Are you a religiously hyphenated Mormon? That is, are you a convert from a different background, a Catholic-Mormon or an Evangelical-Mormon? Or anther faith entirely, Buddhist or Muslim? Or are you in a mixed-faith marriage with a partner who is Episcopalian or Adventist or atheist? Do you have kids or parents who attend a different denomination or a different faith? Then you might be a religiously hyphenated Mormon, one with a serious connection to another faith.
Here’s a story about the Dalia Lama (who is, technically, the “foremost spiritual leader of the Gelug or ‘Yellow Hat’ school of Tibetan Buddhism,” according to Wikipedia) that will move this thought along a bit:
In a book called Acts of Faith, author and activist Eboo Patel tells a story about the time he and his friend Kevin were granted an audience with the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala, India. After His Holiness commented on a small empty bowl Kevin wore on a chain around his neck, Kevin told the Dalai Lama how many years he had spent studying the Buddhist concept of emptiness, which seemed to have a lot in common with the Jewish concept of ayin.
“You are a Jew?” the Dalai Lama asked him. When Kevin said yes, His Holiness said, “Judaism and Buddhism are very much alike. You should learn more about both and become a better Jew.”
The quotation is from page 58 of Barbara Brown Taylor’s Holy Envy (HarperOne, 2019). I know what you’re thinking: “Wow, the Dalai Lama really missed a missionary opportunity ….” Well, not all religions are as evangelistic as Mormonism. That’s part of the appeal of studying other religions. Learn more about them, you learn more about you. As Max Muller, a German scholar of religion, once stated, “he who knows only one religion, knows none.”
I think that, on the whole, Mormons follow the “knows only one” path. Most members are not that interested in LDS history or doctrine, much less the history or doctrine of Christianity writ large or of any other faith. Which makes the religiously hyphenated Mormons among us, who have lived experience in other denominations or faiths, such a valuable resource. If that is you, then in your wards and Sunday School classes make sure you share your knowledge and experience when the occasion arises.
What do you think? Does learning more about Catholicism or Methodism (which once attracted the interest of a young Joseph Smith) make you a better Mormon, particularly if you have family ties to that other denomination? Is it true that a Mormon who knows a lot about Mormonism but little about any other faith in fact knows little about Mormonism?
Wheat & Tares 
Well, I’m a Mormon and, among other things, my various connections to other faiths have made me better. But I don’t know what a “better Mormon” is
I wonder if it is possible to know or understand deeply or correctly a lot about Mormonism without knowing about other faiths (including contemporary American secularism) from which its leaders have historically tried to distinguish it. Mormonism, whatever it is, was not just dropped whole onto a blank slate culture.
Does the order of the terms imply the order of our religious journey? If so, then I am currently a mormon-agnostic-atheist-…
I am still waiting and open to see what my next stage will be, if any. I’m currently fascinated with religious history and interested in mormonism specifically, although my current engagement is from a distance. Not sure there’a a space for mormon-agnostic-atheists in the church yet, but if that space ever opens up I think I could participate again.
What do you others think? Could someone like me sit next to believers in the pew, hold a calling, and fully engage with the community but coming from an atheist perspective? I sometimes miss my days of believing but also cherish my current openness to ideas. For some reason the two weren’t fully compatible inside my mind.
“I think that, on the whole, Mormons follow the “knows only one” path”
And well they should. The number of paths is infinite. In a finite lifetime you can choose one or at most a few of these paths. You choose for you, I choose for me. For sure, a choice based solely on the one you know may not be optimum or even wise. Scripture teaches that for choice to exist there must be opposition in all things.
DoubtingTom asks: “Could someone like me sit next to believers in the pew, hold a calling, and fully engage with the community but coming from an atheist perspective?”
Yes, absolutely. I estimate that in my ward exists fewer than 10 percent true believers. It is not a certain thing but I listen carefully to talks and testimonies for evidence of personal contact with God, angels or even devils. I don’t mean to be deprecating; most of the other 90 percent rely on faith, hope and charity — the most essential virtues of a saint. You clearly have faith, just different from some; hope, for something; and charity I suspect in abundance.
