Compared to Christianity or other world religions, Mormonism has an uncertain birthright. I do not subscribe to the superficiality that places all religious origins outside history and in the category of myth. The visions of Joseph Smith who founded Mormonism, cannot be seriously compared for substance or authenticity with the Resurrection of Jesus, the experiences of mystics like St. Teresa of Ávila, or the inspirations of Muhammad, Buddha, Luther, Wesley – just to name a few. Rather, Smith is a prophet with feet of clay. His money-grubbing, womanizing, and conveniently scheduled visions to justify his desires lie at the foundations of Mormonism. His self-destructive behavior would make him more likely be compared to David Koresh or Jim Jones than to Isaiah the prophet or Paul the apostle.

But if MormonISM is questionable, how can it produce so many Mormons who are such good people? After all, Jesus said: “By their fruits you will know them,” which seems good advice no matter your religion. The answer, I think, lies in the quintessential affirmation of the white American Protestantism made by Mormonism. Look inside Mormonism and you find emphasis on the following: the utopian vision of a capitalist reward for hard work, the scripturally endorsed superiority of the white race, the theocratic instinct for Manifest Destiny, the Gospel of prosperity, and the obligation to obedience in order to benefit materially from an eminently successful corporation. All of these are special characteristics of the United States’ triumphalism, even if they are more patriotic than they are religious.

In a sense, Mormonism stood out from American Protestantism because it exceeded the “American” part of American Protestantism. For a time, Mormons rejected even the United States because it was not as triumphalistically "American" as they were.

I would classify Mormonism as a nationalistic religion, sharing characteristics with revivalist cults like the Ghost Dance among Native Americans and today’s Rastafarians. The scale of Mormon success is much greater than these other movements, of course, but the organizing premises are remarkably similar. Instead of preaching unity for scattered tribes or arguing for an Afro-centric messiah, Joseph Smith tied his religion to an aggressively expanding nation. The hegemonic rise of the United States as the controlling power of the world through much of the 20th century became a religiously prophetic argument in favor of Mormonism. The image is so compelling it has led to an unprecedented growth of the Church of Latter-day Saints among peoples of color around the world.

The 21st century, however, seems to suggest that a different history is unfolding. Belonging to the U.S. “mainstream” as do most Mormons today, may soon mean only that the present-day LDS church is “right wing” and disconnected from the globalism that characterizes the inevitable future of the planet. Just as rivers can become polluted or as streams can dry up, the past is not always presage of the future. Hence, what is yet to come for Mormonism may be more interesting than what has already taken place.