Mormon Coffee

Mary Mackert, who I understand to be the sister of Brian Mackert, gives a heart-wrenching account of her dealings with polygamous Mormonism

Timothy Egan, at his New York Times opinion blog, writes about the ways in which the FLDS church conforms to the image of the early LDS Church in Faith of Our Fathers.

“U.S. Muslims and Mormons share deepening ties” states a headline from an April 2, 2008 article in the L.A. Times. The article discusses a bond between Mormons and Muslims that springs from their corresponding history of alienation and shared values. The article focuses on the similarities between the two religious groups and the ways in which Mormons and Muslims support each other.

BYU history professor Arnold Green recounts the unwelcome comparison of Mormonism to Islam in the 19th century, but notes that things have changed over time:

“As the church grew into a global faith,” Green wrote in a 2001 essay, “its posture toward Islam became . . . more positive” until, today, “the two faiths have become associated in several ways, including Mormonism’s being called the Islam of America.”

A comment by a Mormon identified in the article as Steve Young caught my attention. He said,

“A Mormon living in an Islamic society would be very comfortable.”

This is a surprising statement. Last month CBNnews.com ran an article about Mohammed Hijazi and his family. Raised as a Muslim in Egypt, Mr. Hijazi converted to Christianity three years ago. Now he is running for his life. His father told a local newspaper,

“I am going to try to talk to my son and convince him to return to Islam. If he refuses, I am going to kill him with my own hands.”

Furthermore, according to CBN,

An Islamic council issued a Muslim edict called a “fatwa” back in 1978 that still stands today.

It condemns Mohammed and [his wife] Christina to death for becoming believers.

Where does that leave their little daughter Miriam?

“I don’t think that God is asking you to make your granddaughter an orphan by killing her dad,” said Mohammed [in a written response to his parents].

But under the same fatwa, Miriam will be killed anyway at the age of 10 if she does not choose Islam.

Mormons would be “very comfortable living in an Islamic society”? BYU professor Noel Reynolds apparently agrees as evidenced by this comment:

“…there are many important elements of Mormon thought in which we feel closer to the followers of Muhammad than to the contemporary Christian culture in which we have been located since our beginning” (Reynolds quoted by Spencer Palmer, Mormons and Muslims, 8).

To me this is quite puzzling. It’s hard to understand how members of a religion claiming to be focused first and foremost on Jesus Christ feel such a strong bond with members of a religion that denies a cardinal truth about Jesus: that He is the very Son of God.

I found another statement in the LA Times article just as puzzling as those above:

“When I go to a Mormon church I feel at ease,” said Haitham Bundakji, former chairman of the Islamic Society of Orange County. “When I heard the president [of LDS] speak a few years ago, if I’d closed my eyes I’d have thought he was an imam.”

It was likely unintentional, but behind the scenes the LA Times created a fitting appellation for this Mormon/Muslim phenomenon. It ’s found in the article’s URL: Morlims.

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These past two weeks I have been away from Utah, first in Colorado to meet with the development team of the upcoming Internet Biblical Seminary e-learning platform, and then in Tennessee to stay with my uncle and then go to the Together For The Gospel conference in Louisville, Kentucky. I had the pleasure of hearing Dan Phillips of Pyromaniacs—visiting for the conference as well—preach at Calvary Community Church two times, once on the wisdom of God and then on the wisdom of man. It was super. Both sermons were largely based on Proverbs, and among the many passages he referenced, he referred to two passages that were relevant to prayer’s relationship with the pursuit of truth.

Proverbs 2:1-5
My son, if you receive my words
and treasure up my commandments with you,
making your ear attentive to wisdom
and inclining your heart to understanding;
yes, if you call out for insight
and raise your voice for understanding,
if you seek it like silver
and search for it as for hidden treasures,
then you will understand the fear of the Lord
and find the knowledge of God.

Three simple observations:

• Understanding the fear of the Lord and finding the knowledge of the Lord pivots on whether our heart is inclined and our ears are attentive
• Receiving this knowledge is contingent upon whether we receive the words of God as a treasure in our hearts
• Our pursuit of truth should involve our calling out to God (praying!) for insight and understanding

The next passage, Proverbs 28:9, blew me away:

If one turns away his ear from hearing the law,
even his prayer is an abomination.

If we pursue truth in the manner described by Proverbs 2, receiving the word of God as a treasure in our hearts, our prayers are considered precious and are gladly answered by God. If we turn our ears and heart from what God has already revealed, our prayer is an abomination to God.

Are your prayers an abomination before God? Be like the Bereans in Acts 17:11, my friends!

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The Curse Motif of the Atonement (MP3), by R.C. Sproul

Bill McKeever discusses the FLDS polygamy cult and raid on Crosstalk (MP3)