Mormonism: Sex Among Gods

I discovered an amazing site today, the Mormonism Research Ministry, which serves to "challenge the claims of Mormonism". It reminds me of Operation Clambake, which serves to debunk that other loony cult Scientology.

Here's a great quote from a gem of an article from MRM that discusses the belief that Mormon Gods engage in endless celestial sex:

"Sex Among the Gods. Sex, which is indispensable on this earth for the perpetuation of the human race, is an eternal quality which has its equivalent everywhere. It is indestructible. The relationship between men and women is eternal and must continue eternally. In accordance with Gospel philosophy there are males and females in heaven. Since we have a Father, who is our God, we must also have a mother, who possesses the attributes of Godhood. This simply carries onward the logic of things earthly, and conforms with the doctrine that whatever is on this earth is simply a representation of spiritual conditions of deeper meaning than we can here fathom." (John A. Widtsoe, Rational Theology, 1915 1st ed., p.64)

// The Relationship Between Jesus and Lucifer in a Mormon Context (via Andrew Sullivan)

Christopher Hitchens on Romney; Mormonism

Check out this great article discussing Romney's limp-on-substance speech on Mormonism by Christopher Hitchens, the author of God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, which I bought recently but unfortunately haven't yet gotten around to reading.

"According to the admittedly very contradictory scriptures of the New Testament, Jesus of Nazareth warned his disciples and followers that they should expect to be ridiculed and mocked for their faith. After all, how likely was it that God had decided to reveal himself to only a few illiterate peasants in a barbarous backwater? Those who elected to believe this stuff were quite rightly told to expect a hard time, and the expression "fool for God" or "fool for Christ" has been with us ever since. That concept has some dignity and nobility. Entirely lacking in dignity or nobility (or average integrity) is the well-heeled son of a gold-plated church who wants to assume the pained look of martyrdom only when he is asked if he actually believes what he says. A long time ago, Romney took the decision to be a fool for Joseph Smith, a convicted fraud and serial practitioner of statutory rape who at times made war on the United States and whose cult has been made to amend itself several times in order to be considered American at all. We do not require pious lectures on the American founding from such a man, and we are still waiting for some straight answers from him."

// Read the article here on Slate.com (via Andrew Sullivan)
// An earlier article with as much panache ("The Book of Mormon, when it is not "chloroform in print" as Mark Twain unkindly phrased it, is full of vicious ingenuity. From it you can learn of the ancient battle of Cumorah, which occurred at a site conveniently near Joseph Smith's home in upstate New York. In this legendary engagement, the Nephites, described as fair-skinned and "handsome," fought against the outcast Lamanites, whose punishment for turning away from God was to be afflicted with dark skin.")

Mormonism 'Demented, Ridiculous"; O'Donnell on The McLaughlin Group

I would highly recommend watching Larry O'Donnell's Mormonism rant on The McLaughlin Group this Sunday, December 9, 2007. He basically went nuts (rightly so, of course) on any of the panel's apologism for Mitt Romney's membership in such a completely insane recently-pro-slavery cult-cum-religion. Even though I usually find Larry's commentary on the uncomfortably doughy, emotional side of Eleanor Clift, this was a welcome refreshment to the ages of "any 'religion' is fine" appeasement in the mainstream media.

Kudos!

// See a summary of Larry's rant.
// See the actual video of his performance.

Cartoon Explanation of Mormonism

Granted that it obviously has a slanted agenda and, well, it's a cartoon, there are a bunch of truths in this video about the secret teachings of the Mormon church. It's amazing the depths of delusion that people can go to when "inspired" by religion.



// via Andrew Sullivan

Romney, Mormonism and the Absurdity of Religion

Matthew Yglesias wrote an excellent post that calls out Mitt Romney for his recent speech on his Mormon faith. He cited an poignant article from a 1959 issue of Time, which discussed Mormonism's explicit textual justification for racism:

Whatever they may do or leave undone about their Negro brethren, most U.S. churches hold that all men are equal before God. One notable exception: the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Book of Mormon teaches that the colored races are descendants of the evil children of Laman and Lemuel, who impiously warred against the good children of Nephi and received their pigmented skin as punishment. Last week a Utah State Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights drew on this Mormon scripture in a scathing report on the state of the tiny nonwhite minority in Utah.

Read the full post here.