In defense of Mormonism, and in general defense of all religions.

In defense of Mormonism, and in general defense of all religions.

Lately, I have been thinking a lot about religion/lack of religion. I have a lot of thoughts that I want to share and hopefully some of you will be interested in reading about them. First of all, it saddens me so much to see religious intolerance of any kind, especially in circles of kind, educated people. I had some moments in my 18-yr-old-blossoming-agnostic-atheist years which I am not so proud of, but we all are supposed to grow up and grow out of that, right? I suppose not everyone does, but I am glad I did.

We see religious intolerance between religious groups and also from non-religious people all the time. A particular religion will claim that all other religions are false, and non-religious people often have the paradigm that all religious people are unintelligent and oppressed. And, it is totally absurd coming from either side. I will talk about that more later, but right now I want to specifically focus on Mormonism.

I grew up in an area with a lot of LDS members and therefore was fairly exposed to the religion growing up. I grew up hearing from other Christians (including my own family) that Mormons were [insert negative adjective here] because [insert some “crazy” belief/custom they have here]. Fortunately, I had a close friend/neighbor who taught me a lot about the church and its doctrines, temples, customs, etc. She also was a great person to learn from because she was still practicing but had close family members who had left the church. In any case, despite what I heard from non-Mormons, I always thought Mormons were kind, well-rounded, mostly cute/blonde haired blue-eyed individuals. Sure, I thought some of their beliefs were different/slightly weird, but I never understood why there seemed to be so much hate toward Mormons, especially from other non-Mormon Christians. I now know why that is the case, but I still don't think it warrants so much hatred. Anyways, I have developed a very special relationship with someone who grew up/identifies as an LDS member, which has really ignited re-interest in the religion for me.

Before continuing about how heart-breaking religious intolerance is to me, I wanted to point out some of the things I have been learning about the LDS movement, including beliefs/practices which I appreciate or find interesting. I have found it incredibly hard to find non-religious lectures/perspectives on LDS faith which have a fairly neutral/non-demeaning tone, and so this may be a nice little introduction for individuals who simply want to learn.

Like some of you know, the LDS movement was part of a Christian revival period called the Second Great Awakening. This was a time period in which people were generally dissatisfied with Catholic and Protestant churches, and many different Christian denominations arose. Some of these new Christian sects were Adventist and some were Restorational. The Latter-Day Saint movement was Restorational, meaning, it's founders believed and taught that it was a restoration of the early church of Jesus Christ. Most practices and beliefs you see in the LDS faith are thought to be restorative - either handed to us by the Bible, The Book of Mormon, or LDS prophets. The LDS Church has an open canon, as modern day prophets can bring modern revelations to the world. 

Now, onto the things I find pleasant and/or simply interesting:

The "degrees of glory": LDS members believe in 3 degrees of heaven, which most good-hearted people will go to, regardless of being Mormon in their mortal life. “Hell” is called “outer darkness” and is reserved for only the worst of the worst. Mormons believe that even non-believers can go to one of these levels of heaven if they are generally good people and accept the gospel upon receiving their judgment with Christ and God. I find this to be a pretty friendly, peaceful belief regarding the after-life.

The “Word of Wisdom”: This is also thought of as a general health code. This is the code that encourages members to abstain from caffeinated beverages/products, smoking, alcohol, and drugs. It encourages eating plenty of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains while eating meats sparingly. Basically this is what every health conscious person would agree is a “healthy” lifestyle, and Mormons follow it because they believe that God wants us to respect and take care of our bodies.

“Consecration of the Church”: This is the commitment that each LDS member has to devote time, talents, and resources to the Church. It extends from being willing to give up material resources like homes or land to devoting time/teaching/performing for your ward (“callings”). All put in, and all receive.

“Communal worship”: The mormon Sacrament meetings (main church meeting, kind of like a sermon) are very casual and led by non-paid clergy. Lots of church members contribute (and are encouraged to contribute) to each Sacrament meeting on Sundays, and all children attend during this hour. This form of communal worship is important; it is a time and place where the whole ward family is together (including the ward's 15 screaming adorable blonde babies).

There are a lot of things I like about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I like that they just have their own little thing going and they love it and it is in their doctrine to respect and value other belief systems. I like that they value family so much. I like how strong unions and marriages are. I like that they believe that contraception is a personal choice to be left to the couple to navigate. I like that non-procreative sex is viewed as a way to bond and grow with one's partner. I like that they believe that when you die and go to heaven you get to be with your life partner,your children, and with God; and continue to progress and learn forever. I like that Mormon men are typically taught to respect and value women. I like that moms are loved, honored, and intensely appreciated. And if the general public even HALF considered the “Law of Chastity” situation for a small fraction of life, my job at Planned Parenthood would be WAY easier (heh heh).

Anyways, part of the reason why I wrote this was because of the difficulty I had in finding neutral, half-intelligent, non-Mormon perspectives on the religion. For all of you who read this far, I hope you found this interesting and now know a little more about this “kooky” religion which, is not really that much kookier than all those other religions out there. I am assuming about 80 or 90% of the world is religious, and I just really wish, I really really wish, people would try harder to hate less and tolerate more. Everyone believes something, and a few of us believe in nothing. And all of that is okay; we all need to learn to accept that there are always going to be all sorts of belief systems in humanity. But most importantly what I want to say that I hope that all the atheists out there stop trying to convert believers into non-believers and I also hope that they stop holding the belief that all religious people are stupid. They are not stupid. Some of them believe after years and years of intense reflection, studying, and introspection. Some of them do not have the resources and education to question the religion they grew up with. Some of them wouldn't even want to if they did because of the immense joy and happiness that the religion brings them and their family. Why would anyone want to take that from someone? I am not going to go into the ways in which religions (especially large, organized ones) are capable of and have been oppressive to humanity. Most of us reading this are aware of these things and that's not what I am trying to focus on with this post. All I am wishing for is a little respect for adults who are actively CHOOSING to live their life in a certain way that makes them happy, regardless of the circumstances that put them there.

:)