All Comments (32)

Lincoln:

We believe that men can grow closer to God in the temple than in any other place in the world. The temple is a holy and sacred place, which is why we do not talk openly about it. The covenants I have made in there are not evil, but they are pure and good and Godly. As I keep them, I feel the Spirit more in my life. I feel God's love in my life every day because of them.

Yes, men are imperfect. The leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints are imperfect, but they are men of God and true disciples of Christ. I know this because I feel the Holy Ghost in my heart when I listen to them. It is important that we recieve the Holy Ghost, which is the true teacher.

"By their fruits ye shall know them." Matthew 7:20

I would rather follow these men of God than any of the men of the world. I know for myself they are prophets, that they are the mouthpiece of the Lord, and that their teachings will lead me to God. I know this.

"Flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto [me], but my Father which is in heaven." (Matt 16:17)

Mormonism will slowly fade from society as will contemporary Christianity and Islam because of the obvious problems with the founders of these religions especially their angelic/satanic hallucinations and related prophecies. "Pretty and ugly wingie thingies" simply do/did not exist. Associating the Singularity with these mythical assistants and opponents mocks the concept of God the Almighty.

The Good Word was articulated by the ancients using reasoning and common sense. These Words of Wisdom were simply repeated with each major race and religion. Unfortunately the Words were attibuted to embellished men in most cases as a means of profiteering as noted by the contemporary billions of dollars owned and controlled by the Mormon, Christian, Jewish and Moslem religions. It is time to get our money back!!!!!

QUESTION:

Does LDS = LSD?

Could members of the Church of Jesus Christ (LDS) be more "Christian" than Evangelicals? . . Protestants and Catholics subscribe to the Nicene creed, which was initiated by the Emperor Constantine in the Fourth Century to rid Scriptures of the Apocrypha, some of which made reference to the oral traditions of Jewish and early Christian temple worship.

First Century Christian churches, in fact, continued the Jewish temple worship traditions:
1) Baptism of youth (not infants) by immersion by the father of the family
2) Lay clergy
3) Anointing with holy oil after baptism
4) Then clothing in white clothing

A First Century Christian Church has been re-constructed at the Israeli Museum, and the above can be verified. . And read Exodus Ch 29 for Aaron and his sons” ordinances. . Jewish Temple practices were continued by Christians prior to Constantine”s corruption [see St. Cyril of Jerusalem (315-386 A.D.) Lecture XXI]. . . Early Christians were persecuted for keeping their practices sacred, and not allowing non-Christians to witness them

A literal reading of the New Testament points to God and Jesus Christ being separate beings, united in purpose. . To whom was Jesus praying in Gethsemane, and Who was speaking to Him and his apostles on the Mount of Transfiguration?

The Nicene Creed”s definition of the Trinity was influenced by scribes translating the Greek manuscripts into Latin. The scribes embellished on a passage explaining the Trinity, which is the Catholic and Protestant belief that God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The oldest versions of the epistle of 1 John, read: "There are three that bear witness: the Spirit, the water and the blood and these three are one."
Scribes later added "the Father, the Word and the Spirit," and it remained in the epistle when it was translated into English for the King James Version, according to Dr. Bart Ehrman, Chairman of the Religion Department at UNC- Chapel Hill. . . .He no longer believes in the Nicene Trinity.

Members of the Church of Jesus Christ (LDS) have concern for their ancestors” spiritual welfare, so they practice proxy baptism. (1 Corinthians 15:29 & Malachi 4:5-6).

Only members of the Church of Jesus Christ (LDS) continue these practices of First Century Christians. But Mormons don”t term Catholics and Protestants “non-Christian”. The dictionary definition of a Christian is “of, pertaining to, believing in, or belonging to a religion based on the teachings of Jesus Christ”:. All of the above denominations are followers of Christ, and consider him the Messiah foretold in the Old Testament.

It”s important to understand the difference between Reformation and Restoration when we consider who might be the more authentic Christian. If members of the Church of Jesus Christ (LDS) embrace early Christian theology, they are likely more “Christian” than their detractors.

