Ramblings

Mario Garibaldi

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Mormons Are Not Polygamists. Period.

Mormon This and Mormon That!

Unless you've been hiding under a rock somewhere, chances are you've been hearing about Mormons in the news. In fact, YouTube is full of videos, mostly against the LDS faith, or the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

I spent sometime watching those videos and by the time I was done, I asked myself: who's investing this much time and effort just to bash someone else's religion? I was trying to find comparable videos against the Amish and didn't run into much. Apparently, Mormonism is a hot topic on religious blogs and video sites everywhere.

The Mormons that I happen to know and consider as friends, are   nice, family-oriented people and I know for a fact that they're not polygamists. Genuine Mormons haven't practiced polygamy for over 100 years or since revelation and law abolished it. Polygamy aside, Mormon doctrines are typically different than what most Christians are used to.  

Mormon doctrine is beyond the scope of this article but it is sufficient to say that Mormons have certain beliefs that go beyond traditional Sunday School classes. As a result, many in the Christian world disapprove of what Mormons believe in and  they're not shy about it.

If you want to know more about Mormons and their beliefs, you can visit their official web site at: http://www.lds.org and for answers to any controversial topics, there is an apologetic site located at http://www.fairlds.org

The Book of Mormon, shown above,  doesn't impress most Bible believers mainly because Mormons consider it 'added scripture', 'a new testament' and the Bible is not supposed to be added to. The book is basically a historical account  of a migrating people who may have lived in the Americas. Among other things, the book also provides doctrines about salvation, the Ten Commandments, the purpose of life and a description of a visit from Jesus Christ to his fold in the American Continent.

Mormon critics  say  that the book may be fraudulent yet it was allegedly written in about 60 days, or rather, translated from gold plates given to Joseph Smith, Jr., The Prophet,  by the angel Moroni.  I guess if one believes in Fatima, the Ascension and Angels, then one can believe that an angel named  Moroni appeared to a farm boy in the 1800's and gave him instructions about ancient gold plates which resulted into the Book of Mormon. The name Mormon refers to one of the prophets in the book.

Many people think these are all crazy stories or that divine beings are human construct. Yet, Bible readers won't deny the fact that there are numerous instances of celestial apparitions and visitations to mere mortals throughout the Old and New Testaments. Of course, there are also those who believe the Bible itself was Constantine's construct to fool Christians into believing in the divinity of Jesus Christ. I guess there are people for every belief out there and even no religious beliefs all. What a wonderful world this is!

Mormons aren't strangers to persecution and intellectual attacks on their beliefs. Attacks against Mormonism usually originate from controversial historical account of events, quotes from past leaders, disputes over the truthfulness and originality of the Book Of Mormon as well as interpretations of biblical doctrines.

Do divine beings communicate with mere mortals? If they do, then the challenge for anyone considering Mormonism is accepting Joseph Smith's story as he claimed to have been visited by.  God, the Father and His Son Jesus Christ in a grove of trees somewhere near his home. There, he was told that other churches of his time weren't true and that there was a lot of lip service going on.

"My object in going to inquire of the Lord was to know which of all the sects was right, that I might know which to join. No sooner, therefore, did I get possession of myself, so as to be able to speak, than I asked the Personages who stood above me in the light, which of all the sects was right . . . and which I should join" (Joseph Smith-History 1:10, 18).

These personages also wanted Joseph to restore the original Church and the Gospel. As you can imagine, Joseph Smith's story is still shocking to a lot of religious people and still have either a positive or negative effect  even though all this allegedly occurred over 160 years ago!

Obviously, when Joseph told his story, his adversaries met him with anger. How dare this young farmer declare that he had seen God and that God Himself told him that the other churches weren't true? There was uproar and eventual persecutions. Anyone going around saying that he or she has seen God in person, even in this day and age, is bound to be considered a nut job, true? The question is: is such an event conceivable?

After many persecutions and church growth, those who were against Joseph Smith and Mormons in general set up to put an end to Joseph Smith Jr., church founder and leader. He was in prison in Carthage,IL, when the jail was invaded by an armed and angry mob with painted faces, who shot and killed both him and his brother Hyrum Smith. Joseph was in prison awaiting trial for the alleged destruction of a newspaper called Nauvoo Expositor. Hyrum was shot in the face. Joseph was shot and fell out of a window to his death. He was 38 years old. Some people say he was a good man while others say he was a gold-digger and a fraud, it depends on who you ask, which diary entries you believe in and the position and feelings people have towards the LDS church.

After a brief succession crisis over  whom should be the new leader and prophet for the church, Brigham Young took over the fold and brought the faithful across the plains, finally settling in Salt Lake City, Utah.  Brigham Young himself, a colonizer, prophet and territorial governor, was the subject of controversy due to his many wives, wealth and leadership. Regardless, he must have done something right because after his natural death in 1877, Mormons blossomed and continue to grow until this day.

