It is well known within and without of Mormonism’s cultural bubble that Latter-day Saints don’t wear crosses, nor do we consider the Cross as the symbol of our faith. Why this is will have to wait for another time. This Holy Week I instead want to explore the symbol of the Cross not in our society but in our theology. Unlike our discourse, every book of LDS scripture is awash with the symbol of the Cross and the Suffering Savior, the Crucified Christ, as the symbol of discipleship and the focus of faith. What do the scriptures have to say about the symbol of the Christ and what does it mean for what we believe and how we should teach about the Atonement of Jesus Christ? What does it mean for our Christianity? How should Latter-day Saints look at the Cross, especially as we go into the Paschal/Easter season? This is what I explore in today’s article as I prepare my heart and mind for celebrating the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ the Lord.
Tag: Latter-day Saints
Nonviolence in Early Christianity, Part 1
Some of the oldest and most affirmed truths in all of Christendom are that Jesus Christ commands us to love our enemies, to renounce violence, and to reject all other worldly loyalties – be they nation, empire, or people – for the Church, the Gospel, and Jesus Christ Himself. These truths can been in the writings of the earliest surviving Christian leaders and writers. What follows below is the first part in an effort to share a small sampling of these statements which I have tried to place within a rough chronological order. Hopefully they will help the reader, whether Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Calvinist, Pentecostal, Christian Scientist, Latter-day Saint, etc. to understand the role of what we now call nonviolence, civil disobedience, rejection of world powers -what we today call the State – and loving and serving your enemy as central beliefs in the long history of true Christianity, ancient and modern.
The Origins of The God-State
There are many historical works on the rise of the modern State and the origins of its power. Many of them trace the development of the modern state from the end of the Medieval all the way up through the present day, drawing attention to how particular national and global crises – mostly wars and economic collapses – have resulted in the growth of the power of the centralized state as a solution to these problems.
As with all history, understanding these facts is very important to understanding how we got to where we are today. But in answering how they all too often neglect the why things are the way they are today.
Why is it that people have turned to the State for temporal and material salvation?
Why is it that men and women lavish religious levels of adoration and faith upon the State and its operatives?
Why is it that people have given it so much power?
What about humans and the way we think has convinced us, seemingly en masse, to turn to the State for salvation?
Using the writings of eminent psychologist Dr. Carl Jung, I try here to answer these questions; I answer not how the God-State came to be, but why humans have created the God-State in the first place.
When We Should Break The Law
From our earliest days, when the Prophet Joseph and Patriarch Hyrum suffered in Liberty Jail and died in Carthage Jail, to the Saints spending nearly 30 years resisting Federal anti-polygamy laws, practicing civil disobedience and being willing to go to prison in order to serve God, on down to the modern day we have examples of the lives of great Saints who have repeatedly broken the laws of the land in order to do what is right and to serve God. Latter-day Saint history is full of rebels and rogues, people who would rather be exiled from the nation, who would rather be killed, than disobey the Lord. So how is it that so many of us have become so milquetoast about standing up the government tyranny? Why is it that so many of us think that the Saints should “strictly obey the laws of the government in which they live,” even when such laws aren’t just wrong or immoral, but even when said laws actively compel us either to disobey God or punish us for obeying Him? While there are numerous reasons, one of the largest is because Latter-day Saints have misinterpreted the Twelfth Article of Faith, D&C 58:21, and D&C 134:5 as giving commandments to the Saints to obey the law and to comply even with evil laws. A close examination of these scriptures though, as I attempt here, show that such interpretations are, by the large, gross nonsense.
How Mormonism Can Change The World
What would a society where the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was one of the major influences on everything look like? How would it function? What would it mean for rich people? For poor people? For property owners? For homeless people? For politicians? For the public? What would it look like in terms of sex, marriage, and children? What would its economy look like? If we could carry out a generations long experiment with the effects of Mormonism on a nation, what would be the end results and how would they stack up against other places with such a heavy Latter-day Saint influence? Our critics would have us believe that it would be a dystopian nightmare. Are they right? What proof otherwise do we have? Well, as it turns out, quite a lot.
What Do You Do When An Apostle Is Wrong?
This is a topic that I think is important to address, yet it is one that we are often afraid to address. Perhaps this is because we feel like that by pointing out or acknowledging where the Brethren are in error that we are questioning the Lord Himself or like we might damage another’s faith. Yet we all know it happens. Apostles are often wrong when citing scriptures and when citing history. And refusing to address the issue creates a very unhealthy aura of infallibility around the Brethren that not only forces more weight upon their shoulders than they already carry but it also creates a very weak and sandy foundation upon which to build our own testimonies. This article is dedicated towards answering this important question in a way that will help the believer maintain and build faith in the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Restored Church of Jesus Christ, and His appointed leaders while also acknowledging and understanding their own fallibility, their ability to commit error, and how their doing so should impact our own understanding of the scriptures.
The Religious Nature of the Political Right
A few weeks back I wrote an exploration of the religious nature of the political Left, exploring the ways that Leftist ideology acts as a religion within the lives of Leftists themselves. Today’s article is about the religious nature of the political Right and about the ways that right wing ideology acts as the religious beliefs of Rightists. Unlike many people, who make the easily understood and common mistake of equating the religion of the political Right with some aberrant form of Christianity, I have relied upon the works of Dr. Carlton J.H. Hayes, an eminent historian who pioneered the historical study of Nationalism, to study the true religion of the political Right and the impact it has in the lives of Rightists. In doing so I also dig into what it means to be on the political Right in terms of conservatism, traditionalism, and nationalism, seeking to reach the true taproot of the political Right, that set of beliefs which defines it even when all its other ideas shift and change over time. Here I believe I have hit on the definitive truth of not only what motivates right wing politics but what also drives the faith of Rightists in their ideology and what motivates them to try and remake the world in its image.
Brigham Young Explains The Purpose of the Church
Near the end of his life, President Brigham Young gave an address that taught what the sole purpose of the church is and what is the single goals its members should strive for. In this age of social and political division in the church, these truths are more important than ever. Additionally, his remarks in regards to taxation and public education herein are also quite instructive in the present day.
The Modern Moloch Part 3: The Religion of Statism- Section A
In previous parts of this series I have shown the idolatrous, cultic nature of the way that modern statist governments function. Here in Part 3, I begin to study in detail the form and function of the Cult of the State -its religious texts, religious symbols, gods, prayers, and temples- and how these function in the lives of modern people, even among those who who otherwise imagine themselves to be beyond such things as religious worship. Once we can begin to see how the cult has manipulated us and how it continues to do so we can begin to abandon its false teachings and escape its abusive control. This article will help do just that.
Brigham Young, Racism, and Slavery
The racial beliefs of Brigham Young have been coming up lately as part of the Latter-day Saints discourse in light of the larger American debate over racism and police brutality. The problem is that most people, even the Saints themselves, are either completely misinformed or are entirely ignorant of who Brigham Young was, his impact on the American West, and his beliefs regarding race and slavery. This article is aimed at correcting these errors, exploring Brigham Young’s ideas on these issues, good and bad, and explaining why the Saints should take great joy in Brother Brigham’s legacy today despite his erroneous beliefs about race.