The Mormon faith — or Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as it is officially called — has a “fundamental” PR problem.
It may have renounced polygamy over a century ago but the breakaway sects which continue to practice plural marriage are the ones that often catch the public eye, leading to the popular misconception that all Mormon men have, or strive to have, more than one (often underage) wife.
This was driven home to me as investigators late last week swooped on a polygamist compound in a remote part of west Texas in response to an abuse complaint.
The compound belongs to followers of jailed polygamist leader Warren Jeffs and is linked to the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, which broke away from the main branch of the faith decades ago.
Over 400 children were yanked from the Texas facility over the course of the weekend and into the early part of this week, providing a riveting spectacle in a dusty corner of the state.
Television footage showed young girls in long, apparently homemade “pioneer dresses” boarding buses. Some who looked to be in their early teens carried infant children. Texas child welfare officials said it was their biggest operation ever.
As all of this was unfolding my wife happened to mention to a friend of hers in South Africa — a friend who is well-educated, a journalist and a devout Christian — that I was covering the story. Her friend’s response? “Those Mormons, they’re weird. I don’t answer the door when they knock,” she said. My wife said as far as her friend was concerned, Mormons were Mormons and that was that.
Of course, the mainstream Mormon church, which claims a worldwide membership of around 13 million, is the one sending missionaries around the globe to knock on doors and spread the faith.
The renegade polygamist sects whose followers number several thousand (some estimates are as high as 40,000 or more) are not knocking on doors in Johannesburg. But the perception is clearly there: Mormons are the funny fellows taking multiple wives and living in isolated retreats in remote patches of America.
In places like Texas, the mainstream Mormon faith — based in Salt Lake City, Utah — has to contend with plenty of suspicion anyway.
Southern Baptists and other evangelicals widely regard Mormonism as an almost sinister cult which is successfully competing for souls among the faithful. They regard Joseph Smith, who founded the faith in New York state in 1830, as a false prophet. Southern Baptists are taught in Sunday School to be wary of that “knock on the door” from Mormon missionaries.
Against this backdrop the last thing the mainstream LDS needs is more bad press stemming from its fundementalist kin. The Texas media is abuzz about the probe and court documents alleging a compound rife with sexual abuse and girls being forced into “spiritual marriage” after reaching puberty.
One also gets the impression that Texas authorities were chomping at the bit to take the place down, given the scale of the operation in response to complaints allegedly made by one person.
But it has all served to reinforce popular stereotypes of the Mormon faith — and that must be causing discomfit in Salt Lake City.
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As a “Mormon,” I find it especially interesting when some people, (like Janet Wade who are obviously not Mormon) tell others what we as Mormons believe. If somebody wants to know more about the Mormons (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), the best way to find out what we believe is to ask us … maybe more people should open the door when those missionaries knock to get some answers to their questions.
As far as adapting our teachings to society, as M Greene said, I don’t know what he’s referring to if we do not drink, smoke, do drugs, or have premarital sex.
It all comes down to the fact that we believe in modern-day revelation. We believe that God speaks to our Prophets like he did to Moses and other prophets of old.
- Posted by DaveI rest my case.
And Reuters, thanks for the “PR” help during the primaries.
- Posted by Big Gone more thing…. they also believe that gordon hinckley is a man GOD which is crap. There is no such thing as a guy who gets promoted being a god and also believe they will turn into gods themselves and have a planet of thier own in the afterlife…. COOOOMEE ONNN and thats NORMAL all they did was let some con man add a few chapters on to the bible and dupe them… if they come to my door i will ask them how could they be so naive….
- Posted by JackIts amazing how mormons always justify thier beliefs. This is America and they have that right but if your always having to clarify it then theres a problem. I used to work at the Mormon Church and I am a christian not a mormon. They believe jesus was in south/latin american and this regular joe joseph smith found these tablets that only HE could read and then they Suddenly disappeared. PLEASE. You might as well follow scientology…. They pretend like they believe the same things but then come to find out its a bunch of ADD-ONs by this JOE guy. If you can be EXCOMMUNICATED ITS A CULT PEOPLE> I know i saw first hand…..
- Posted by JackIf Joseph Smith and Brigham Young were around today, which religious organization would they see as closest to the one they started or led west? I would say it is the Fundamentalist group(s) that mainstream Mormons eschew. In addition, where is Utah in all of this? The states leaders and citizens hide and ignore these same practices because they know how many of their fore fathers were involved in exactly the same practice. Shame on them. “Thank you” to Texas authorities who have dealt with this important societal issue and the crimes involved.
- Posted by BillI wonder who perpetuates that “PR problem”?
Surely not Reuters or any other news source.
The problem lies with you Reuters.
Thanks for all your “help” Reuters.
The “fundemental problem” here is folks have itching ears, and Reuters and many “Christians” make good money catering to those with itcing ears.
Letting Reuters and Southern Baptists define the LDS faith is like letting the pharisees define Christ’s doctrine.
- Posted by Big GWere New Testament Christians a “Cult”?