Currently, the LDS church  has a 97-year-old Prophet at its helm, widower Gordon B. Hinckley who is adored by members worldwide. If you visit any pro-LDS forum and say anything negative against him, you will get banned! Faithful Mormons are very protective of their leader(s) pretty much like Catholics are protective of the Pope. However, the main focus of Mormon worship is Jesus Christ and not their prophets and church leaders.

Gordon B. Hinckley, LDS Prophet

Mormons believe that Jesus Christ himself directs the affairs of His church via living prophets. That means that their main leaders are "inspired" to lead and conduct the affairs of their church. Such leaders also receive periodic revelations about any number of things related to the faith. I am not aware of any current prophecies from the LDS church about any event to occur in the world. Gordon B. Hinckley is a highly accomplished individual and very few churches can claim a leader who is nearing 100 years of age and yet is lucid and active in the affairs of his faith. 

The LDS church also has twelve apostles in addition to the prophet. It claims to be the same form of organization that Jesus had set up during his ministry.  Obviously, this set up doesn't sit well with various Christians who believe that apostles are no longer necessary. Mormon apostles are called by inspiration and are supposed to be especial witnesses to the existence of Jesus Christ. I will let you interpret what that means.

So, Catholics have their Pope and Mormons and Muslims have their prophet. My guess is that the LDS prophet spends most of his time managing the church as opposed to making actual prophecies for the rest of us.  Unlike dishonest and conniving, money-hungry TV evangelists, Mr. Hinckley has never appeared on TV to ask for donations from gullible faithfuls. He has, however, done interviews with Mike Wallace and some of these interviews have fueled debates over some of his statements.

Many people try to pin the label of racism against the LDS church over the fact that  up until  1978, no black male was allowed to receive the Priesthood in the church. This has caused a lot of controversy and has resulted in many leaders from the 1800-1900's to be called "racists" by virtue of their recorded doctrinal statements about  blacks.

In 1978, Spencer W. Kimball, President and prophet of the   church at the time, allegedly received a revelation stating that from that point on, all worthy black males would be able to receive the Priesthood. Critics of the church feed on this like piranhas on fresh meat because it implies that there was some level or racism going on.

They don't believe that the same God who can send a devastating Flood upon the earth and destroy might armies, could also deny some doctrinal benefits to some groups of people.  For example, the Bible says that God denied the Priesthood to others except the Levites. Why?

Left to right: Elder Joseph Sitati (Area Authority Seventy from Kenya), Pres Jackson T. Mkhabela, Pres. Mledshe (1st Councilor), Pres. Atkins (2nd Councilor), Elder Scott (Quorum of the Twelve)
Source: Blacklds.org

This remains a hot topic among anti-Mormon circles. Today the LDS church is proselyting, prospering in Africa and converts there don't seem to take issue with the church's questionable past doctrine (policy) about blacks in relationship to the Priesthood.   The church  has been producing materials and media with a clear objective to show the world that the organization does not discriminate based on race. In fact, its largest body of members is located outside the United States in countries like Mexico and Brazil.  Mormons come in  all shapes, sizes and ethnic backgrounds.

Helvecio Martins

Some people point out the main leadership of the LDS church continues to be white people. I guess the same question could be asked about the leadership of the United States as whole, couldn't it? Or the leadership of most major corporations? In reference to the church, everything is done by inspiration so obviously  inspiration is yet to come from Heaven  about placing a black or Hispanic person into the Presidency of the church. That's not to say it couldn't happen someday.

Now, before you scream discrimination here, you need to understand that the LDS Presidency follows a certain order and apostles are called from within a group of men called the Seventies. As of this writing there seems to be no black people within the Seventies, only in 'area' Seventies which is something else.

But wait again! In the 1990's, the first black person to be called to the position of Seventy was Helvecio Martins, a businessman from Brazil. He served in the position of Seventy for 5 years. Had he stayed in that position, he could have had a chance to be called to be an Apostle in the church. Helvecio Martins died at age 74.

Clearly, the LDS church is not discriminatory against blacks. There are people from many countries holding positions of leadership in the church. One of the twelve apostles is actually from Germany. One thing seems clear to me: they obviously don't discriminate against senior citizens since most of the top leaders are old men.

What about women? Sorry to disappoint you, but there are no women apostles or women in the Seventies.  Women usually lead and manage other organizations within the church. For example the one called Relief Society. There are also organizations for young women that are also led by women. It's safe to say that women are not in charge of revelations for the church but they are often involved in teaching assignments and husband management.

Many Mormons like to say that behind every great man, there is always a great wife. In today's world, many women take issue with religious submissiveness. My personal experience with Mormons shows that, in many LDS marriages, the women are actually in charge of things and they tend to be hard working, good Moms and faithful, with few exceptions to the contrary. Many women also work outside the home and have professional careers.  It's not unusual for a typical Mormon family to have 4-5 children and lots of grandchildren.

Leaders in the church are called to positions based on individual worthiness, talents and accomplishments in terms of service within the organization. Part-time, semi-active members usually don't go very far within the faith. They're considered benign slackers in need of repentance.

