Stuff That Matters In Life

Now that there is a Mormon, Mitt Romney, running for President this year, the Mormon Church has been in the news much more than before. More questions about whether Mormons are a cult continues to be argued.

First, what is a cult?

I was part of the beginning of a cult in the late ’80s. The pastor who officiated our wedding, who used to the pastor of an evangelical church, started his own church with good intentions. After about a year, the teachings began to get weird.

To make a long story short, the group dwindled down to about a dozen people who all moved into the house of the pastor and his wife. They had a big house, and it was set up as a commune. Those who worked put their earnings together to support the entire household. That was the time we wisely left the church.

Since we still lived in the area, we heard about what was going on with the group. They practiced all the typical cult techniques including isolation from family and friends, fasting to make members vulnerable to suggestions, strong group pressure, and total dependence on the group for daily living. This group was written up in a cult book, so I won’t go into details. Eventually the group disbanded, and the last I heard, the pastor and his family were seen in Utah.

The point I am making here is, Mormons do not practice such methods of a “cult” like this one or the Jim Jones cult. They are not a cult in this sense.

However, there is another common usage of the word “cult”. A cult is a religion regarded as unorthodox.

Mormons consider themselves Christians, but their teachings are “unorthodox”. They do not adhere to the teachings of classic Christianity.

You don’t have to know all the doctrines of Mormonism to realize that their beliefs are not what the Christian Church believes. Take a look at just 3 of their beliefs:

• They accept the Book of Mormons with teachings of Joseph Smith as authoritative
• They believe people have the potential to become a god in the after-life. They can also produce “spirit children” to populate a world of his own (like God did with the earth)
• They believe Jesus and Satan are spirit brothers and sons of God

Every Mormon will agree that they believe in the above. If they don’t, then they are not really a Mormon. But can a Christian, regardless of denomination affiliation accept those as part of their core doctrine? Absolutely not.

We don’t even have to argue the weird hot topics of polygamy or the levels of heaven in the after-life. The above 3 doctrines are enough to set them apart from Christianity.

So in that sense, Mormons are a cult of Christianity. I don’t understand how they can insist on being a denomination of Christianity when no Christian denomination accept them as such.

If Mormons will merely call themselves a different religion, they will cause less confusion to themselves and to others. I don’t see how that would hurt them any, unless they intend to cause confusion.

A Mormon President? 

Some believe a person’s religion has nothing to do with being in public office while some believe it has everything to do with it.

I am still sorting this out, and this is my take: if I person is a devout whatever-religion, it should naturally affect every decision he/she makes. However we know that there are many, politicians and otherwise, who are religious in name only. I am not talking about those who try to live up to their beliefs but fall short due to reasonable human weaknesses. I am talking about people who take on the title of a religion but their actions are consistently in direct opposition to their religion’s fundamental beliefs. When the Catholic church called for the excommunication of those in public office who consistently vote pro-abortion, I think that is entirely appropriate, and I am not even Catholic.

If a candidate calls himself/herself a Christian, a Catholic or a Mormon, I cannot expect him/her to be telling the truth.

I don’t know if Mitt Romney will actually act like a devout Mormon or is he a Mormon in name only.

Let’s say he is a true Mormon. Then the question is, are there any Mormon beliefs that he may be convicted to act on that will affect public policy that I would be against? Are there any Mormon beliefs that he may be convicted to act on that are immoral?

If a candidate’s religion believes in human sacrifices or honor killing, you cannot say that his religious does not matter. Of course it matters.

As of now, I am inclined to think that there is nothing in Mormonism that can be construed as immoral. Please correct me if I am wrong.

Would I vote for Mitt Romney? I haven’t decided. There are still a couple more weeks before the California Primaries.