* * *

And the National Study of Youth and Religion done by UNC-Chapel Hill in 2005 found that Church of Jesus Christ (LDS) youth (ages 13 to 17) were more likely to exhibit these Christian characteristics than Evangelicals (the next most observant group):
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . LDS Evangelical
Attend Religious Services weekly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71% . . . . 55%
Importance of Religious Faith in shaping daily life –
extremely important . . . 52. . . . . . 28
Believes in life after death . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 . . . . . . 62
Believes in psychics or fortune-tellers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 . . . . . . 5
Has taught religious education classes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 . . . . . . 28
Has fasted or denied something as spiritual discipline . . . . . . . . . . . .68 . . . . . . 22
Sabbath Observance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 . . . . . . 40
Shared religious faith with someone not of their faith . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 . . . . . . 56
Family talks about God, scriptures, prayer daily . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 . . . . . . 19
Supportiveness of church for parent in trying to raise teen
(very supportive) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .65 . . . . . . 26
Church congregation has done an excellent job in helping
Teens better understand their own sexuality and sexual morality . . . 84 . . . . . . 35

Revelation warns not to add or take away from the Bible. That is exactly what the mormons did, rewrote the Bible to fit one man's wants.
We care about what the other guy believes because we really don't want anybody to go to hell.

Bill Ross:

I recent finished "Joseph Smith" by Robert V. Remini, the eminent Jacksonian Historian and non-mormon and there is no mention of the plagurism and fraud that you speak of. What are your sources on this?

"His Mormon believes concern me because of potential links to dishonest leadership in the Mormon Church." - Bill Ross

Bill, could cite a few examples of their where their leaders have been currupt / dishonest. A really good scandal - considering the pervasive dishonesty, wealth and size, should be extremely easy to find.

"Lincoln:

The temple is only one aspect of the cult worship. The second is unquestioning obedience to human leaders. A human being is fallible. Unquestioning obedience to any human being could result in that person becoming someone like Jim Jones. Jim Jones' followers committed mass suicide sometime in the 70's because they had perfect obedience. The Mormon church encourages blind obedience. Obedience should be to God and not to man. We should never place our faith in the arm of the flesh, and that is what Mormon leaders are, flesh and bones, just like you and me. The leader Dallin Oaks said on the PBS special that Mormons cannot disagree with the leadership, even if the leadership is wrong. That is a very cultish teaching. These are the primary reasons I see, that people accuse the Mormon church of being a cult.

I understand that there are many loving, caring members of the Mormon church. I am not referring to those people, but to the leadership that operates in a system that demands perfect obedience to the leaders. It is unfortunate that a church that has so many good qualities, as the Mormon church, could also have so many cult-like qualities.

Posted May 4, 2007 4:28 AM"

Members have actually been taught to not take everything blindly, but to pray about it and gain their own testimony about what they are taught.

Well it must be said that they are actually not Christians. They do not believe in the same Jesus that you and I believe Hinkley said it himself.

I seen the comment "Want to know about Mormons as a member" the said reality is they don't even know what they believe. They do not know that their leaders once said, "Quakers live on the Moon". They believe the way through heaven is not by Jesus but by Smith and if they tell you they do not believe this then it really proves my point.

If your mormon your not Christian no matter what you call yourself and the name of your church. If your Christian do not become mormon or you will just be heading straight to hell.

Legally / constitutionally speaking, whats the difference between polygamy and gay marriage? No fan of polygamy, but It seems awefully hypocritical to support the one and not the other. I think many even take the outrageous position that gay marriage should be sanctioned and polygamy criminalized. Oh, and don’t waste your underage marriages, clearly that’s wrong. I’m talking about consenting adults choosing to live this way…

