Searching in vain for "Mormon lust"
Posted September 12, 2006
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints once encouraged polygamy -- what the church calls "plural marriage." But the practice was denounced by church officials in the late 19th century. Today, having more than one spouse will get you excommunicated.
More than almost any Christian religious body, the LDS church today stresses traditional scriptural sexual mores. Celibacy before marriage and faithful monogamy thereafter. Still, the stereotypes remain -- at least in a few remote corners of America.
A reader warned me that I would be surrounded by "perverted lust crazed monsters" in Salt Lake. But here's a brief reality check. These lust-crazed Mormons don't have strip clubs on every corner, like we do in Dallas, Texas and Lexington, Kentucky.
They don't sell skin magazines at the airport and they don't show XXX movies in their top hotels. They teach their young people to abstain from sex until marriage and they teach their adults to be faithful to one spouse (of the opposite sex, by the way) for time and eternity.
They discourage the use of alcohol. Many of their restaurants refrain from selling iced tea -- let alone margaritas.
These Mormon family values attract new members. The growth rate is astonishing. So here's my prediction: The LDS church, within the next 20 years, will become the third-largest religious body in the entire nation, larger than anyone but the Roman Catholic Church and the Southern Baptist Convention.
People that pontificate about "Mormon lust" ought to come to Salt Lake and see it for themselves. If they come with an open mind and look around awhile, they'll be surprised by what they see.
Archived Comments
Oh woopie doo! They don't have Hustler in the airport! Wow! They must really be the Church of Christ!
WRONG!
Mormons believe that human beings can become Gods among other silly things. Since you seem intent on leading as many people as possible to damnation by advocating this Hellish "church", at least let me tell a little truth about this awful racist organization!
http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/0061/0061_01.asp
Please everyone read this and do not be fooled by Mr. Lockwood's slick talk!
Thank you.
Well, Frank, I have to call a foul here. You say that the LDS church officials "denounced" polygamy in the late 19th century. True, but incomplete: They denounced it after:
1. The US Congress, in 1862, passed a federal law (signed by Abraham Lincoln as president) banning polygamy in federally controlled territories (Utah was not then a state, but a territory controlled by the federal governmnet);
2. The LDS Church tapdanced around the new law for years, until the US Supreme Court in 1878 first upheld its constitutionality; AND
3. A number of other US Supreme Court cases also affirmed the law and in particular after an 1890 Supreme Court case, Late Corporation of the of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints v. US, 136 US 1 (1890), ruled that the federal government could revoke the charter of the corporation owning church property and seize the property of the church because of its use in promoting polygamy.
After this ruling, the church effectively entered into a settlement with the US government known as the Great Accomodation in which the LDS Church ended its official sanction of plural marriages, though there are claims that high church officials practiced polygamy well into the 20th century.
In announcing the Great Accomodation, the then-president of the LDS Church announced that he had received a divine message to stop the practice of polygamy.
Wonder what message he would have gotten if the courts had ruled the other way?
The LDS Church really kind of puts the role of theology in religion in perspective.
As a mainstream liberal protestant, I find the origin of the LDS Church so obviously fake as to be laughable.
Gold tablets? Yeah, right. Translated by Joseph Smith with the help of an angel? Sure. A translation that cribs from the King James Version of the Bible and some bad historical novels? Great. And then as magically as the gold tablets appeared, they disappeared? Very convenient. And the whole polygamy issue, and the whole racism issue. Uh huh.
But, as Frank points out, the reality is that the Mormons have made the desert bloom, and have built up a society that in many ways is superior to the dominant culture in the US, in its dealings with social problems like alcohol, tobacco, and unwanted pregnancies. Even if everything Joseph Smith and his followers ever taught is wrong (and I suspect it is), the lung cancer rate in Utah is still far lower than it is in bible thumping but tobacco growing Kentucky, and I doubt that alcoholism is much of a social evil in Salt Lake City.
All of which leads to the question: In reality, does theology matter? Or do actions speak louder than doctrines?
Thanks Caleb for posting some useful information about the LDS. And the info about Joseph Smith and the origins is typically stuff people gloss over.
This may sound silly, but South Park did a great episode on the LDS and gave out quite a few facts that people either don't think about or don't want to think about.
And I have no problems with having a 'clean' society, but those societies that try to be clean and upstanding, somewhere along the way tend to diverge and try to rid themselves of people who don't fit the image they want for their society.
I am constantly amazed at the lengths people will go to in order to disparage the LDS Church. But I also get such a kick out of the the similarity to a belief that people would believe General Motors if it published a book called "The Truth About Ford." That's about what these people are doing when they start spouting off and ridiculing Mormon beliefs based mostly on hearsay from the ignorant or the disaffected. Look, people, if you want to test theology, try doing as Jesus himself taught. After you hear something, ask God. There are ways to do that, right? That's what Joseph Smith said he did, taking his advice directly from the Book of James, which is NOT in the Book of Mormon, but in The Bible, you know, that thing that all you "proper" Christians keep saying you believe in?
