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 wont answer this question directly. Hes offended by the phrase holy underwearit is properly called a Temple garmentand he wont 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. Theres 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 doesnt 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 doesnt know. Ask if he intends to be a god one day and he says his faith doesnt 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 bitsquishy. There is no creed. There are few if any LDS theologians. The clergy isnt 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 Faithno 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 themselvesas the only earthly heirs of the ancient priesthood of Aaron and Melchizedekthen 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 dont 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 isnt 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 persons 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 seriouslyeven 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.
___________________________________________________
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
The Nephites gather to the land of Cumorah for the final battlesMormon hides the sacred records in the hill CumorahThe Lamanites are victorious, and the Nephite nation is destroyedHundreds of thousands are slain with the sword. About A.D. 385.
1 And now I finish my record concerning the destruction of my people, the Nephites. And it came to pass that we did march forth before the Lamanites.
2 And I, Mormon, wrote an epistle unto the king of the Lamanites, and desired of him that he would grant unto us that we might gather together our people unto the land of Cumorah, by a hill which was called Cumorah, and there we could give them battle.
3 And it came to pass that the king of the Lamanites did grant unto me the thing which I desired.
4 And it came to pass that we did march forth to the land of Cumorah, and we did pitch our tents around about the hill Cumorah; and it was in a land of many waters, rivers, and fountains; and here we had hope to gain advantage over the Lamanites.
5 And *when three hundred and eighty and four years had passed away, we had gathered in all the remainder of our people unto the land of Cumorah.
6 And it came to pass that when we had gathered in all our people in one to the land of Cumorah, behold I, Mormon, began to be old; and knowing it to be the last struggle of my people, and having been commanded of the Lord that I should not suffer the records which had been handed down by our fathers, which were sacred, to fall into the hands of the Lamanites, (for the Lamanites would destroy them) therefore I made this record out of the plates of Nephi, and hid up in the hill Cumorah all the records which had been entrusted to me by the hand of the Lord, save it were these few plates which I gave unto my son Moroni.
7 And it came to pass that my people, with their wives and their children, did now behold the armies of the Lamanites marching towards them; and with that awful fear of death which fills the breasts of all the wicked, did they await to receive them.
8 And it came to pass that they came to battle against us, and every soul was filled with terror because of the greatness of their numbers.
9 And it came to pass that they did fall upon my people with the sword, and with the bow, and with the arrow, and with the ax, and with all manner of weapons of war.
10 And it came to pass that my men were hewn down, yea, even my ten thousand who were with me, and I fell wounded in the midst; and they passed by me that they did not put an end to my life.
11And when they had gone through and hewn down all my people save it were twenty and four of us, (among whom was my son Moroni) and we having survived the dead of our people, did behold on the morrow, when the Lamanites had returned unto their camps, from the top of the hill Cumorah, the ten thousand of my people who were hewn down, being led in the front by me.
12 And we also beheld the ten thousand of my people who were led by my son Moroni.
13 And behold, the ten thousand of Gidgiddonah had fallen, and he also in the midst.
14 And Lamah had fallen with his ten thousand; and Gilgal had fallen with his ten thousand; and Limhah had fallen with his ten thousand; and Jeneum had fallen with his ten thousand; and Cumenihah, and Moronihah, and Antionum, and Shiblom, and Shem, and Josh, had fallen with their ten thousand each.
15 And it came to pass that there were ten more who did fall by the sword, with their ten thousand each; yea, even all my people, save it were those twenty and four who were with me, and also a few who had escaped into the south countries, and a few who had deserted over unto the Lamanites, had fallen; and their flesh, and bones, and blood lay upon the face of the earth, being left by the hands of those who slew them to molder upon the land, and to crumble and to return to their mother earth.
16 And my soul was rent with anguish, because of the slain of my people, and I cried:
17 O ye fair ones, how could ye have departed from the ways of the Lord! O ye fair ones, how could ye have rejected that Jesus, who stood with open arms to receive you!
18 Behold, if ye had not done this, ye would not have fallen. But behold, ye are fallen, and I mourn your loss.
19 O ye fair sons and daughters, ye fathers and mothers, ye husbands and wives, ye fair ones, how is it that ye could have fallen!
20 But behold, ye are gone, and my sorrows cannot bring your return.
21 And the day soon cometh that your mortal must put on immortality, and these bodies which are now moldering in corruption must soon become incorruptible bodies; and then ye must stand before the judgment-seat of Christ, to be judged according to your works; and if it so be that ye are righteous, then are ye blessed with your fathers who have gone before you.