Yes.
- Posted by WayneThe Mormon’s fundamental (without the quotation marks) problem is that Joseph Smith made the whole thing up.
Later, Brigham Young took over to satisfy his personal power trip.
- Posted by PeterI would encourage Janet Wade (and anyone following the events in Texas) to do some research into the Short Creek raid in 1953. Utah, Arizona, and (unofficially) Mormon leaders once did something, and it backfired. Is force the best way to solve a difficult situation? It didn’t work last time.
Certainly society must stand up against child abuse. I’m just not certain that this action was the best way to do it. We’ll have to wait and see if things turn out differently this time.
- Posted by AlanWhy don’t Evangelicals have a “fundamental PR problem”?
Evangelical polygamists have about 50,000 members in the United States. One group, LoveNotForce.com, teaches the “Standard of Christian Polygamy.” Men are instructed on how to “unlock the gate,” so wives will be more open to their men having more wives.
So the Evanglicals have more polygamists than the offshoots. Are they competing with one another?
http://www.chron.com/commons/persona.htm l?newspaperUserId=kengurley&plckPersonaP age=BlogViewPost&plckUserId=kengurley&pl ckPostId=Blog%3AkengurleyPost%3A7c898aac -d02d-4ad3-a62e-7acff57db0fb&plckControl ler=PersonaBlog&plckScript=personaScript &plckElementId=personaDest
- Posted by BotWere New Testament Christians a “Cult”?
Mormons are not Creedal Christians. However, they do believe in the Jesus Christ of the New Testament:
The Church of Jesus Christ (LDS) is often accused by Evangelical pastors of not believing in Christ and, therefore, not being a Christian religion. This article http://mormonsarechristian.blogspot.com/ helps to clarify such misconceptions by examining early Christianity’s comprehension of baptism, the Godhead, the deity of Jesus Christ and His Atonement.
The Church of Jesus Christ (LDS) adheres more closely to First Century Christianity and the New Testament than any other denomination. For example, Harper’s Bible Dictionary entry on the Trinity says “the formal doctrine of the Trinity as it was defined by the great church councils of the fourth and fifth centuries is not to be found in the New Testament.”
One Baptist blogger stated “99 percent of the members of his Baptist church believe in the Mormon (and Early Christian) view of the Trinity. It is the preachers who insist on the Nicene Creed definition.” It seems to me the reason the pastors denigrate the Church of Jesus Christ (LDS) is to protect their flock (and their livelihood).
Further reading; http://jesuschrist.lds.org/SonOfGod/eng/
- Posted by Mormons Are ChristianI must respectfully disagree with several of the above statements. This article seeks to distinguish members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from break-away polygamist sects and does a good job of it. In the heads of most people, as this article demonstrates, “Mormons are Mormons.” Main-stream Mormons should be grateful for this article, not condemn it.
The debate over who may or may not be labeled Mormon reminds me of the fight over who may call themselves Christian. Most Christian sects deny Mormons the label of Christians while Mormons claim to represent pure restored Christianity. If a person believes in the divinity of Jesus Christ, aren’t they Christian? If a person believes in the prophetic role of Joseph Smith, aren’t they a Mormon? Or should they be called Josephites? Latter-day Saints? Restorationists? Who gets to control labels?
Mr. Stoddard, this Mormon appreciates the great article. It highlights the struggle the Church faces in defining itself in both America, and throughout the world. With what many Americans believe about the faith, no wonder Republicans were suspicious of Mitt Romney.
- Posted by AlanThey are following Joseph Smiths teachings. The LDS church changed the Mormon prophets teaching to fit into society….
The Mormons have been adapting the teachings to fit better into society constantly. Mormons have quite a few problems that can make them viewed as a cult…
- Posted by M GreeneJanet Wade said “If the LDS church had the courage to instruct it’s members in law enforcement and the courts to enforce the laws and protect the children in the smaller sects, this problem could have been dealt with long ago.”
I don’t know how many times we have to mention that these splinter groups have nothing to do with the LDS church. Blaming the LDS church for them (or for the lack of prosecution of them) is akin to blaming the Pope for not policing the things that Protestant church members do. Janet Wade must bang on the doors of the Vatican every time Protestants behave badly.
- Posted by B ThomasThis message is in reply to the posting of Janet Wade, whose post contains some very odd assertions, and some incorrect, or misleading statements.
First of all, she seems to think that the church should instruct its members in ‘law enforcement’…? Since when do members of the LDS church assume the responsibilities of law enforcement? Are we to form a posse? Does she expect that members of other churches also are to be a part of law enforcement?
Secondly, the D&C is not the ‘main canon’ of the church. The canon consists of the Bible, Book of Mormon, D&C, and Pearl of Great Price. No one of these is considered the main canon.
Finally, the she claims that the canon contains no instructions to stop polygamy. This too is not correct. The Doctrine and Covenants does include the ‘manifesto’, instruction that members are to no longer practice polygamy, and this manifesto has constituted the church’s vieww on the practice of polygamy since. Anyone who enters into polygamy is going contrary to this doctrine, and is excommunicated.
