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Let me start by saying that I think all organized religion has more in common with Greek mythology than with fact. The best debunking of modern religions comes with a lot of laughs from Bill Maher in his documentary Religulous. I recommend watching the whole thing, but here’s a taste:
A few days ago, I got an email from a listener who wanted to be sure I was aware of some of the creepier aspects of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, more commonly known as the Mormon church. I will not reprint what was sent to me, as it was done so as deep background, with the request of anonymity for fear of significant retaliation from current members of the church.
What was alleged was disturbing on a number of levels, but I’ll only write about here what I could corroborate with a very basic Google search. Apparently, it is basic practice in the Mormon church that when a young boy or girl reaches the age of 12, they are called in to see the Bishop of their local ward to go through some sort of coming of age interview in which they are asked about their masturbatory practices.
I did some searching on the internet, and came across ExMormon.org and its message board with posts from people who’ve left the church. Among the many posts I read was this gem:
I was against her going but apparently I’m the crazy one for thinking something is wrong with an older man alone with my 12 year old daughter behind closed doors. The wife thinks its perfectly ok and took her to the church.
When she got home I asked her how the interview went. She responded by asking me what masturbation is?
I’m still waiting for the bishop to call me back. I’m sure he knows how pissed off I am by the phone message i left on his voice mail.
If you click the link on the header and read through the replies, you’ll see that no one seemed surprised. In fact, in some of the other posts I read, those interviews were the cause of great angst for these already-confused kids
Mitt Romney was a Bishop and, as such, conducted these interviews. Here’s another comment thread on his involvement:
Is there any way to bring it to the press’ attention that as a Bishop Mitt Romney most likely asked minors about their masturbation habit?
– Have you ever been alone in a room with a 12 to 17 year-old BOY and discussed masturbation? If so, about how many times?
– Do you believe that God said that all churches besides the Mormon church are an abomination and their professors are corrupt?
He might be able to answer honestly that he doesn’t personally believe that about other churches, but by definition he believes God said that, right?
Got any more questions he hopes CNN doesn’t find out about?
How about, Did you symbolically slit your throat as an oath never to reveal the secret hand shakes and accompanying signs and names? Do you refuse to answer because you promised to slit your throat if you did answer?
Did you covenant to consecrate everything with which you are blessed and everything with which you will be blessed to the building up of the Mormon church? How will keeping this covenant affect you as president?
The author, who herself was married in a Mormon temple at age 19 but now considers herself a non-denominational Christian, says there’s a secret agenda Mormon officials don’t like to talk about publicly.
“A complete takeover of the government,” she said. “They have more people in the CIA, the FBI. They have an employment office for Mormons in D.C. to be able to infiltrate them into the government.”
“They’ve been trying since the beginning to get someone in the presidency, because they believe they have to establish their authority so when Jesus comes to Earth, the Mormon Church will take control of the government and the Mormons will be the government of God on Earth,” she continued.
Erickson says her main concern is that the leader of the free world have the ability to discern fact from fiction.
If you don’t want to trust World News Daily for that (and I certainly wouldn’t blame you!), how about this interview she did with Thom Hartmann?
Or how about this BBC documentary on Mitt Romney and the Mormon church?
This morning, I invited Adam Christing, the filmmaker behind A Mormon President: Joseph Smith and the Mormon Quest for the White House.
He had no idea that I’d ask him about all the disconcerting things I’ve learned about Mormonism over the past couple of days, but couldn’t and didn’t argue with any of them.
Unfortunately, the journalist I had on the show today agreed with others I’ve spoken with who won’t touch this subject. The Nation’s Ari Berman joined me in the second hour of the show to talk about the challenge to Pennsylvania’s voter ID law currently being heard there. At the end of our discussion, I asked him why no one in the mainstream media has gone here… and he said it would be likened to those writing about President Obama being a Muslim
I disagree. I think we all need to know about what goes on in the quiet rooms of the Mormon Church. This is a start.
