Mormons are the New Catholics

It is obvious to me that Mormons are the new Catholics. I remember in 1960 hearing our preacher in the Baptist church we attended tell us from the pulpit not to vote for John Kennedy because he was a Catholic and would take his orders from the Pope. Many of my stridently extended family members felt the same way. Granted, I was only about 8 years old at the time, but it made an impression on me. I was a Baptist and most of my family were Baptists or of another evangelical persuasion. I’m pretty sure their thoughts held little sway with my father—he was a Roosevelt Democrat and religiously believed that “Democrats are for the working man and Republicans are for the rich man”. My father was a Baptist, but his prejudices were more social and political than religious. Again, this made an impression on me.

A few years later, my uncle on my mother’s side joined the Mormon Church and created quite a stir with the strident evangelicals in the family. It got even worse when his parents and a couple sisters, including my mother, followed his example. Then, my father and I joined the Mormon faith, along a bunch of cousins. All Hell broke lose and we Mormons in the family felt like we were being somewhat persecuted. Since that time I have heard a lot of savaging of Mormons by Evangelicals: Mormons believe that Jesus and Satan are brothers, etc. But the curious thing is that, in my 40 plus years of experience as a Mormon convert, missionary and lay minister of the Church, Evangelicals tend to be the best Mormons here in the United States.

I should probably say that Mormon doctrine teaches that Jesus and Satan are brothers in the sense that we are all spiritual brothers: Angels, men, women, etc. When Huckabee was asked in 2008 if Mormons were Christians, his response was to ask that same old tired question in return, ‘don’t Mormons believe that Satan and Jesus are brothers”. It was, in my opinion, a slip of the tongue, revealing his religious prejudice. After all, Huckabee is an intelligent man and had been a Baptist minister before becoming a politician. He knew what his response would elicit in the casual hearer. Years ago, when accosted by an Evangelical with the same declaration about Jesus and Satan being brothers, I entered into the discussion by saying that that silly statement was designed to create an unfair image in the mind of the hearer. Mormons believe that Jesus is the Son of God and God the Father’s creation. We also believe that Satan and all of the other fallen Angels were created by God. We are all God’s creations, as every Evangelical would have to agree. The truth is, as I see it, that all God’s creations have had freedom of choice. Satan and Jesus were brothers in the same sense that Hitler and Billy Graham are brothers. In fact, I believe, probably to their great dissatisfaction, that Satan and Huckabee and every other Evangelical are brothers, though they usually fight against each other.

The idea of fighting against each other brings me to religious bigotry—that is what this blog is about, after all. If you have studied history as I have, you know that there has always been hatred between religionists, though they claim to worship the same God. Catholics and Protestants had persecuted and murdered each other for centuries. And, different denominations of Protestant have done the same to each other. Strangely, it had almost nothing to do with values but with doctrine: Whether Mary should be worshipped; whether the sacrament really was the actual body and blood of Christ; whether we had free will; if the Bible should be translated into other languages for the “people” to read. It is probably natural then that, even in America, where our Constitution recognized man’s right to worship God according to his conscience without persecution, such bigotry and distrust would still exist. Mormons were reviled for their suggestion that God could talk to Man face to face as in ancient times and their “odd” doctrines and view of the Trinity. I should note here for those who don’t know the history, that the Nicene Creed, the generally accepted definition of the Godhead in Christendom, was developed to codify, in essence, a belief that would be acceptable to Rome and all of it’s citizenry. If you did not agree, you were not considered “mainstream’ and could be ostracized or killed. No surprise then that the definition caught on.

