Mormonism: Making Theological Distinctions
This recent news
release got me thinking about the problem of treating Mormonism as a
legitimate denomination of Christianity:
Elder Quentin L. Cook,
an apostle for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,
appealed to the news media today to make a clear distinction in their reports
between the Church and the polygamist sect in Texas that has made headlines
throughout the world.
He praised news media that are
making this distinction, but expressed concerns about others who are
perpetuating mistruths about the Church, whose members are commonly referred to
as Mormons.
Elder Cook said it is very
confusing to the public when some media use “Mormon” to describe the
Texas-based polygamous group that is currently under investigation for possible
incidents of child abuse. He reiterated that The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints, with over 13 million members worldwide, is not connected in
any way to sects that practice polygamy.
In light of his understandable concern, it occurred to me
that what is sauce for the goose should be sauce for the gander. Here are Apostle Cook’s own words,
slightly modified by me (in brackets) to express a related—and largely ignored—concern:
[A leader for] the Church of Jesus
Christ …. appealed to the news media today to make a clear distinction in their
reports between the [Christian] Church and the [Mormon] sect in Utah that has
made headlines throughout the world…[He] expressed concerns about others
who are perpetuating mistruths about the Church, whose
members are commonly referred to as ["Christians."]. [The
Christian leader] said it is very confusing to the public when some media use
[“Christian”] to describe the [Salt Lake City]-based [non-trinitarian,
original-sin-denying, pro-formal-priesthood promoting, pro-eternal marriage,
polytheistic, God-has-a-wife] group...He reiterated that The [original
Christian] Church of Jesus Christ... with over [a billion members] worldwide,
is not connected in any way to sects that practice [polytheism, et al].
