Dr Matthew Bowman is the chair of Mormon Studies at Claremont Graduate University. He’s probably best known for his writings about Mormon Bigfoot. If you don’t remember, early church apostle claimed to have met Cain on the road. Patten was sitting on his horse, and Cain was standing there about 9 feet tall. The first written account was in the 1890s, but it got a big boost with Pres Kimball reprinted the story in his book “Miracle of Forgiveness in the 1970s. Sure enough a rash of bigfoot sightings in Weber & Davis County occurred in the 1980s. People tied Bigfoot to Cain, and Bowman argues this was a way to get away from the racism of Cain being a black man (cursed to carry “a mark”) to a large harry man. Are you familiar with this story?
Dr Matthew Bowman from Claremont Graduate University will discuss his latest book on UFOs, and we’ll dive into the 3 Nephites too. They were blessed to walk the earth without death. Is living forever a blessing or a curse? Cain was cursed to walk the earth without death. Are UFOs a form of spirituality outside of institutional religion? Bowman argues it is.
Why are young people losing religion? Are they becoming atheist or something else? Is mixing politics & religion to blame? Dr Matthew Bowman answers these questions. Bowman says that people are leaving organized religion and embracing things like tarot card reading, wicca, and other forms of alternative religions. They aren’t embracing atheism, and are becoming “spiritual but not religious.” They’re not abandoning religion, but embracing other forms of non-insititutional religion. Do you agree?
In our final conversation with Dr Matthew Bowman, we’ll talk about the tensions between LDS Church leaders and BYU faculty. Is there academic freedom at BYU? Should there be more academic freedom for faculty if BYU wants to become the Harvard of the West? Can BYU ever reach that goal as a religious institution? Do you think LDS leaders will ever embrace “big tent” Mormonism in which scriptures do not have to be literally true? And will that affect how BYU will function?
We discussed a lot of topics. What resonates with you?
Wheat & Tares 
I had someone rib me a bit at a client function a few weeks ago when I was at a nice dinner and everyone but me was drinking. I was invited by a client to try a whiskey he particularly liked and I said no. One of my partners explained to him that I don’t drink because of my religion and the word “Mormon” was thrown out. So he said “isn’t that the church where they believe they can fly?” And I said “Sure is! Why do you think chapel ceilings are so high?” And then we had a good laugh.
Truth be told, I think there are a lot of misconceptions about the church in general, by member and non-member alike. I also think a lot of people throw the word “cult” around because as was once stated to me (made perfect sense), being LDS is a lifestyle, not just a religion. And that is VERY true.
I don’t drink not necessarily because of the WOW. Its partially because of that but also mainly because I’ve tried it and it doesn’t do anything for me. It’s expensive, makes me feel like crap most of the time, and I don’t get anything out of it. I used to be a cigar smoker when I was inactive and I realized the same thing about that as well. But alas, I still have a cup of coffee from time to time. I think a lot of members are like me. We live our own lives for the most part, even if it may run contrary to the strictest of church doctrine from time to time. Most of the people in my ward (its a very big one) are mid 40’s or younger and I have noted that this “generation” of LDS are much more relaxed about certain things. We have a few open transgendered people in our ward and no one bats an eye. I have heard a fair amount of profanity at the weekend games. I went boating instead of going to church with a few members of the Elder’s quorum at the end of summer.
I have my questions about certain church doctrine. A lot of it will go unanswered in my lifetime. I would think most religious people have their questions and doubts. I also believe people fear Mormons. Not in the way of physical harm, but it makes them uneasy that most LDS folks are pretty straightforward in their beliefs and opinions and that scares some. I also think youth tend to stray from both the LDS church and others because they are curious and impressionable and religion is certainly not a cool thing these days.
Just my opinion…
Overall, I respect Dr. Bowman. My findings seem to differ from his. I acknowledge mine are anecdotal. I may even be projecting : )
I think the LDS Church uses and has used some spiritually abusive practices that harm people. From its earliest days, Joseph Smith used abusive tactics to persuade women to become his wives (or spiritual wives), and likewise the rhetoric he employed (and scripturized) to convince Emma to reluctantly go along with it was spiritually abusive. That continued with later leadership and adherents (as artfully illustrated in the Year of Polygamy podcast).
Tithing as persuaded now, similarly employs spiritual abuse. People of little means are told to pay tithing first (which is contrary to the BOM teaching to not suffer your children to go hungry). The Malachi scripture is distorted for the LDS Church’s own ends. People who live subsistence lives in impoverished countries are told that their tithe paying will lift their countries out of poverty.
Ironically, wealthy people are not reminded to pay a full and honest tithe, mission presidents (and presumably other top leaders) are told to not pay tithing (or taxes) on support they receive from 47 East South Temple. LDS top Church leadership blatantly created shell companies to obscure and lie about LDS Church wealth in documents they filed with the I.R.S.
Heck, even the pressure to do free work for the church (called callings) is spiritual abuse. I live in one of the dwindling/condensing church membership wards in Salt Lake. There are now thousands of residential units within the boundaries, but numbers at church continue to decline. In this setting, the church expecting members to clean toilets every week seems outright stupid (for lack of a better word).
The BYUs employ many quality faculty. For the colleges and universities as a whole, it is increasingly difficult for academics to find a satisfying (and safe) environment at BYU.
It is similar to when one reads news at the Deseret News (Mormon women are not oppressed, but elevated). Its bias is evident.
The mix of politics within Mormonism also goes back to Joseph Smith. As politics has increased its destructive persuasive practices (with gross wealth concentration being the underlying motive), top church leadership has gone along with it. The statement read at church during USA election season about remaining politically neutral, and voting for moral people has been very watered down. I don’t think a lot of people believed it, anyway.
While the above LDS Church behaviors did not play into my own initial reasons to leave, they may for many people. I have brief conversations with many people who have left the church. Only 2 believe in astrology. In previous years, being Mormon and believing in astrology may have been more acceptable (for example, the Deseret News published a horoscope on its comics page for many decades. I wonder when they discontinued it.) than it is now.
In my experience, people find meaning in living good lives and treating others with dignity and respect. A few may replace LDS Church practice with another religion. Many find spiritual fulfillment in the great outdoors.
I think a lot of people leave when they find their own moral compass supersedes that of LDS Church leadership, and that logic and science supersede LDS Church teachings.
Maybe if the LDS Church had stayed in its lane, they would look to it for meaning in life. Maybe.
I find most don’t believe in anything supernatural when they leave. Aren’t our beautiful earth, and our interactions and relationships with others enough?