Mormonism 101

I was just doing a little browsing of blogs and I saw some about Mitt Romney that really bothered me. So I thought I’d vent a little before going to bed.

I didn’t think I’d ever really use this blog to discuss religion but here goes. I am a Mormon.

Now I’m going to try and clear up some misunderstandings:

1-Mormons are not Christian- The full name of my church is “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints”. If we weren’t Christian why would we put the name of Christ in our church? Our faith is centered on Christ. The misunderstanding comes because unlike most Christian faiths we believe that God, Christ and the Holy Ghost are seperate beings. But we do believe in all three of them.

2-Mormons have their own bible- We use the King James version of the bible. In addition to that we have what is called the Book of Mormon (which is why we are called Mormons). The Book of Mormon begins in Jerusalem where a man named Lehi and his family were commanded to leave. They built boats and sail to the Americas. When Christ was resurrected he visited his disciples, but after that he came to the Americas.   John 10:16 says “And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.”

It makes sense to me that Christ visited the people on the other side of the world. He loved them too. But like I said, the Book of Mormon is IN ADDITION to the bible.

3-Mormons worship some guy named Joseph Smith- When Joseph Smith was a 14 year old boy he read the words in James 1:5 which read “if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God…” Joseph went out to a clearing in front of his house and prayed to know which church was the true church. He then saw a pillar of light and two figure standing before him. They introduced themselves as God the father and the son Jesus Christ. They told him that none of the churches were true. A few years later Joseph was lead to find the plates which the Book of Mormon was written upon and he was given the power to translate the book.

We believe that Joseph Smith was a prophet. We believe that God has given us prophets to continue to recieve revelations today. The current prophet, Gordon B. Hinkley, tells us what we need to do to prepare ourselves and to better ourselves. We don’t worship them, but see them as inspired men who talk to God.

4-Mormons have lots of wives- Polygamy was practiced by the church for 50 years, but it stopped in 1890. A lot of people argue about the reasonings behind this, but I’ll tell you that I believe that at the time polygamy was necessary. The members of the church had been chased from their homes in Illinois and Missouri. They walked across the country, many of them dying along the way. The pioneers made it to the Salt Lake Valley. At the time there was nothing there. For a young woman if you had a big family or if your parents had died along the way, which many of them did, they needed to be married to have someone provide for them. Men who were able took more than one wife in order to provide food and shelter for the women. This was not a practice that was used to make women slaves, no one was forced into anything.

5-Blacks couldn’t be Mormon until the 1970s- Blacks could be members of the church, black men were not able to recieve the priesthood until 1978.

Ever since biblical times, the Lord has designated through His prophets who could receive the priesthood and other blessings of the gospel. Among the tribes of Israel, for example, only men of the tribe of Levi were given the priesthood and allowed to officiate in certain ordinances. Likewise, during the Savior’s earthly ministry, gospel blessings were restricted to the Jews. Only after a revelation to the Apostle Peter were the gospel and priesthood extended to others. In 1978 the prophet at the time, Spencer W. Kimball, received revelation that all worthy men would be able to receive the priesthood.

6- Mormons have horns- seriously… who started this one? Horns?! ha!

7- Mormons aren’t allowed to dance or sing- so wrong! We can dance and sing and are encouraged to do so and develop our talents. Many people think that our religion is really strict and as a result we can’t do anything, this isn’t true. In 1833 Joseph Smith did recieve revelation that is called the Word of Wisdom. In it the Lord revealed what foods and substances are good and bad for our bodies. As a result of the Word of Wisdom we don’t smoke, drink alcohol, tea, or coffee. We are encouraged to eat grains, fruits and vegetables and to eat meat sparingly. This revelation was given over a century before research revealed the dangers of smoking and alochol.

I hope this was informative to anyone who reads this. If you have any questions I’d be happy to answer them. As for Mitt Romney, I wouldn’t worry about his faith when considering him as a candidate. I don’t currently support his candidacy because I don’t feel he has given a real plan of action for Iraq, his faith is not a concern. If you worry about what Mormon politicians are like look at Senate Majority leader Harry Reid of Nevada, a devout Mormon and Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah who is one of Ted Kennedy’s closest friends.

~~Lucy~~