Daily Archives: March 18, 2020

There are 30,000 to 50,000 individuals living in western North America who call themselves Mormon fundamentalists. These Mormon fundamentalists are scattered from Canada to Mexico, but are most concentrated in Utah and Arizona. They are a fragmented culture, with many opposing claims as to which leader is the "true prophet". They have separated themselves from the larger body of Mormonism, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (commonly known as the LDS Church), over various doctrinal issues. The most prominent issue separating the LDS Church from Mormon fundamentalism is the doctrine of plural marriage. A less prominent, but equally divisive doctrinal dispute between the two sides is the issue of allowing men of African descent (black men) to hold positions within the Mormon Priesthood. The Mormon Priesthood is the authority structure in the LDS Church, as well as within the various factions of Mormon fundamentalism. These two issues will be explained briefly.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints constitutes the largest group of individuals who apply the term "Mormon" to themselves. But even this usage is not entirely free from internal controversy. The official position of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on the term "Mormons" is as follows:

Unofficial term for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; members prefer to be referred to as Latter-day Saints.[1]

LDS Church President Gordon B. Hinckley also seems to disapprove of the term "Mormon fundamentalist". In an interview on Larry King Live that aired September 8, 1998, Hinckley denied the existence of Mormon fundamentalists:

KING: But when the word [polygamy] is mentioned, when you hear the word, you think Mormon, right?

HINCKLEY: You do it mistakenly. They have no connection to us whatsoever. They don't belong to the church. There are actually no Mormon fundamentalists.[2] (my emphasis)

Clearly, the dispute is a matter of definition. But the controversy is hard to ignore, and Hinckley's words exemplify the policy of the LDS Church to dissociate itself with those who call themselves Mormon fundamentalists. In the LDS Church, individuals who express interest in the doctrines of Mormon fundamentalism are regarded with suspicion, and are usually excommunicated. The practice of polygamy began early in the history of Mormonism. The founder of the LDS Church, Joseph Smith, had numerous wives, although this is hotly disputed. But even today's LDS leaders don't deny this historical fact, as can be seen on this official LDS website that lists many of Smith's polygamous wives: [3]

Regarding the practice of polygamy, the division between the LDS Church and Mormon fundamentalism began in 1890, with the issuance of a document commonly referred to as the Manifesto. Presented by LDS President Wilford Woodruff, the Manifesto declares that plural marriage is no longer a doctrine of the LDS Church. This document began the division that would take several decades to complete. Eventually polygamy was virtually eliminated within the LDS Church. However, it is the goal of Mormon fundamentalism to ensure that polygamy is never completely eliminated.

In the late 1920's, Mormon fundamentalists began to organize themselves. Today there are dozens of splinter groups within Mormon fundamentalism, the largest of which occupies the twin cities of Colorado City, Arizona, and Hildale, Utah. This particular faction has over ten thousand members.

The second prominent issue that separates Mormon fundamentalism from the LDS Church is the policy toward black people. In Mormonism, as has been mentioned, the authority structure exists within a framework called the Priesthood. This priesthood is further divided into a junior group, the Aaronic Priesthood, and the senior group, the Melchizedek Priesthood. This authority is only bestowed upon males, beginning at age 12 with their induction into the Aaronic Priesthood. According to traditional Mormon doctrine, men descended from Ham, son of the biblical Noah, are not eligible to hold this priesthood. Black people, from African descent, are considered to be the descendants of Ham. This policy brought the LDS Church under severe criticism during the civil rights movement. In 1978, amid tremendous public pressure, the LDS Church rescinded the policy and began accepting members of all cultures into their priesthood. Having grown up in a Mormon fundamentalist family, I vividly remember the outrage that was expressed by the polygamous cousins of the LDS members. This event marked another profound division between the LDS Church and Mormon fundamentalism. I witnessed an insurgence of new Mormon fundamentalists who had left the LDS Church over this decision. Now, 26 years later, the issue is largely forgotten, but the Mormon fundamentalists have not changed their policy. There is no real demand upon Mormon fundamentalists to confer their priesthood upon worthy black males, but the white supremacist ideology is still there. One might ask now what is the difference between this doctrine and any other doctrine that promotes racism on religious grounds.

In conclusion, it is helpful when analyzing the problems associated with Mormon fundamentalism to be able to identify precisely what is the essence of Mormon fundamentalism. These two issues constitute a considerable portion of that essence. While the term "Mormon" can be used to describe anyone who lives under the religious system founded by Joseph Smith, whatever faction of Mormonism that individual practices under. The term "Mormon fundamentalist" describes individuals who still promote the practice of Mormon-based polygamy, along with the doctrine that blacks are not eligible to hold the Mormon Priesthood. There are many other minor differences between these two systems, but these two issues are among the most prominent in the minds of those involved.

