 years ago. Mainstream Christians do not believe this and therefore the Mormon religion is considered a cult by mainstream Christians because to be a Mormon, to believe in Jesus is not enough. You also have to believe in the writings of Joseph Smith.