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Anti-Mormon critics

Ms. Erickson and CNN Redux.

August 11, 2011 by Stephen Smoot

Earlier last month I wrote a few words concerning an interview conducted by CNN of Tricia Erickson, a rabid ex-Mormon who exhibited an almost paranoid fear of the prospect of a Mormon being elected as president of the United States. I found her bigoted and offensive ranting far below the journalistic standards of CNN, and hoped that the entire episode would quickly be forgotten.

Unfortunately, Ms. Erickson has been given yet more air time on CNN to prattle away on the nefarious machinations of the “Mormon Church” and Mitt Romney, the prominent Mormon candidate for the presidency. Fortunately, a voice of reason, in the embodiment of CNN Belief-Blog co-editor Eric Marrapodi, was allowed to participate in the discussion between Erickson and Tim Foreman, who challenged Erickson to show a single example of a Mormon making a negative political policy choice on the basis of his commitment to Mormonism. (Not surprisingly, Erickson failed to provide any such example.)

One of the arguments Ms. Erickson used in her assault on the faith of the Saints and Governor Romney was the claim that Mormons are on a campaign to dominate the world (why else are there any Mormons who hold political offices?) and that according to Mormon doctrine the second coming of Jesus will include the establishing of a Mormon totalitarian regime based out of Jackson County, Missouri. And if that isn’t enough to disqualify Romney or any other Mormon from being president, also remember that Mormons, including Romney, believe they will become gods and have their own planet! I was especially offended at this misrepresentation of my faith. Only one planet? Egoistical/self-aggrandizeing Mormon that I am, I am not shooting low for only one planet but a universe of endless worlds to populate through endless Celestial sex with my many goddess wives. Or at least that is what Ed Decker has repeated told me through his sensationalistic video The God Makers. Considering that Ed Decker is one of Ms. Erickson’s primary sources on Mormonism, I am surprised that she conservatively restricted Mormon aspirations of godly dominion to only one planet in the hereafter. Get your facts straight, Ms. Erickson!

This is the second time that CNN, a respected news agency, has provided precious air time for a crank to spout off nonsense against the Church of Jesus Christ. Hopefully Ms. Erickson has finally exhausted her time with CNN. We need less sensationalism and more serious journalism on the relationship between religion and modern politics. And we need it now especially with this upcoming election, wherein we have not one, but two potential Mormon candidates for the presidency. If ever there was a time when we as a people should look at the interplay between religious values and political policy that time is now. Ms. Erickson has now demonstrated twice that she cannot provide that nuanced and informed investigation. As such, we are compelled to look to others to answer this pertinent question.

Filed Under: Anti-Mormon critics, Politics Tagged With: anti-Mormonism, CNN, Ed Decker, Mitt Romney, Politics, Tricia Erickson

A Reply to Ms. Erickson

July 7, 2011 by Stephen Smoot

CNN has published an interview with a woman named Tricia Erickson, who has spoken out on why Mitt Romney is not qualified to be president of the United States. Instead of criticizing Romney for his political platforms, which is what one would expect in a discussion surrounding a political election, she instead has focused on (surprise!) his religion. She has made some rather pernicious swipes at Mormonism that are true to form amongst zealous Evangelical counter-cultists.

I intended to publish some remarks on the comments section of the CNN webpage, but my verbosity got the better of me and my reply was too long. Thankfully I have another avenues in which I can express my thoughts. What follows are my thoughts as they were intended on being published on the CNN webpage, with minor changes in formatting.

—

I usually don’t comment on blogs or websites such as this, but I feel compelled to relate some of my thoughts regarding Ms. Erickson’s unfortunate remarks directed against Mormonism.

For full disclosure I am a faithful Latter-day Saint. I was born and raised in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and made a conscious commitment to my religion as a young teenager when I began to seriously investigate not only my faith but other religions. I recently returned from my LDS mission in New England, where happily most people are not as unpleasant towards my faith as Ms. Erickson is. I have participated in the ordinances of the temple repeatedly. I attend my Church services weekly. And I have extensively studied not only the history and doctrine of my faith from both Mormon and non-Mormon perspectives but also other religious traditions such as Judaism and Islam. I am a student at Brigham Young University and am majoring in Ancient Near Eastern Studies, with an emphasis in Hebrew and the Old Testament. I thought I would get all of this out of the way so that nobody wonders about my background.

