Friday, September 21, 2012

Mormon Editor - And Romney Critic - Faces Excommunication

          David Twede - managing editor of the website MormonThink and a Mormon in good standing - is now facing an excommunication hearing on September 30th as a result of a series of articles he wrote discussing Mitt Romney’s faith, along with the intersection of Mormonism and politics. MormonThink is a website written by active members of the Church of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints – commonly referred to as Mormons -who are seeking to create an open dialogue about Mormon history. Their mission statement is:

[To promote] Education and openness of our religion's unique history and heritage. If people want to learn about the true historical issues of the church, that they won't hear about in Sunday School, they can learn about them here. We aren't afraid to discuss the tough issues. We hope to make the church we grew up in a better place by making it more honest.


Our goal would be that no knowledgeable member should have to be afraid to speak the truth in church to avoid offending a naive member with the truth about polygamy, the BOM translation process, Masonry, or any other historical aspect of the Church. We want the Church leaders to be 100% open and honest with the members so we can be 100% open and honest with our children, families, friends, investigators and fellow members.


          By necessity, the MormonThink authors have to remain anonymous. In 1992, the Mormon Church excommunicated or dis-fellowshipped six prominent intellectuals, known as the September Six, for publishing scholarly works that were not aligned with the Mormon Church’s official teachings. This was a prominent example, however, over the years there have been other examples of sanctions taken against member. Grant Palmer, who spent 34 years working as an educator for the Church Education System, was dis-fellowshipped for publishing the book “An Insider’s View Of Mormon Origins” and later forced to resign under threat of excommunication. Although the accuracy of these scholarly works have not been questioned the issue is the fact that these books paint the early history of Mormonism in a manner that is not faith-promoting. Boyd K. Packer, who is the acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve, has stated "Some things that are true are not very useful." In this spirit, the Mormon Church seeks to preserve the faith of their members at the cost of historical accuracy. Members are instructed to only read history that has been sanctioned by the Church; all other sources are thought to be Satan’s way of leading the faithful astray.
          There are two articles that lead to David Twede being threatened with excommunication. One article is titled “The History Of LDS Politics”, which delves into the relationship the Mormon Church has had with politics, Prop 8 being only a small blip on a long history of political interference. The second article that is sparking controversy is titled “Mitt Romney’s Faith”, which discusses his beliefs as a Mormon.
          David Twede has made the following statement on his blog concerning the matter:

“Open and honest dialogue will allow members to choose, according to their agency, whether these facts are too troubling or in the end, humanizing. What do I mean? If we learn that the prophets are just as human, just as weak as we are, perhaps we will not feel anxious about our imperfections. Perhaps we will be more at ease in the church and more tolerant. Yes, I believe an honest view of Joseph Smith's weaknesses and by opening the facts it will bring love and tolerance to the wider membership of the church because they will lose their need to feel inadequate about imperfections in themselves and others. The Mormon Church needs to jettison Perfection Syndrome.

That is Christianity at its best, I think.”


          MormonThink is a valuable resource; the website is run by active Mormons and gives members the opportunity to learn about the full history of their faith in an honest and balanced manner. The editors strive to approach the issues from all possible angles, allowing both sides of the story to be heard.


Resources:

MormonThink: an excellent resource on the history of the Mormon Church

David Twede's blog, where he discusses his pending excommunication hearing and the events leading up to matter

The History Of LDS Politics: A full accounting of the intersection of the Mormon Church and political matters

Mitt Romney's Faith: The specifics of Romney's beliefs as a Mormon

16 comments:

  1. What on earth is in that "Mitt Romney's Faith" article that the church would find questionable?

    This is very depressing to me. I am no longer a member, but I hate to see people who are members and who want to remain so demonized and disciplined for having the temerity to state things that anyone can find with a glance at the church's scriptures.

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    1. It is depressing. The Mormon authorities need to confront these issues head-on, rather than trying to intimidate members who are trying to open up dialogue.

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  2. I'm confused, if they remain anonymous how was he found out?

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    1. It usually happens if you mention some sort of an identifying personal item. Actually, a woman in my brother's ward found my blog and figured out who I was, just from some of the details I mentioned. (And I thought I was being all anonymous and everything!)

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  3. Well how many upstate New York appostate moromons marry a hindu?

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    1. I think the same could be said for a returning to activity Mormon man who describes what he wore to church. It couldn't have been much of a surprise that "they found him."

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  4. It's interesting to me that LDS Inc. would risk bad PR during this so-called Mormon Moment. This move certainly does not make them look progressive or mainstream. Must have been the brainchild of the same idiots who thought it was a good idea to get involved in Prop 8. That move is still biting LDS Inc. in the a**.

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    1. It is surprising - they probably thought they could keep the matter quiet. Or discredit David Twede in the mainstream media.

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    2. I'm surprised they are taking this action as well. Certainly others, such as John Dehlin, Joanna Brooks and Tom Phillips (who received a second anointing), have gone further. Why are they picking on David? I hope he eventually DOES go to the media with this, and that the media has a field day with it.

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    3. Actually, this story is hitting the news. Daily Beast reported on it this morning and NY Times has picked up the story as well, along with Huffington Post.

      Not sure why David Twede got singled out - and I am a little surprised they are doing this now, rather than after the election.

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    4. I support Mormon Think, but I do think the timing and media attention is odd, but maybe not in the same way. The personal blog seems to have started a month ago, and the things on it would have gotten attention, and since the personal blog doesn't hide his association, it isn't that much of a surprise.

      It will be interesting to watch all of this play out.

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  5. Hello postmormongirl -- Glad to learn of what you're doing here, and I commend you for truth-telling. I left the church 30 years ago and have paid very little attention to it since then, so I didn't realize the strength of the post-mormon subculture. But politics drove me to speak up, so you may be interested in my latest blog post, "A Recovered Mormon's View: Why We Don't Want a Mormon President." Would love your feedback!

    http://brentrobison.blogspot.com/2012/09/a-recovered-mormons-view-why-we-dont.html

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    1. Funny thing is Brent were it not for the fact that he is running against Obama I would agree with you.

      America, near as I can tell has alway done best with a republican president and nearly evenly split congress wobbling back and forth between dems and reps.

      And while I live in a state going to Romney anyway, my vote is essentally pointless, as much as I loathe the thought of a mormon in the office of president - there is no way the media and the public would ever let him push religious policy onto americans.

      Plus by simply being a republican the media will stop ingnoreing the fact that we are in Afaganistain 4 yrs after Obama promised a pull out and all the other governemnt abuses they covered under Bush but ignored under Obama

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  6. I am glad he and his leaders are getting a cooling off period, if nothing else. I imagine everyone will have different agendas after the election, but I think both sides played the story into what they wanted.

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    1. The first of my Mormon Moment Series posts deal with this issue. http://poetrysansonions.blogspot.com/

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