BILL ROSS:
The Truth about Mormonism:
Mormonism is actually based on the plagiarized writings of a retired Methodist minister named Solomon Spalding. Spaulding mused himself writing fiction in King James English in the 1800's at a time when there was no TV or radio. Spaulding's writings were completed about 20 years prior to Joseph Smith supposedly finding the "Golden Plates" in Upstate New York. Many people from Spaulding's local community would gather in Spaulding's front yard and listen for hours to him "preach" into the front yard from his porch. The people's excitement spurred Spaulding to become interested in publishing his "manuscript" into a book.
Spaulding took his manuscript to a publisher in his community. He left it there for review and hoped the publisher would invest in making a book out of it. This publisher has since been directly linked to Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism, the supposed writer of the Book of Mormon.
The manuscript and writings that Solomon Spaulding wrote were left at the publisher's shop. The manuscript "mysteriously disappeared" after being left in the publisher’s “trustworthy” custody. Spaulding’s manuscript as a complete document has since never been found...
Today, many portions of the original "Book of Mormon" have since been professionally analyzed by many handwriting experts who concur and confirm that they are in Solomon Spaulding's handwriting. The handwriting analysis dates back to the 1970’s. Therefore, much of the Book of Mormon is actually Solomon Spaulding's fictional manuscript.
Imagine, an entire multi-million dollar church/cult has been formed around a plagerized fictional manuscript and an opportunistic man named Joseph Smith. Smith's history and the history of the Mormon church is a fascinating part of American History and one of the biggest lies that has ever been perpetrated on our society.
Anyone interested in getting more information about this should do an Internet search on "Solomon Spaulding" and judge for themselves.
Most Mormons are God-fearing and loving people who have been deceived by years of lies perpetrated by their leadership. I am greatly saddened by it and have a great love for the Mormon people. I have several Mormon friends. They are good people.
Jesus and the writings about him in the New Testament were all prophetically fulfilled in scriptures found throughout the Old Testament, pointing to Him as ultimate fulfillment of scripture and the Jewish Messiah. Christianity is actually the continuation and fulfillment of Judaism.
There is nothing in the New Testament indicating that there would ever be a "new revelation" to follow it. To the contrary, the New Testament proclaims we should not be tricked into following any "New Gospel" such as the one Joseph Smith plagerized from Solomon Spaulding.
Mitt Romney seems to be a good candidate for President. I am not sure if I will vote for him. His Mormon believes concern me because of potential links to dishonest leadership in the Mormon Church. At the same time, I have been much more concerned with our current President's leadership (or lack of) even though I do believe his Christian beliefs are sincere.

Two facts that I believe creates a majority if the anti-Mormon fervor:

1. no one in the clergy is paid

2. the Mormon church is fastest growing in the USA and the world.

Combine these two and how is someone dependent on their religous profession to make a living?

It becomes incumbent upon religious professionals to innoculate their congregations against Mormon conversion by planting inuendo, partial facts, and an occasional bald-faced lie.

If you want to know anything about the Mormon church, ask a member.

IMHO, all religions are just attempts by man to explain the unexplainable and control the masses of humankind. Some people need guides, need focus, need to be told what to do since they can't think for themselves. But not everyone.

Religions were and are used to govern. They lay down laws and get people to follow them by saying something bad will happen to you in the afterlife - or you'll be reincarnated to live again and again until you 'get it right'. It's all about fear and control.

Being a FORMER Jehovah's Witness, I know about the twisting of religious text to suit the needs of the religion's (or cult's) leaders. It doesn't matter if it is the Bible, Koran, the Book of Mormon, whatever "insert religious text here", it's about explaining things that are un-seen, and truly un-provable.

I look at the world and I see an amazing place; same with the universe. It's amazing, but I do not need an explanation for it. If it was created by an all knowing Creator - that's awesome. If it was a big bang that exploded for no reason and we evolved - wow, how amazing is that? Either way, the natural world is special and awesome - either it was created just for us or it beat tremendous odds and evolved into this marvel. It can be appreciated and revered without the invisible man in the sky.

I don't need a religion to give me laws to live by, because they will be used to judge my morality. Government shouldn't judge morality, that's why I don't feel a political candidate should be judged by their religious beliefs. Tell me what is the plan for taking care of the Health Care issue in this country, or the education of our children, or the reduction of the debt. How about making sure the gap between poor and rich gets smaller, how about that? I could care less if the candidate is into Voodoo or not - what does that have to do with their ability to coordinate government agencies and lead people?