- Posted by ValYes, finding PR contrast and real or imagined differences between the breakaway sects of Mormonism and the S.L.C. ‘Brighamite’ version is a real problem. . . it may even approach the difficulty of specifying on some basis other than color, a telling difference between the light and the dark divisions of chicken droppings.
- Posted by c. greysThere are many Mormon sects, of which the LDS church is just one - the largest and best known, but just one more sect.
If the LDS church had the courage to instruct it’s members in law enforcement and the courts to enforce the laws and protect the children in the smaller sects, this problem could have been dealt with long ago. Instead, generations of girls have been raped. It’s a shameful failure of the Utah and Arizona power structures which are LDS dominated. Thank God for Texas. The Utah Attorney General just gave an interview in which he admitted he ‘almost’ did the same thing. Almost isn’t good enough.
LDS canon still claims that polygamy will be practiced in heaven, and the main canon of the LDS church (the D&DC) still has the commands to Joseph Smith to practice it, but nothing to stop practicing. The FLDS church is actually following Smith’s commands more acurately than the LDS church.
- Posted by Janet WadeThe misconceptions put forth by the media is more of a reflection on the “Media’s ignorance”, lack of scholarship, and in some cases, even outright deception,
than it is on the Mormons.
The Associated Press style guide states clearly that the term “Mormon” is “never” to be used, unless referring to members of the “Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints”, period. Any other group should not be referred to with that term in any way, whatsoever.
You would never refer to a Lutheran or an Anglican as a fundamentalist Catholic. This PR problem is the media’s
agenda. The LDS Church increases it’s membership by a million people every 2.5 years. Honest people seeking truth don’t look to the lying media for their guidance.
This group in Texas is the absolute antithesis of anything a Mormon believes or teaches.
These people in Texas are in no way akin to the actual Mormons, nor does their style of polygamy in any way resemble the polygamy of the 1800’s Mormon church.
There was no marrying nieces and or isolationism in the 1800’s. In reality, only 5-10% of all 19th century adult males ever entered into polygamy. Also remember that polygamy is not just a Mormon thing, Biblical Prophets such as, Moses, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Solomon, David, etc. were all polygamists. The worlds three major religions still consider all of them to be men of God.
True journalists would never make these mistakes, Baptists, propogandists and shoddy journalists do.
If the media wants to put their bias on display for the world to see, who are we to intervene. Like all dishonest endeavours, the truth will out!.
ajarizona
- Posted by ajarizonathis article is lacking in truth. the name of the polygamist group is “the fundamentalist church of latter day saints” not the fundamentalist church of (Jesus Christ) of latter day saints. The mormons abandon plural marriage over a hundred years ago.Iam a mormon and if I marry more than one wife, I will be excommunicated. Also,our late president Gordon B. Hinckley said there’s no such thing as a fundamentalist mormon. You are either a mormon or a non mormon. If you form another church , then that church no longer fall under the umbrella of the The Church Of Jesus Christ of the Latter day Saints. The writer of this article has a hidden agenda, and that is to connect this polygamist group to the mormon church which is far from the truth.
- Posted by Phil OlleroThanks for writing this article.
You’re right- I’m a real “Mormon” or a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. (My ancestors on both sides of the family came out to Utah with Brigham Young and were originally from Norway, Denmark, England, and Switzerland. I’m currently working on my Ph.D. at Purdue, but I’m originally from Utah.)
When I hear about these psycho polygamist sects making national news and the news agencies referring to them as “Mormons” and “followers of Joseph Smith,” it just makes me sick. These people are about as much followers of Joseph Smith as terrorists are followers of the Muslim faith! There practices are considered apostate and evil, and anyone who abuses a child, in OUR faith, is worthy of death (subject to the laws of the land, which we put before our own laws). Oh, how I wish people would search out the truth about us instead of believing what they hear from whoever they hear it from.
Unfortunately, as you say, some of the false information is spread by evangelical/baptist preachers who fear losing their flock (and hence their income) to Mormon missionaries. This strikes me as kind of funny, because in our Church, we’re actually encouraged to invite anyone into our home who has a sincere and loving concern for our souls. The idea is that together, the truth will eventually be found out, as long as people have a genuine love/concern for eachother and they are open-minded. (In fact, I heard that when Mike Huckabee and the Southern Baptist Convention came to SLC, Utah a few years ago, a number of them actually ended up joining our faith because how well-received they were…) I wish we could teach the world the power of 1) love (instead of fear) and 2) open-mindedness in the search for truth of all kinds- scientific and spiritual.
The people of my faith do indeed claim to have some things that others do not. But, we do not believe we are superior or that we need to FORCE anyone to do anything. We are followers of Christ and if Christ did anything, it was love. He did not judge. Our Church teaches that truth does the judging ok by itself; people should do the loving.
Thanks for writing this article. Hopefully it will help!
Shaun Hansen
- Posted by Shaun