Should the next president have an adequate understanding of human depravity?

Blog Post: Romney’s Mormon Faith: Some Preliminary Thoughts, by Ramsey Wilson

“Mormonism teaches that human beings are born not in a state of rebellion against God but in an innocent state – i.e., we are inherently good,. The belief that human beings are inherently good underlies the utopian liberation ideologies (e.g., scientific utopianism, Marxism, the sexual revolution, etc.) that have promised so much and delivered so little. “

“Many in our community don’t want to discuss various aspects of Mormonism even amongst themselves, much less with outsiders”

Blog article: Two More Emails – and a Podcast!, by Andrew Sullivan.

Andrew Sullivan received two very interesting e-mails from Mormons (one of which, albeit, is a liberal, “cultural Mormon”) regarding the benefits of having Mormonism under the spotlight:

The first:

I just want you to know that there’s at least one active Mormon “out there” who appreciates and supports what you are doing. I blogged about it here and I discussed it on a local Utah radio show, which you can listen to here.

Ultimately the more candid, open, and honest discussion there is about Mormonism–and frankly, the more awareness that can be broadly generated about some of the more controversial and damaging aspects of our history and doctrine–the greater the likelihood that the top leadership will make positive progress in improving on the weaker parts of our faith and culture (renouncing the loopiness, etc.). Ultimately, sunshine is the best antiseptic, as they say.

The second:

I’m a long-time LDS reader of your website. Am still enjoying it.

Yes, your publishing the garment photos was a tad offensive to most of us. But you’re right that our taboos need not be your own. And truth be told, we Mormons are really hypersensitive about criticism (or even discussion) of our faith in the media. (Bad experiences in the 19th Century, misrepresentations of our doctrines in the 20th, etc.). The Romney candidacy, as well as public discussions of Mormonism on blogs such as yours, can only do a service to the Mormons in the long run. So many in our community don’t want to discuss various aspects of Mormonism even amongst themselves, much less with outsiders. But the more exposure we get, and the more that various Mormon “oddities” are scrutinized in the press, the more we’ll have to think about various doctrinal and historical issues, as well as talk about them.

As far as this Mormon is concerned, that’s a very good thing. At least it will make my otherwise stale Church meetings a bit more interesting. For that, you have my eternal gratitude.

In a blog comment (linked to above) John Dehlin writes:

[W]e’ve been trying to straddle the fence of maintaining (or at least not officially denouncing) some very strange (dare I say loopy?) teachings/doctrines of the past, while trying to present ourselves to the Christian world as “just one of them….with perhaps some slight improvements.” … Because we have been less than bold/candid about our beliefs (both internally and externally), we’re now facing a bold day of reckoning. This will be painful, but ultimately, I believe that we will all be better off for it. And once we come clean (again both internally and externally) and clarify what we still do and don’t believe officially–we will once and for all be able to put all this behind us.

Meridian Magazine: “Can LDS Film Director Mitch Davis Help Mitt Romney Get in the White House?”

Article: Can LDS Film Director Mitch Davis Help Mitt Romney Get in the White House? – Interview with Mitch Davis. Note: Meridian Magazine is a Mormon publication.

Our biggest concern will be finding a way to address the issue of anti-Mormonism without fanning those same flames. The last thing any Evangelical Christians want is to feel that by voting for Mitt Romney, they are voting for or promoting Mormonism.

Oh? Consider what Mitch said earlier in the interview:

It is hard for me to imagine anything about a Mitt Romney presidency that could be negative for the Church. I cannot think of a more capable, flawless representative of our faith than Mitt Romney and his beautiful family. Have you seen pictures of those people? Have you seen the words pundits use to describe Mitt? He is “Matinee Mitt,” “The Holy Cow Candidate,” “The Mighty Mitt Romney.” A Mitt Romney presidency would take our Church places it might not otherwise ever go in terms of world perception. And it will be another hundred years before we get a chance like this to put someone like Mitt in the White House.

Voting for Mitt, according to Mitch Davis, benefits Mormonism by putting it in a positive light. Is it any wonder, then, that Christians would feel like they would be “voting for or promoting Mormonism”?

The South Park Episode and Respect for Mormons

Blogger Dean Barnett complains that Andrew Sullivan disrepsectfully linked to a disrespectful video on on Mormonism:

Andrew “I mean no disrespect” Sullivan has declared it “Mormon week on the Dish!” To help his audience understand the tenets of the Mormon faith, Andrew has linked to a video done by the highly respected and highly respectful auteurs behind South Park.

I’m assuming a lot of sarcasm in that.

You might be surprised to learn that some of the Mormon persuasion believe that the South Park episode was in some important ways very respectful.

