(To summarize the content of this entry, this has been my very brief comment on Mormonism and its formal legitimacy as a religion, on account of its immediate ties to the now-historical Mormon culture, centered in the American State of Utah. Non-Utahan Mormonism, on the other hand, is exceedingly questionable at the very least, and for this reason, despite its localized cultural importance, Mormonism as such cannot be considered a world religion by any stretch of imagination.)
...Its religion is as preposterous as those other Latter-Day religions. It is also fairly young, which fact should not speak in its favor, either. But its unique and well-established culture, its distinctive tradition, and its way of life, which is one of a kind too, make Mormonism a phenomenon to reckon with, and not to be dismissed on account of its foundational flakiness. In fact, I insist that, unlike any other religion since the Reformation,* Mormonism is a perfectly legitimate, albeit geographically limited, culture-based religion, that culture being wholly religion-based.
In other words, the new religion produced a new culture, and that culture legitimized the new religion.
(*With regard to my reference point being the Reformation, forgive me, Quakers, alias Friends, but despite an earlier history of violent religious persecution, at present, considering the chasmic divergence of your properly religious beliefs, particularly regarding the divinity of Jesus Christ, you are, in my view, a supremely commendable social organization, but little more than that. As for the Amish (and all other larger or smaller Christian sects), they should fall under the general umbrella of Protestantism, and thus do not qualify as a separate religion, despite their uniquely distinctive way of life.)
There is a good expression: Only in America! It applies to the Mormons with perfection. Only the singular historical experience of the American nation could produce something like that.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as Mormonism is officially called, is built around the life, revelation, and death of its founding prophet Joseph Smith, born in 1805, who gave more strength to the new religion by becoming its founding martyr in 1844. As could well be expected, there had to be someone else, rather than Smith, who would, soon thereafter, give the Mormon culture a powerful impetus, and allow it to acquire a one-of-a-kind character, by migrating with his Mormons to the happily isolated wilderness of Salt Lake City, in 1847. The hero’s name was Brigham Young. If there is any person in world history deserving to be unabashedly compared to the Biblical Moses, Brigham Young is that man...
The history of Mormonism is fairly straightforward and easy to follow for anyone who will spend an hour of his or her time to study it. I prefer to say as little as possible about the theological aspects of the Mormon religion. It might suffice to say that their God has a physical body, is married and can have children. (A very loose take on Christianity, I dare say.) The Mormons also believe that humans can themselves become gods in the afterlife…
But who can argue against all this? Like any other religion, Mormonism is based on an irrational belief, and must be considered a matter of faith, rather than of knowledge, and even less so of theological comprehension.
On a note of sanity (or should I say rationality?), the Mormons believe that their Church is a restoration of the Church as conceived by Jesus Christ, and that all other Christian churches have gone astray. (By the way, considering the general degradation of the latter in modern times, moral retreat and all, this Mormon belief and concern has not been altogether misguided…) They claim to practice a “traditional” way of life, and to uphold traditional family values, ever since polygamy was officially outlawed by their leaders. They oppose abortion, homosexuality, unmarried sexual acts, pornography, gambling, tobacco, consumption of alcoholic beverages, and they even deprive themselves of tea and coffee, not to mention the use of “other” drugs.
Mormonism is an explicitly American religion. In Mormon mythology, God has pointed to America as His ultimate Promised Land. Forget the Jews: the Mormon Utah is the New Zion! Which makes them all most exceedingly happy, although at Israel’s expense, concerning which the Israelis do not seem to mind. After all, as they say, when the Mashiach comes, he will tell the world who was right and who was wrong…
(As an aside, I am not too sure that the Jews [or the traditional Christians, for that matter] would ever want a Mormon, like the new Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney, to become the next President of the United States. Who is there to see to it then that the old Zion does not end up in the circular file? American foreign policy has already had a precedent like this, even if relatively brief: Old Europe-- New Europe! God forbid the newest version to be: Old Zion -- New Zion!
