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.