By the time the United States came around, Americans had begun to see themselves as enlightened, viewing religious intolerance as a bad thing. So, they tried to protect religious thought with the Constitution. There would be no “State religion” and there would not be a faith test for political office. Throughout our history, however, our presidents have generally professed to be men of faith—some, it could be argued were professors only—who tended to share the same values with the majority of those they served. Sadly, shared values, such as patriotism, love of family and moral fiber, have not been enough for many voters over the years. It would be natural to want someone in office who thinks as much like you as possible, but that is not possible for everyone. We have to get as close as we can. It is safe to say, I think, that in some cases we have cut our noses off to spite our faces. I can see not voting for JFK for any number of reasons. After all, we learned after the fact that he was a serial adulterer, which I would not want in the White House any more than any other untrustworthy person. If they cannot keep a wedding vow, I would doubt that they would hold their oath of office any dearer. But, JFK’s immorality had nothing to do with his membership in the Catholic Church. Of course I wouldn’t vote for him because of his politics either, but his religion would not enter into it.

Nonetheless, in 1960, many were told by their preachers that they shouldn’t vote for a Catholic because his doctrinal beliefs were not right. I find it ironic that we now find ourselves in the same situation and Evangelicals are again the ones who cannot find themselves able to vote for a candidate because of his church’s doctrinal beliefs. It means nothing to them that his values, of patriotism, strong family and moral fiber are, perhaps, perfectly in line with their own, they just cannot bring themselves to vote for a MORMON.

As I stated earlier, I am a convert to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I was raised as a Baptist. I found a home in this faith not only because I think its doctrine is correct and biblical—don’t we all?—but because of the great examples of the people who belong to that faith. There is a reason why most Mormons are conservative Republicans: We have the same values as our conservative friends. Utah has repeatedly supported conservative Republicans of all faiths since it was formed. Though Mormons were continually harassed by mobs, chased out of every state they lived in from 1830 to 1847, had their homesteads burned and stolen, driven out in the dead of winter, their men beaten, jailed and killed, and their women raped and children deprived of comfort—often at the urging of local evangelical clergy, by the way—when asked to provide volunteers for the US army during the Mexican War, the army of the government which had turned a deaf ear to their pleas for assistance in getting help against the mobs, the Mormons complied. They did it because they believed that, though the government had turned its back on them, the Constitution of the United States was an inspired document and that America was a land blessed by God for all those who loved freedom.

So how is it that we find ourselves trying to explain ourselves to our fellow Americans that we share the same values? When I hear that exit polling at the primaries and caucuses shows that “very conservative” voters do not trust Romney’s conservative bonifides, because he is a flip flopper and will do anything and say anything to get elected, I am dumbfounded. Are they not aware that Gingrich has at least as many more recent changes of opinions in his life, that he sat on that couch with Pelosi and sang the virtues of fighting Global warming, cap and trade and endorsed federal mandates for health insurance coverage? Are they unaware that Santorum has voted time and again to spend more and more taxpayer money, to raise his own pay, to make unions the preferred contractors for federal and state work? Clearly, none of these guys are perfect, but COME ON! I cannot help but notice that the numbers of voters in the exit polls who say they are very conservative and can’t vote for Romney because he isn’t conservative enough and those who say they will vote for someone who shares their religious beliefs are almost the same. Then, there are the people who are honest enough to call in to the talk shows I listen to and declare that if Romney gets the nomination they will stay home because Romney is a Mormon and Mormons are not Christians. Then, there are the Evangelical ministers who keep clambering about Mormons not being Christians and dragging up the same old crap I’ve heard for years and the tired stories about Joseph Smith that have been debunked time and again. I am frankly tired of it. And, I am sad that you call yourselves Conservatives, if you are unable to embrace me and my Mormon brothers and sisters as your fellow Americans. I love you, my Evangelical brothers, but your sactimonious, hoier-than-thou crap is getting too old and it is stifling us as a united people. Sometimes, I just want to slap you in the back of the head. Wake up and be the good tolerant Cristians you pride yourselves as being.

I find it ironic that the majority of Evangelicals are now embracing two Catholics (Gingrich and Santorum) for president, while the Catholics seem to be breaking in big numbers for the Mormon, Mitt Romney. Could it be that they can see, as I do, that Mormons are the new Catholics in American politics?