{"id":1707,"date":"2012-11-29T11:58:00","date_gmt":"2012-11-29T11:58:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2012\/11\/mormonism-a-scrutinized-yet-evolving-faith.html"},"modified":"2012-11-29T11:58:00","modified_gmt":"2012-11-29T11:58:00","slug":"mormonism-a-scrutinized-yet-evolving-faith","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2012\/11\/mormonism-a-scrutinized-yet-evolving-faith.html","title":{"rendered":"Mormonism: A Scrutinized, Yet Evolving Faith"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

<\/p>\n

Mitt Romney refused to mix religion with politics in this year\u2019s presidential campaign, but that didn\u2019t repress people\u2019s curiosity about Mormonism<\/a>. His candidacy brought the homegrown faith into the spotlight.<\/span><\/div>\n
Patrick Mason, a professor and chairman of the Mormon Studies program at Claremont Graduate University, says attention paid to his faith has been twofold. On one hand, it\u2019s been good for attracting new converts. On the other hand, it\u2019s turned Mormonism into something of a cultural punch line.<\/span><\/div>\n
\u201cSouth Park<\/em>\u00a0is a great example of this,\u00a0The Book of Mormon<\/em>\u00a0musical is a great example of this, where people say, well, with increased attention comes increased scrutiny,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd there are parts of our past that people just won\u2019t understand.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Mason says many people are skeptical of the church\u2019s origins, which involve the story of an angel directing Joseph Smith to golden plates and revealing a new Gospel. Many people are also dubious about claims that God lives on a planet named Kolob, or that people can become like God.<\/span><\/div>\n
And yet, he says, many Americans don\u2019t think twice about Jesus walking on water or God sending Jews manna from heaven, because those age-old stories have become part of the culture.<\/span><\/div>\n
\u201cSo the story of Jesus\u2019 resurrection is now accepted by the vast majority of Americans, but the story of Joseph Smith digging up gold plates or seeing angels is subject to scrutiny,\u201d Mason says.<\/span>
Read the rest here<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mitt Romney refused to mix religion with politics in this year\u2019s presidential campaign, but that didn\u2019t repress people\u2019s curiosity about Mormonism. His candidacy brought the homegrown faith into the spotlight. Patrick Mason, a professor and chairman of the Mormon Studies program at Claremont Graduate University, says attention paid to his faith has been twofold. On […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2251,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1707","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nMormonism: A Scrutinized, Yet Evolving Faith<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Mitt Romney refused to mix religion with politics in this year's presidential campaign, but that didn't repress people's curiosity about Mormonism. 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