COLUMN: Can the LDS religion be considered a cult?
In 1820, during the second Great Awakening of religious revival, a young man named Joseph Smith claimed to see God in a grove in New York. This claim started one of the most controversial religions in recorded human history, including, at various times, polygamy and racism; and many assert today that sexism is still inherent in the religion. In this article, the LDS, or Mormon, belief system will be called a church or religion for clarity’s sake.
Whether these things are right, wrong or even true is a topic of endless debate. Today, however, I want to address a very different, and yet, still a very complicated question: Is the LDS church a cult?
Of course, to an extent, the answer depends on who you ask and what your definition of a cult is. A cult, in modern usage, usually tends to be a pejorative term and refers to a religious practice that is particularly bizarre. The Oxford English Dictionary has several descriptions of cult, which range from “A system of religious veneration and devotion directed toward a particular figure or object,” to “a relatively small group of people having religious beliefs or practices regarded by others as strange or sinister.” Whether these descriptions are accurate, however, could also depend on the location of the cult, or religion, in question.
In Utah, the LDS church is an innate part of the culture, almost obnoxiously so. Driving down a street in some areas, one can witness chapels across the street from each other, one kitty-corner from those and, nearby, a row of chapels back to back. Therefore, the LDS church is not viewed as a cult by most Utahns because of its predominance and its widely accepted system of belief.
However, outside of Utah there exists a very different view. Let’s take a look at some things that separate bonafide religions from cults and make a decision based on that information.
Some scholars argue that determining whether or not a belief system is a cult depends on if it contains true religious ingenuity, or if it stems from a pre-existing line of thought. Unfortunately, I don’t have room enough to detail the extensive research I’ve done on the LDS church, but the Book of Mormon is highly based on popular beliefs of the time it was written. For example, when Joseph Smith wrote the Book of Mormon, it was widely believed that American Indians originated from the Middle East.
The stories in the Book of Mormon also stem directly from popular folk tales at the time; because of this, it is not difficult to understand why the LDS church could be viewed as a cult.
There are other reasons, too. Cults are known for enforcing compliance. The LDS church asserts that all individuals have what is known as “agency,” and yet when this agency is exercised in a way that God supposedly doesn’t want it to be, eternal life is jeopardized. Is that truly agency? I would argue, not. Cults are also infamous for creating an “Us vs. Them” mentality.
In the LDS church, if one marries outside of the Church, they lose their ability to be with their partner forever, and the same heavy judgment applies to family members outside the LDS religion, meeting another cultic requirement — viewing family non-members as the enemy. In addition, LDS youth are encouraged to only fraternize with those who “share their values.”
Another factor that gives cults their notoriety is the lack of ability to ask questions and receive answers. LDS members are not encouraged to challenge things which are confusing to them. The mantra “Just have faith” is one of the most commonly cited answers when tricky questions are asked. Cults also encourage members to make decisions quickly with little information, rather than carefully thinking things through, such as when Mormon missionaries challenge investigators of the church to be baptized after only a couple of visitations.
In the end, whether the LDS church is true or not is a question that can only be answered individually. But when it comes to asking whether or not the belief is a cult, I think the answer is fairly obvious: unfortunately, the church meets almost all of the guidelines that constitute cultism.
Before I close, though, and receive a slew of emails about my incorrect perceptions, I’d like to state that I know and love many members of the LDS belief system, and therefore, my problem lies directly with the church, not the members. It is beyond difficult to question what you are taught, and there is no difference in the LDS church.
– Liz Emery is a junior majoring in English. Her column appears every Wednesday. Comments can be sent to her at liz.emery@aggiemail.usu.edu.