I was e-mailing last night with a Mormon reader, and mentioned to her that despite our theological differences, I have boundless admiration for the way Mormons conduct their lives, and believe that if more Americans lived with the ethics of Mormons, we'd be in much better shape as a nation. Now, Michael Brendan Dougherty writes that as the LDS Church has taken massive hits because of its leadership role in protecting traditional marriage, Evangelical and Catholic resistance to Mormonism may be morphing into outright admiration. Excerpt:
Because of the backlash, Mormons have shied away from media coverage they cannot control. LDS members who were directly involved with Prop 8 have been asked not to comment to the media. But the institutional church has gone on a press offensive, inviting journalists into its newest temple and discussing their involvement in politics. Shrewdly, Mormon leaders have shifted the debate about marriage to a debate about free exercise of religion. Elder Clinton Cook in an address to LDS members warned that the acceptance of gay marriage would inevitably lead to "legal penalties and social ostracism" for the religious. In this formulation, Mormons are just one of many faith groups seeking to protect their freedom of conscience.The combination of political strength Mormons demonstrated in the campaign and their perceived suffering afterwards has bonded them to other religious conservatives. "They wanted to show other religions that they saved them," Hart says. "When we get beat up in the press, it is a badge of honor. And in the conservative movement, it has endeared us to a lot of different groups. They say, 'Wow, thanks to the Mormons for making it happen.'"
After Prop 8, evangelical opinion leaders exhorted their audiences to stop worrying and learn to love the Latter Day Saints. John Mark Reynolds, a professor at evangelical Biola University wrote, "In the battle for the family...... traditional Christians have no better friends than the Mormon faithful." A petition to thank the LDS church for its participation in the Prop 8 campaign circulated on conservative websites, and James Dobson signed it. Presbyterian writer John Schroeder said, "We Evangelicals must thank our Mormon cousins. ...... They, along with our Catholic brethren, were better organized than us and that provided a base from which we could all work together to get this job done."
Amen. Just as Catholics and Evangelicals found they had a lot in common as they met and got to know each other in the trenches of the pro-life movement, I hope that Mormons and more mainstream Christians will now discover the same in the fight for religious liberty, which is just beginning.
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Friend, it's still easy to pick out the Mormons. I travel a lot, and I see them *everywhere.* It's a hoot. Like the "Where's Waldo" of international travel.
And Jerry, I don't think anyone who knows as many Mormons as I do would ever call you guys dumb. Quite the contrary. You all are not dumb, only epically snookered. It can happen. See the story of Fr. Maciel and the LC that Rod has been blogging here.
The key is disentangling from the b.s., is all.
"Umm...no?" Geoff G
TR: For you personally it's no? I agree there. I believe that's even true for the majority of gays.
However an increase in lawsuits et alia does occur in SSM nations. It might be inevitable it would, but in any case it's not deniable. The examples I stated, I was Your Name, were not things I made up out of nothing.
I didn't go from neutral to slightly negative for some whimsical fancy. Civil marriage is basically meaningless to me. If I had confidence it would be balanced with religious liberty I'd remain gradualist and neutral. That confidence is not currently there.
Charles Curtis: You are mixing up the "nation/kingdom of Israel" with the "House of Israel." The apostasy after the death of the apostles was not the only apostasy that ever occurred. There was the apostasy at the time of the Babylonian captivity, the apostasy at the time of Enoch, the apostasy at the time of Elijah, the apostasy at the time of Noah. All of these apostasies God sent prophets to call the people to repent and return to God.
We call the apostasy at the time of Christ the "Great Apostasy" because it was the apostasy that followed the fulfilling of Christ's mission on earth, the establishment of Christ's church on the earth and it followed the admonition by Christ to the twelve to take the gospel into all the world instead of just to the jews. The apostles were given the authority directly from Christ through the laying on of hands. These lowly fisherman were Apostles of the Lord who held the keys of the kingdom, they were not seminary-trained bible scholars. Once they were rejected, the authority of the church as a whole was gone. You cannot cut off the head and still expect the body to function normally. Christ said that upon the rock of Peter and the 12 apostles, through the priesthood, would he establish his church.
The Holy Ghost attests to the truth regardless of one's religion, because its role is a testifier of truth. The "Gift of the Holy Ghost" is another matter entirely, and is only obtained through the laying on of hands by those who are in authority...again the authority that flows down from Christ to His apostles and through the organization of the priesthood in an unbroken line.
The assumption that you make is that the organization of the church that Christ established is meaningless (which is odd coming from a Catholic). His organization was/is perfect and is the only correct organization established through apostles, prophets, priests, teachers etc. If you'd like to talk delusion I could really warm up here on some really juicy ones, but let's just agree to disagree on the snookered part. After all, Catholics have been snookered with much weirder stuff and for a much longer time that we poor, deluded mormons.
Besides, the blog was discussing whether mormons will be accepted. My conclusion is this: I think that the answer is "no" from the Evangelical hard liners, and "yes" from the moderates, but that "yes" comes with a condescending pat on the head at how sorry they feel for our quaint delusion.
Tradition is worthless when it is false tradition
As a Mormon, I have to grin at the magnanimous compliment of being called a "cousin" to Evangelical Christians. While the Catholics are considered "Brethren", Mormons are merely "cousins", a more distant relationship which is easier to disavow. Although it is rewarding to have our faith recognized by some for our efforts in supporting traditional marriage and families it is clear the compliments are often offered grudgingly.
The truth of the matter is this, we are all brothers and sisters, not cousins, or a favorite uncles, best friends, former roommate. We all worship the same God and His son Jesus Christ. Sure there are issues which separate us, but there is more that unites us, that is, if we allow it to. It's time to focus on what is best in each other, unite in common causes, and be brave enough to interract without fear or embarassment.
Kolob Kool-Aid
The Mormons have a problem. They want to become the church with the largest number of members. Since they believe that all humans had a preexistence in spirit form on a far-off (and far-out) planet they call Kolob, they are obsessed with finding the "fastest and most pleasurable ways" of transforming those Kolob "spirit" beings into human babies. Yes, the "fastest and most pleasurable ways" of creating more babies - that is, in addition to the tremendous help obtained from raunchy films, raunchy music, and raunchy dancing. Any advice you can give may help the LDS church to greatly increase its membership!
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