The Department of Defense recently made waves over a decision to remove Mormons from the category of “Christian,” to distinguish more clearly among the chaplains and the servicemen as to who might best minister to them in matters of faith and morals. The label seems to be intended as a generic marker, as the department went on to separate Catholics, Lutherans, and Pentecostals from the category also, granting each a distinct status.
The decision caused a ruckus, and a lot of hurt feelings among Mormons who insist that they are Christian, and that they do look upon Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. I am disposed to credit their earnestness, though what their church teaches about the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, the angels, and other planets seems to me a jungle of nineteenth century American mysticism and utopianism.
It’s as if northern American religious sensibility met a fork in the road, and the Unitarians went one way, towards trading the faith for social amelioration, conventionality, and vague inner feelings, while Joseph Smith went the other way, towards myth-making and building up a society from its foundations. Which of them prevailed seems obvious. Where is the Unitarian Tabernacle
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