Essentially all church callings are social in my opinion. Only one that I can think of expressly requires not only belief in God but reliable contact, and that is the role of Stake Patriarch. For everyone else there’s inspiration and perspiration!.
In particular, since Adventist was mentioned in the post, a study of the rise of the Mormon and Adventist faiths proves quite interesting. I have spent years doing just that. There is more in common than one might think. For example, Wilford Woolworth was a 7th-day Sabbath observer before his conversion, though not an SDA. Maybe it works both ways for members of other faiths.
“Is it true that a Mormon who knows a lot about Mormonism but little about any other faith in fact knows little about Mormonism?”
It would be difficult for such a person to know which parts of his religion are “Mormonism” and which parts of his religion are “Christianity” and which parts of his religion he made up along the way and is uniquely his own interpretations.
A metaphor I often use for a slightly different purpose is that of a goldfish explaining to another the meaning of “water” and the second says, “there is no such thing as water”.
Things become nameable when contrasted with other things. Mormonism usually means the distinctive parts. One rarely associates prayer with Mormonism, or Mormonism with prayer, because it is not unique to Mormonism. But how would a person know that?
Out on the blogs the word “Mormonism” typically means a flavor of Christianity with some distinctly unique parts. I suppose the most distinctive belief is that God and Man are the same species; as Man now is, God once was; as God now is, Man may become. Closely related is the concept of eternal lives in both temporal directions; no beginning or end for God, or for anyone else. This unique feature solves the dilemma of why did God create Satan/Lucifer. Well, he didn’t, not in the ex-nihilo meaning of “create”. God is no more responsible for the choices of his offspring than I am to the choices made by my offspring.
Indeed, a concept that I am the offspring of God, NOT just a creation as in pottery, changes everything with regard to choice, agency and my purpose here.
After 30+ years of just being straight up Mormon (minus the little I gleaned about other faith traditions as a missionary in Brazil) I began studying Buddhist thought and reading the teachings of a Franciscan monk as part of my spiritual practice as well as practicing meditation.
I think when one ‘knows only one religion’ it strongly skews that person’s ability to contextualize their religious tradition in the broader human narrative. It also makes it much harder for that person to recognize their own blind spots.
Sadly, I have to agree with DoubtingTom that I don’t believe there’s room for a Mormon-agnostic-atheist in the church right now. Nor most other types of ‘hyphenated Mormons’. The church says that visitors are welcome, but the only way to feel welcome is to either be quiet or express concordance with the agreed upon narrative. That’s not genuine belonging.
Maybe that will change. I hope it will.
Per the Pew U.S. Religious Knowledge Survey: “Atheists and agnostics, Jews and Mormons are among the highest-scoring groups on a new survey of religious knowledge, outperforming evangelical Protestants, mainline Protestants and Catholics on questions about the core teachings, history and leading figures of major world religions.” Most Mormons may not know much about other religions, but they outperform other groups in the US.
Michael2 suggests that there is absolutely room for someone like me in church. I have no doubt that he and others like him would welcome me with open arms. I truly wish that were the case! Sometimes I desperately miss the community. My experience has been that if i were to openly attend with my current beliefs, I would be seen as “less than” and not fully integrated. Could I still serve as elder’s quorum president or in a bishopric? Not that I would necessarily want to (although I did love my time ministering when I was in those callings previously), but I would want to have that potential and not feel like a lower tier member.
I still believe in inspiration – I just happen to believe it comes from within. If I were to think, ponder, and seriously meditate (pray) about things in my capacity in a calling, I believe and have experienced that inspiration comes. Just because I don’t attribute that inspiration to God, from an external observer, I suspect the outcome would look identical to those who do believe. But would my methodology be enough for the believers? Could I be open and just simply myself and still accepted?