Organized religion is the great divider. It creates small groups of 'us' and pits them against the rest of the world - 'them'. Please someone out there, give me an example of a 'mainstream' religion - and I mean MAINSTREAM, that is fully accepting of EVERYTHING. Absolutely EVERYTHING - all races, all inter-personal relationships, all sexual preferences, the rights of women to choose to have an abortion, the right for clergy to be women, allowing that other religions are the correct path? Can you name one?

It's all very sad. All this 'believe as I believe' or you're an infidel or sinner, or heretic, or whatever.

We are all different and unique, but we are all HUMAN. We are all entitled to our own beliefs. If we could all agree to play nice with one another - stop killing each other, stop abusing each other - just treat other people with respect, couldn't we make this world work? I will not force my belief that organized religions are the cause of the worlds woes - I'm just stating it here. Agree with me or not - that's your opinion and you're entitled to it.

Is this world big enough for our different believes?
not if one of the religions is islam.

Off the bat you should know I am a Christian which means I believe the contents of the Bible. And since believing means action, I normally govern my actions by the words of the Bible. That said, you can evaluate my words below as you see fit.

1. If you had some good news which impact in your life, would you keep it a secret from your best friend if you thought your best friend could benefit from this good news?

1.a. If you answer yes, then you certainly should not have a issue when an Islamic, Mormon, Christian, Hundi, atheist, or any other religious or non-religious person approach you and attempt to sell you their good news. Mormons are no different. I assume they are like every other human out there who believe that they have been impacted by some good news ( or warning for planet Earth for that matter ) and feel obligated to share it with humanity.

2. How far would you go to sharing your good news?

2.a. For some the extend of sharing their good news simply means ensuring that every ear has heard it. Is that enough? Different religious groups have different threshold. Some are persistent and will knock on your front door week after week after week to tell you their good news. Others are more serious about it and may decide that this good news is so important that you can not live without it, then make the good news the official law of that land. I am sure you can decide the different levels of persistence of each religious group.

3. "Separation of State and Church" sounds good. but is it humanly possible?

3.a. Let's not kid ourselves, we are only humans!
In general, no person wants the believes ( religion ) of another person force upon them. But since governments are made of people who individually have independent brains/believes, any law created would in some extend be an extension of the believe of the creator of that law.

I think we can all agree that each human has walked a different mile in their lifetime, has an independent brain hence believe which may be different than this reader. However, usually believes are manifested by actions: you believe that the apple you bought at the store is not poison hence you eat it ( the action of your belief ).

Since we can equate belief to physical action we have a problem: Frankly, I don't care what John Doe believes in his head, but when he puts his belief into action and it pisses me off, has he over extended his believes???

There is no answer:
Where are the limited of any person's action/believes?
Where does the rights/believes/actions of the individual end and the rights/believes/actions of the group begin?

Is this world big enough for our different believes?

If believes equates actions, than how is it possible for multiple believes to co-exist peacefully?

Blake-

Actually many people view Mormonism as a cult because of its cultish temple activities that are taken from freemasonry. Actually, many of the masonic symbols and imagery were removed from the temple ceremony in 1990, but you can still find it online, and there are still remnants of freemasonry today.

The temple is only one aspect of the cult worship. The second is unquestioning obedience to human leaders. A human being is fallible. Unquestioning obedience to any human being could result in that person becoming someone like Jim Jones. Jim Jones' followers committed mass suicide sometime in the 70's because they had perfect obedience. The Mormon church encourages blind obedience. Obedience should be to God and not to man. We should never place our faith in the arm of the flesh, and that is what Mormon leaders are, flesh and bones, just like you and me. The leader Dallin Oaks said on the PBS special that Mormons cannot disagree with the leadership, even if the leadership is wrong. That is a very cultish teaching. These are the primary reasons I see, that people accuse the Mormon church of being a cult.

I understand that there are many loving, caring members of the Mormon church. I am not referring to those people, but to the leadership that operates in a system that demands perfect obedience to the leaders. It is unfortunate that a church that has so many good qualities, as the Mormon church, could also have so many cult-like qualities.

