It’s worth noting that the guy pitching the video is an avowed atheist who has made quite a few films about mormons, including an infamous one where he flies from Australia to Salt Lake City to go door knocking for atheism. Pretty spot on.
Chortle
I spent thanksgiving at a massive get-together, and before we dug in to a really rather delightful meal, my uncle gave a blessing on the food. I’m generally respectful of my family during prayers and try to bow my head and close my eyes for them. However, I was stifling a laugh when the prayer came to this point:
We are so thankful to be members of thy church…
It was a good thing I was in the very corner of the room and no one heard me. I laughed at how silly it sounded. Then I started to get a little ticked off. There were several of people there who were not members of the mormon church. Yet he still said that. Did that mean those who weren’t mormon would soon be, or that he just wasn’t including those who chose to worship at a different altar? It seemed kind of arrogant, but I know my uncle, and more appropriately, I know what mormon prayer is.
From an early age, mormons are taught to say their prayers in a very specific way: by repeating what their parents say. When very small, it is literally a case of “repeat after me,” not only when praying but when “baring testimony” (which is when a mormon explains their feelings about the church in a church meeting, usually on the first sunday of the month). As the child grows, the parent doesn’t need to prompt them: they’ve pretty much memorised the gist of those initial prayers. Keep in mind, this isn’t supposed to be rote, recited prayer, like you may find in other religions. In fact, mormon doctrine is strongly against rote prayers (with a few exceptions, such as blessing the sacrament of the lord’s supper), but people tend to (at least in public prayers) say nearly identical prayers. There is a reason: language. (more…)
Offended?
There is an interesting article on The Mormon Curtain that talks about the mormon phenomenon of “being offended.” More appropriately, the idea that someone has stopped going to church or resigned their membership because “someone offended them.” If you’re not familiar with the concept of offended members, take a few seconds to read the article.
Done? Okay, now I can relate the perfect example of this thinking. My brother is married, and his wife was raised in a very strict LDS home (by comparison, our family was pretty liberal as far as mormon psuedo-doctrine goes: we had no problems with having a caffeinated soda, I recall watching my first R-rated movie when I was about 6, etc). Now, I’m not saying that her home wasn’t loving, or that her parents were harsh to her (I actually really like her parents… in so much that I only have to chat with them at family parties and the like)—her home, however, was a place where only STRICT obedience to anything and everything they ever heard in church (or a church-related event)… even if the tidbit they heard was only something they overheard in the hallway gossip chain. Not only was cursing (even if accidentally) something to cause a family member to invoke self-shame and lower their self-esteem, but hearing someone else do it created an open season for guilt-riding and intimidation. (more…)
