First Drafts - The Prospect magazine blog

These guys, but no Mormons?

The New Humanist magazine, where I moonlight from time to time as a contributor, just published some amusing God top trumps. All the Abrahamic faiths are represented, along with various species of humanists, Zoroastrian, and even the Scientologists, which some argue isn’t really a religion at all. But there are, quite amazingly, no Mormons. The New Humanist, for those not familiar, is a magazine of British atheists. It is meant to know about religions. Yet it does not deem Mormonism worth of inclusion in its base list of significant world religions? Let me make the case.

Granted, one has to be mildly credulous to take seriously its theological claims. But no more so than, for instance, stories of bearded men walking on water, or talking snakes. (See this fabulous clip from South Park for a surprisingly accurate rendition of the Mormon founding myth.) Mormons are also often taken less than seriously because of their history of polygamy, and the prominence of a couple of tiny fundamentalist Mormon polygamous sects. That said, Mormonism is now a thriving, growing international faith whose mix of business savvy and aggressive recruitment is piling on members. The number of polygamous fundamentalist Mormons is roughly 10,000, while the Latter Day Saints number more than 10m, most of them outside the US.

The religion’s history, moving west across the country to Utah to avoid persecution, is quintessentially American. While often extremely right wing, the church has birthed an enviable set of values and behaviours, based around a strong attachment to family, personal health - drink and coffee are banned - good manners and good humour. They are also rich: Mormons own a number of famous businesses, and populate the upper echelons of Wall St firms and law companies. Mitt Romney, a multi-multi millionaire, is by no means unusual. There is, in short, a fairly decent case (without being too flippant about it) for saying that American Mormonism shares much in common with American Judaism: small, wealthy, powerful, and with a history of persecution. The fact that the good people at New Humanist somehow didn’t see fit to include them says something about the religion’s prominence in the UK - where, despite a growing membership, and prominent churches (for instance, oppositve the entrance to South Ken tube), their image is conditioned more by Big Love, and bicycling weirdos in Reservoir Dogs togs. For religion watchers this needs to change. Mormonism is a big, fascinating story, and demands to be taken seriously. On current trend rate of growth, it will within my lifetime become the first new global religion since Islam. That, at least, deserves a top trump.