WOW, I see that you mostly have anti-mormon readers that focus so much energy on their perceptions of the Mormon Faith. Well, a religion is referred to as a "Faith" because it requires work and a trial of our Faith to believe in tablets, angels and such. The world needs less critics. The teachings of Jesus Christ have always been refuted; I say bring your persecution, your hatred, and your criticism. All it does is instill more of my own Faith in The Lords church; he's always called Prophets and sent Angels, why should our day be any different? We are no less special, and we are here on earth for the experience to help us become more like God. Try focusing your energy on becoming more like him.
Any religion is only as good as its leaders. Peoples beliefs are what gets them through life in the good times and the bad. The mormon belief is to its people what any other religion is to its sect. The only problem I have is their is supposed only one religion at the end of man. I wonder if this will be the unified belief of God. All religious document were recorded by man, so the record is of the belief of who originally recorded it.I would think that perception of that group of people in that time would be recorded as a truth relating to the pertinent period. My point being knowledge changes perception. If the same thing were to happen today and be record would it reflect the same message.
"By their fruits, Ye shall know them." I think that verse in Matthew speaks for itself. What Frank experienced in SLC is what LDS people and their beliefs are all about. Not what Jack Chick says they are. If the revelation from God to end polygamy was convenient, I guess the parting of the Red Sea for the Israelites was as well. The fact is anywhere you go and meet LDS people you will see the same thing. Hard-working, industrious people trying to live as Jesus would want them to. It makes no sense whatsoever to say, "Well, they seem like good people, too bad they are going to hell." God does not work that way. And I think I would be happy to compare the racial history of the LDS Church with the Southern Baptists any day of the week.
You may notice in that picture below, the one where Frank has brought a camera to take pictures while he is singing (is that strange or what?), that everyone is white. That's because the Morons teach that Blacks are of the fallen angels. They are a very racist organization just like the racist Joseph Smith.
The Bible says that all men are of one blood. Yet another reason why the Moron Church is modern day Baal worship.
And another thing, Frank, if a church has a lot of members, that is a BAD sign. Christ said that only few would be saved and that if you preach His word you will be hated by the world.
These massive churches regardless if they are the Morons, the Mary Worshipers, or the Baptist Dog Kennels are not the true Church of Jesus.
BTW: Islam is the fastest growing religion in America and you can expect in about 20 years that it will be a powerful force to contend with. Think Europe.
Good reporting Mr. Lockwood. I admire your lack of biass. It must reflect a firm faith in Chirst. Hey, even Christ used other faiths to illustrate the gospel (like the good samaritan). Keep it up, we are reading: all the way down from Venezuela.
I really enjoyed this blog and it was refreshing to read something about the LDS church that wasn't rhetoric. I am not a Mormon and cannot support many of their beliefs, however I have had many Mormon friends and in each circumstance, the one thing that impressed me the most was their dedication to family and their children. They took seriously loving their children and giving them positive time and attention. I have met no Mormon workaholics. I am sure they exist, but the churches support and dedication to family is something to be admired and is an example others of all religions should look up to.
In reading others comments I have to say that choosing to mock the origin of any organized religion is a serious risk. In reality, if faith is not applied, nearly every origin sounds ridiculous whether it involves Gold Tablets or a Virgin who gives birth in a stable.
I am an agnostic and would love to see more blogs like this educating and showing the spirit of individual and collective faith as opposed to the judgment applied by those who lack empathy and understanding.
What was it the pope said just recently, something about the rights of freedom has replaced the sacredness of religion. I found this to be quite profound and so true.
I guess Mr. McQueary not take my advice and check out FAIR Conference 2006 on the Web.
To Mr Powers--I wonder how Abraham,Isaac and Jacob would have viewed the 1878 Supreme Court ruling on Polygamy. An open mind probably would help you folks.
Sorry, fellow church members and others, but I just have to...
Bart,
I just got done reading the "cartoon" from the chick.com link. Sorry it took me so long to respond to this, but I just barely got off the floor from laughing so hard! Thanks for sharing that. No wonder you're so confused. If you get your beliefs from cartoons that are so erroneous as to be laughable then we really can't expect much more.
Thanks again for the laugh!
i have written the lds church presidency(and marriott corporation) several times to pressure bill marriott to stop selling XXXX movies fare in mariott hotels/motels- still there , even in salt lake city-sad!