I never heard of a Mormon until I went into high school where a guy who was mormon, and later, his younger brother were both on my cross country team. Everyone i knew made fun of them for it and they took it in stride, it didn't seem to bother them one bit.

I wasn't about to make fun of something I know nothing about so I started researching it on my own online and with books for and against. I actually liked it! So i started looking into a bunch of other religions figuring if I was going to join one I better make sure it's one I feel is right for me. I still don't regret it, i just don't like how so many people will make fun of mormons when most of them dont know anything about it, including my mother. I was never raised with a religion from my parents, they never went to Church at least in my 23 years of life and my parents had no objection to me finding myself a religion but when it came to LDS boy my mom was heated! She suddenly thought I was brain washed by a cult when I did all my own research for almost 4 years before telling anyone I was going to look further into it.

Since I joined the Church there has NEVER been any pressure on me to try and convert any of my friends or family. It's made me happier and more giving of myself. No one ever told me to lose contact with my family since they are non-members or to stop talking to my mother since she was and still is against it they are just sad for me that she is so against it when it's been a positive influence in my life. Never once did anything seem strange to me or did they try and make me convert or lose contact with anyone not a member.

No one ever forced me to join either or tried to get me to. The only time a member ever gave me information about the religion is when I asked and i was given nothing but the truth to all my questions and was told to research it on my own and to pray about it and make sure it's right for me, if not, it is not a big deal.

Best decision I ever made.

A lot of people though seem to see it as a cult because they have people go door to door wearing white shirts and ties to talk to people about the religion. They are missioniares. Only thing I see different them some other regligions is that the LDS has a good number of missionaries in the United States as well as World wide where as some other religions have most, if not all there missionaries outside the United States. So to a number of friends I have they think its a cult only because of our missionaries within the country when there church has them but outside the country and some how thats different??

david - what is it your business how someone else believes? give it a rest - they are entitled to their belief system and as long as they dont force their religion on you they can believe how they want.

It mayjust be possible that you don't know what you are talking about,don't critize something until you try it. We may be only interested in the worth of souls..do you consider that ?

The Mormon faith, if I recall correctly, is just a few years younger than Panentheism and a few years older than Pandeism. Yet all three of these are now on the cutting edge of theological thought. Maybe that's just the time it takes for a faith to mature.

Once a person has been raised in a family religion it becomes nearly impossible to see the obvious contradictions that are readily observable to others. After all you have many great childhood memories involved indirectly with those beliefs,and a vested interest in remaining friends with your siblings and parents. So I have pity on those who refuse to question their inherited religion. I myself was brought up Southern Baptist where the hypocrisy also flourishes. But at some point you realize that just because your parents do something doesn't mean their right.

After seeing the PBS special(I'm sure there are those who are saying it was "completely untrue" or "another example of liberal media bias") many thing seems to be self evident, but here are just a couple.

The rules enacted by Joseph Smith seemed to benefit mainly himself.

1.The members must give 10% of their gross income to the church.
A fairly common practice. But he used the money like his own bank account by investing in real estate. He became rich enough to afford many wives and a large estate and the present church is the richest,by dollars per member ,in America.
2.He receives a "prophecy" that Mormon men are allowed to have multiple wives.
Yet he had at least one wife in secret for several years before that "revelation".
3. Women are not allowed to have a true voice in the decisions of the church( the apostles or the upper ranks). And if they press this matter they are excommunicated.
Because maybe they might vote against mulptiple wives or even worse decide in favor of equal treatment or even something like multiple husbands.

Before you give your soul to a religion at least decide if the founder used his religion to benefit himself -hardly like spiritualism but mostly like capitalism- or mankind.

I do not recall Jesus or the Buddha becoming rich from their followers, but all the Fortune 500 companies certainly follow that "religion". It's called greed.

And by the way I'm a Unitarian so I use that same exact question on every religion or cult or person.

