Answering Some Questions

My friend Zhu (who I think is the only person who reads my blog) asked me some questions about Mormonism. This post is my attempt to answer those questions.

Question 1: Why is religion so important in North America (the Mormon perspective).

First, I should mention that I obviously don't know the exact answer to this question. Perhaps a well funded research project could accurately answer the question but I'm not well funded and have limited time so I'm just giving my opinion.

This is a very interesting question, particularly considering that most of North American culture is just an extension of European culture since most of us immigrated from Europe at some point in the past. So, why has religion become less important for Europeans while continuing to be very important for North Americans?

I do think that the original reasons that brought people to North America have strongly influenced the North American culture as it started to diverge from European culture. The early settlers came to North America to escape religious persecution in their home countries. At the time that North America was being settled the governments in Europe were heavily influenced or outright run by religious organizations. Cults took membership away from the recognized religious organizations which was equal to a loss of revenue. The persecution of these cults was a way to prevent further loss of membership. Cults were painted as strange and evil and people were taught that joining a cult would mean eternal damnation.

The early settlers of North America who came for religious freedom were very pious and believed very strongly that their religion was the only thing protecting them from the evils of the devil. By the time Joseph Smith (founder of Mormonism) came along there were quite a number of religious sects and they were all trying to build up their congregations. Joseph Smith took to heart a verse in the Bible, John 1:5 "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him." As the story goes, Joseph's answer to his prayer about which church to join was a visit from God the Father and Jesus Christ telling him that none of the existing churches were correct. Of course when Joseph shared this story with people he became persecuted as well as anyone who did believe his story. The persecution eventually led to his murder.

In between that first prayer and Joseph Smith's murder a lot of stuff happened but I'm trying to keep it brief. The key points are that Joseph received and translated an ancient record known as the Book of Mormon (this is where the Mormon nickname came from). The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was formed. Joseph received other revelations which became the Doctrine and Covenants. There was also another ancient record that Joseph translated and became the Pearl of Great Price. So, basically we have more scriptures than just the Bible.

There are two points to this background. First, Mormons got a double dose of persecution and we are brought up on stories about how people died for the right to believe as they wanted and were chased from England (in my family's case) to New England and then all the way to Utah when they converted to Mormonism.

The second point relates to the additional scriptures. Not only were we taught to fiercely defend our right to worship as we choose, we also had scripture that contained dire warnings for people who failed to live according to the gospel doctrine. To be clear this is not the "all sinners will go to hell and eternal damnation" line. Mormons are very much believers in natural consequences. Such as if you take drugs they will destroy your brain. It's a natural consequence not God out to get you for being a sinner.

The particular scripture that I am thinking about is from the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon is an account of a group of Israelites who left Jerusalem 600 years prior to the birth of Jesus and travelled to the Western Hemisphere. They established a civilization that after some time became a democracy. When they became a democracy they were advised: "if the time should come that the voice of this people should choose iniquity, that is, if the time should come that this people should fall into transgression, they would be ripe for destruction." (Alma 10:19) The historian William Durant said basically the same thing with out the religious context: "A Great Civilization Is Not Conquered from without until It Destroys Itself from Within"

So, the Mormons (in general) are essentially concerned the entire country will be destroyed if we elect leaders who do not support "Christian" values. I put quotations around "Christian" because values such as honesty, kindness, fidelity, temperance, etc. are not specific to any religion. However, talking to some Christians you would think that they invented these values. Mormons and I think some other Christians (again in general) get even more specific in the values they feel must be promoted by their government because they feel that support of abortion, homosexual marriage and other things they consider to be sinful is choosing iniquity. So, this is why in my opinion you have people voting for politicians who claim to have the same religious views. It is why religion is so important. If you vote for or support someone that doesn't share your view of what is evil then it is no different then choosing evil yourself. Choosing evil = destruction of civilization as we know it = eternal damnation.

Now for the irony of this whole thing. In the religious right mindset, supporting abortion and homosexual marriage is bad but invading another country, killing hundreds of that country's citizens and torturing people is OK. To ease the conscience claim this is done as self defense (never mind that the country in question never attacked the United States).

It is particularly sad to me to see so many Mormons fit into this mindset (including most of my extended family). Mormons are taught to “liken” the scriptures to them, meaning that we are to learn from the stories and choose better paths. Early on in the Book of Mormon the people split into two groups the Nephites and Lamanites. To keep it simple, the Nephites were usually the good people and the Lamanites were the bad people. Now, towards the end of the Book of Mormon, this civilization of people is coming to an end because the two groups are fighting until the elimination of each other.

At the beginning of this final conflict, the Lamanites would attack the Nephites but in most cases the Nephites prevailed because they had their defenses prepared but the Nephites became full of themselves. “And now, because of this great thing which my people, the Nephites, had done, they began to boast in their own strength, and began to swear before the heavens that they would avenge themselves of the blood of their brethren who had been slain by their enemies. And they did swear by the heavens, and also by the throne of God, that they would go up to battle against their enemies, and would cut them off from the face of the land. And it came to pass that I, Mormon, did utterly refuse from this time forth to be a commander and a leader of this people, because of their wickedness and abomination.” (Mormon 3:9-11) The Nephites wickedness was that they were murders, robbers, rapists and war mongers. It was not because they didn’t fit into a tight definition of a “good Christian”.

