Reflections on the Mormon Church
This evening I watched YouTube independent journalist Johnny Harris’ outstanding video, “Why the Mormon Church is So Rich,” and it has prompted me to reflect on a number of things. The video is 70 minutes long, has been online for just 3 days, and already has over 1.6 million views. Johnny Harris’ YouTube channel has over 7 million subscribers, and includes not only interesting and engaging content, but also world-class videography. I highly recommend the channel and this most recent video specifically about the Mormon Church.
My deepest intersection with Mormonism, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and members of the Mormon church came in undergraduate pilot training at Reese Air Force Base in Lubbock, Texas in 1993-94. Growing up my parents had some close Mormon friends, and I remember them showing us some of their “prepper supplies,” including lots of grain they could grind into flour at-need in hidden barrels serving as tables in their living room. One of my older UPT classmates was/still is Mormon, and a few months into our friendship they had me over to dinner at their house on base. He was married with a couple of kids, and they had also invited the local Mormon missionaries over to eat with us and after dinner, “share the pitch” about Joseph Smith, Mormonism, etc, and give me a copy of the Book of Mormon. I did read some of it, but having been raised as a midwestern USA Presbyterian, I was skeptical and my inquiries into their faith did not ultimately lead to a change in my denominational affiliation.
This encounter was influential in some of the dramatic events in my life in 1994, but I’m not going to share about those in this post.
What I will share is my opinion that Johnny Harris is remarkably courageous and brave to not only take the journey of the past decade away from the high-control / obedience-focused Mormon religion and culture, but also to SHARE that journey and so many insights through this most recent video specifically. I am thankful for his authenticity and for the window he provides into his own life and identity, but also the remarkable and influential history as well as current role of the LDS church in the United States and our world.
“Straight White American Jesus” has been one of my favorite podcasts for the past couple of years. (There are more, of course, I have a list.) I was fortunate to NOT grow up in a “high-control evangelical Christian” church and family. I attended and completed “Communicants Class” as an 8th grader at the First Presbyterian Church of Manhattan, Kansas, and while we certainly read the Bible, learned important stories and lessons from it, I remember us also being invited and welcomed to BRING OUR QUESTIONS about God and faith to class and to church. This was true throughout my church experiences growing up and at home with our family. I am very thankful for this.
At the end of his video, Johnny shares the following reflection (at 67:20) about growing up in the Mormon church, and how he thinks about those influences and their impact on his life and identity:
That [being raised in ‘a very high commitment, high control religion’] did a number on my mind and the minds of a lot of us who have had the courage to take the story back, to redefine our worthiness and our value away from the story that we were told. To define that worthiness based on what is inside of us and not on loyalty and compliance with the rules of a corporate organization that made us believe that it had the authority to tell us who we are.
Those are super-deep and super-important thoughts.
I also believe we have, as human beings, inherent “worth” and “worthiness” not based on our membership or non-membership in a particular group or tribe… but based on our humanity. As a follower of Jesus and student of the Christian Bible, I believe we were each created in the image of God, our Creator, and as God’s creations we are uniquely and individually both gifted and worthy.
How many people have been “scarred” and are being wounded today by high-control religion? The Jesus I’ve learned about and to know over 55 years, through reading the Bible as well as living life with other followers of Jesus, never advocated for an authoritarian, high-control faith or religion. Those elements of “religion” and “denomination” have been added by people (sadly mostly white guys) who have sought to impose hierarchy and obedience by mandate rather than through the ways of Jesus: Stories and invitations of love.
Give “Why the Mormon Church is So Rich” a watch and see what you think. I have known some wonderful folks who are Mormons and members of other “high-control” Christian churches and denominations. But I also know a lot of folks who embrace a much more liberating and empowering understanding of God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. I’m thankful for all these experiences and perspectives.
‘But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ‘
Matthew 6:33
https://www.bible.com/bible/2016/MAT.6.33
Amen.