22 O that ye had repented before this great destruction had come upon you. But behold, ye are gone, and the Father, yea, the Eternal Father of heaven, knoweth your state; and he doeth with you according to his justice and mercy.
The danger of mormonism is to the eternal soul.
I guess you don't have much of a religious preference then?
"Now if any of you will deny the plurality of wives, and continue to do so, I promise that you will be damned;
and I will go still further and say, take this revelation, or any other revelation that the Lord has given,
and deny it in your feelings, and I promise that you will be damned.
Brigham Young - JoD 3:266 (July 14, 1855)
If I am a danger to your soul, you have bigger problems than can be addressed here.
You jump to conclusions apparently if you beleive I support BHO.
This is about mormonism.
Some posters here have been posting truths about mormonism from mormon sources for years, citing mormon literature, the book of mormon, pearl of great price and others, giving links to the mormon material. These are not made up accusations by the anti mormonism posters, they are facts.
Anyone bothering to learn the truth will never be able to defend mormonism, it simply isn't defensible, it's a 100% man made religion based on a liar's lie, leading people to eternal damnation, which is much more important than muslims wanting to kill our mortal bodies.
Eternity is a very long time, I can't even grasp the concept of "forever" but I do know that I want to spend it in the presence of Almighty God, not satan and his minions. There is a hell, it's very real and I for one will not be there, I trust the one true Jesus as my Lord and Savior. Praise His holy name.
If you knew the Bible, you would not need to ask. Instead you copy and paste the same things over and over.
Pick up your Bible and look for yourself.
You spew the same lines over and over again. He told us to watch for your kind.
Copy and paste is the only thing you have. So sad for you.
When the facts are against you, resort to name calling and demonize those you disagree with. It's a very old liberal tactic, unfortunately one that is used on this forum by people who call themselves "conservatives".
I see it in every thread concerning mormonism, some one or more brings out the "hater" and/or "bigot" card. They play the cards they have in their hand and that's all they have.
Not one of the "Inmans" I know hates mormons and not one user of the "hater" card has ever been able to show a single instance of a "mormon hater" among the thousands and thousands of replies posted by the fact presenters.
You are a man, no? Why do you post with a girls name? Perhaps your aggression comes from within.
THIS IS NOT MY QUOTE, BUT IT IS MY SENTIMENTS
“So the POP (Party over Principle) types, otherwise known as ABOs, would have us take the word of and rely on to fix the current situation who is and has done:
1. The Father of Gay Marriage in America
2. The Father of Socialized Medicine in America
3. The man who implemented an Assault Weapon Ban
4. The man who raised taxes by $700 million while Governor of MA.
5. The man who wholeheartedly supported Abortion while Governor of MA.
6. The man who nominated 27 out of 36 radical leftists to judgeships while Governor of MA.
7. The man who even after his supposed Pro-Life conversion, was still nominating radical Pro-Abortion judges.
8. The man who supported TARP
9. The man who supported the Brady Bill
10. The man who supported Amnesty via McCain-Kennedy.
This man, Mitt Romney, is a lying, left-wing, Progressive Liberal and has done nothing conservative in his political life, nothing.
But because of the fear of Obama, the POPs would have us vote for a lying, left-wing, Progressive Liberal like Mitt ROmney.
This is their version of “Hope and Change”
They fervently Hope, that Mitt ROmney has changed, even though he has a documented history of being a serial liar.
Yep, I know, sadly I am very familiar with the gaggle of harpies around here and their spamology.
No Moron has ever done anything to me other than be nice to me, and if this is how Christians behave, then I’d rather not have a damn thing to do with them.
Amen. A fellow Christian knows a fellow Christian when one meets them.
The fox, the king of lies, is all around us. We must not only resist, but refute.
God Bless, NoGrayZone. You know, I believe that those of us who love Jesus Christ need to have gentler hearts than what I see around this place related to Mormons.
I always try to practice a live and let live philosophy. I know not everyone believes the same why I believe, and I know that I do not believe the same way they believe.
Someone could do to me exactly what is being done to Mormons in this thread, and I know I would not appreciate it at all.
My relationship with the Lord and how I came to that relationship is my own business, and if people such as Elsie don’t like it, they can take a flying leap.
Is this an admission you have no idea what to cut & Paste?
What the HELL do you expect?
We do this for 6 days a week; ten hours a day, for about a year!
Of COURSE we repeat ourselves!!
You are a human, no? Why do you post with a name that indicates you see things only in black and white? Perhaps your lack of data comes from having no grey matter within your skull.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.