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Mormonism: It’s Origins, Evolution, and the 2012 Election. About the presenter: Randall Snyder -Practicing Orthodontist in MO -Born and raised in the Mormon church in Southern California
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About the presenter: Randall Snyder -Practicing Orthodontist in MO -Born and raised in the Mormon church in Southern California -Served a 2 year mission for the church in Tempe, AZ (1993-1995) and got my BS at Brigham Young University -Married in the Mormon temple to my wife of 15 years (three boys) -Served faithfully in the church as a youth leader, elder’s quorum teacher, scoutmaster, high priest group leader, etc until 2010 -Resigned my membership in January 2011
My goals for this presentation: While giving an overview of Mormon history and beliefs, to convey an understanding of why so many otherwise reasonable and intelligent Mormons believe what would seem absurd to many outside observers. (play BoM Musical clip) To describe the evolution of the church from a rabidly anti-American, isolated, polygamist, and communal theocracy to a very conservative, clean-cut and patriotic community. To address what factor Mormonism has played and could play in Mitt Romney’s candidacy and potential presidency should he win the election.
Mormons, Generally, are good people and solid citizens You could do worse than having Mormons as your neighbors, co-workers or friends. They are family oriented, loyal, hard-working, and above all, they are very nice.
“I don’t know who discovered water, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t a fish” Marshall McCluhan
There are a few things working in the minds of active, believing Mormons (by and large): 1. Mormons, from birth, are inculcated with a sanitized, internally consistent, but ultimately fictitious narrative of their origins and history. 2. Mormons are STRONGLY discouraged from getting any information about this history from non-approved sources and instead are directed to heavily sanitized sources. 3. Doubt and skepticism are seen as weaknesses and even as a pernicious sin to the more zealous leaders. The virtue, above all, that is lauded on a constant basis is obedience (both in orthopraxy and orthodoxy). 4. The doctrine on Satan is that he is a son of light. Therefore, if a Mormon comes across a cogent argument contrary to their world view, that is evidence of the cunning of Satan. The better the argument, the more evidence it’s from the devil. 5. Lastly, Mormonism is more than a set of beliefs, it’s an all-encompassing lifestyle and the social costs of doubting the narrative or leaving the community can be severe.
One quick aside • The beauty of Mormonism is that it gives us a rare opportunity. It is a major religion (however, admittedly not a world religion yet) with fantastic and supernatural origin stories and remarkably devout adherents that started in the age of the PRINTING PRESS and AFFIFAVITS. It gives us a plausible peek into what we could know about other world religions, like Christianity, if their origin stories hadn’t been cloaked in the shroud of time. If only Jesus of Nazareth could be held up to such a microscope!
Brief timeline of LDS history: -Founded in 1830 by Joseph Smith in upstate New York -Joseph and the church moved headquarters to Kirtland, OH in 1831 but made a secondary settlement in Jackson County, MO at the end of that year -Joseph and most Mormons fled Kirtland in January 1838 to join the Missouri Mormons who had been driven out of Jackson County and had settled in Far West, MO -The Mormons were driven completely out of MO in late 1839 and settled on the Mississippi River in Illinois founding the city of Nauvoo (which by 1844 rivaled Chicago in population). -Joseph is incarcerated in June, 1844 in Carthage, IL and killed by a mob while in jail -The majority of Mormons rally around Brigham Young and flee west to Salt Lake City which is settled in 1847. -Today the church claims membership of approximately 14 million worldwide
Nobody disputes these historical facts but they reveal how Mormons were driven from place to place until they settled far away from outside societies. This is how the Mormon psyche has, over their history, developed a healthy “us versus the world” mentality which plays into the narrative that outside forces will try to disparage and denigrate their history.