The Mormon church should be regarded with as much respect as any other church in the United States. In theory this is a true statement, yet on occasion, Mormon church leaders have encouraged the membership to disobey federal laws, such as the Supreme Court decision in Reynolds and the Edmunds/Tucker Act. Other religious leaders have not instructed their membership to directly disobey federal statutes and Supreme Court decisions. That is why many U.S. citizens would be concerned that Mormon Church President Hinckley could instruct the church membership to disobey federal laws again. Brigham Young and John Taylor were notorious for advocating disobedience to the "laws of men." This historic friction between the United States and a Mormon hierarchy with theocratic tendencies, has been an issue from the beginnings of Mormonism. I do not have any evidence that other religions have waged war against the United States in word and in deed, as the Mormon church has done in the past. Theoretically, President Hinckley could receive a new revelation to disobey the rule of law, and encourage the practice of polygamy again. This is a possibility under the current theological beliefs in Mormonism, especially with Doctrine and Covenants Section 132 remaining in full force. The Doctrine and Covenants are binding scripture in Mormonism, and Section 132 authorizes the practice of plural marriage, promising 10 virgins to righteous Mormon men. Given the doctrine of modern revelation, a distinct possibility exists that Mormon directives could take precedent over Federal law, as occurred in the past. What assurance does the U.S. public have that the Mormon church will not disobey laws in the future? A primary concern regarding Mormonism, is whether Mormons will choose to obey the Prophet or the laws of the United States should a conflict occur. This is a troubling issue, which has not been fully resolved.

Are Mormons afforded the same rights and privileges under the Constitution as other religions? Legally, of course they are. But on an individual basis, it is unclear whether Mormons respect other people‘s right of religious freedom. This is an interpersonal issue that is influenced by the institutional directives of the Mormon church. It rests on the ability of the church membership to make genuine friendships with people of other faiths, without the ulterior motive of converting them to Mormonism. Is it possible for a Mormon to make friends with a member of another religion, without the ulterior motive of someday converting that person to Mormonism? Yes, of course. But after watching the antics of Mormon missionaries on the PBS special, it is logical to conclude that many Mormons feel it is their duty to convert everyone to Mormonism. This concept is inherently offensive to many people who simply want to be considered genuine friends, without being viewed as a potential "convert baptism" in the future. Many creeds believe that they have the exclusive truth, not just Mormons. Many others are atheist or agnostic. Many other religions have developed a true tolerance for all humanity and do not feel the overbearing necessity of converting them to their own faith. Will Mormons ever be able to be genuine friends with non-Mormons without having the ulterior motive of conversion? This is a fair question, given the obvious harrassment of average citizens that was demonstrated by Mormon missionaries during the missionary segment of the PBS Frontline documentary. Maybe the reason Mormonism has not truly entered the mainstream yet, is that many people conclude, fairly or unfairly, that mormons are only interested in outside contact to the extent that they are fulfilling their duty as missionaries. This would be extremely shallow, superficial, and limiting, and would define Mormons as nothing more than scripted automatons. Mormons need to learn to have genuine friendships with people from outside their religion, on a wider scale. It is insulting to members of other faiths and non-believers, that Mormons believe they possess the exclusive truths of nature, when there is ample evidence in the history of the Mormon church, that it has just as many flaws (if not more) as any of the other faiths. Will the Mormon leadership ever encourage teaching true Mormon church history instead of a whitewashed version through its correlated lesson materials? Many Mormon's missionary zeal would diminish to proper levels if they fully understood the truly tenuous nature of Mormonism’s truth claims, from a historic perspective.

Before Mormonism is treated with the full faith and respect that other religions receive, it must demonstrate that it is deserving of such respect. The first step toward that respect would be a shift in emphasis away from converting every human being on the planet to Mormonism, toward loving every human being on the planet with the true Christian love, the love that Mormonism already professes to have. This shift will need to be generated from the upper levels of the Mormon church leadership structure. Until that happens on a broad scale, many will continue to view Mormonism collectively as a second-class religion.

Daveescaped,

I agree with you. There are Mormons all over our landscape here in Vermont.

A few years ago a Mormon couple, friends of ours (my wife and I are not Mormons) were prominent in Vermont government. He was head of the State Police and she was Commissioner of Budget and management. Wonderful people!