First, despite her denial to the contrary, Ms. Erickson’s attitude towards Mormonism is thoroughly anti-Mormon. She is egregiously twisting many tenets of Mormon doctrine, most noticeably the Mormon doctrine of deification (which, incidentally, finds remarkable harmony with the early Christian doctrine of theosis) to suit her polemical agenda. Her description of the ordinances of the temple is not only disrespectful towards Mormons, who hold these ordinances in the highest sanctity, but also is saturated with lurid sensationalism that is only appropriate for yellow journalism or a trashy tabloid. As Professor Bushman noted in his response, Ms. Erickson has stripped the Mormon temple ceremony out of its sacred context and warped it into a frightful, but inaccurate, caricature.

Second, her citing of Ed Decker as an authority on Mormonism is quite astonishing. It is not an exaggeration to say that her citing Decker to explain Mormonism is just as misguided as going to a neo-Nazi to seek out reliable information on Judaism or a member of the KKK to get an objective portrayal of blacks. In fact, Ed Decker’s outrageous distortion of Mormonism is so repellent that nobody less than career anti-Mormons Jerald and Sandra Tanner of Utah Lighthouse Ministry (certainly no friends of the Mormon Church) condemned Decker for his irresponsibility and unfounded, repugnant, and salacious attacks against the LDS Church. Decker has zero credibility, and his pseudo-scholarly miasmal book “The God Makers” has been debunked by Mormon apologists. For Ms. Erickson to rely on Decker as an authority on Mormonism is shocking, not to mention unfortunate, and betrays her anti-Mormon tendencies.

Third, Ms. Erickson’s disdain for other American religious minorities, particularly Muslims, is rank with bigotry.

Fourth, her continual spewing of words such as “cult”, “indoctrinate”, “dogma”, and characterizing Mormonism as “a complete lie” compromises her objectivity and her qualification to be a commentator on religious matters.

Someone else here has drawn attention to Dr. Hugh Nibley’s wonderful essay “How to Write an Anti-Mormon Book (A Handbook for Beginners)”. Those curious to see whether Ms. Erickson’s denial of being an anti-Mormon is legitimate should compare her remarks here with what Dr. Nibley has written. You can read it online for free here:

http://maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/publications/books/?bookid=77&chapid=973

Finally, may I express a word to the editors of CNN? Please be more selective with whom you decide to give airtime on your otherwise wonderful and informative website. Ms. Erickson, I am afraid, has no real contribution to the discussion of the relationship between religion and politics in our modern society. Her polemical ranting is below CNN’s standards of journalism.

Filed Under: Anti-Mormon critics, Doctrine, News stories, Politics, Temples Tagged With: anti-Mormon, Ed Decker, Politics, Temple

FAIR Issues 9: Challenging Issues and Keeping the Faith Pt 9

June 8, 2011 by SteveDensleyJr

https://media.blubrry.com/mormonfaircast/p/www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Challenging-Issues-and-Keeping-the-Faith-pt-9.mp3

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In this episode, Michael Ash asks, why are some intelligent and rational members negatively affected by critical claims, while others are not?  The full text of this article can be found at Mormon Times.

Brother Ash is author of the book Shaken Faith Syndrome: Strengthening One’s Testimony in the Face of Criticism and Doubt, as well as the book, of Faith and Reason: 80 Evidences Supporting the Prophet Joseph Smith. Both books are available for purchase online through the FAIR Bookstore.

Tell your friends about the FAIR-Cast. Share a link on your Facebook page and help increase the popularity of the FAIR-Cast by rating it in iTunes.