Jack Chick may be the only man in America who believes both that the King James Version of the Bible is the only true and revealed word of God AND that the Jesuits killed Abraham Lincoln.
If any of today's other posts were aimed at me, I confess that I have just as much skepticism about the parting of the Red Sea and anyone's virgin birth as I do about Joseph Smith's gold tablets; it's just easier to refute Smith's story because we're closer to it historically.
My point was not whether to believe or disbelieve the stories. My point was simply to ask the question of whether the stories matter, or whether actions speak louder than doctrines.
Roland, I don't imagine that Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob would have thought much of the Supreme Court's rulings in the Mormon cases, and frankly my inner civil libertarian doesn't think much of the rulings, either. (Of course, the aforementioned patriarchs wouldn't have thought much of the Emancipation Proclamation either, being slaveholders, and I can only imagine what they'd have thought of the amendment giving women the vote.)
I don't care whether people practice polygamy or not. I understand why it may have evolved in both the ancient Hebrew world and in the American desert, each culture having a need to increase its population in the quickest way possible. It may have been perfectly logical under the circumstances, but the cultural climate in 19th century America wasn't going to allow polygamy to be practiced openly.
My point was simply that it's a bit hypocritical for an organization to proclaim the doctrine of polygamy in the strongest possible terms for years, then when faced with the federal government knocking on its door with an order to sell its temple, to proclaim that its leaders have had a divine revelation, which happens to coincide with exactly the action needed to shoo the marshalls away from the door.
Wouldn't it have been more honest to say, okay we believe in polygamy, but we fought the law and the law won. So, while we still believe in it, we're not going to practice it or allow it, but we'll lobby for a change in the law (just as some native american groups have lobbied for -- and in some cases received -- exemptions from rules against consumption of magic mushrooms) and if it ever becomes legal again, we'll do it.
After all, the LDS Church has never been afraid to advance its beliefs politically: The purpose of the 1862 Morrill Act was, in part, to overturn legislation passed by the Utah Legislature allowing polygamy.
Why do we need a divine revelation? I mean, this was a settlement of a legal dispute. We know the parties and judge had to approve it, but did God have to approve it, too?
Hi. I'd like to respond to Caleb's comment. The answer to your question is, Yes. God did/does have to approve it. If God had said to continue to practice polygamy, then we would have either perished doing so, or He would have provided a way to make it possible. Luke 1:37 states that "with God nothing shall be impossible." I've lived my life believing that that is true. I am grateful to be a member of a faith that believes that God continues to talk with us today. He is our Father, and He loves us. My relationship with God is personal and the most precious thing I possess. I love Him. Does that make me stupid, or uneducated? No. Does that lead me to change beliefs and opinions based on popular bias? No, quite the contrary.
I am not perfect, nor do I claim that "mormons" as a whole are better than anyone else. I do claim, however, that we believe that we will follow the dictates of God. If you would like to learn more about the revelation leading to the abolishment of polygamy in the LDS Church, please ask any LDS friends that you have. They have a copy of the statement and President Woodruff's revelation in the back of there scriptures.
President's woodsruff's revelaton, huh? this is the problem i have with the mormonites - too many revelations, no authentication, no witness !! and this never ending change in mormon teachings and doctrines (based on fresh revelations)is very disturbing ! are you guys saying that God is not sure of what HE is doing? mormonism is based on nothing but lies, distortion and fairy tales ! i dont understand how rational inteliigent people can be sucked into it.
There is some pretty good debating going on on this site, but I contend the only way to find out the truth about the Mormon religion is to look at their history before Salt Lake. Did they get run out of countless communities becuase they were nice people? Did Joseph and Hyram Smith get shot in the Carthage jail because they had done nothing wrong? Every book you read would lead you to believe Joseph Smith and the Mormons were the victims. Go back to the Nauvoo area and see if anyone has diaries from the time frame the Mormons were there. They were the equivalent of horse thieves. So what do we do when people don't like us? Well we can move to the middle of nowhere and do whatever we want. Don't get me wrong, Mormons have changed. The friends of mine that are Mormon are some of the nicest people I have ever met. However, I have always wondered at what point, if ever, are they ever told about their real history, or if anyone at the top of the church even knows anymore. If a couple of farmers in southern Illinois can write some chicken scratch on a bronze tablet, rub some dirt on them and convince Joseph Smith they are real......and Joseph Smith actually TRANSLATES them, well I don't buy it and I don't thing Mormon's would either if they knew the truth. Oh on another side note...the growth of the Mormon church is somewhat of a myth. If you ever proclaimed to be a Mormon at some point in your life you are on their rosters, it does not matter if you leave, die, or whatever, you are still counted as a practicing Mormon would accounts for their steady growth despite many people leaving the church.
Frank,
Thank you.
David