Posted on 07/01/2012 8:34:57 AM PDT by Colofornian
The presidential race of Mitt Romney and the success of the Broadway musical The Book of Mormon have generated new interest in Mormonism. Stephen Mansfield's book The Mormonizing of America provides a careful study of this growing religion. The Book Stop blog is posting excerpts from the first two chapters of this book.
The Mormons and the Media
Nowhere in American society does this create an occasion of people talking past each other as when it comes to the media pursuing a prominent Mormon.
Reporters naturally want to find something controversial about this visible person, so they ask about holy underwear. But the Mormon won’t answer this question directly. He’s offended by the phrase “holy underwear”—it is properly called a “Temple garment”—and he won’t talk about Temple rituals in any case because they are far too sacred. Besides, betraying Temple rituals is forbidden.
Then the media switches to polygamy. This too gets side-stepped because the Church forbade polygamy long before this prominent Mormon was born and only a small percentage of Saints have ever been in plural marriages to begin with. There’s nothing to write about here.
Reporters then raise the treatment of blacks. This may get some play because the Latter-day Saints did not “get a revelation” about blacks being priests and permitted in the Temple until 1978. Even the Supreme Court moved toward equality faster than the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints! So the media can stir these waters a bit, but the change came forty-five years ago and everybody has admitted the Church was wrong and even African American Mormons will criticize the media if it does not report fairly where the Church is today.
Then there is abortion and homosexuality, but more than half the country is with the Mormons on this so there is nothing new to spin. There is some fun to be had with the Mormon anti-birth-control position, but this is old and not all Mormons accept it and it will only bring Mormon women to the cameras in a rage. Better to leave this alone too.
It also doesn’t work to bring up specific matters of doctrine. Press a political candidate on whether Jesus will touch down in Jackson County, Missouri, when he returns and the man either answers incorrectly or says he doesn’t know. Ask if he intends to be a god one day and he says his faith doesn’t make this clear. Ask if he thinks he will rule over planets and he laughs and says that some members of his faith believe this.
The man cannot be pinned down, though, and this is because Mormon doctrine is dangerous territory. It is always a bit—squishy. There is no creed. There are few if any LDS theologians. The clergy isn’t theologically trained. The people are usually only taught what is “faith promoting” so there are huge gaps in what they know. And in Mormonism there is nothing like the Roman Catholic “Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith”—no official voice, no department clarifying theology and whipping dissidents back into line. So the candidate moves deftly around the icebergs that reporters try to put in his way.
Then there are always conspiracy theories to pose about how much Salt Lake City controls a leading politician or how much money the church spends trying to turn elections their way. But no one knows for sure and there is such a mind meld between the Church and its prominent members that there is hardly need for the Church to even try to exert control. These Mormons all think so alike that nothing ever has to be said.
And this is where it usually stops. Because the media only knows Mormonism by its odd extremities, it exhausts its list of interesting topics quickly. The reporting becomes vapid. Religion moves from center stage. The fact that a CEO or a politician or a cabinet member or some other influential member of society might be a Mormon is no longer deemed important.
Because the media is focused on externals. Because the sordid burns out quickly. Because no one has thought to ask a Mormon what it really means to be a Mormon.
Yet when the Saints are approached in the light by which they see themselves—as the only earthly heirs of the ancient priesthood of Aaron and Melchizedek—then a new list of questions begins to emerge.
“Sir, your Church is offended when it is called a ‘cult.’ But if your Church sees itself as the ‘only true Church,’ possessors of the only true priesthood on earth, then don’t Mormons see every other religion in the world as some kind of cult?”
“Sir, if you are a Melchizedek Priest, have you ever prayed for anyone to be healed? Have they been? Have you ever seen angels? Can you confer the gifts of the Holy Spirit? Can you confer them on me?”
“Sir, are there prophets who speak to you regularly? Do you prophesy to others? What will you do if someone you revere as a prophet gives you a revelation about what you should do in a public office? How can you refuse it? How can you be sure it is or isn’t the true word of God?”
“Sir, if your Church has been given the keys to the only true Aaronic and Melchizedek Priesthoods on earth, then what does this say about the Jews? Are they deceived about who they are? And does becoming a Mormon literally change a person’s blood so they become the seed of Abraham, as Joseph Smith taught? And who exactly will be in control of Jerusalem when Jesus Christ returns?”
These, then, are questions nearer the meaning of Mormonism that the Saints themselves hold dear and these get us closer to understanding how an LDS politician or CEO or educator understands both his public life as well as his life in this world.
What the Mormon view of Mormonism also tells us is how we have to approach the faith. There is no Mormon systematic theology or final theological voice. The text of Mormonism is Mormon history. In fact, there is a direct connection between each major phase of the Mormon past and what most every Mormon believes and practices today. But the story has to be told and its meaning understood.
This has not been easy for most Americans. Not only is religion of any kind seldom taught in our schools, but Mormon history is such an odd creature that it requires a certain openness, a willingness to take seriously—even for a moment— a story our Mormon friends believe was begun by angels, powered by prophecy, sustained by miracles, and made heroic by men destined to be divine. This history, though, is the main text of the faith that has now reached critical mass in the United States and it is well worth considering for this reason alone.
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Excerpted from The Mormonizing of America by Stephen Mansfield, © 2012.
Published by Worthy Publishing, a division of Worthy Media, Inc., Brentwood, TN. www.worthypublishing.com. Used by permission. Tell us what you thought of this excerpt on Twitter: #Mormonizing @WorthyPub
But O's smiling face is not likely to entice a person to HIS 'religion'; thus to lose their soul by trusting in a FALSE savior.