With the exception of the highest leadership in the church, most leaders are volunteers and receive no monetary compensation for their service in the organization, in other words, the church has no paid clergy. It's rumored that the  highest leadership receives some form of financial compensation towards  "living  expenses". 

Nobody really knows who makes what as that type of information is  confidential. This too, has caused critics of the LDS faith to assume the worst due in part to the church's multi-billion dollar assets worldwide. Historically, though, there have been no Benny Hinn types in the Mormon leadership. It's important to note that many in top leadership positions are already retired and financially stable (or even rich) in their own right  despite any potential financial compensation they might received from the church.

Faithful LDS members are advised not to question their local leaders such as their bishops. These men are supposedly called by divine inspiration or by The Lord. So if they make mistakes, members are supposed to pray about it, forgive and forget. The LDS church has been  target of  multi-million dollar lawsuits.[see footnote 1]  Some cases include instances of a member who did something  illegal or immoral  towards another member, including minors. The church is usually held liable since the offending member is under its membership umbrella.

Mormon bishops are not   paid or highly trained for their position. It's understandable that a few  might mishandle certain issues brought in to them and become a potential liability to their own local "wards" and even to the entire organization.[1] To my knowledge, the church does not do criminal background checks as a preliminary requirement for membership so it's possible that  bad apples can infiltrate the fold and cause damage.

The way I see it, it's like blaming the organization for the mistakes or crimes of one individual. Since the church has deep pockets, it's clear to me why money hungry attorneys and alleged victims would bring lawsuits against it. Obviously, some lawsuits may actually have true merit as in the cases brought up against the Catholic church a few years ago.

Presidential candidate, Mitt Romney, has attracted a large amount of attention to the LDS church and himself as a Mormon. If Mr. Romney becomes the next President, I assume that Mormons will continue to be in the spotlight for the duration of his term.

The LDS church now has over 13 Million members worldwide but it's not clear how many of them are actually 'active' in the faith.  The church proclaims Jesus Christ as its head while its critics seem to want to inject the word "cult" into Mormonism. Having known many Mormons myself, the word cult hardly applies to this group of nice Christians. I guess one can play with words and meanings and use the cult card but I don't know of any Mormon who can be justly classified as a cult member.

Even the work they do inside their temples, despite unauthorized representation of it on YouTube, doesn't resemble anything you'd expect from a cult and most temple ordinances are based on symbolism and are highly figurative. For what I know, there is no brainwashing, animal sacrifice or weird stuff going on  and one almost has to study the religion to fully understand what is done inside the temples and the ordinances performed in them. One of the most important ceremonies is Temple Marriage where worthy LDS couples marry for time and eternity, so basically, forever.

Some critics resent the fact that only worthy members, or temple recommend holders, can attend those ceremonies and find it discriminatory. Heck, I'm pretty nice guy and I can't enter the LDS Temple just because I would like to snoop a little. This usually stems from a worldly view that marriage ceremonies are free for everyone to attend. However, Mormons hold temple marriage as "sacred" and therefore, only those who qualify to attend the temple are able to be part of or witness to marriage ceremony.

Basically, whether you're Mormon or not, if you don't hold a temple recommend, you cannot attend the actual temple ceremony. Temple recommends are issued by local bishops and stake presidents (higher ups from bishops). These recommend cards or passes are issued based on a minimum of one year membership in the church and an individual's compliance with the Ten Commandments, tithing, church attendance, honesty, faithfulness, sexual cleanliness, etc.

There is one unofficial site that provides a Mormon quiz to help people learn more about the church. http://www.mormontest.com/quiz   Answer a few basic questions to see how much you know about Mormons.

There are thousands of LDS missionaries serving around the world. Most are 19-21 year olds who aren't theologians, so it's no sense having Bible bashes with them. They usually work in pairs and have the objective to gather converts to the church. These young men and women are volunteers and don't get paid to be missionaries and usually serve their church for 18-24 months.
 
Like all religions out there, Mormonism is one of the easiest to be critical of but once you read more about it, meet actual Mormons and see their lifestyles, you start to see that they must be doing something right. I suspect that like most of us, there are no perfect Mormons out there.

In a nutshell, Mormons are people exercising their freedom of religion, speech and the liberty to believe whatever they want to believe as true. That's perfectly all right with me.

Mormon Family

I suggest that Mormonism is not a cult and that it's just a different form of Christianity which involves a few different things that some people find hard to accept. I find many things hard to accept with many faiths out there. That doesn't mean those faiths aren't true or good for those who choose to follow them. To each their own.  Besides, who is to judge who is right and who's wrong anyway but the great Jehovah Himself?

Here's my little disclaimer for this article: This is my personal opinion only. You may want to double-check some or all the information with officials of the LDS church. What I have written here is deemed reliable but not guaranteed to be accurate. This article does not represent any endorsement of any faith and I will probably be editing it further.

Footnotes: [1] Google search entry: +lawsuit +mormon +bishop

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