Mormon Inventions For Everyman

This is a review of the Mark Hofmann affair for those unfamiliar with it. I also want to try to lay forth the reasons we disbelievers see it as an important faith-demoting event. I’m doing this from memory, so feel free to correct any mistakes.

Mark Hofmann was a forger and shrewd observer of human behavior. Like any good con man, he knew part of his success manufacturing and selling fake historical documents depended on willing victims – people who wanted to believe his claims.

Growing up Mormon, Hofmann realized he was surrounded by credulous people who were trained to trust those who presented themselves as authorities. He also saw they were nuts about their sacred history and legends. There was a situation ripe for exploitation.

http://www.exmormon.org/mormon/mormon322.htm

Famous MormonsActors, Producers, Directors, Mormon sports, entertainment. ... Latter-day Saints who have behaved very badly, notorious criminals ...

http://www.famousmormons.net/

-Miguel

That Mormons invented things useful in modern life serves mostly to show that they aren't Amish, not that there's anything wrong with that. Mormons are pretty much ordinary people, not the weird wild-eyed kooks you'd think if you listen to Anti-Mormons.

Some Mormons don't live their faith. Big surprise! Some are criminals. Just like every other religious group, Mormons have some bad apples, but the point is to see what their faith has produced in the faithful.

I know Mark Hoffman's sister and her family. He broke the hearts of his parents and siblings. That doesn't say anything about whether Mormonism is true or false, just that this man destroyed himself by his fascination with deceiving and cheating people.

The point is not to say that Mormons deserve your vote more than other religions, only that their faith is not a basis for ruling someone out. Romney should be evaluated by his own life, character, experience and skills. His religion has been a positive influence in his life, not in Mormon terms, but in Judeo-Christian terms and in terms of the kind of people who contribute to a healthy, stable society.

The real reason this has become an issue is that Evangelical ministers became alarmed that many of their followers were converting to Mormonism. They chose to try to stanch this by demonizing Mormons and Mormonism, even to the point of claiming that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints isn't Christian.

That's their right, but how does it translate into refusing to vote for a man who by all objective standards is a terrific candidate? Are they afraid that if Mitt Romney gets elected, they'll lose members at even higher rates? If that's the case, then I have to wonder how convinced they are of the truth of their own beliefs. You defend your faith affirming it, not denigrating someone else's. When you do that, you find that various denominations have more in common than they have different.