my encounter with the mormons...

Originally posted June 26, 2006

Before I came to Atlanta, I began to piece together some of the information I had about the company I'd be working for. Upon arrival, my suspicions were confirmed; I, for the three months to follow, would be moving to "New Provo" and surrounded by mormons. Of all the people to be around, these, in my mind, were the worst. After all, I had been told my entire life that mormons were bad news and that their church was nothing more than a cult in the same league as Jehova's Witnesses and the Free Masons. I had spent my whole life in oppositition to an entire subculture about which I knew nothing, so I was sure that the coming months would be difficult to say the least. Well, it's been a month now and somehow I've managed to live. No... I've really come to appreciate the opportunity I've been given in coming out here. I've been forced to see this religion for what it is and have learned a lot. What I once disapproved of blindly I now oppose with an informed conscience. :o) I really only have a few big complaints with the religion and its doctrine. I guess the biggest disagreement I have is in the way they view grace. To me, grace is God's response to sin. Since everyone sins and sin has no degree, everyone needs the same amount of grace. From what I've been able to gather, a mormon's view isn't parallel to that. If salvation is the desired end result, grace plus works is how you get it. First you do all you can to attain salvation with your works and then grace is granted you in the amount you need to make up the slack. The other big argument I have is with the leadership of their church. First, they have a man who they call a "living prophet." Aparently, this man receives direct revelation from God. This is their modern-day Jesus. Then they have their twelve apostles. It all just seems very exalting of man. Then there are the little things, like being ridiculously strict about things like church attire and keeping half of their religion secret under the guise that "it's sacred." Really the whole religion seems very elitist to me. Christian churches are good and they have parts of the truth, but their church is the best and only they have the full truth. The version of the Bible they use is the only true version. Quite honestly, it's all just very silly.



The most important thing I've learned is that, despite all the differences, I love the people just as much as everybody else. I mean, of course there are the few bad apples, like in every barrel, but they really are very sweet people. They, or at least the ones I've been able to meet, are very nice, friendly, and welcoming. I am very thankful for my new LDS friends and all that they've taught me. I'm especially thankful for their graciosness in answering my onslaught of sometimes pointed questions and the opportunity I've had to share my faith with them.



Moral of the story: choosing to remain ignorant is a disservice you pay yourself. You owe yourself nothing less than to learn as much as you can to become informed people.