Attribution: 1. http://www.lds.org/newsroom/glossary/0,15400,3904-1-M,00.html 2. http://www.lds-mormon.com/lkl_00.shtml 3. http://www.familysearch.org

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What is a Mormon fundamentalist?

OPINION: It's almost impossible not to be offended byTheBook of Mormon. If it's not the language that gets you(numerous f-bombs are far from the worst of it) it might be the use of female genital mutilation as a punchline. It might be the characterisation of Ugandans as AIDS-riddled hut-dwellers. Or the large phalluses. Or the light-hearted references to paedophilia.

Or you might be Mormon.

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Andrew Rannells and Elder Price, centre, and Josh Gad as Elder Cunningham in the original Broadway production of The Book of Mormon.

At first blush, the followers of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints areThe Book of Mormon's main satirical target. The story follows American missionaries Elders Price and Cunningham, the former vain and over-confident, the lattersweet but socially awkward and prone to lying, who are sent to a small Ugandan village to proselytise. They, along with the other missionaries they meet there, are painted as having a relentless positivity borne of suppressing their true feelings - per the song Turn it Off, they have taught themselves to ignore grief, fear, doubt and homosexual desires. The missionaries are arrogant, self-righteous and, even within the musical theatre canon, extremely camp.

READ MORE:*Look out Auckland, theMormonsare coming*President ofMormonchurch Thomas SMonsondead at 90*Mormonrule changes aimed at gays send advocates reeling

It'soffensive. It's very, very funny, but it's offensive.

Richard Hunter, communications director for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in the Pacific region, told me that while he hadn't seen the show and didn't plan to, his understanding was that it portrayed missionaries as "somewhat naive and not really genuine" (which is in actuality a weak way of putting it).

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The Book of Mormon portrays missionaries as self-righteous, naive and relentlessly positive.

"The missionaries that I meet are really intelligent, good young men and women who've given up 18 months or two years of their lives to just go along and serve communities and help individuals who might need a lending hand," he said. "The humanitarian work the church does, which is mainly by missionaries and other volunteers, it's pretty significant I think in terms of the impact it has on individuals and families and communities."

Knowing a marketing opportunity when it saw one, the Church hadset up a Facebook pagefeaturing practicingMormonstalking about whatthe religion meant to them.

But Hunter questioned whyMormonswere frequently the butt of jokes about religious groups.

RYAN ANDERSON/STUFF

Blake Bowden, left, plays Elder Price in the Auckland production of The Book of Mormon, while Nyk Bielak is Elder Cunningham.

"Imagine if a play that was a satire and a parody and in the same vein as this one was based on Judaism or Islam or Catholicism or Anglicanism," he said."Would people react (in)the same way? I just think it's an interesting thought as to why we're kind of a little bit of an easy target."

It is a good question with a few answers, one of which is - as the show makes very clear - some of the Church's beliefssound sort of wacky to the lay-person. These are parodied most explicitly in the song I Believe: "I believe that God lives on a planet calledKolob/I believe that Jesus has his own planet as well/And I believe that the Garden of Eden was in Jackson County, Missouri," sings Elder Price.

But the musical's target here is less specificallyMormonsimthan fundamentalism. The song's refrain runs "I am aMormon/And aMormonjust believes" - swap out "Mormon" for "Jew" or "Muslim" and it works just as well. Every religion requires a level of blind faith from its followers;Catholics believe in transubstantiation, Buddhists believe in reincarnation.

The trouble comes,The Book of Mormonsuggests, when followers don't see the forest for the trees - when they become so focused on the individual tenets of their religion that they fail to understand the power of its overall message.

In the number SalTlayKaSiti, a Ugandan villager namedNabulungiimagines Salt Lake City, which has been described to her as the beautiful seat ofMormonism.

"This perfect, happy place," she sings, "They have vitamin injections by the case/The warlords there are friendly/They help you cross the street/And there's a Red Cross on every corner/With all the flour you can eat."

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The Ugandan villagers in The Book of Mormon need humanitarian aid, not spiritual salvation.

Nabulungi doesn't need salvation of a spiritual kind. She needs humanitarian aid. If that comes in the form of religious missionaries - so be it.

The Book ofMormon'sultimate message is that it doesn't matter what the specific tenets of a given religion are, but that love, compassion and humility are positive forces in the world.

Ever sinceThe Book ofMormondebutedon Broadway in 2011, followers of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints have been dang nice about it.

The Church's savvy official line has been only that they have no problem with the musical or anyone who wishes to see it, but they would encourage people who are interested in the Church to pick up a copy of theactualBook ofMormon, its core doctrine, instead of basing their opinions about it on a parody.

Mormons' niceness is probably another reason why they're an easy target for parody, but it's also whatThe Book of Mormonultimately loves about them.

The Book of Mormonis at Auckland's Civic Theatre until April 26.

Read more:

The Book of Mormon is offensive, sure, but it's got a point to make - Stuff.co.nz