There were no Mormon - State Police coups, and no hidden funding of Mormon Temples by the state.

The only people who took over Vermont were followers of our Socialist Senator Bernie Sanders, Progressive Party members, and their Democratic Party allies. And our Mormon friends worked in Democratic administrations.

That's Vermont for you - we're tolerant.

While I don't take offense to the claim that "the acceptance of Mormonism is still affected today by the fact that in many areas Mormons are not visible in many American communities", I do think the author is mistaken. Perhaps he missed the Olympics that were a major news event in 2002 and which depended largely (but not entirely) on the efforts of the Mormon citizens of Utah. Other events have thrust Mormons into the spotlight (not the least of which is the recent PBS special). Many such stories have highlighted positive aspects of the faith.

Keep in mind that this happens despite the fact that Mormons are a small minority of US Christians. To my perspective (an active Mormon), Mormons seem to enjoy the positive overexposure that Jews also enjoy. Popular culture seems to lead one to believe that there must be tens of millions of Jews in this country when many other faiths outnumber Jews and have for some time. Yet we find Jews prominent in popular television, films, music, and print in disproportionate numbers. It is much the same way with Mormons. I don't know how the author missed this.

Mormons (again much like Jews) make up 2% or less of Americans. Take a faith nearly comparable in size (Jehovah's witnesses, Presbyterians, etc.) and
look for press of any kind let alone positive press.

In the communities I have lived in Mormons are know as Governors (Michigan of all places), City Councilmen and women, State Reps, CEO's, and many other positions of less renown. I think the author just needs to familiarize himself with his neighbors and countrymen a bit more and he'll realize Mormons have been hiding in plainsight for some time.

its not unique to me, ask anyone not islamic that lives in an islamic country. or ask a hindu that lives near an islamic community.

ANONYMOUS:

I didn't mind it so much...I mean at the time of the call I felt very attacked, but you're right, it wasn't too serious of an accusation. Sounds like you have gone through some rough things. Mormons, to my recollection have not been called pigs, but we have been told we have horns...not sure how a conversion can spawn the growth of horns, but some people believe that! I am glad to live in America because of the religious freedoms that are offered. Our church has 13 articles of faith, the 11th states: "We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where or what they may." I am sorry others have treated you poorly for your beliefs.

kristin - be thankful you live in america. being told you are in a cult is a lot better than being told that you are a pig nad not worthy of life, that jesus was not the son of god, and that when they got around to it you would be given the right to become islamic or die.

John,

I appreciated this commentary. In middle school I was accused by a fellow Christian of being in a cult. I was not familiar with the word, but defended my position because she was clearly on the attack.
I don't think the problem with bad press is just for Mormons or religion. In general society seems to want to hear the negative, as we can clearly see from the news and the coverage that is given to the negative news stories.
However, I think one of your early sentences in this statement illustrated one of the greatest confusions people have of whether Mormons are Christian by omitting the most important part of the title of this church. The official title is: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Thank you,

first a note to concerned. never site wikipedia if you want people to take you seriously.
and why should mormans need islamics for help? no one does. the last time i read the book of morman, which i dont know a lot about, i did not read one word of taking members of other faiths and holding them for ransom, torturing them, murdering them, hating them, and forcing conversions on them. that would be islam. every time i see an article like this i see islam trying to slither itself into reasonableness when there is nothing reasonable or peaceful about islam.
i would much rather have a morman for president than that islamic waste of skin as a member of the house of representatives.