I tried for a year to be a nuanced attender but I always felt fake. I always felt that I was holding back myself. If I had felt I could attend and just show up as my unfiltered self, I would probably still be attending today. And by unfiltered, I don’t mean that I would be raising my hand and bringing up points about BoM historicity, polygamy, or BoA issues. I just mean that other members would know I happen to be an atheist and still value participation in my mormon community. But I can’t be a second-tier member. Call it pride but it just doesn’t satisfy or uplift me spiritually and attending as a closeted non-literal believer is suffocating.
Perhaps I’m just feeling nostalgic today about my loss of community. Other days, I absolutely treasure the many gifts my faith transition has brought me.
Doubting Tom,
I think you’d feel quite welcome in Chicago. Probably wouldn’t be called into a bishopric or as the Elder’s quorum president, but I think most everyone I’ve met here would be open to and welcome you in the community as an atheist, especially if you are just as committed to the same moral values as you would be otherwise.
This is an interesting discussion, but something seems amiss. Would a pro-lifer be welcome in NOW? Would a capitalist be welcome in the politburo? Should a white lady be president of the Oregon NAACP? If an organization stands for something, or anything, it invites people who share that something/anything to join.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as I understand, stands for Jesus Christ, crucified and resurrected, and the restoration of His gospel through the Prophet Joseph Smith — there is room in our pews for others who share this faith. For DoubtingTom, avowed atheist that he is, to want to join us and even to be considered as a bishop among us is troubling to me. To him, I would say to join us later, if and after you’ve decided you want to adopt our faith and practices — or, if you want to observe without challenging the faith of our observants, come and listen. In the meantime, I wish you well and hope for friendliness as a neighbor.
“A bishop then must … have a good report of them which are without (outside the faith); lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.”
1Tim 3
The Book of Mormon contemplates this — telling us that God talks to every nation upon the Earth according to their knowledge and understanding. We are thus able to hold two positions simultaneously that many would consider contradictory. First, that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the Kingdom of God on Earth and the only true and living Church (properly defined). And second, that the Koran and the Tao Te Ching and the Summa Theologica — just like the Apocrypha — likely contain revealed truth from God and differing people from Martin Luther to Martin Luther King, Jr. and Mother Teresa of India to the Siddhartha Gautama of India could have likewise been guided by the Spirit of God. No Latter-Day Saint, with our understanding of continuing revelation and the personal relationship with the Divine, should bat an eye at something like that.
So first, we need to know our own scriptures and our own faith. If we don’t have that framework, we can become confused or pulled outside of the truth (see the Lord’s comments on the Apocrypha in the Doctrine and Covenants, for instance). Then, as we are well on that road, it certainly would be profitable for us to understand what God has revealed to Buddhists and Muslims and even, ironically enough, what God has potentially revealed to atheists and agnostics. As Brigham Young has said, all truth belongs to Mormonism.
DoubtingTom, exploring this interesting concept further, asks: “My experience has been that if i were to openly attend with my current beliefs, I would be seen as “less than” and not fully integrated.”
Some members would see it that way; some see it that way if you fail to shape your hair exactly so or or shirt or shoes or any other thing is not as such person thinks proper. I haven’t figured out a global solution to that sort of thing.
In my opinion after a brief ruffle like fallen leaves in a breeze, people would quickly respect the honesty that goes with not pretending to something you are not, which for many, is “believer” when in fact they are not. Honest, when in fact they are not. Humble, when they need a dictionary to spell the word.
Back east my Elders Quorum president was a biker dude. I doubt he owned a white shirt. Did I see him as “less”? Yes, at first. He had some unorthodox methods that I quickly realized were like fresh air on a hot muggy day. In another ward a counselor of the bishopric was a stay-at-home dad, his wife worked. He was hugely respected in the ward; compassionate and charitable to a fault, but just what the doctor ordered for me in slightly darker times.
Was he disrespected? Yes, at first. Any time there’s a deviation there’s a disturbance in the force.
“Could I still serve as elder’s quorum president or in a bishopric?”
Difficult to say. Most of their duties are administrative, but having that inspiration is quite important. Still, as many pedophiles are called to teach Primary children I wonder at times how widespread is inspiration versus desperation.
