1 Comment

George
October 27th, 2011 | 2:07 pm

Just one comment on Mr. Maatingly’s article. He states: “Then again, if Mormons gather for a seminar on what Southern Baptists believe, the odds are good that one of the teachers will be a former Southern Baptist.”

There are no such seminars. I have been a Mormon for almost 60 years and, although you may not believe it, I have never encountered such a thing. Not even once. I have never even heard the Southern Baptists mentioned over the pulpit.

I know many former Southern Baptists who are now Mormons and none of them harbor any hostility toward their former denomination. Invariably they retain fond memories of their childhood Sunday School classes and Bible study.

“Cult Awareness Sunday” is a peculiarly protestant phenomenon. These events invariably feature a screening of “The Godmakers,” and “The Mormon Temple of Doom,” cameo appearances by a guest speaker like Ed Decker or Max Schnoebelen, obscene paradies of sacred ceremonies, and obligatory jokes, chortling, and head shaking about how astonishingly stupid Mormons are. I have attended such programs at local churches, as a spectatator. I can tell you that they are ugly, deceptive, and hate-filled events.

The ministers who sponsor them do not intend to convert Mormons to “Christianity.” They just try to frighten their parishioners and stir up anti-mormon predjudice in the community.

This really is a case where the attacks are all coming from one side. Mr. Mattingly, by trying to be even handed, misses the point.