They don’t deny the divinity of Jesus. It’s more that they have a neo-Arian view of the trinity that the godhead is one in purpose but separate in form, and Jesus is the literal son of God the father (they do NOT game out the repercussions of this in a coherent or sophisticated way, but it’s what they believe). Theologically, they’re sort of polytheists, but the death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth is an essential part of their belief system. So, it really comes down to whether you’re willing to allow certain belief structures rejected by the Council of Nicaea to continue to call themselves Christian, or at least to nod politely at their self-identification, or whether you make academic theology the hill you will die on in terms of culturally significant labels adopted by ostensibly areligious bureaucracies. It sounds counter-intuitive, but there’s more than one way to define a Christian.
The Mormons are absolutely reaping what they sowed by throwing in with MAGA, though, and you know the Romneys and Huntsmans are snickering somewhere with a glass of wine, which they can have because they did double-secret off-the-books Temple shit.
I grew up Mormon and can’t believe who they are now. Granted I was in Jersey, so things were a little more “progressive”.
But you’re right, they are reaping what they showed.
I do have to say though, that the council of Nicea should be used as an example of why Christian religion is bullshit. (I think all organized religions are bullshit. Mm)
Let’s get a group of guys together and decide by committee what it means.
Then change that meaning as the overarching world culture evolves over the milennia.
“You know what? I know this has been part of our beliefs for over a thousand years, but God just changed his mind.”
Ex-Mo here who grew up in Northern Florida. Where I was, the LDS community itself had to be fairly chill because there’s no sense in trying to tell the kids to ignore 99% of the population for friendship and dating, and getting too publicly self-righteous just riles up the evangelicals.
Funnily enough, I also landed on the idea that all organized religion is bullshit. Not that escaping a high-pressure sect (Diet Cult?) is the only way to get there, but I do think the extraordinary truth claims the Church makes means that when we leave, we tend to evaluate all other religions in that same light, plus they were never shy about pointing out what everybody else got wrong, LOL.
Nice to hear a similar perspective from someone else.
I was fostered by someone who was the Bishop for a local branch. He was completely tolerant of everyone. Because of that time spent with him, I thought the church didn’t give a shit about race or sexual orientation, they were all about community support and helping each other.
Then I went to school in Oregon and it was almost a completely different church.
I noped out of that real quick, but, as you said, it forced me to question everything about LDS, and that just naturally progressed into an overall skepticism.
I now know my experience was not the norm but when I think of my time there (I was a child so my experience was through that lens), I remember being taught to help whoever needs help, no strings attached. That every person was loved by God, regardless of who they were.
Then years later the church is a MAGA haven. I really cannot reconcile my experience with that. 🤷
They don’t deny the divinity of Jesus. It’s more that they have a neo-Arian view of the trinity that the godhead is one in purpose but separate in form, and Jesus is the literal son of God the father (they do NOT game out the repercussions of this in a coherent or sophisticated way, but it’s what they believe). Theologically, they’re sort of polytheists, but the death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth is an essential part of their belief system. So, it really comes down to whether you’re willing to allow certain belief structures rejected by the Council of Nicaea to continue to call themselves Christian, or at least to nod politely at their self-identification, or whether you make academic theology the hill you will die on in terms of culturally significant labels adopted by ostensibly areligious bureaucracies. It sounds counter-intuitive, but there’s more than one way to define a Christian.
The Mormons are absolutely reaping what they sowed by throwing in with MAGA, though, and you know the Romneys and Huntsmans are snickering somewhere with a glass of wine, which they can have because they did double-secret off-the-books Temple shit.
I grew up Mormon and can’t believe who they are now. Granted I was in Jersey, so things were a little more “progressive”.
But you’re right, they are reaping what they showed.
I do have to say though, that the council of Nicea should be used as an example of why Christian religion is bullshit. (I think all organized religions are bullshit. Mm)
Let’s get a group of guys together and decide by committee what it means.
Then change that meaning as the overarching world culture evolves over the milennia.
“You know what? I know this has been part of our beliefs for over a thousand years, but God just changed his mind.”
Ex-Mo here who grew up in Northern Florida. Where I was, the LDS community itself had to be fairly chill because there’s no sense in trying to tell the kids to ignore 99% of the population for friendship and dating, and getting too publicly self-righteous just riles up the evangelicals.
Funnily enough, I also landed on the idea that all organized religion is bullshit. Not that escaping a high-pressure sect (Diet Cult?) is the only way to get there, but I do think the extraordinary truth claims the Church makes means that when we leave, we tend to evaluate all other religions in that same light, plus they were never shy about pointing out what everybody else got wrong, LOL.
Nice to hear a similar perspective from someone else.
I was fostered by someone who was the Bishop for a local branch. He was completely tolerant of everyone. Because of that time spent with him, I thought the church didn’t give a shit about race or sexual orientation, they were all about community support and helping each other.
Then I went to school in Oregon and it was almost a completely different church.
I noped out of that real quick, but, as you said, it forced me to question everything about LDS, and that just naturally progressed into an overall skepticism.
I now know my experience was not the norm but when I think of my time there (I was a child so my experience was through that lens), I remember being taught to help whoever needs help, no strings attached. That every person was loved by God, regardless of who they were.
Then years later the church is a MAGA haven. I really cannot reconcile my experience with that. 🤷