From KUER FM90 RadioWest Interview: Mormonism and Pop Culture (Featuring South Park) (MP3) :

David from Salt Lake: “… I don’t think it’s disrepectful. I think it’s really intelligent criticism. It’s one thing for people to come on and say, you know, I just don’t like Mormons. It’s another thing for people to come along and say, here’s some things about their history, and the things about what they believe, and what’s wrong that… I think it’s really intelligent criticism, and what’s wrong with bringing up this history? I learned more in that twenty-minute episode… than I did in sixteen years growing up Mormon in Utah…

Host: … We should say, Dennis Potter, what do you make of the telling of the story… Does this surprise some people like David, who grew up in Mormonism and didn’t sort of get the view that the creators of South Park have given from the outside of that? I guess we should say that it’s a fairly accurate…

Dennis Potter (UVSC professor, Mormon): It’s as accurate as you can get a in a twenty-minute episode… They did a really good job… I think they did a very good job in telling the story. And I would say it is a respectful criticism. It’s not disrepsectful at all to the religion. But of course, I know some Mormons who felt like it was disrespectful. Some of my students for example are kind of offended by it…

Mark (Mormon): … I just want to say that if we can’t take any kind of criticism or sarcasm or spoofing on TV then we don’t deserve to be a religion. I think it’s great that we’re being at least taken seriously enough to be spoofed by a national TV show. I’m at least pleased they got the facts right. Even though they may have been a little bit irreverent, at least they gave us the respect in doing that. And I just figure that if anything it’ll help, at least, people understand, and especially helps us see what we take for granted…

When examined, the video is a largely accurate portrayal of early Mormon events. John Dehlin, a Mormon, writes that South Park is a “place where many Mormons first learn about the historically-supported mechanics of the Book of Mormon translation process” (>>). Why? Because the Mormon Church refuses to depict the Book of Mormon translation process in a manner that is consistent with the historical evidence, evidence that even Mormon apologists now affirm.

Slate Magazine: “Take My Wives … Please!”

Article: Take My Wives … Please!, by Adam Reilly – “Mitt Romney’s clumsy Mormon shtick.”

In recent months, for example, he’s done a nice job convincing pundits and the public that religious voters care more about core values than theological minutiae.

Minutiae? That God the Father could have sinned in his past, that he was once not God, that God had to become a god, that God has at least one wife, that God can’t create matter, that we can become gods and be worshiped someday, that the Bible is significantly corrupt, that God lives near a star-base called Kolob, that God is so hung up over baptism that he has the church perform baptism for the dead… all that is minutiae?

Dallas Morning News: “The taboo pew”

Article: The taboo pew, by Molly Worthen – “Evangelicals have sought to discredit the Mormon church as a cult since its founding. Can Mitt Romney persuade people to vote across the aisle?”

Kudos to Molly for some great mentions:

As violent persecution drove Smith and his followers farther west, he declared himself “King, Priest and Ruler over Israel on Earth” and treated Mormon territory as a sovereign city-state, angering local and federal authorities...

Between 1830 and his assassination in 1844, Smith also taught a theology that departed radically from traditional Christianity. Mormons believe that God was once a man and that he still occupies a body of flesh and bone. Every human being is a spirit-child of God who can become a god in the afterlife by adhering to Mormon moral codes and participating in temple rituals…

Mormon theology closes the gap between humankind and God, and it elevates the place of human effort in the path to salvation. To most Christians – especially to 19th-century Calvinists, who viewed humans as depraved beings separated from God by a chasm of sin – Mormonism was a scandal. It still is…

The LDS church’s professionalism and skillful image management worry many conservative Christians. The Mormon church has tried to position itself in the mainstream by conducting a careful marketing campaign. In 1982, the church added the official subtitle “Another Testament of Jesus Christ” to the Book of Mormon in order to emphasize that it was a Christian faith. In 1995, the LDS church logo was redesigned so that the words “Jesus Christ” appear three times larger than the rest of the text. The current prophet and president of the LDS church, Gordon Hinckley, has made high-profile statements that seem to play down the radical elements of Mormon theology.

One thing needs clarification:

The protesters at Hill Cumorah would disagree. Although they seem like the lunatic fringe, Mr. Jones and his number represent an entrenched anti-Mormon movement that is prepared to convince voters that Mr. Romney’s religion renders his campaign promises and political record moot.