Foundational stories in Mormonism: Joseph, in 1820 at the age of 14, went into a grove of trees near his home in Palmyra, NY to ask God which church to join. After being attacked by Satan, God the Father and Jesus Christ appeared to him in person and told him not to join any of them, but that Christ’s one true church would be restored again to the earth through him. Joseph, through the gift and power of God, translated an ancient record written on gold plates into English, that the angel Moroni lead him to, that gave an historical account of a group of people that came from Jerusalem in 600 BCE to the Americas and established a great 1,000 year Christian civilization that was ultimately destroyed by the evil, dark skinned apostates of the same group (the Lamanites). Joseph, blessed with this translation power, translated other ancient texts like the Book of Abraham. At the time of Joseph’s martyrdom, God sanctioned Brigham Young to be the rightful successor and consecrated his mantle with a miraculous manifestation in front of hundreds of witnesses.
Before addressing Joseph Smith’s “First Vision” it is important to describe that the church teaches that Christ’s pure church organization was established by Jesus Christ himself during his lifetime. But the true church was crushed by the weight of the wickedness of the world (and all the true apostles martryed) and the world fell into the “dark ages” which Mormons refer to as “The Great Apostasy” necessitating a restoration of that true church…
The official story taught to all believers every Sunday and all those investigating the church: • Joseph, at age 14, who desired to know of God which church was true, went into a grove of trees • “…I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me…When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—This is My beloved Son, Hear Him…” (Joseph Smith History 1:16-17) • Furthermore, he is attacked by Satan prior to this, he went in the grove to find out which church to join, and he was told not to join any of them as God’s one true church would be restored through him.
This official church version, claimed to be published in 1838, but not circulated to the membership until 1842 (Wentworth letter in the Times and Seasons), is considered by true believers as the official and true version of the event in 1820 that God and Jesus appeared to Joseph. But no extant sources from the 1820’s EVER mentions a visit by God and Jesus. All accounts during this decade only describe an angelic visit by Moroni. Furthermore, it’s not even a story told throughout the entire 1830’s!
James B. Allen, who served as assistant church historian, admitted that the story of the first vision "was not given general circulation in the 1830’s." (Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, Autumn 1966, p.33). Dr. Allen admits that "none of the available contemporary writings about Joseph Smith in the 1830's, none of the publications of the Church in that decade, and no contemporary journal or correspondence yet discovered mentions the story of the first vision...." Dr. Allen goes on to state that in the 1830's "the general membership of the Church knew little, if anything, about it." Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, Autumn 1966, pages 29-45.
Some other versions by Joseph not taught in Sunday School: 1832: Written in Joseph’s own hand. Joseph felt convicted of his own sins, had determined on his own all churches were false, the location of the event is unclear, Jesus alone appears to him, he was 15 instead of 14, and was told his sins were forgiven. That is the end of it. No Satan, no directive that he would restore the church. 1834-35: Joseph’s first attempt to establish an official church history (Messenger and Advocate, Kirtland, Ohio, Dec. 1834, vol.1, no.3.) A revival stirred in Joseph a desire to “know for himself of the certainty and reality of pure and holy religion.” He wasn’t even sure if God existed and wanted to know for sure. He’s 17 this time and was in his bedroom, not a grove of trees. An angel appears, not God and Jesus, and he’s told where gold plates are hidden. 1835: (Joseph Smith Diary, Nov. 9, 1835) “Wrought up” in his mind about religion . This time he’s 14 and in a grove and first one personage (unidentified) appears, then a second appears (again unidentified). One of the two testifies of Jesus but doesn’t identify himself as Jesus. Many angels then appear and his sins are forgiven.
Basic and official storyline of the Book of Mormon: -In 600 BC, Lehi, his family (and particularly his righteous son Nephi) are warned by God that Jerusalem will be destroyed. He and his family are told to leave Jerusalem and are divinely guided to sail to the New World. This was meant to explain the origins of Native Americans as ancient Israelites. -Jesus, after his death and resurrection, visited America (the Nephites) to establish the church he established in the Old World. -In 400 AD, all the righteous white Nephitesare exterminated by the dark skinned “Lamanites” with the exception of Moroni, the last surviving white Nephite, the angel that showed Joseph where the gold plates were hidden. Moroni buried the gold plates in upstate New York so that Joseph Smith could find them. -Joseph, guided by the angel Moroni, translated them from “reformed Egyptian” to English by the gift and power of God.
