Is Mormonism a Cult?

In a recent article in a Good Enough Mother blog, she asked the question whether people felt that Mormonism was a cult. This topic was tossed into the spotlight last week Dr. Robert Jeffress announced that he felt Mormonism is a cult at the American values conference where he was speaking. Pastor Jeffress is pastor of a mega Baptist church in Dallas, Texas and he apparently feels that his way is the right way. I disagree for several reasons.

 First, who cares what religion a person is as long as they do the job they were hired to do. I have friends of many types who have beliefs that might be different than mine, but they are still my friends. I have worked with and lived with people of different cultures that have been wonderful people living lives different than mine, mind you none of these people have run for president, but is they did I would support them if they proved to me that they were the right person for the job. I do not normally vote for the party, I vote for the person, so if they are not stepping up to the plate, only lingering near it, they will not get my vote, no matter what their religious beliefs.

 Second, I lived in Utah from 1975 until 1979 and I converted to Mormonism in 1976. At the time I was going to school with Mormons and even living with a Mormon family and some of the reason for my choice to convert was based on the Mormons strong belief in family. I had come from a very dysfunctional background and the strong family beliefs struck me hard. I wanted to live that way and raise a faithful strong family. I never felt coerced into my choice. I think that faith is just that faith and if it comforts you and sustains you when you are praying then you are in the right place for you. I later left the Mormon Church, but for personal reasons, not because I felt it was a cult. They are wonderful people and they were kind and supportive of me through all my choices.

 Third, I am more concerned if the right candidate can get our country back on track, not how or where he prays. The fact that a religious figure whipped out his bible like a pistol and started shooting off his mouth makes me wonder why. Was he using smoke and mirrors to draw attention to his own candidate? The people of America should not allow this type of person to sway them from focusing on the right person running our country. What matters is not how the person or where the person prays, what matters most is if they have faith in America and the American way.

 In the next few months we will be bombarded once again with endless political opinions that have little or no bearing on what is really happening in America. There will be all types of people jumping on the pile hoping to be part of the touchdown. People with little or no information just like Dr. Jeffress will try to sway us to think just like them. The trick will be to continue to believe what you know to be true and right and not let yourself be driven off track by the bible wielding or the witch hunting. Everyone go back to what you were doing, there is no cult here.