With all due respect to you Mr. Esposito, I don't get it. You talk about the need for religious leaders to make positive statements about Mormons but you don't give us but the vaguest of indications of your own personal position on the subject. I guess you've got no problem with Mitt but there is no way to tell from your post. In your esteemed positions as founding director of the Alwaleed bin Talal Center and also as professor of religion, international affairs and Islamic studies at Georgetown University, you are an influential figure in the religious arena. I wish you had taken this opportunity to tell us about your own opinions on the legitimacy of Mormonism and maybe even in the context of your work with Muslims. This would have been helpful. I think this discussion could be addressed if we separate political motivations from spiritual matters. Islam, for example, both in the past and in the present moves toward a goal to establish a theocracy and laws get passed that have religious significance. So Islam deals in both the spiritual realm and in the areas of governing. Islam is like this all-in-one culture. Mormons don't do this. I don't like that political position of combining religion and government or the cultural requirements of Islam. The defining issue is the existence of the propensity to combine religion and government and then to establish a culture complete with loud speakers. There is no such tradition of this happening with Mormons. I am fine with them holding public office and think this whole idea of legitimacy is way overblown. Who cares what they want to believe as long as they are honest, hard working and respect the separation of church and state? Islam is the only religion that seems to act like a political party bringing along ideological baggage that conflicts with our Jeffersonian ideals. Long live T.J. and the protection of religious freedom along with the separation of church and state.

To reiterate, it is all about the founders of the major religions and their favorite "tinker bell(s)" aka angel.

Joe Smith had his Moroni.

Mohammed had his Gabriel (this "tinkerer" got around).

Jesus and his family had Michael, Gabriel, and Satan, the latter being a modern day demon of the demented.

The Abraham-Moses myths had their Angel of Death and other "no-namers" to do their dirty work or other assorted duties.

Contemporary biblical and religious scholars have relegated these "pretty wingie thingies" to the myth pile. We should do the same to include deleting all references to them in our religious operating manuals. Doing this will eliminate the prophet/profit/prophecy status of these founders and put them where they belong as simple humans just like the rest of us.

Some added references to "tinker bells".

"Latter-day Saints also believe that Michael the Archangel was Adam (the first man) when he was mortal, and Gabriel lived on the earth as Noah."

Apparently hallucinations did not stop with Joe Smith.

From:http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07049c.htm
"This belief in guardian angels can be traced throughout all antiquity; pagans, like Menander and Plutarch (cf. Euseb., "Praep. Evang.", xii), and Neo-Platonists, like Plotinus, held it. It was also the belief of the Babylonians and Assyrians, as their monuments testify, for a figure of a guardian angel now in the British Museum once decorated an Assyrian palace, and might well serve for a modern representation; while Nabopolassar, father of Nebuchadnezzar the Great, says: "He (Marduk) sent a tutelary deity (cherub) of grace to go at my side; in everything that I did, he made my work to succeed."

Catholic monks and Dark Age theologians also did their share of hallucinating:

"TUBUAS-A member of the group of angels who were removed from the ranks of officially recognized celestial hierarchy in 745 by a council in Rome under Pope Zachary. He was joined by Uriel, Adimus, Sabaoth, Simiel, and Raguel."

And tinker bells go way, way back:

"In Zoroastrianism there are different angel like creatures. For example each person has a guardian angel caled Fravashi. They patronize human being and other creatures and also manifest god’s energy. Also, the Amesha Spentas have often been regarded as angels, but they don't convey messages, but are rather emanations of Ahura Mazda ("Wise Lord", God); they appear in an abstract fashion in the religious thought of Zarathustra and then later (during the Achaemenid period of Zoroastrianism) became personalized, associated with an aspect of the divine creation (fire, plants, water...)."

"The beginnings of the biblical belief in angels must be sought in very early folklore. The gods of the Hittites and Canaanites had their supernatural messengers, and parallels to the Old Testament stories of angels are found in Near Eastern literature. "

"The 'Magic Papyri' contain many spells to secure just such help and protection of angels. From magic traditions arose the concept of the guardian angel. "

For added information see the review at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angel

Astronaut "Wally Shirra" died. Our HUMATE from Mercury Seven, is space Forthing in His unique Undieing TRANSFINITY.

Let there be Photons on his way! WE SALUTE YOU SIR!

And Yes, We go on to other Planets, one Life/Photon at a TIME! hence: We NEVER Die!

A beautiful Light indeed wally is!

: + )

G-d Bless America and friends. Devided WE stand United WE fall! SHOLOM MY GOOD FRIEN FROM FLORIDA & Beyond! : + (

P.S. We Love You mon!

Sholom My Good friend from Florida.