WHAT ARE MORMONS TAUGHT ABOUT THIS? Just like this image depicts, which is similar to or exactly what is depicted in all Mormon lesson books, Joseph goes line by line through the plates and “translates” the “Reformed Egyptian” into English.
Check out the All About the Mormons episode on Southpark. You will get more authentic history there than you will at any Mormon church or from any Mormon missionary
How it was actually “translated”: David Whitmer wrote: “Joseph Smith would put the seer stone into a hat, and put his face in the hat, drawing it closely around his face to exclude the light; and in the darkness the spiritual light would shine. A piece of something resembling parchment would appear, and on that appeared the writing. One character at a time would appear, and under it was the interpretation in English. Brother Joseph would read off the English to Oliver Cowdery, who was his principal scribe, and when it was written down and repeated to Brother Joseph to see if it was correct, then it would disappear, and another character with the interpretation would appear. Thus the Book of Mormon was translated by the gift and power of God, and not by any power of man." (David Whitmer, An Address to All Believers in Christ, 1887, p. 12.)
What of this stone? This is the stone Joseph found during his treasure digging days in the 1820’s (Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005, 45-52). Prior to claiming he found the gold plates, Joseph developed a reputation in New York of being able to find hidden treasure using this same stone where he claimed to see visions of treasure. He never did find any treasure under this spurious employment. He used the same stone to “translate” the gold plates in the hat.
The Book of Mormon -To accept the Book of Mormon, you have to accept the Tower of Babel story as literal history which is incorporated into the narrative of the book (linguists would have a field day here). -Anachronisms: horses, wheat, barley, coins, elephants, swine, steel, cimiters, glass windows, silk, and 19th century atheistic characters and arguments, among others. -DNA: The consensus of opinion among biological anthropologists is that all four American haplogroups bear markers that tie them to Asia (by way of the Bering Straight). Furthermore, the anthropological research has converged with genetic “clocks” to confirm that the Americas was populated some 15,000 years ago. -The Book of Mormon heavily quotes from what textual critics and anthropologists call “2nd Isaiah” (the majority of 2nd Nephi). This was written while the Hebrews were in captivity decades after the alleged story of Lehi leaving Jerusalem.
Foundational story #3: The Book of Abraham: This could be an entire lecture itself but if ever there was a smoking gun of Joseph Smith being a fraud, this is it. In July of 1835, an Irishman named Michael Chandler brought an exhibit of four Egyptian mummies and papyri to Kirtland, OH. The papyri contained Egyptian hieroglyphics. In 1835 hieroglyphics were unreadable. Little did Joseph know that Jean-François Champollion was cracking the code of hieroglyphs half a world away. Joseph revealed that "one of the rolls contained the writings of Abraham”. Joseph (with help) purchased the entire exhibit for $2400.
Joseph finished the translation but the papyri were lost soon afterwards and thought to have been destroyed in a fire in Chicago in 1871. To everyone’s surprise, in 1966 the papyri were rediscovered in one of the vault rooms of the New York’s metropolitan Museum of Art. The church was initially optimistic that this would vindicate Joseph’s translational gift but experts determined the papyri to be merely a 1st century BCE Egyptian funerary text (Book of the Breathings). Needless to say, the church has adeptly kept this information from the general church membership.
Foundational story #4: The miralculous succession speech of Brigham Young:
One thing to remember: There are some 200 Mormon sects that resulted from Joseph Smith’s death. The “Brighamite” sect happens to be the most successful (re: rich) and therefore claims to be the true Mormon faith, and the wealth and membership numbers are what they would cite as evidence of this “fact”. Also of note, Joseph left no clear successor.