Where do you get off sending all "LDSers" to hell?
Who authorized you to do that?
What kind of authoritative beast are you that automatically delivers "categories" of people ("LDSers") that Christ died for to hell?
Are you telling us that Christ cannot deliver and rescue "LDSer" people?
Do you realize the six people I copied above in this post were once an "LDSer?"
Are you castigating all six of them to "hell" because of their former "LDSer" status?
And even among "Jews that don't accept Christ as God," are not these Jews worth dying for -- as Christ did? Are not these Jews worth us expending ourselves for -- as the Jewish apostle Paul indicated he wanted to do himself...if only that would make a difference?
Here, I'll let the apostle Paul speak for himself:
I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying, my conscience confirms it through the Holy Spirit— 2 I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race, 4 the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption to sonship; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. 5 Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen. (Paul, Letter to the Church at Rome, 9:1-5)
Do you note how highly that Paul speaks of his fellow Jews?
They are the chosen ones!
They've been designed to be adopted as sons of God!
They've been designed for partaking in God's glory! His covenants! His promises!
They're the people group whom the incarnated Son of God came thru Mary -- and the lineage that was developed generation-by-generation!
You seem to post like this is all some "religious game" with certain posts trying to get "trump points." It's not! This is life and death stuff! Over people of tremendous value!!!
The Jews and the Mormons are people of tremendous value -- as YOU are as well! Christ died for you! Christ died for Jews! Christ died for Mormons! Christ died for me!
You seem to imply in your posts that we are here to "lord" it over people of other religions, casting people here & there as if this was all some game of cards! Nothing could be further from the truth!
Christ came to this earth to serve each of us via a three-year public ministry with no place to lay His head;
Christ came to live the perfect life we could not -- and transfer that righteousness to our account via His mercy and grace;
Christ came to destroy the works of Satan;
Christ came to this earth to serve each of us via horrific scourgings and an ultimate "tree" as His "frame" to be nailed upon.
The Holy Spirit indwells His church -- thereby likewise serving us from such a lowly position as a temple of flesh and blood.
And, if you go back up to verse 3 above from Romans 9:1-5, "For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race, 4 the people of Israel" -- Paul is wishing he himself could have gone to hell ("cursed and cut off from Christ") if only his fellow Jews could be saved!
Does that sound like someone freely "casting" about Jews to hell? Or does that sound like one with exceeding sorrow and unceasing anguish over many Jews' spiritual state???
Is there a group of people, NoLibZone, that you could say you would like to go to hell on their behalf -- like Paul did? If you did that, does that sound like "lording" over people's eternal destinations and assigning them automatic destinations? Or, rather, does it sound like the ultimate service to them...with some of them finding THE Ultimate Reality and Ultimate Treasure in life, The Anointed Holy Messiah!!! The Chosen One of chosen ones!
Not likely? It obviously HAS!, his 'religion' being "fundamental transformation"/"Change" Marxism. Others actually believe his "Black Liberation Theology" version of Christianity is legit. BLT is a communist front movement which concocts fake religions to use as a means of advancing the communist agenda.
Again, this thread is about mormonism why are yo focused on Catholics. If you want to talk about Catholicism start a new thread.
I asked where is the hatred - I had hoped the question was simple enough you would realize it was about this thread and mormoism.
Apparently not.
Maybe I can make it even more simple - what hate is there is exposing mormoism.
Salivation gave us the way by Grace.
There is only one way to spend eternity in the Glory of God. There is no plan B.
On one sends anyone anywhere, we either go to heave or hell of our own free will.
Then we’ll have to choose which evil we want to rule over us!
The Jews in Israel that don’t recognize Jesus as the Saviour will end up in the same place as the mormons?
No matter how you ask the question the answer is the same, there is. O plan B.
THX 1138 - people defending mormonism (place marker)
Doesn't a person's faith tell you a lot about that person's character and discernment? Both of those seem to critical to fulfill the duties you're concerned about. Ignore at your own risk. I find it really troubling that the Republican candidate is a true-blue believer in a religion which can be refuted with a few hours of open-minded research. Either he is deceived or he knows the truth and is engaged in deceiving others. Neither is a good qualification for POTUS.
Assume you have a solid conservative (unlike Mitt) who holds weird religious views (like Mitt). Would you vote for this person if he or she was a Scientologist? Would you vote for this person if he or she practices voodoo and sacrifices chickens? Would you vote for that person if he or she wants to revive the Aztec religions and practice human sacrifice? Of course, somewhere along that continuum, you'd say no. Which goes to show that faith can be an issue, the question is where you draw the line.
Those of us who have been studying Mormonism for decades are aware of its insidious nature. Like a financial fraud, Mormonism is built on deception. It may not have the overt threat of Islam but it is just as dangerous to the human soul.
Yep. Certainly appears that affinity fraud Ponzi scheming is in the nature of those who ascend The Ladder.
Who is James P Lewis?
What is the Mormon Doctrine of Blood Atonement?
http://mormonismexposed.blogspot.com/2008/01/mormon-doctrine-of-blood-atonement.html
>>vast sums, sums Utahans could never dream of absconding with.
Who is James P Lewis?
http://www.google.com/#hl=en&biw=1600&bih=746&sclient=psy-ab&q=James+P+Lewis+Ponzi+Mormon
Is a couple of hundred million “vast” enough for ya?
“You’re right. Their hatred is getting old. It’s like the conservative version of Jeremiah Wright.”
Except he’s more conservative, and higher paid. Oh yeah, and not angry at his own apostasy. Oh yeah, and he’s a man. But behavioral wise, right on.
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