Lumping in Mr. Jones with the “protestors” is potentially very misleading. Usually the term “protestors”, in the context of events like the Hill Cumorah Pageant and General Conference, refers to a small group of beliggerent demonstrators, the kind of which Mr. Jones does not condone. Some of us countercultists simply refer to them as the “KJV-only folks”, because nearly all them are Baptistic adherents of KJV-onlyism. They are a very, very small group who make their voices heard loudly and theatrically. Unfortunately, Mormons in Utah have latched onto them as the icon or image of what it means to be an evangelical doing street-evangelism—partly out of ignorance (which can be remedied), and partly, I believe, out of an unfair desire to use a caricature for those of the theological opposition.

Times Online: “The Mormon who might just go all the way”

Article: The Mormon who might just go all the way, by Andrew Sullivan (Times Online)

[T]he more the actual doctrines of Mormonism emerge, the deeper the awkwardness could be. All humans can become gods? Jesus returned to earth after his resurrection . . . in America? Moreover, the secrecy of the Mormon leadership, its insistence on mandatory tithing, and accusations of cult-like practices are likely to stir at least some controversy among the very religious right whose support Romney badly needs.

Reuters: “Is America ready for a Mormon president?”

Article: Is America ready for a Mormon president? (Reuters) – “Social conservative is to the right of both GOPers McCain and Giuliani”

The once-isolated sect based in Salt Lake City, Utah, is one of the world’s fastest growing and most affluent religions, with 12.3 million members globally.

This can be very misleading.

But its past could haunt a Romney presidential campaign, including its now-severed links to polygamy and a former ban on blacks from leadership roles.

The Mormon Church would like you to think it has completely severed links with polygamy, but there’s a catch. The Church takes no modern, official position on whether the practice will be re-introduced. As the continued presence of D&C 132 in the Mormon canon indicates, the doctrine of polygamy is far from completely disavowed. “The doctrine continues today in subtle form. If a wife dies a husband may be sealed in the temple with another wife without annulling the previous sealing. Thus, the man is expected to spend eternity in union with at least those two wives. Some mainstream Mormons also hold that the practice will continue in the Millenial Kingdom. Some, but few, still assert that plural marriage is necessary for Celestial exaltation (as attested to by Brigham Young).” (>>)

Time Magazine: “Can a Mormon be President?”

Article: Can a Mormon be President?, by Mike Allen (Time Magazine) – “Why Mitt Romney will have to explain a faith that remains mysterious to many”

A mormon church official and a public relations executive shuttled recently from the Fox News Washington bureau to the Washington Post to the online political digest the Hotline.

I’m guessing that it was an executive from Edelman.

But church officials are wary of the impact Romney’s candidacy could have on them–and on the portrayal of their faith. Yes, his campaign will bring attention and credibility to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), as the Mormons are formally known, and give them a chance to demystify their theology and customs.

More realistically it’s a chance to obfuscate, not demystify, their theology. Anyone familiar with Mormonism knows that they do not take such public opportunities to herald their most important distinctives. Mormons are glad to provide stock corrections to notions about any sort of current practice of polygamy. Issues like that are safe. But what about things like the nature of God?

If I were them, I’d be concerned too, as this buzz over Romney will potentially expose some of Mormonism’s most radical beliefs to the American public. The Mormon Church has long taken advantage of general ignorance toward Mormon doctrine. This is the kind of climate needed for mainstreaming. With exposure (and succession of Hinckley by Monson) perhaps a day of retrenching is coming (that is, a retreat back to distinctive Mormon doctrine).

But church officials also calculate that Romney’s bid to succeed George W. Bush could remind some mainstream Christians just how different Mormonism is from their faith and perhaps expose their flock to more of the sort of discrimination that drove their founders west by handcart and covered wagon into the Great Salt Lake Valley.

One friend of mine wrote: “Yeah, that’s why Romney is being elusive. Once those bigoted Christians learn that Mormons really do believe men can become Gods they’re all going to go out a burn a Mormon’s home. What kind of reporting is this?”

…some Evangelicals hold the view that Mormonism is not a Christian faith. Because Mormons acknowledge works of Scripture that are not in the Bible, believe that their prophets have received revelations directly from God and teach that God has a physical body, Evangelicals consider them heretics.

Some? How about almost every evangelical? When any bona fide evangelical Christian learns actual Mormon doctrine, he or she is quick to recognize it as non-Christian. That God has a body is just the beginning. Mormonism teaches that God is of the human species and nature. We’re certainly not upset about the idea of theophanies or the incarnation.

Will that dodge work for other theological questions? Calling himself “a religious person,” Romney in June used the Charlie Rose Show on PBS to test-drive an answer that keeps him from getting into the nitty-gritty of his religious heritage. “I believe that Jesus Christ is my savior,” he said. “But then as you get into the details of doctrines, I’d probably say, ‘Look, time out. Let’s focus on the values that we share.’”

Unfortunately, it probably will work with the American public. But hopefully I can make it a little harder for Romney to keep dodging.