What Mormons are taught?: Who that was present on that occasion can ever forget the impression it made upon them! If Joseph had risen from the dead and again spoken in their hearing, the effect could not have been more startling than it was to many present at that meeting. It was the voice of Joseph himself; and not only was it the voice of Joseph which was heard; but it seemed in the eyes of the people as though it was the very person of Joseph which stood before them. A more wonderful and miraculous event than was wrought that day in the presence of that congregation we never heard of. The Lord gave His people a testimony that left no room for doubt as to who was the man He had chosen to lead them. They both saw and heard with their natural eyes and ears, and then the words which were uttered came, accompanied by the convincing power of God, to their hearts, and they were filled with the Spirit and with great joy. There had been gloom, and, in some hearts probably, doubt and uncertainty; but now it was plain to all that here was the man upon whom the Lord had bestowed the necessary authority to act in their midst in Joseph’s stead” (“Joseph Smith, the Prophet,” Juvenile Instructor, Oct. 29, 1870, 174–75).
The reality of what happened -Rigdon had kind of lost it by this point and had become a bit of a rambling orator (he once was a powerful and beloved speaker). -Brigham simply gave a better speech and was a more gifted leader, especially from a practical standpoint. -NOT ONE PERSON present at that speech went home and wrote of this miraculous event. There is not one single extant contemporary source testifying of this miracle. -There are, however, many sources testifying of this event but all are from decades later in Utah when Brigham’s succession authority in Utah was being challenged by Joseph Smith, III (Joseph’s son who was only 12 at his father’s death and whom the RLDS church, now the Community of Christ, was established once Joseph Smith, III came of age)
My editorialized explanation: -The rhetoric of Brigham Young and his successor, John Taylor, was that polygamy was essential to the salvation of the people and the church and they themselves would NEVER renounce it, US government be damned. Taylor’s successor Wilfred Woodruff, however, knew that the territory had to become a state. -After Mormonism was publically exposed during the Reed Smoot hearings in congress, when Utah was seeking statehood at the beginning of the 20th century, they suffered a serious image crisis and conversions were down. -They were forced to renounce polygamy as a stipulation of statehood and did so, gradually. But once they became a state and were looking to both bolster conversion rates and become part of the American mainstream, two things happened in my opinion.
-Those two things were the Word of Wisdom (the church’s health code of no coffee, tea, alcohol, tobacco or elicit drugs) being dusted off the shelf and upgraded from a suggestion to an orthopraxy requirement and second, a renewed fervor of patriotism in the divinely inspired constitution and establishment of God’s favorite country, the United States of America. -The result: a new image of the flag waving, clean cut, clean living, family values loving, really nice neighbors next door that would like to share with you a very special message of faith and values.
And lastly, to tie up my Mormon section with a bow, there is what’s called “Correlation”: • In the 1950’s and 60’s the church sought to control the message and doctrine of the church and standardize all manuals used on Sundays (before this, church manuals were written by individuals, not committees, and they were more speculative doctrinally and therefore more interesting). • The result was the formation of the Correlation Committee in the Church Office Building that writes and vets anything else written that is published by the church. • Their modus operandi? To sanitize the history and simplify the doctrine into pablum. • The result? Woefully ignorant (of their own history), but sincere believers in the official narrative, and incredibly boring church services.
The spiritual justification?“Milk before meat”The only problem is the church leadership does NOT trust the general membership with the meat
“Church history can be so interesting and so inspiring as to be a very powerful tool indeed for building faith. If not properly written or properly taught, it can be a FAITH DESTROYER. There is a temptation for the writer or the teacher of church history to want to tell EVERYTHING, whether it is worthy or faith promoting or not. SOME THINGS THAT ARE TRUE ARE NOT VERY USEFUL. That historian or author who delights in pointing out the weaknesses and frailties of present or past leaders destroys faith. A destroyer of faith, particularly one within the church, and particularly one who is employed specifically to build faith, places himself in great spiritual jeopardy. He is serving the wrong master. And unless he repents, he will not be among the faithful in the eternities…do not spread disease germs!” Boyd K. Packer,”The Mantle is Far, Far Greater Than the Intellect”, 1981, BYU Studies, Vol. 21, No. 3, pp 259-271.
