Salon on Mormonism, and a word substitution game

[thedancingbear]

Subject line is somewhat inaccurate; one of the authors they're approvingly quoting actually does that.

Maybe I've just become over-sensitive because of the discussion of some of these issues on NB, but the following Salon article kind of irritated me.

http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2003/07/26/mormons/

(Go through their "Day Pass" rigamarole and support independent journalism.)

I mean granted I don't know a lot about Mormon faith but this reads like one of those anti-Semitic tracts of the 1940's and 50's (or the anti-Arab tracts of today).

Listen to this crap.

Polygamy may not be the most troubling aspect of the religion. There's also the doctrine of "blood atonement," which holds that when a person is in a state of grievous sin, any Mormon in good standing who kills that sinner according to the proper protocol is actually doing the victim a service, cleansing the sin with blood. Of course, blood atonement has fallen into even greater disfavor with official Mormondom than polygamy has, but fundamentalists looking to terminate their enemies with extreme prejudice can find sufficient Old-Testament-style justification in the church's scriptural bedrock. Hence, the Lafferty brothers believed that they were cutting the throats of their sister-in-law and niece at God's command, and Solomon's father was murdered by an adherent of a rival sect leader.


Like yeah I'm so sure that Mormons just run around offing each other whenever they commit bad sins.

This is disappointing, Salon is usually way above this. As a substitution game, imagine inserting "Arab" every time you see "Mormon" written and see if you'd be offended then, if you aren't already.

IS

[WWU Rachel]

I am glad that at least is some circles it isn't fashonable to bash the Mormon church. I was born into the church, and was a member for 18 years. As a mormon kid in junior high and high school, I was held personally responsible for cultural oddities (real and imagined) committed by the church. It is true that polygamy was praticed by few and it was, as Jason said, praticed within a strict structure of Victorian-esque sexuality. But it does provide fodder for the wild imagination, as do other (realisticaly tame) pratices.

I find it interesting that even now, the Book of Mormon is one of those books people are permitted to have an opinion about without having read. The church provides some interesting doctrine and theology for the student of religion, but in many academic circles it isn't taken seriously. The history of the Mormon pioneers is facinating, and includes the history of my family. I dont' have to be Mormon to be proud of that history. It's just too bad that people aren't more interested in the facts, there is plenty of real drama behind them.

Just wanted to sound off, I guess.

Rachel