But don’t get me wrong on this. I do not expect that Mr. Romney’s allegiances will ever be put to a test like this. America’s Christian Republicans will see to it that he does not get elected, no matter what he might say or what President Obama might do between now and the November 2012 Election.)
...Its religion is as preposterous as those other Latter-Day religions. It is also fairly young, which fact should not speak in its favor, either. But its unique and well-established culture, its distinctive tradition, and its way of life, which is one of a kind too, make Mormonism a phenomenon to reckon with, and not to be dismissed on account of its foundational flakiness. In fact, I insist that, unlike any other religion since the Reformation,* Mormonism is a perfectly legitimate, albeit geographically limited, culture-based religion, that culture being wholly religion-based.
In other words, the new religion produced a new culture, and that culture legitimized the new religion.
(*With regard to my reference point being the Reformation, forgive me, Quakers, alias Friends, but despite an earlier history of violent religious persecution, at present, considering the chasmic divergence of your properly religious beliefs, particularly regarding the divinity of Jesus Christ, you are, in my view, a supremely commendable social organization, but little more than that. As for the Amish (and all other larger or smaller Christian sects), they should fall under the general umbrella of Protestantism, and thus do not qualify as a separate religion, despite their uniquely distinctive way of life.)
There is a good expression: Only in America! It applies to the Mormons with perfection. Only the singular historical experience of the American nation could produce something like that.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as Mormonism is officially called, is built around the life, revelation, and death of its founding prophet Joseph Smith, born in 1805, who gave more strength to the new religion by becoming its founding martyr in 1844. As could well be expected, there had to be someone else, rather than Smith, who would, soon thereafter, give the Mormon culture a powerful impetus, and allow it to acquire a one-of-a-kind character, by migrating with his Mormons to the happily isolated wilderness of Salt Lake City, in 1847. The hero’s name was Brigham Young. If there is any person in world history deserving to be unabashedly compared to the Biblical Moses, Brigham Young is that man...
The history of Mormonism is fairly straightforward and easy to follow for anyone who will spend an hour of his or her time to study it. I prefer to say as little as possible about the theological aspects of the Mormon religion. It might suffice to say that their God has a physical body, is married and can have children. (A very loose take on Christianity, I dare say.) The Mormons also believe that humans can themselves become gods in the afterlife…
But who can argue against all this? Like any other religion, Mormonism is based on an irrational belief, and must be considered a matter of faith, rather than of knowledge, and even less so of theological comprehension.
On a note of sanity (or should I say rationality?), the Mormons believe that their Church is a restoration of the Church as conceived by Jesus Christ, and that all other Christian churches have gone astray. (By the way, considering the general degradation of the latter in modern times, moral retreat and all, this Mormon belief and concern has not been altogether misguided…) They claim to practice a “traditional” way of life, and to uphold traditional family values, ever since polygamy was officially outlawed by their leaders. They oppose abortion, homosexuality, unmarried sexual acts, pornography, gambling, tobacco, consumption of alcoholic beverages, and they even deprive themselves of tea and coffee, not to mention the use of “other” drugs.
Mormonism is an explicitly American religion. In Mormon mythology, God has pointed to America as His ultimate Promised Land. Forget the Jews: the Mormon Utah is the New Zion! Which makes them all most exceedingly happy, although at Israel’s expense, concerning which the Israelis do not seem to mind. After all, as they say, when the Mashiach comes, he will tell the world who was right and who was wrong…
(As an aside, I am not too sure that the Jews [or the traditional Christians, for that matter] would ever want a Mormon, like the new Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney, to become the next President of the United States. Who is there to see to it then that the old Zion does not end up in the circular file? American foreign policy has already had a precedent like this, even if relatively brief: Old Europe-- New Europe! God forbid the newest version to be: Old Zion -- New Zion!
But don’t get me wrong on this. I do not expect that Mr. Romney’s allegiances will ever be put to a test like this. America’s Christian Republicans will see to it that he does not get elected, no matter what he might say or what President Obama might do between now and the November 2012 Election.)
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