{"id":301,"date":"2011-06-13T15:38:43","date_gmt":"2011-06-13T15:38:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/community\/diaryofawimpycatholic\/?p=301"},"modified":"2015-03-13T15:04:52","modified_gmt":"2015-03-13T21:04:52","slug":"why-i-think-mormons-are-swell-eggs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/diaryofawimpycatholic\/2011\/06\/why-i-think-mormons-are-swell-eggs\/","title":{"rendered":"Why I Think Mormons Are Swell Eggs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"This
\nNewsweek<\/i> reports that America is \u201chaving a Mormon moment.\u201d<\/strong><\/a> Followers of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints<\/a> are all over the news, but still, it seems, a long shot for the White House:<\/p>\n

No question the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is \u201chaving a moment.\u201d Not only is Romney running again\u2014this time, he\u2019s likely to be competing against his distant Mormon cousin Jon Huntsman Jr. The Senate, meanwhile, is led by Mormon Harry Reid. Beyond the Beltway, the Twilight vampire novels of Mormon Stephenie Meyer sell tens of millions of copies, Mormon convert Glenn Beck inspires daily devotion and outrage with his radio show, and HBO generated lots of attention with the Big Love finale. Even Broadway has gotten in on the act, giving us The Book of Mormon, a big-budget musical about Mormon missionaries by South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone and Avenue Q writer Robert Lopez that, with 14 nominations, is expected to clean up at the Tony Awards on June 12.<\/p>\n

But despite the sudden proliferation of Mormons in the mainstream, Mormonism itself isn\u2019t any closer to gaining mainstream acceptance. And nowhere is the gap between increased exposure and actual progress more pronounced than in politics. In recent weeks NEWSWEEK called every one of the 15 Mormons currently serving in the U.S. Congress to ask if they would be willing to discuss their faith; the only politicians who agreed to speak on the record were the four who represent districts with substantial Mormon populations. The rest were \u201cprivate about their faith,\u201d or \u201cpoliticians first and Mormons second,\u201d according to their spokespeople.<\/p>\n

The evasiveness extends even to presidential candidates. In late 2007 Romney traveled to Texas A&M to soothe evangelicals with a speech that downplayed the distinctiveness of Mormonism. \u201cIt\u2019s important to recognize that while differences in theology exist between the churches in America,\u201d he said, \u201cwe share a common creed of moral convictions.\u201d Since then, Romney has rarely commented on the subject.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Here at Patheos, Warren Cole Smith, explains why he\u2019ll never, ever, EVER vote for a Mormon.<\/strong><\/a> \u201cThe Christian worldview,\u201d he writes, \u201cteaches that there is a short tether binding beliefs to the values and behaviors that flow from them. If the beliefs are false, then the behavior will eventually\u2014but inevitably\u2014be warped.\u201d<\/p>\n

Well, I, for one, happen to have a soft spot for Mormons. By my lights, they\u2019ve got more than enough to recommend themselves \u2014 as people, and as contributors to the general culture of this great nation \u2014 that I\u2019d be proud to cast a vote for one. Among their more endearing accomplishments:<\/p>\n

10. Their Church is not a democracy, yet it\u2019s strikingly egalitarian. <\/strong> Anyone can become president of the Church or Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Really. Ezra Taft Benson, who held the office from 1985 through 1994, earned his degree from BYU. Spencer W. Kimball, who preceded him, earned his from \u2014 it tastes like ashes in my mouth \u2014 the University of Arizona. Thomas S. Monson, the guy they\u2019ve got now, graduated the University of Utah, and made his fortune in publishing. If this is elitism, it\u2019s my kind of elitism.<\/p>\n

9. They do aggiornamento.<\/strong><\/em> The word, familiar to most Catholics but gibberish the rest of the world (outside Italy, of course), means, roughly, \u201cupdating.\u201d We tried it once, during the Second Vatican Council. The updates represented dozens of years of study by hundreds of theologians, plus three years of conciliar wrangling. When the LDS leadership decided to abolish plural marriage (1890) and admit blacks to the priesthood (1978), the orders came down fast and easy, probably preceded by: \u201cNOW HEAR THIS.\u201d Hey, gang at National Catholic Reporter<\/i> \u2014 are you guys feeling jealous?<\/p>\n

8. They\u2019ve been the subject of Chick Tracts. <\/strong> Speaking as a connoissieur, I\u2019d put The Visitors<\/i><\/strong><\/a> up against The Death Cookie<\/i><\/strong><\/a> any day. And The Enchanter,<\/i> Chick Publications\u2019 full-length graphic novel on the life of LDS prophet Joseph Smith,<\/strong><\/a> looks a match for any of the titles on Jesuit conspiracies.<\/p>\n

7. For a bunch of red-staters, they\u2019ve got amazingly good taste in art. <\/strong> To spruce up Temple Square, Mormons selected a copy of Bertel Thorvaldsen\u2019s Christus,<\/strong><\/a> showing Jesus resurrected. Yeah, that\u2019s right \u2014 turns out Jesus cuts as fine a figure alive as he does dead. Who knew?<\/p>\n

6. They\u2019ve inspired some impressive works of art.<\/strong> The Book of Mormon,<\/i> Trey Parker, Matt Stone and Robert Lopez\u2019 backhanded tribute to LDS missionaries, won Best Musical at the 2011 Tony Awards. Each half of Tony Kushner\u2019s Angels in America,<\/i> which draws heavily on Mormon themes and imagery, won a Tony for Best Play. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle made Mormonism the backdrop for \u201cA Study in Scarlet,\u201d the first story in the Sherlock Holmes series. Beat that, Baptists.<\/p>\n

5. They\u2019ve created some impressive works of art. <\/strong> Two words: Napoleon Dynamite.<\/p>\n

4. They seem to have a very generous cosmology. <\/strong> I\u2019m no expert, but the way I understand it, you have to be a complete jerk to end up in Outer Darkness. The Telestial Kingdom,, where most garden-variety sinners go to dwell, has always sounded to me like south Scottsdale. It\u2019s a little on the dingy side, but more than bearable.<\/p>\n

3. Wilford Brimley. <\/strong> When I was fourteen, the man got me eating my oatmeal, and I haven\u2019t stopped since.<\/p>\n

2. Allie, the office manager of the mortgage company where I used to work. <\/strong>Though ten years my junior (and in looks, a first cousin to Christina Applegate), she took a mother\u2019s care of me. For my birthday, she got me a caramel-covered cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory. When I broke my front tooth on a frozen Twizzler, she arranged for a cousin of hers, a dentist, to bridge me up at a discount. A fundie would have tossed me Graham Crackers and Scripture \u2014 on both occasions.<\/p>\n

1. Their faith was tested in the fire of persecution, and the persecution had absolutely nothing to do with us.<\/strong> Whew.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Newsweek reports that America is \u201chaving a Mormon moment.\u201d Followers of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints are all over the news, but still, it seems, a long shot for the White House: No question the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is \u201chaving a moment.\u201d Not only is Romney running again\u2014this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":192,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[49,167],"class_list":["post-301","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-catholicism","tag-mormonism"],"yoast_head":"\nWhy I Think Mormons Are Swell Eggs<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Newsweek reports that America is \u201chaving a Mormon moment." 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