Viewing Mormons as Christianity's "Other"

Today I researched growth in the Pacific region of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (nicknamed Mormons because they believe the Book of Mormon is comparable to the Bible).

Manfred Ernst

In Winds of Change: Rapidly Growing Religious Groups in the Pacific Islands, Lutheran researcher Manfred Ernst raises a voice of alarm concerning the rapid growth of Mormons and other "fundamentalist" new religious groups. He complains about the tithing and the time commitment required of its members. In response, John Barker of the University of British Columbia, cautions against some of Ernst's conclusion that these new groups are "largely unhealthy" with "oppressive and paternalistic" theology, American-style individualism, racism, and political passivity. He warns against Ernst's top-down assumptions instead of consulting with the indigenous people, who usually "adapt Christianity to their own cultural premises and political ends with great facility" (see review in The Contemporary Pacific, Spring 1996, 235).

A gentle observation: I believe that well-meaning researchers like Ernst treat Mormons as the "Other" of Christianity, trying to classify it with preconceived labels such as "harmful," and "unhealthy" rather than studying it as a careful sociologist does, through evaluating the actual effects on its adherents. Jeff Thayne wrote a thoughtful reflection of "the Other" and "the Same":

According to Levinas,  . . . people try to make sense of "the Other" in a way that turns it into "the Same." It destroys the otherness of the Other by reducing it to the Same. When we describe the Other in words or abstractions, we turn it into something that we can grasp, understand, encapsulate in words, and remake it in our own image. We use the idiomatic phrase, “I get it!” or “I’ve got it!” to describe the way we know the phenomenon we’ve encountered. We thus take possession of the Other, and it thus becomes part of us. We become masters of the Other, because the Other has surrendered to us and has lost its alterity. The word alterity means “the state of being other, or different.” “Perceived in this way,” said Levinas, “philosophy would be engaged in reducing to the Same all that is opposed to it as other.” In essence, the goal of Western philosophy is to turn that which is alien into that which is familiar. (Jeff Thayne, “Levinas and Two Ways of Approaching the World,” http://thinkinginamarrowbone)

Human beings are complicated, and it is vital to see them from "the ground up," as individuals, and not from "the top down," as monolithic abstractions.

So I asked myself, How well do Mormons "adapt . . . to their own cultural premises and political ends"? What do the actual studies say? I searched for "sociological studies on Mormons' well-being" and found a neutral site. Here are a few trends from the same period Ernst wrote his book:

Data from the U.S. Govt. Census Bureau lists Utah as the state with the lowest teen pregnancy rate and the lowest abortion rate in the United States. [Source: Statistical Abstract of the United States 1997: National Data Book. Washington, D.C.: Census Bureau, U.S. Dept. of Commerce (1997).]

Based on a large variety of factors, Utah was ranked as the #1 best state in which to raise children in the 1996 rankings by the Children's Right's Council. [Source: Children's Rights Council Annual Ranking of States Based on Child Well Being] 

Latter-day Saints generally adhere strictly to their health code which prohibits the use of tobacco and alcohol. These practices have always shown up in national health data, which consistently rate Utah as having the lowest rates of smoking, alcohol use, lung cancer, etc. The National Institute of Mental Health ranked Utah as the second-lowest U.S. state in new inpatient admissions to state mental hospitals and the ranked Utah as having the lowest per-capita alcohol consumption. 

Those facts didn't surprise me, but here is one that did: 

Since 2002, Utah has been the state with the #1 highest bankruptcy rate in the nation. Economists and sociologists seem uncertain about exactly why this is the case.

In this very quick survey of sociological studies, I conclude that Mormons seem to adapt to their cultural premises and political ends with great facility (with the possible exception of money management).

When Tragedy Strikes

The daily newspaper screamed the headlines: “Plane Crash Kills 43. No Survivors of Mountain Tragedy,” and thousands of voices joined in a chorus: “Why did the Lord let this terrible thing happen?”
Two automobiles crashed when one went through a red light, and six people were killed. Why would God not prevent this?
Why should the young mother die of cancer and leave her eight children motherless? Why did not the Lord heal her?
A little child was drowned; another was run over. Why?
A man died one day suddenly of a coronary occlusion as he climbed a stairway. His body was found slumped on the floor. His wife cried out in agony, “Why? Why would the Lord do this to me? Could he not have considered my three little children who still need a father?”

So begins a powerful essay by Spencer W. Kimball. He thoughtfully concludes that these questions are unanswerable without a precise understanding of God's motives. Yet too often we grow angry with God for allowing problems to happen. Or we choose to dwell in self-pity, blaming those who have caused our problems, not realizing that it poisons our own future growth and happiness.

President Kimball faced several health challenges that could have ruined his attitude toward life. Instead, he pressed forward with courage. In 1932 he began suffering from painful boils and infectious sores. In May 1948 in Arizona, he suffered severe chest pain from a heart attack. On his next assignment in Idaho, he again experienced chest pains, which escalated into another heart attack several days after his return. These^]chest pains returned during the next several years, particularly in times of greatest stress. Then, in early 1950, his throat began to be persistently hoarse. In late 1956, his hoarseness came back, coupled with occasional bleeding in the back of his throat. In early 1957 a doctor operated on his throat to remove some cancer and surgically removed one of President Kimball's vocal cords and half of the other, leaving him barely able to speak above a whisper. His voice remained raspy the rest of his life. In 1972, at age 76, he began having difficulty breathing and sleeping. Doctors discovered that he had serious heart disease and that his throat cancer had returned. Heart surgery was postponed so that he could undergo radiation on his throat, which was successful. On April 12, 1972, he underwent a 4.5-hour surgery, which was also successful.

After overcoming these severe health problems, President Kimball guided the Church through a period of dramatic growth. During the twelve years of his presidency, the number of missionaries increased by 50 percent, the priesthood was extended to all worthy male members, and the number of temples doubled.

Writing from this unique perspective of dealing with severe adversity, President Kimball discussed our premortal life and the attitude that we might adopt toward our challenges:

We knew before we were born that we were coming to the earth for bodies and experience and that we would have joys and sorrows, ease and pain, comforts and hardships, health and sickness, successes and disappointments, and we knew also that after a period of life we would die. We accepted all these eventualities with a glad heart, eager to accept both the favorable and unfavorable. We eagerly accepted the chance to come earthward even though it might be for only a day or a year. Perhaps we were not so much concerned whether we should die of disease, of accident, or of senility. We were willing to take life as it came and as we might organize and control it, and this without murmur, complaint, or unreasonable demands.

In the face of apparent tragedy we must put our trust in God, knowing that despite our limited view his purposes will not fail. With all its troubles life offers us the tremendous privilege to grow in knowledge and wisdom, faith and works, preparing to return and share God’s glory.⁹

What an inspiring example of pressing forward with faith and courage! For more on this topic, see https://www.lds.org/manual/teachings-spencer-w-kimball/chapter-2?lang=eng.