As others point out, God is perfectly capable of inspiring anyone on Earth at any time. Unfortunately, God’s not the only one that can do such things. That’s where the complementary gift, discernment, enters the picture.
“I still believe in inspiration – I just happen to believe it comes from within.”
That is where it seems to come from; God (or HG or your Great Aunt Lucy) speaks to your soul, your spirit, which then speaks to your mind.
It can be difficult most times to “objectify” it; is it really an inspiration/revelation or is it last night’s pizza? A few times in my life I have been able to objectify it with certainty. “Turn around, the bishop needs you” spoken to my mind in words. As it turned out, his daughter had just been in an automobile accident. The other was “change lanes now” and on doing so, averted a head-on collision with a drunk driver. I don’t know the ultimate source of these inspirations/revelations; one saved my life and the other was an opportunity for meaningful service.
Whatever the source, these cannot have been last night’s pizza, if you take my meaning. One can argue what it *was* but it nails shut the atheist viewpoint that there’s *nothing* metaphysical. There is indeed *something*. I call it God. Your mileage varies.
“Could I be open and just simply myself and still accepted?”
Once you got over the ruffling of leaves, yes. How big a pile of leaves sort of depends on where you are. In Maryland, you join many people sourced from a wide variety of backgrounds. In Happy Valley, not so much.
“a second-tier member. Call it pride but it just doesn’t satisfy or uplift me spiritually and attending as a closeted non-literal believer is suffocating.”
I joined the church as a teenager. I am not a fourth-generation Mormon. Because of that, or so I suppose, after 20 years in the same ward I still do not know most of the men and they do not know me. It is a strange thing because in my Navy career, I’d land at a new duty station and in two weeks would have a calling and be fully embraced by the ward.
When I commend the charity of Lutherans it makes others uncomfortable, and so it should be! Mormons should be best at everything; and some are very good. Yet the heart of Mormonism drifts into Rameumptum-land. The Rameumptum was a high platform where members would boast of their righteousness.
Mosiah and the sons of Alma, themselves converted (raised in the church but little hellions, eventually repented) went among the “righteous” to humble them. Not a lot of success, but among those self-righteous members were some that were humble and needed somewhere to look, somewhere to go, someone to believe in.
I’m also reminded of Isaac Asimov’s “Foundation Trilogy” where the “interregnum”, a period of social and knowledge darkness, was trying to be postponed and also shortened. Trials and tribulations are to come to members; many will apostatize and it isn’t clear which half will do so. At any rate, this emphasis on “ministering” which sounds suspicious to me is likely an attempt to persuade those who really do know God, to shine their lights in the darkness; and where is that light to be shined? In churches and neighborhoods.
Those who shine brightest themselves see only darkness. Imagine you are a light bulb. Everywhere you look is less light than you, for you are the source. So it is with my daughter. She shines brightly, it is a gift and I saw at her baptism and confirmation that it was so. But as a consequence, she sees darkness everywhere and is drawn to it. She does not like being all alone on her hill shining brightly.
So it may be with you. If you easily obtain inspiration, that’s a gift, also a curse, since it will and apparently already has set you apart. It is so for me as well, with the difference that I seem to be an introverted nerd that doesn’t need much sociality at church. So I go, sing songs, eat bread and drink water; but it isn’t all that fulfilling — I am not there for ME. I am there just in case someone else needs what I have to offer.
DoubtingTom – there are many members who have never and will never serve as EQP or in a bishopric, and I consider myself to be in that group. Am I a lower tier member because I don’t have the same leadership potential as some other members? You say you served in those positions previously; did you view certain members as less than, or lower tiered than yourself because you didn’t think they had the same leadership potential that you had? Is it not enough for everyone to minister, serve, and fellowship within their own capacity? If returning to the community of active membership is predicated on your potential to return to leadership positions rather than a desire to simply fellowship and serve, then I, for one, welcome you to continue to enjoy your current situation.