Mitt? Why Not

As long as Mitt Romney remains in the Presidential race you can be sure of hearing this question time and time again: Will traditional Christians vote for a Mormon for President? What you will not hear is an in depth analysis of why a traditional Christian would be reluctant to cast a vote for a Mormon in the first place.

Although I no longer consider myself a Christian I’d like to offer my opinion on that subject. But a few things need to be put in perspective first. To begin with I absolutely would vote for Romney based on what I presently know of him. Secondly I would not let Mormonisn stand as a factor in my decision to vote for any candidate to any political position. I am well aware of the nutty origins of the Faith but I do not hold that to be a reflection on its present day practitioners. I admit that I have difficulty separating the Mormon man from Mormonism, the religion. But the fact that his religion is a bit wacky does not mean that an individual of that faith is himself wacky. If that were true we’d all be hard pressed to defend some of our own beliefs.

Now the primary reason most Christians give for their aversion to Mormonism is that it is a cult. Technically it is a cult. All religions are cults by definition. Look up the words ‘religion’ and ‘cult’ in most any dictionary and you will find that they both have the same definition: ‘…a set of religious beliefs’. We all sense, however, that these definitions are lacking. We know that when we use the word ‘cult’ we are talking about something darker than religion; something weird, freaky, possibly even dangerous. And because cults come in so many varieties no one has quite been able to define exactly what makes religion in its many varieties different from cults in all of their various forms.

The difference is simple and dictionary definitions ought to be amended to reflect the reality of the new distinction in common usage today:

A religion is a set of beliefs with fixed doctrine.

A cult is a set of beliefs that are plastic.

Religions and cults are both fantasy worlds. The difference in them is that when we enter a religious fantasy world we know where the boundaries are so that we may step into and out of that world at any time we choose. A cult, on the other hand, does not have these boundaries. When we enter one of these worlds we are in danger of becoming lost or, if we are following a cult leader, we are in danger of being led into dark places from which there is no return. Danger (adventure) is actually one of the main attractions of a cult.

In its beginnings Mormonism had all of the worst characteristics of a cult. But its plastic nature has largely cooled and hardened itself with a relatively fixed doctrine. It still has prophets, of course, who can refine or redefine some of that doctrine but all in all it is no longer proper to think of Mormonism as a cult. If you’d care to examine the fluid nature of a modern cult these days none is larger or more plastic than the cult of global warming. If you’d care to examine a religion that is devolving back into a cultic state you only have to look at Islam to see that many of its leaders are taking their followers into dark and boundless mazes. They are putting aside fixed doctrine and making it up as they go along.

Ordinary Christians are not aware of the definitional distinction between a religion and a cult. What concerns them is the contradictions between what they believe and what Mormons believe. The most appalling and offensive thing about Mormonism to a Christian is not its approval of polygamy as is commonly believed. The far, far greater offense to Christian minds is the audacity of Mormons to have written their own Bible and claimed it to be an extension of the ‘real’ Bible. (Every Jew must be thinking at this point, ‘What goes around comes around.’)

Making this sacrilege even more repulsive is the incomprehensible legend of how the Book of Mormon was written. It seems that a ne’er-do-well farmer by the name of Joseph Smith came wandering out of the woods one day in the early 1800,s claiming that he had met an angel there who had shown him some golden plates on which were written a new testament of the Bible. As crazy as that might seem there were some people who believed his story. Naturally these few demanded that Joseph go back and fetch those plates so that they could see them too.

So he did!

Actually the story gets a little strange here. Murky, too. We don’t know if anyone ever saw those plates again. Instead when Smith came back out of the woods he was carrying a couple of ‘seer stones’. When he put these magic stones in his hat and put his face into the hat the words of the Book of Mormon began to suddenly appear. By this process he was able to dictate the entire book to chosen scribes.

Right.

You can see why it is maddening to ordinary Christians that anyone could believe such tripe for an instant. It is understandable, too, that rational people do not trust the mental reliability of anyone who could be taken in by this nonsense. And I confess, though I’m sure you’ve guessed already, that it drives me nuts to know that Mormonism is the fastest growing form of Christianity on the market today. (Sorry Glenn, but blood is squirting out of my eyes right now.)

Personally I do not believe people should be judged too strictly by their religious beliefs so long as those beliefs have solid doctrines based on tolerance and social responsibility. Modern Mormonism now fits that description so I have to fight my tendency to judge the intellect of its fellowship by standards of reality. I have to remind myself that fantasy is a human need that has nothing to do with either reality or intelligence. All of us are entitled to satisfy our need to escape reality by whatever peaceable means we chose. That includes Mitt Romney. It can even include liberals even though most of their ‘religions’ are better defined as cults since their beliefs will not or cannot be solidified into fixed doctrines.

I have given you some of the stated or overt reasons that traditional Christians are repulsed by Mormonism – even denying that it is a sect of Christianity at all. There is, however, an underlying reason as well. One that is in the subconscious minds of all Christians who are familiar with the beliefs and/or origins of Mormonism. And that is that Mormonism demands that every person of faith; no matter what faith he may subscribe to, must consider the rationality of what he believes. Anyone who looks into Mormonism and finds himself shaking his head in astonishment at its transparency, wondering how anyone could possibly believe in its miracles and magic, is going to be tempted to question the fantastic nature of his own beliefs. In questioning Mormonism one is drawn to see the chinks in the armor of his own faith.

Deep within the Christian mind Mormonism is a madhouse mirror that reflects all the distortions that faith is capable of.

Never-the-less, Mormonism is as valid as any religion on earth. One can step into and out of it at will just like any other doctrinal faith. Sure I’d vote for Romney. It’s none of my business what he does on Sunday.