I've seen a lot of harsh words about Mormons on this board, especially since Romney emerged as the Republican front runner in this cycle. I'm not condemning what anyone else has said, that's not my purpose here. I just want to share my own experiences and perspective about the Mormons, which I suspect are different from anyone else here.
My father was raised Mormon, and then converted to Lutheranism when he married my mother. Thus half of my closest family members as a child and young adult were Mormons, but I was not a Mormon myself. This allowed me to have an unusually close window into the Mormon church without being indoctrinated in any of their teachings.
Yes, some of the Mormon doctrine is profoundly messed up. But I want to tell you all that in all my life, I have never known any people who were more Christlike in their daily walk than my grandparents and the two aunts I knew well. My uncles (by marriage) were less so, and one uncle in particular, who was a high ranking lay person in the Mormon church, tended to be somewhat self-righteous about the church. But I will go to my grave believing that my grandparents and aunts were genuine Christians, if being a Christian is defined as loving Jesus Christ and accepting His sacrifice for our sins. Whatever else they believed, they were clear that they believed that, and they proved it by living it. I know now that they must have been very disappointed by my father's defection from their church, but never once while I was growing up did they ever act like it made a difference in how they loved him, or me and my two siblings. We were full members of the family in every way, and they were some of my best role models of how to be a loving and caring and generous person to everyone else in my life.
I guess my point is that despite what the details of a church's doctrines may be and how unbiblical they are, whether we're talking about Mormons or Roman Catholics or whatever, if Jesus Christ is in there, He is able to find those whose hearts truly seek God. The Gospel is far more powerful than any erroneous doctrines that might accompany it. It can reach anyone in any church. So I think we should be slow to designate members of any church as 'evil' or as worshiping 'false gods.' God both touches and judges individual hearts, not churches. My own experiences leave me no doubt that while Mormon doctrine is not strictly Christian, individual Mormons can be genuine Christians. None of us know that Mitt Romney is not one, and he should get the benefit of the doubt.
My father was raised Mormon, and then converted to Lutheranism when he married my mother. Thus half of my closest family members as a child and young adult were Mormons, but I was not a Mormon myself. This allowed me to have an unusually close window into the Mormon church without being indoctrinated in any of their teachings.
Yes, some of the Mormon doctrine is profoundly messed up. But I want to tell you all that in all my life, I have never known any people who were more Christlike in their daily walk than my grandparents and the two aunts I knew well. My uncles (by marriage) were less so, and one uncle in particular, who was a high ranking lay person in the Mormon church, tended to be somewhat self-righteous about the church. But I will go to my grave believing that my grandparents and aunts were genuine Christians, if being a Christian is defined as loving Jesus Christ and accepting His sacrifice for our sins. Whatever else they believed, they were clear that they believed that, and they proved it by living it. I know now that they must have been very disappointed by my father's defection from their church, but never once while I was growing up did they ever act like it made a difference in how they loved him, or me and my two siblings. We were full members of the family in every way, and they were some of my best role models of how to be a loving and caring and generous person to everyone else in my life.
I guess my point is that despite what the details of a church's doctrines may be and how unbiblical they are, whether we're talking about Mormons or Roman Catholics or whatever, if Jesus Christ is in there, He is able to find those whose hearts truly seek God. The Gospel is far more powerful than any erroneous doctrines that might accompany it. It can reach anyone in any church. So I think we should be slow to designate members of any church as 'evil' or as worshiping 'false gods.' God both touches and judges individual hearts, not churches. My own experiences leave me no doubt that while Mormon doctrine is not strictly Christian, individual Mormons can be genuine Christians. None of us know that Mitt Romney is not one, and he should get the benefit of the doubt.