Filed Under: Anti-Mormon critics, Apologetics, Podcast

‘American Grace’ and LDS women

May 30, 2011 by Cassandra Hedelius

In the April 2011 General Conference, Elder Quentin L. Cook gave the probably most-discussed talk: “LDS Women Are Incredible!” My attention went mostly to a very short line—“The recent highly acclaimed book American Grace…noted that Latter-day Saint women are unique in being overwhelmingly satisfied with their role in Church leadership.”

At the risk of assuming too much, I think that in including that one line Elder Cook was aiming at two related criticisms: First, that the Church’s gender-based organization harms women, and second, that it blunders by not fully acknowledging women’s distress over that issue. [Read more…] about ‘American Grace’ and LDS women

Filed Under: Anti-Mormon critics, LDS Culture, Women

FAIR Issues, 7: Challenging Issues and Keeping the Faith Pt 7

May 28, 2011 by SteveDensleyJr

http://media.blubrry.com/mormonfaircast/p/www.fairblog.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Challenging-Issues-and-Keeping-the-Faith-pt-7.mp3

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People can experience discomfort, and even distress, when they encounter new information that conflicts with deeply held beliefs. This is called “cognitive dissonance.”  When this happens, we either: (1) reject the new information as false; (2) reject the new information as unimportant; (3) reject old beliefs in favor of the new information; or (4) find new information to validate the original belief. These various ways of resolving cognitive dissonance can be rational, irrational, or extra-rational and are used by faithful members as well as by anti-Mormons alike. The full text of this article can be found at Mormon Times.

Brother Ash is author of the book Shaken Faith Syndrome: Strengthening One’s Testimony in the Face of Criticism and Doubt, as well as the book, of Faith and Reason: 80 Evidences Supporting the Prophet Joseph Smith. Both books are available for purchase online through the FAIR Bookstore.

Tell your friends about the FAIR-Cast. Share a link on your Facebook page and help increase the popularity of the FAIR-Cast by rating it in iTunes.

Filed Under: Anti-Mormon critics, Apologetics, Podcast

FAIR Issues, 6: Challenging Issues and Keeping the Faith Pt 6

May 25, 2011 by SteveDensleyJr

http://media.blubrry.com/mormonfaircast/p/www.fairblog.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Challenging-Issues-and-Keeping-the-Faith-pt-6.mp3

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What happens when the average member of the Church first encounters anti-Mormon literature? Why do some members casually reject it and others become deeply unsettled? In this episode, Michael Ash explores these questions. The complete text of this article can be found at Mormon Times.

Brother Ash is author of the book Shaken Faith Syndrome: Strengthening One’s Testimony in the Face of Criticism and Doubt, as well as the book, of Faith and Reason: 80 Evidences Supporting the Prophet Joseph Smith. Both books are available for purchase online through the FAIR Bookstore.

Tell your friends about the FAIR-Cast. Share a link on your Facebook page and help increase the popularity of the FAIR-Cast by rating it in iTunes.

Filed Under: Anti-Mormon critics, Apologetics, Podcast

FAIR Issues, 5: Challenging Issues and Keeping the Faith Pt 5

May 22, 2011 by SteveDensleyJr

http://media.blubrry.com/mormonfaircast/p/www.fairblog.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Challenging-Issues-and-Keeping-the-Faith-pt-5.mp3

Podcast: Download (6.1MB)

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What is an “anti-Mormon?” When did anti-Mormons first appear? Is the term “anti-Mormon” pejorative? In the episode, Michael Ash discusses these issues and sets forth differences between two different types of anti-Mormons: sectarian critics and secular critics. The full text of this article is available at Mormon Times.

Brother Ash is author of the book Shaken Faith Syndrome: Strengthening One’s Testimony in the Face of Criticism and Doubt, as well as the book, of Faith and Reason: 80 Evidences Supporting the Prophet Joseph Smith. Both books are available for purchase online through the FAIR Bookstore.

Tell your friends about the FAIR-Cast. Share a link on your Facebook page and help increase the popularity of the FAIR-Cast by rating it in iTunes.

Filed Under: Anti-Mormon critics, Apologetics, Podcast

The death of “blood atonement?”

February 8, 2011 by McKay Jones

My “blood atonement” article (“Dead Men Tell No Tales: The Blood Atonement Balance Sheet”) is up on the main web site:

/Misc/Dead_Men_Tell_No_Tales.html

It’s a long one (109 footnotes), but well worth the read, in my opinion. I think much of the material will be new for even those who are well-read in things Mormon. Much more so (in spades) for those who happily parade the standard “blood atonement” proof-texts from Journal of Discourses as devastating to Mormon claims that their prophets and apostles were divinely called and sanctioned.

This material is a very small part of some books I’m working on focusing on topics in Journal of Discourses. I have made my own detailed index on over a hundred topics (apologetic, Church-related, background, humor, etc.), which is much more detailed than the standard one published by BYU in 1959 (which listed only seven references for “blood atonement”).

Feedback is more than welcome . . .

Filed Under: Anti-Mormon critics, Doctrine, Temples

“Well nigh as dangerous:” Revelation and infallibility

November 8, 2010 by McKay Jones

In my opinion, one of critics’ most harped-on “weaknesses” of the Church is actually its greatest strength: the lack of absolute certainty and infallibility, and the possibility that Church leaders could potentially lead astray. How could that be a good thing? Because of our purpose for being here, and the great blessing of learning through experience to seek, receive, discern, process, and apply personal revelation. That this is not a guaranteed error-free process for anyone, regardless of past success, is what makes this crucial, and what ultimately preserves and protects the Church from being led astray.

There are numerous statements from Church leaders, unknown to many, that expound on this seeming paradox. Comments on my recent paper for FAIR are welcome!

/Misc/Latter-day_Prophecy_and_Revelation.html

Filed Under: Anti-Mormon critics, Doctrine, General, Interfaith Dialogue, LDS Scriptures

Misquoting Brigham

October 8, 2010 by Mike Parker

An anonymous blog that provides out-of-context and embarrassing quotes from Brigham Young has manufactured a quote it attributes to the second president of the Church. On the “About” page, the blog owner says about himself:

I am a Prophet of God in this dispensation. I carry on the work that began with Joseph Smith. I led the Saints to the barren Salt Lake Valley and it is where we built Zion, even though Joseph Smith taught the Savior would return in Jackson County Missouri. Monogamous marriage is not the order of heaven, for it is only through polygamy that a man may achieve exaltation. The government should stay out of the lives of the Saints and let us worship and practice our religion according to the dictates of our own conscience. If there ever comes a day when the Saints interfere with the rights of others to live as they see fit, you can know with assurance that the Church is no longer led by a Prophet, but a mere man. The doctrines of this Church are eternal, for they were ordained before the world was and any man who changes these doctrines such as the temple ceremony, or the man who abandons polygamy, or allows blacks the Priesthood of God, is a fallen prophet.

I am Brother Brigham. And I am the voice of God.

The blog does not provide a citation for the quote. This is nothing more than a clumsy mashup of virtually every controversial subject on which Brigham ever spoke: Zion, polygamy, church and state, authoritarianism, the temple, and blacks and priesthood. And there’s an oblique reference to Proposition 8, too.

Normally this kind of juvenile prank would be ignored, but the quote was posted to a high-traffic discussion site for ex-Mormons, and now is being blogged and shared through Facebook.

FAIR volunteers have searched electronic databases of all of Brigham Young’s recorded sermons — the Journal of Discourses, the Deseret News, the 6-volume Brigham Young Addresses, and early Church newspapers — and have not found anything like this coming from Brigham’s mouth.

This quote is a hoax. Please pass the word.

For more, see the FAIR wiki:

  • FAIR Wiki: Brigham Young: “I have never given counsel that is wrong.”

__________

Update: The original blog owner has admitted that the quote is a fake, but that it is “merely words that sum up [Brigham’s] doctrine and [Brigham’s] teachings.”

Russell Henderson

Filed Under: Anti-Mormon critics, LDS History

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