What are the ramifications of having a “devout Mormon” in the highest office in the land? Where will his loyalty be?
Two legitimate concerns outsiders may have about a Mormon president: Temple covenants all worthy and devout Mormons must make A Mormon prophesy that, some day, the United States will be in shambles and the Constitution will “hang by a thread” and will only be saved by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
What temple covenant could be troubling? All Mormons in the temple are required to make this promise: -“..consecrate yourselves, your time, talents, and everything with which the Lord has blessed you, or with which he may bless you, to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, for the building up of the Kingdom of God on the earth and for the establishment of Zion.” -A couple of terms need explanation. The "Kingdom of God on the earth" and "Zion" mean, to Mormons, not just their church, but ultimately the theocracy that will replace the non-religious civil government. They believe that Christ will come to run this government, using faithful Mormons as administrators. -The pressing question regarding Mitt Romney is: Would Romney consider the Presidency to be something that God had "blessed" him with, and which he should "consecrate" to his church for establishing a theocracy? If he is elected, will he kneel down and thank his God for blessing him with the presidency? And what is he supposed to do, according to this oath, with "everything" God has blessed him with?
The church (and Mitt Romney) have tried to distance themselves publicly recently from this prophesy given only orally and privately by Joseph Smith to two close friends, and never fully recorded on paper, but it was something I heard many times in church during my membership and something I, like many devout Mormons, truly believed. As recently as 1961 it was cited by Apostle and future president of the church Ezra Taft Benson: “In connection with attack on the United States, the Lord told the Prophet Joseph Smith there would be an attempt to overthrow the country by destroying the Constitution. Joseph Smith predicted that the time would come when the Constitution would hang, as it were, by a thread, and at that time this people will step forth and save it from the threatened destruction” (Conference Report, October 1961, p.70).
Two reasons why I don’t think these concerns are relavent: Mitt Romney is the consummate politician. He will stand for and become whatever is prudent at that time for his political goals. He is not about to do anything that would put off his supporters. The LDS church has become more of a banal, corporate institution interested mainly in promoting itself and its public image. It is not the zealous and radical group of the 19th century boldly prophesying and trying to fulfill those prophesies. It’s been a long, long time since the president of the church, sustained as “prophet, seer, and revelator” by the church membership every 6 months has prophesied, seen, or revealed anything new or interesting.
Romney’s evolution: -In my opinion Romney was a liberal Republican as Governor of Massachusetts (defied official church doctrine and was pro-choice, pro-gay rights, and implemented Romney-care) -Then he moved to the right in 2008 to run for the Republican ticket and became a moderate Republican (pro-life, anti gay marriage) -And then…
The Republican party itself moved even further right and he had to contend with these guys:
Finally, Mormon doctrine of “the law of consecration” and the fiscal conservatism of Romney -In 19th century Utah, this law given by Joseph Smith that all resources of the Saints should be held in common, re-distributed, and the poor taken care of, was in place. It has since been abandoned by the church and replaced with the church welfare program where those in need, as long as they are worthy and have paid their tithing in the past faithfully, are taken care of with food and sometimes even money until they are able to get back on their feet. It’s a great system, if you’re Mormon. -For many Mormons, the idea of free agency, with its intrinsic emphasis on individual responsibility, translates into a belief in limited government and an abhorrence of the welfare state, which is seen as crushing individual initiative. This meshes neatly with the ideals of the Republican Party, and was echoed in Romney's infamous recorded comments (the 47%) about Americans who believe they are "victims" and are entitled to help.
