Thor's Day: What’s wrong with Mormonism?

Or Scientology?

By Paul Clark 
(aka motomynd)

Moristotle recently published an article on Mormonism that was so well written by an obviously devout and well-informed Mormon, that I emailed the link to several people with whom I regularly discuss various views on religion and philosophy. To my surprise, they responded with feedback that was far more strident and negative than I expected.
    When I offered what mild defense I can muster for any “official” religion, one of my friends asked “What next? Are you going to start defending Scientology?”
    Which made me stop to think: Why is Scientology any worse than any of the other religious contrivances?

To give some background: Most members of my group are “spiritualists” for lack of a better term. To be blunt, we think anyone must be crazy or desperate to follow any modern religion, since all are devoid of factual basis or proven track record. We believe people are born with what they need to find their way in life already inside them, and they should build on that strength throughout life, rather than muddle along by relying on crutches such as booze, drugs, therapists, or religion.
    The notable exceptions to the spiritual believers in my group are a Baptist, a Buddhist, a Catholic, two Lutherans, and two Muslims. Yes, we at times have some lively discussions, and in this case it turned out my somewhat accommodating take on Mormonism had zero support with any member of my group. Most of them dismissed it as a cult.

My reply is that all religions started as cults, and the only reason they are with us today is they caught a couple of lucky breaks along the way and persevered. If the Roman emperor Constantine hadn’t legitimized Christianity more than 300 years after the alleged life of Jesus, would Christianity be a major religion today, or just a forgotten cult? I don’t say alleged life of Jesus to provoke a fight, by the way, but merely to note there is no actual proof he ever existed. He may have lived the history that was written years after his time, or he may be a combining of many stories into one being – not unlike King Arthur, or Beowulf, or Bigfoot. Other than 1,800 years, what is the difference between a 200-year-old cult and a 2,000-year-old religion? So why have a bigger problem with Mormonism, or Scientology, than with Christianity? Or Islam?

Salt Lake Mormon Temple

If one looks at the practical aspects versus the dogma, Mormonism has some very good points for improving one’s life. Mormons at least promote living a healthy lifestyle and doing good deeds here and now, instead of doing whatever you want now and expecting a free pass to the next life because you believe in God, or Allah, or Jesus, or cocaine. If either of my stepchildren wanted to choose Mormonism versus settling down to a typical North Carolina life of watching too much TV and subsisting on soft drinks and pork rinds, I would very strongly encourage them toward Mormonism.
    No religion has proven it actually delivers what it promises – whether that is a happy eternity with old friends and family or 40 virgins or whatever – so I make the case that all official religions should be banned on the same basis as diet pills that assure weight loss without exercise or a change of diet.

To cite a latent example of major religions failing at every level to deliver on any of their promises: The events of September 11, 2001.
    On 9/11 there were many doomed Christians praying on those airplanes; they all died. Since 9/11 there have been many Muslims praying every time they see a predator drone or helicopter gunship; all except the very luckiest among them died. If all the faith and dollars poured into religion doesn’t save lives or prevent conflict, what value is it?
    If you believe in Christianity or Islam, you can argue the case that your fellow believers at least went to a pleasant hereafter when they died. To which I say: Prove it. In fact, prove there is a hereafter and that anyone ever went there. Spouting muddled hand-me-down opinions from murky translations gleaned from cracked clay is not proof; it is opinion. That is why religions are faith-based, not fact-based, and that is why they have shaky standing with anyone who applies logic and science when evaluating them.
    The fact I can prove is that if Christianity and Islam didn’t exist, Christians and Muslims wouldn’t be killing each other over their religions. So from that perspective, any decision about following any religion becomes a choice of lesser evils.
    And as I see it, Mormonism is by far the lesser of several evils. Would we rather a man have a loving, understanding, honest relationship with two wives, or have him married and screwing around behind his wife's back with whoever he can grab at whatever moment? Would we rather people buy into a religion that endorsed the concept of multiple wives, and in some quarters still tacitly allows such, or one that tacitly allows men to molest children? Would we rather a religion strive to align itself politically with fascists, communists, and Nazis in multiple power-grab attempts, or that a religion promote good deeds, social involvement, and a lifestyle that is healthy for mind and body?
    Yes, the Mormon take on the history of the earth is arguably absurd, but what religion offers a more plausible perspective? Depending on who you believe, Joseph Smith was divinely inspired, or he was a con artist of apparently amazing charisma. Well, what was Moses in his day? Within a very few years of allegedly bringing the commandments off the mountain, historical accounts say Moses and his followers were raiding neighboring villages and killing every man, woman, and child they could find. That should tell us all we need to know about the value of the commandments. If Moses couldn’t even be bothered to follow them, why should anyone?

Given all this, if someone needs a crutch to get through life, at least Mormonism seems a better choice than many other crutches. And so does Scientology. Yes, the latter was founded by someone who was at best a wild idealist, and very possibly an outright con artist, but Scientology really seems to work for some people. So what is the harm? Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts work for some people, as does the Order of Masons, Shriners, etc. I wish they would all be required to pay their fair share of taxes like any for-profit social or business club, but as long as they are doing some form of good for people, and as long as their members are consenting adults rather than exploited children, how much harm are they really causing? At least they aren’t spawning terrorism.
    If you mention Scientology today, all most people can think of is Tom Cruise. Ask what they really know about Mormonism and they probably get as far as Mitt Romney and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Meanwhile, if you say Catholic, they immediately bring up child molestation, and some may even recall the church’s affiliation with Nazis and fascists before and well after WWII. Here in the Southeast we still mentally link Baptists and the Ku Klux Klan. Make your own choice, but I know who I would rather have living next door.

There is no way to legislate curbs on stupidity, and only so much can be done about curbing gullibility, so all religions will probably continue to prosper. And new cults will pop up every time a Jim Jones or David Koresh or Sun Myung Moon works up a new shtick. It is what it is.
    If we can't legally stop people from falling prey to fast food, soft drinks and obesity, can we even hope to stop them from falling prey to the next new cult? Or to cults who have gained societal acceptance as official religions over hundreds or thousands of years?
    We spiritualists know the answer to those questions, but we are hopelessly outnumbered by people who don’t live their religion yet still claim to believe in it. So all we can do is hope the next tragedy created by religious belief ends better for all involved than it has for helpless children in Catholic schools and orphanages, or the victims on either side of the Christian/Islam divide from 9/11 all the way back to the Crusades, or the Branch Davidians, or the Peoples Temple members in Jonestown, or the ancient villagers who saw Moses and his murderous band descending upon them.
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Copyright © 2014 by Paul Clark (aka motomynd)

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