Mormonism Seems Like a Cult to These Agnostic Eyes...

 Taking a look at the cult of Mormonism. Since religion has no place in government, it stands to reason that religious extremism to the point of cult status is a no-brainer as something not to stir into the melting pot of government policy. Religion takes rationality and discards it in favor of the irrational, mythical and ridiculous. Cults, even moreso...

(culled from several different sources, mainly Wikipedia, whose Mormon entries are surprisingly pro-Mormon)

Mormon Magic Underwear

the garment "when properly worn...provides protection against temptation and evil"

Mormons once declared war on the United States of America.

Mormon scripture teaches that this earth is just one of many inhabited worlds, and that there are many governing heavenly bodies, including a planet or star Kolob which is said to be nearest the throne of God. According to something called the King Follett discourse, the Supreme Being, the Father--God, himself, once passed through mortality like Jesus did, but how, when, or where that took place is unclear. Mormons are taught that God was once a mortal man who has completed the process of becoming an exalted being. The prevailing view among Mormons is that God once lived as a mortal on a planet with his own higher god. The goal of each adherent is to achieve "exaltation," and, as a result, they inherit all the attributes of God, including godhood. Mormons believe that they will become gods and goddesses in the afterlife, and will have "all power, glory, dominion, and knowledge".  It is a belief system that says Jesus is the spirit brother of Lucifer.


In Mormonism, an ordinance is a religious ritual of special significance, often involving the formation of a covenant with God. Ordinances are performed by the authority of the priesthood and in the name of Jesus Christ. The term has a meaning roughly similar to that of the term "sacrament" in other Christian denominations. Because Mormons believe that everyone must receive certain ordinances to be saved, Mormons perform ordinances on behalf of deceased persons.  These ordinances are performed vicariously or by "proxy" on behalf of the dead. Mormons believe that the deceased may accept or reject the offered ordinance in the spirit world. Ordinances on behalf of the dead are performed only when a deceased person's genealogical information has been submitted to a temple. Only saving ordinances are performed on behalf of deceased persons. a living person, acting as proxy, is baptized by immersion on behalf of a deceased person. After giving a short prayer that includes the name of the deceased individual, the proxy is immersed briefly in the water, then brought up again. Baptism for the dead is a distinctive ordinance of the church and is based on the belief that baptism is a required ordinance for entry into the Kingdom of God.

Fundamentalists within the Mormon tradition see religious authority as inerrant and unchanging, but tend to locate this authority within their view of "Priesthood", which is conceived of as more of a charismatic authority and often physical lineage than an external organization. In this view, ordination lineage becomes all-important and an external organization such as a church may "lose" its theological authority while the "priesthood" (conceived in this abstract and individualistic sense) may continue via an alternative lineage. Mormon fundamentalists frequently assert that priesthood is prior to the Church.

Mormon prophets declared that anything written outside church documents was suspect and anti-Mormon, fabricated for the sole purpose of destroying faith. (and hard evidence toward proving Mormonism is a cult--jef)

In addition to baptizing dead people, wearing magic underwear and the belief they will become gods, themselves when they die, Mormon fundamentalists believe in:

• plural marriage (polygamy)
• the law of consecration also known as the United Order
• the "Adam is God" teachings taught by Brigham Young and early Mormon leaders
• the principle of blood atonement
• the exclusion of black men from the priesthood
• the belief that missionaries should teach "without purse or scrip"

According to mainstream Mormons, the Seven Deadly Heresies, which are doctrine, it is heresy to believe the following:

1. God is progressing in knowledge and is learning new truths.
2. Church members can harmonize evolution and doctrine.
3. Temple marriage assures us of an eventual exaltation.
4. The doctrine of salvation for the dead offers men a second chance for salvation.
5. There is progression from one kingdom to another in the eternal worlds.
6. Adam is our father and our god, … he is the father of our spirits and our bodies, and … he is the one we worship. (which is counter to what fundamentalists believe)
7. We must be perfect to gain salvation.

There are many sites making valid claims that Joseph Smith was a scam artist who translated the Book of Mormon while looking at a stone inside of a hat. And that the Book of Mormon is a complete fraud or hoax. And there are plenty of stories of an accelerating exodus from the Mormon church.

