Op-Ed: I’m a Mormon, Not a Christian
THE NEW YORK TIMES
By David Mason
Thanks to Mitt Romney, a Broadway hit and a relentless marketing campaign by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Mormons seem to be everywhere. This is the so-called Mormon Moment: a strange convergence of developments offering Mormons hope that the Christian nation that persecuted, banished or killed them in the 19th century will finally love them as fellow Christians. I want to be on record about this. I’m about as genuine a Mormon as you’ll find — a templegoer with a Utah pedigree and an administrative position in a congregation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I am also emphatically not a Christian. For the curious, the dispute can be reduced to Jesus. [link]
In fact, I rather agree with Richard D. Land, the president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, who calls Mormonism a fourth Abrahamic religion, along with Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Being set apart from Christianity in this way could give Mormonism a chance to fashion its own legacy. Whatever happens in November, I hope Mormonism eventually realizes that it doesn’t need Christianity’s approval and will get big and beat up all the imperious Christians who tormented it when it was small, weird and painfully self-conscious.
By David Mason
Thanks to Mitt Romney, a Broadway hit and a relentless marketing campaign by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Mormons seem to be everywhere. This is the so-called Mormon Moment: a strange convergence of developments offering Mormons hope that the Christian nation that persecuted, banished or killed them in the 19th century will finally love them as fellow Christians. I want to be on record about this. I’m about as genuine a Mormon as you’ll find — a templegoer with a Utah pedigree and an administrative position in a congregation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I am also emphatically not a Christian. For the curious, the dispute can be reduced to Jesus. [link]
In fact, I rather agree with Richard D. Land, the president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, who calls Mormonism a fourth Abrahamic religion, along with Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Being set apart from Christianity in this way could give Mormonism a chance to fashion its own legacy. Whatever happens in November, I hope Mormonism eventually realizes that it doesn’t need Christianity’s approval and will get big and beat up all the imperious Christians who tormented it when it was small, weird and painfully self-conscious.
Comments
http://alphaomegaarts.blogspot.com/2012/05/video-is-mormons-art-also-christians.html
Then came a post by a Jewish-Mormon making the case for why a Jew converted, and not to Christianity but to Mormonisn. With the seeds already planted with Tahlib's post, this post began a deeper examination of the question of identity and labels.
http://alphaomegaarts.blogspot.com/2012/06/why-should-jew-become-mormon-ask.html
Then comes today's post from David Mason, an associate professor of theater at Rhodes College, the author of “Theatre and Religion on Krishna’s Stage: Performing in Vrindavan” and “My Mormonism: A Primer for Non-Mormons and Mormons, Alike.” Who clearly articulates the case, and from a Mormon-Artist perspectice about why Mormonism is not Christianity, but instead a 4th Abrahamic tradition.
I am beginning to be persuaded.
We have 64 posts here on A&O on Mormonism in Art, and many are clearly non traditional (non-trinitarian) ways of looking at the art. The work of Arnold Friberg's Book of Mormon art may be the most clear example of why Mormonism in Art ought to be re-labled as "Other" or placed in the Interfaith column. I've not yet made a decision, but as David Mason has pointed out, this "Mormon moment" is forcing a rethinking of views, and I am leaning toward Tahlib's suggestion, just not yet.
http://alphaomegaarts.blogspot.com/2012/05/insight-into-arnold-fribergs-book-of.html
As a Latter-day Saint, I recognize and celebrate the faith and good works of non-Mormon Christians. My life would be poorer without the writings of C. S. Lewis and Frederick Buechner and the examples of Mother Teresa and Dietrich Bonhoeffer, as well as the words and deeds of countless other fellow Christians outside my denomination.
Mr. Mason seems more focused on a quest for a fourth Abrahamic religion than on the centrality of the life and teachings of Jesus Christ to both Mormonism and traditional Christianity.
I am one Mormon who very much considers himself a Christian, and I suspect that this dual designation is one that is shared by the overwhelming majority of my fellow Latter-day Saints.
DOUGLAS W. DESMARAIS
Baltimore, June 13, 2012