The cover story of Newsweek magazine that hit newsstands Monday focuses on the 200th birthday of LDS Church founder Joseph Smith, who the magazine refers to as "prophet and polygamist, mesmerizer and rabble-rouser, saint and sinner."This year's 200th anniversary of Smith's birth gave Newsweek assistant editor Elise Soukup, a 2002 Brigham Young University graduate, the idea for the article she researched and wrote. [via Deseret News] A side note on this picture that Newsweek features, I believe I've seen this stained glass of the first vision with my own eyes in a downtown chapel I once attended.
Anyhow, here are some quotes that Newsweek's Soukup writes and my take on them in red.
- "Traditionally conservative but not really part of the religious right... In the emotional case of Terri Schiavo earlier this year, however, the church diverged from many conservative Christians when it responded to news media by saying, "Members should not feel obligated to extend mortal life by means that are unreasonable."
[CLIFF] Got that right! LDS march to a different tune than the religious right of the South. Shiavo was such an example of this. Teaching Intelligent Design in classrooms is another. It's not only their different positions, but also the methods, style and aggressiveness that are also different. - "There is also room for policy differences among public figures who happen to be Mormon: Romney opposes fetal-stem-cell research, while Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah supports it."
[CLIFF] There can be a wide umbrella of political viewpoints under Mormondom. We can strongly disagree on issues and still be wonderful members of the church. Church leaders tend to neutrality and sustaining political leaders. It would be alien, for example, for a church leader to call on the Lord to retire Supreme Court justices or to speculate that an assassination of a world leader might be in order. - "The church's early converts, many of whom learned about it from missionaries, were sometimes shocked when they met Smith in person. He was uneducated, he lost his temper, he enjoyed power—and perhaps most startling for converts was the fact that, on occasion, his ventures failed. Simply put, he didn't always seem like a prophet."
[CLIFF] Well put. Members brought their own baggage of what they thought a prophet should behave like. In regards to failed business ventures, church history tells us that the Kirtland Safety Society went bankrupt while leaders preached that such a venture was of God. There were things that the visionary Joseph Smith stumbled at, business being one. - "the church encourages internal debate, arguing that doubt can be an important precursor to faith. 'I think the Lord expects us to think,' President Gordon B. Hinckley, the incumbent prophet who Mormons believe leads the church through divine revelation, told NEWSWEEK.
[CLIFF] Great quote. Brigham Young pondered long and hard for two years about the Book of Mormon before he joined the church. When he finally did join, he had incredible zeal.
5 comments:
"Because of Mormonism's unique theology, some of which challenges[sic]early Christian creeds, many Christian denominations don't consider the LDS Church to be Christian."
This one struck me. The fallacy is that there was some sort of monolithic orthodox "Early Christianity." There were, in fact several variations on Christianity in those early years. Just because Mormonism doesn't match the sect that eventually "won out" doesn't mean it challenges early Christian creeds. In fact, the further back one delves into the earliest versions of Christianity and the Judaism it sprang from, the closer the match.
Good point. I've always been amazed at the self-appointed Christians who take on themselves the responsibility of deciding who are Christians. If they don't like a particular doctrine, then you cannot be a member of their club.
As for me, I just stick with the dictionary. Anyone who professes professes belief in Jesus as Christ is a Christian. If they profess Buddha as God, then they are Buddhists.
The Newsweek article provides absolutely no evidence for its assertion that the Mormon church is a "booming faith."
Although I have not attended the Mormon church for over 30 years, they still consider me an active member. The membership numbers that the church gives are crazy. The numbers don't reflect who many believe actually believe in the church or attend church. The church leaves every baptized person on theirmembership list unless you fight and fight to get your name removed. What kind of crazy religion is that?
Recently, I called the membership department in SLC and asked to have my name removed. They actually refused to remove my name from their membership list. (this is freedom of religion?) The church insisted that to get my name off, I had to send a letter with my signature. So I did. They received my letter over three months and sent me a brochure: "please come back." I wrote again and again asked to have my name removed. No removal. Instread two men that I have never met dropped by our house to talk over the spiritual consequences of removing my name. I explained that despite their personal testimonies I wanted my name out of the church membership list for doctrinal reasons. (I have researched the church well and don't believe that it is the only true church.) I have still not received a removal. No wonder there numbers are "booming;" the church never lets anyone out.
I would be very interested in some accurate numbers of church membership that would reflect what the church membership actually. I doubt that it is booming and I'd challenge Newsweek to back up that claim with any evidence.
If you want to be removed from the church, then you should be able to. I'm sorry to hear that it has taken so much effort on your part. Keep pushing and I'm sure it will happen.
I thought the article was fair, overall.
Post a Comment