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Mormonism As It Is… Or Was

You can take issue with Ed Decker, the producer of this video, and the presentation is a bit sensationalist, but to my knowledge, there is only one factual error in this cartoon (I make no claims about the stuff after the cartoon). As far as I’m aware, Joseph Smith never claimed to have done more for mankind than any other man including Jesus. It was John Taylor who claimed that Joseph did more for mankind than all other men except Jesus.

All other doctrines in this video were taught at one time or another by leaders in the Mormon church and believed by the members thereof. Current Mormons don’t believe all of this stuff and might not even be aware that it was ever taught. If forced to do so, I’ll find references. I dare anyone to call me Anti-Mormon for presenting the truth.

Before any religious reader from another religion gets too smug, I think your beliefs are just as outlandish… if you believe them literally. Admit it, talking snakes, the universe created in seven days, zombie gods rising from the grave, etc. would all sound pretty strange the first time you hear about them. At least Mormons get Endless Celestial Sex. :P

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6 Comments

  1. mel said,

    July 20, 2007 @ 3:22 pm

    Back when I truly believed, it was the ‘Mormonism as it was’ that I cared about. The more they move away from this stuff–as fantastical as it is–the more they’ll be just cult of authoritarianism and a social club for sycophants.

    I can personally attest to the pressure on marriage mentioned in the video. Though my wife is too liberal to have actually gone through with it, the threat was there until it became undenyable that I was not coming back to the faith. And it’s not just the doctrine of celestial marriage and exaltation, but even just the social pressure on the father to perform mormon ‘saving’ and ‘healing’ ordinances for his children … one’s loyalty to the mormon church is bound by fear of loss on all sides.

    I’m about ready to blow a gasket right now so I better leave it alone. Just one other thing: JS likely did not say that he had done more for the family of god than any other, christ or no christ, but the net effect of belief in mormonism is the conviction that Joseph Smith is a god and certainly in the top three of gods that are doing stuff to save the human race from hell.

    The mormon religion has resurrected the belief in and worship of the demi-god. It’s a train wreck waiting to happen.

  2. Jonathan Blake said,

    July 21, 2007 @ 7:08 am

    Ironically, it was the LDS move to distance itself from its more eccentric doctrines which gave me a space to criticize the institutional leaders. Before I became an atheist, I was a budding Mormon fundamentalist chaffing against the reforms which aimed to make Mormonism more palatable. I preferred the the uniqueness over the new conformity.

    It’s unfortunate that you personally felt the threat of divorce. It seems that many of us in that kind of situation are fairing much better. Perhaps the culture is changing for the better in that respect.

    Mormons don’t pray to Joseph Smith, but they believe he will judge them on Judgment Day and have whitewashed most of the dark parts of his humanity from their official history. He has become a mythic figure with only token signs of humanity (e.g. wrestling with children).

    At the same time, Mormonism has shifted away from a lot of its focus on Joseph Smith just in my lifetime. All so that it can attract more converts, I believe.

  3. Kullervo said,

    July 22, 2007 @ 6:36 pm

    I think most of what was in the video is pretty standard Gospel Principles stuff. It might be phrased unflatteringly, but most of it is solid doctrine.

    Well, not the neutrals-become-black people part, but the Godmakers was, IIRC, pre-OD 2, which meant at the time it was certainly what Mormons believe.

    I don;t know that Mormonism has really moved away from the space doctrine so much as it has just removed it from the public front. New converts don;t usually know this stuff, but they find it out bit by bit over time.

  4. Jonathan Blake said,

    July 22, 2007 @ 6:53 pm

    I would think most of the doctrine is fairly standard, but then again President Gordon B. Hinckley has been publicly denying that they teach that God was once a man. This is so central to my understanding of Mormonism that it was disturbing as a faithful Latter-day Saint to see him dissemble on the issue. If we wait around long enough, the LDS church’s doctrines may end up looking like those of the Community of Christ.

  5. mel said,

    July 24, 2007 @ 8:58 pm

    I often wonder at the events of my life that kept me from fundamentalism … which I too was bound for at one time. I just don’t think there’s much room for fundamentalism when you’re living in the flow of secular information and learning.

    Well, I guess GBH is “standing for something” after all … it’s just not something you need the church to provide. Community of Christ indeed.

    I once felt a great deal of regret and anger about this walking away from the mystical and magical and absolute. Now I’m just relieved that this loss gave me the chance to seek my thrills in the mysteries and discoveries of the real world.

  6. Jonathan Blake said,

    July 24, 2007 @ 9:39 pm

    Amen. May we be grateful for blessings from unexpected quarters.

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