Clues that your Mormon religion might just be a cult:

1. Teaching that the doctrine of the Mormon Church is reality, the doctrine is to be accepted, not understood. 
2. Reality is black and white, good and evil, spiritual world versus physical word. As an example, the Mormon Church cult is the only true church on the face of the earth. 
3. Mormon Church members are taught to feel part of an elite corps. Following and accepting church doctrine insures members eternal life and a delightful life in heaven. 
4. The Mormon Church promotes a sense of community with love and friendship, with special flattery and attention to new members 
5. Mormon Church members are manipulated through fear and guilt, fear that if they don’t practice church doctrine faithfully, that they will fail to reach the highest levels of heaven, fear that if they don’t wear their garments, that they will not be protected by God. 
6. Mormon Church members are taught that any problems that they may have are due to their own inadequacies. If they are having marital, financial or other difficult problems, it is because they are not following church doctrine, or are not praying enough. Guilt, fear and shame are present in the minds of Mormons, if they are not loyal, and fail to follow the church doctrine. 
7. Unlike non-cult organizations, Mormon Church members find it difficult to leave, when they find out that church teachings are false, or otherwise become disenchanted with the church. Terrible things may happen to them, and their family if they leave. Those who do leave, often lose their family, friends and other social contacts within the Mormon community.

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While I'm out on pretty much all of mankind's attempts at defining "God" via religion through various explorations of dogma, guilt, deprivation, mythology, harsh judgment, superstition, puritanism, and the fear of dying, I have always believed that having the freedom to believe whatever you want to believe and having the right to do so openly and without fear of persecution is a fundamental human right to protect and keep intact. And for the most part, these various religions are relatively benign. But across the board, the demon of every religion that fucks with believers and non-believers alike, is fundamentalism. And its devil is extreme fundamentalism. I think those with extreme fundamentalist views should not hold positions in government because they believe their lives and fates to be preordained by a higher power, a supreme being, a god. It's not rational as a matter of public policy. Believe what you want, but the problem with your beliefs if they are fundamentalist is that you are so sold on your beliefs, you think God wants everyone to comply with your indoctrination--whether we want to or not. And the fundies consider themselves tools for God's will in the hands of God.

When fundamentalism of a particular religion becomes so extreme that it breaks away from its more grounded--yet extreme in their own right-- denominations and beliefs, that is when a denomination morphs from a sect into a cult. And what I gather from a layman's understanding of cult behavior and dogma, Mormonism is no different from, say, Branch Davidians or the Jim Jones Ministry as far as their cult status is defined. I don't doubt or question their faith, or even that they are Christians--but their views and practices are more extreme than mainstream Christianity, which can be annoying and troublesome enough on its own. Everyone ,who was ever in a cult, denied that their cult was a cult while they where members of the cult. When they leave the cult, they almost invariably use the term "cult" to describe their former religious affiliation.

Admittedly, I view all religions--particularly, as I said, fundamentalist factions of those religions--with a suspicious eye. But I view cults with even more drastic suspicion because they are obsessed, preoccupied--however one would prefer to define their attention to it--with the end of the world. And Mormons are no different from other doomsday cults. Their prophecy (paraphrased) states:

...when America degenerates to the point where “the Constitution hangs by a thread” -- which most TV pundits agree we’re there already -- a Mormon will be elected President of the United States, triggering the end of the world as we know it; the overthrow of “gentile” rule; and the long-promised Second Coming of Jesus Christ in Independence, Missouri.

Mitt Romney was raised to believe that if he is elected president, Mitt Romney will rule the world (or whatever is left of it) as the Mormon gods’ Viceroy.

~~A Mormon President, a documentary made by a Mormon

So, Romney was raised to believe that if he's elected president, he'll be fulfilling the Mormon doomsday prophecy. I don't care what he believes, but I DO care how he acts on those beliefs, and let's face it, cult members don't have a very strong track record of responding rationally when faced with extreme circumstances. Just the fact they believe in the power of prayer to magically whisk their troubles away or to verify God's fatal refusal to help is bad enough.

Politically Romney and Obama are more alike than they differ--despite the differences each's loyalists claim to the contrary. But the dangerous difference---beyond having Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Karl Rove, the Koch Brothers, et al, constantly pushing bad policy on Romney all the time---or having Eric Holder, Larry Summers, Tim Geithner and Monsanto the devil executives as cabinet members or advisors to Obama---is the fact that Mitt Romney's religious faith is in a doomsday cult which believes and practices the things I described above. Anyone's free to believe it, knock yourself out--but that steaming pile of bullshit affects the way he governs, and if he believes simply by being elected president in November, he's fulfilling his doomsday cult's doomsday prophecy, it's not any significant stretch to assume that will affect the way he governs. What a fucking disaster!

And that's piled on top of the fact that Romney will say anything, including the opposite of something he might have just said, in order to be elected. And he makes no attempt to hide the fact he lies constantly--Obama doesn't either, I know, but Obama isn't a member of a doomsday cult. And if choosing the lesser of 2 evils is the philosophy a voter uses to determine for whom they will vote, "cult member" ALWAYS trumps "socialist," "suspected Muslim," and "questionable citizenship status" as the "worst" of of those supposed "evils."--jef

In the interest of fairness, here are some graphics which show Mormons in a more positive light than I have shined on them so far in this blog entry: