8: The Mormon Proposition and Me

July 15, 2010

[I just realized from a reader's comment that I may need to provide a disclaimer for this post and so here it is: No  language or opinions concerning the Mormon religion presented in this post are representative of what I may or may not believe. I am only recounting what has been and still can be heard among some circles of evangelical Christianity. Critiquing anyone's religious faith isn't my intention for this post or this blog in general. Have I made myself clear? Okay then. Continue.]

The documentary 8: The Mormon Proposition recently became available for purchase on iTunes and so last week I viewed it on my iPad while sitting at Starbucks. I should have known better. Entering into a dialogue with your TV screen in the privacy of your own home is one thing but the same behavior in public tends to draw unwanted attention and perhaps a diagnostic questioning from trained health care professionals called to the scene by a nervous barista.

The catalyst for talking out loud with my inside voice both at Starbucks and around our house in spontaneous outbursts ever since have nothing to do with the specific content of the film or in the Mormon Churches actions around Proposition 8 in general. Not that I’m thrilled with their part but I’m not a Mormon and so I leave it to GLBTQ Mormons to challenge the attitudes and behaviors of their own church along with all the others, both gay and straight, religious and non-religious who are intent on holding them to account.

While the documentary focused on the Mormon churches involvement in Prop 8 my concern is with the involvement of evangelical Christianity; not that they supported it’s passage (given their theological position on homosexuality is it even a reasonable expectation they would have supported marriage equality?) but that leaders within the evangelical Christian movement were involved in a way that was inconsistent with other Christian teachings they’ve held for decades, and in compromising one truth in pursuit of another truth they’ve caused harm to themselves and to their witness to the world.

I’m not saying any of this as an outsider looking in but rather as one who called evangelical Christianity my spiritual home for 40 years and to whom I still, though no longer counted among them, feel an affection and connection, and despite my incredible disappointment in how they have responded to GLBTQ people in general and to GLBTQ believers (the ones seated next to them in the pew and across the breakfast table) in particular, I want the best for the church so that they might truly become a visible sign of God’s presence in the world.

But they, like me have a long way to go.

So dig in to your chair and see if you can stay with me on this one….

Having been born and bred within evangelical conservative Christianity, I’m not only intimately acquainted with the churches position on homosexuality but on their long-standing teaching regarding Mormonism. During the ’60s and ’70s when our contemporary culture was saturated with religious sects like the Unification Church and their well-groomed Moonies and airport terminals were bouncing with dancing orange-clad followers of Hare Krishna, the church was on Code Red, alerting it’s members to the dangers of being taken in by false religions among which Mormonism topped the list. Evangelical Christianity has a long established record of not only viewing Mormonism as one among many false religions but as one of the most threatening to Christianity because while appearing at first glance to adhere to traditional Christian theology, a deeper exploration of their teaching revealed their theology as a “perversion” of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The article, The Mormon-Evangelical Divide, which appeared in Christianity Today back in 2000 highlights some of these points of conflict. And sadly but not surprisingly, there also exists a number of Christian-based Mormon bashing websites just a search engine away.

My understanding, formed within the context of evangelical Christianity was that simply because the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints used the name of Jesus and presented themselves as Christians, I needed to be on guard so as not to be taken in by their false teachings. No matter how they might try to appear or convince us otherwise, Mormons were not Christians and so we were instructed to avoid associating with them (II Corinthians 6:14-17) unless it was for the purpose of engaging with them in a way that might lead them to the true Christian faith and a real relationship with Jesus Christ. It’s also important to keep in mind that in the understanding of evangelical Christianity false teachers are also described as “wolves in lamb’s clothing” and “enemies of God.” Same thing by whatever name.

Despite the passing of years, the same attitudes regarding Mormonism I learned in “The World’s False Religions 101″ have continued to persist in mainstream evangelical Christianity as evidenced in the exclusion of the LDS church from official participation in the annual National Day of Prayer which created considerable contention in 2004 when they were prohibited from being involved in a scheduled event held in Salt Lake City. Yes, that would be the Salt Lake City, founded by Mormon pioneers, headquarters to the LDS Church International, with a general population that consists of more than 50% Mormons. The National Day of Prayer Task Force in 2004 as to this present day is led by Shirley Dobson, the wife of James Dobson of Focus on the Family.

As for James Dobson in 2008 his Focus on the Family ministry pulled a link off their site to an article on talk show host Glenn Beck’s book “The Christmas Sweater” after numerous calls were made to Focus on the Family voicing concern that Beck was a member of the LDS church. The prepared statement Focus on the Family provided to future callers on the Beck-LDS connection read as follows:

You are correct to note that Mr. Beck is a member of the Mormon church, and that we did not make mention of this fact in our interview with him. We do recognize the deep theological difference between evangelical theology and Mormon theology, and it would have been prudent for us at least to have pointed out these differences. Because of this confusion we have removed the interview.

While Dobson isn’t the sole voice for evangelical Christianity, he is regarded as an influential voice and prominent leader among evangelical Christians and Focus on the Family has occupied center stage in the evangelical movement for several decades. And yet, despite the evangelical position that the LDS church is a non-Christian cult to the outright exclusion of Mormons from a major “Christian” event and in removing an interview with a Mormon on a evangelical Christian website, Focus on the Family readily joined with the LDS Church in 1997 to form the World Congress of Families, along with a number of other evangelical Christian and Catholic organizations. The singular purpose of the World Congress of Families is to promote, uphold and defend the “natural family” in society.

Building on this existing alliance, Focus on the Family and the leaders of the LDS Church joined forces several years later to establish ProtectMarriage.com (as if I’d provide a working link to their site) which was at the center of the Yes on 8 campaign. While 8: The Mormon Proposition focused attention on the millions given by the Utah-based LDS church to fund the passage of Proposition 8, they failed to mention that Colorado-based Focus on the Family gave nearly 800,000 dollars, second in giving only to the Mormons, including a lump sum of 100,000 given in late October only days before announcing Focus on the Family would be laying off 20% of their employees due to budgetary constraints.

Not to be outdone by evangelical Christians, the Southern Baptists were equally passionate supporters of Proposition 8 and of ProtectMarriage.com. Days after the November 2008 election, the California Southern Baptist Convention presented the following resolution at their annual gathering:

The California Southern Baptist Convention expresses its appreciation and heartfelt gratitude to the ProtectMarriage.com coalition that spearheaded the effort to restore and protect biblical, traditional marriage in California and throughout our nation. We strongly encourage our churches and their members to pray for, promote, and uphold the biblical model of marriage.

These are the same Southern Baptists of which Amy Sullivan reports in an article for the Washington Monthly, are “particularly vocal about labeling the LDS Church a ‘cult.’”

In 1997, the denomination published a handbook and video, both with the title The Mormon Puzzle: Understanding and Witnessing to Latter-day Saints. More than 45,000 of these kits were distributed in the first year; the following year–in a throwing down of the proselytizing gauntlet–the Southern Baptist Convention held its annual meeting in Salt Lake City. Around the same time, a speaker at the denomination’s summit on Mormonism declared that Utah was “a stronghold of Satan.” When Richard Mouw, president of the evangelical Fuller Theological Seminary, tried to repair relations with the LDS community by apologizing on behalf of evangelicals during a speech in the Mormon Tabernacle last year, his conservative brethren lashed out. Mouw had no right, they declared in an open letter, to speak for them or apologize for denouncing Mormon “false prophecies and false teachings.”

Evangelical Christians came out vocally in the months before and after the 2008 election in support not only of Proposition 8 but in their active and influential support of ProtectMarriage.com. James Dobson. Charles Colson. Jim Robertson. All prominent evangelical leaders who have at other times and in other places been equally vocal in their opposition of the LDS church, calling it a non-Christian cult which presents false teaching. Inspired and encouraged by their call for all Christians to become involved in the passage of Prop 8, more than 215 congregations and evangelical conservative faith-based organizations joined as partners with ProtectMarriage.com and not surprisingly a poll taken by the Public Policy Institute of California the day after the election concluded that more than 85% of evangelical, born-again Christians voted in support of Prop 8.

So here then is the issue for me. While there’s no hesitation in my heart or mind around the idea of the LDS church and the Evangelical Christian movement meeting together in interfaith dialogue or establishing cordial relationships built on mutual respect for the others faith clearly there’s been not only hesitation but unflinching resistance on pursuing any such relationship by the very same evangelical Christians who joined with the LDS church in the formation of ProtectMarriage.com.

Out of one side of their mouths evangelical leaders have called the LDS church an offense to the Gospel (along with naming them as false teachers, wolves in sheep’s clothing, and enemies of God) and out of the other side of their mouth they all but rushed to form an alliance with the LDS church in their efforts toward the passage of Proposition 8 and then rushed just as quickly to their defense when the Mormon church was held to account for their actions. This not only makes evangelical Christianity appear inconsistent and disingenuous to many in the world but at the very least communicates the unspoken but equally unmistakable message that “the end justifies the means,” an adage that under any circumstances is impossible to confuse as a teaching of Christ or a maxim of Christianity. In the language of evangelical Christianity I would want to ask, “Is protecting the institution of marriage more important than protecting the truth of the Gospel?” And if their answer is yes (as it seems to be by their actions), “Is protecting the institution of marriage worth the price of casting a shadow on the churches witness to the world?”

Some might think I’m reading too much into all this but I don’t think I am. I know that evangelical Christianity and I parted ways along time ago when it comes to the question of homosexuality and the Bible, and how the Gospel Jesus would might contribute to the dialogue on equal rights and protections for GLBTQ people under the law, but I’d still like to believe that when it comes to matters of integrity and seeking to be a trustworthy Christian witness to the world that we’d be on the same page. It’s my hope that these basic commitments could be shared and it’s fearing that they aren’t that has me experiencing disappointment in the spiritual home where I came from and in those among them who seem to accept that integrity can be sacrificed in pursuit of some “greater good.”

Or maybe it’s just me….but I don’t think it is.

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