The Nephites took to going on the offensive and when they did they failed. When the Lamanites attacked and the Nephites were in the defenses they had built around their cities the Nephites were able to successfully repel the Lamanites. Mormon later wrote a letter to his son Moroni describing how bad things had gotten: “And notwithstanding this great abomination of the Lamanites, it doth not exceed that of our people in Moriantum. For behold, many of the daughters of the Lamanites have they taken prisoners; and after depriving them of that which was most dear and precious above all things, which is chastity and virtue—And after they had done this thing, they did murder them in a most cruel manner, torturing their bodies even unto death; and after they have done this, they devour their flesh like unto wild beasts, because of the hardness of their hearts; and they do it for a token of bravery. O my beloved son, how can a people like this, that are without civilization— (And only a few years have passed away, and they were a civil and a delightsome people) But O my son, how can a people like this, whose delight is in so much abomination— How can we expect that God will stay his hand in judgment against us?” (Moroni 9:9-14)

Now, I’m not saying that the actions of the United States are to the degree of what is described above but I do see similarities in how the United States got involved in Iraq. I also see similarities in the attitude of revenge and the willingness to torture and kill others. Americans worry that having a pro-choice president will mean that the country is going to hell in a hand basket but don’t think twice about the atrocities that are sanctioned by our government overseas.

Just a quick note … I am very appreciative of our military and I am not attributing the evils that I see to the individuals in the military. I feel that it is the leaders of our country who have been irresponsible and have put our military in a compromised position. I feel that they have done this not to protect freedom as they claim but for their own gains whether that be political, financial or egotistical.

There will be future posts with the other questions but this post is quite long enough.

The Latest on the Baby Front

Yes, I had an appointment today but we didn't get to hear the baby's heartbeat. I have this big ol' fibroid on my uterous that prevents us from hearing the heartbeat. We did get to see the baby once again on the ultrasound and this time it actually looks like a baby, about the size of a grape. On the ultrasound we could see the heart beating and the baby even moved while we were watching.

It's starting to seem more real now and I guess we'll have to start telling people because the other side effect of this fibroid is that I look about 5 months pregnant even though I'm only 2 months pregnant.

Creating a Universalist Mormon

My husband and I have been talking about what traditions we want to teach our child. We both agree that there are some aspects of Mormon culture (to be distinguished from the doctrine taught in the Book of Mormon) that we do not want our child to learn.

One of these aspects that was prominent in my childhood was the tradition of excluding anything or anyone that was not "Mormon". The books in our house had to be sanctified by my parents as pro-Mormon and our friends had to be active Mormons. My husband and I don't want that life for our child, we want our child to be exposed to and appreciate all of the world's religions and all of the world's cultures. We hope that our child will have a variety of friends; we only ask that they are good kids.

The question is how do we accomplish this goal. I enjoy attending the Mormon congregation that I attend. I have friends there and I like the feeling of community that I get being part of the congregation. I have good memories of attending the children's classes and as a teenager participating in the youth activities. Just because I don't like some aspects of the Mormon culture, I don't want to discard the things that were good and beneficial.

However, if we allow our child to participate in the activities, our child is going to be exposed to the aspects of Mormon culture that we don't like. While it is going to be a challenge to ensure that our child doesn't accept the teachings that are not in line with our beliefs, we are going to have the challenge regardless. Each place our child goes, whether it be church, school or friends homes he/she is going to be exposed to beliefs with which we don't agree.

So, we'll continue to attend our Mormon congregation and make sure we are talking to our child and correcting any teachings that disagree with our beliefs. We will also take our child to the Thai Buddhist temple that we like to visit from time to time. We will probably also take our child to other congregations of other denominations. We already have a wide variety of books and our discussions among ourselves cover a number of topics that are not always pro-Mormon. The reality is that my husband and I are open and accepting so chances are that is what our child will learn.

Our desire to raise our child in an open and accepting environment is not against Mormon beliefs. This openness seems to be something that has been conveniently forgotten when it doesn't benefit the believer. Our 13th article of faith says: "We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul—We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things."". In the Book of Mormon, there is a scripture that supports acceptance: "For behold, the Lord doth grant [teachers] unto all nations, of their own nation and tongue, to teach his word, yea, in wisdom, all that he seeth fit that they should have; therefore we see that the Lord doth counsel in wisdom, according to that which is just and true." (Alma 29:8) I added the word teachers to provide some context. If the Lord gave teachings to all nations then all religions are from the Lord and there is truth to be learned from them.

Interestingly enough a recent edition of Newsweek had an article about Huston Smith who wrote the book "The World's Religions". As Newsweek describes the book, it summarizes the most important and valuable aspects of the 8 main religions of the world. To quote Newsweek: "Smith introduced Americans to the notion that the world is full of all kinds of believers and that an educated person might learn a thing or two from another's faith." My interest was definitely peeked. I checked the book out of the library and I'm currently reading it. I'm loving it!

The Newsweek article called Huston Smith's beliefs universalism. His Universalism had a Methodist swing because he grew up Methodist. Maybe my child will be a Universalist Mormon!

We have a heartbeat and ...

Morning sickness (all day)! So, I'm feeling a little less worried and more hopeful. We only saw the heartbeat because the ultrasound was so early. The baby is nothing more than a fuzzy shape on the screen and the heartbeat is a blinking light in the middle of the fuzzy shape.

The morning sickness is annoyingly miserable so I have mixed feelings about it. I'm glad to have the symptoms that confirm I'm pregnant but I'm also not enjoying it at all.

The highest risk doesn't pass until the 10th to 12th week when we can hear the heartbeat through the doppler. Another month to go. The time seems to be going by so slowly!! A few months ago time felt like it was rushing by. Isn't it funny how our perspective changes.