A few months ago Franklin Graham found himself in all sort of evangelical hot water when he removed
a page from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association’s website that
had labeled Mormonism as a cult. The timing of the removal—a few weeks
before the presidential election and a few minutes after Billy Graham
gave his presidential imprimatur to Romney—made any nuanced reasoning
behind the Graham’s move impossible.
They compounded their problems when their defense of the action was
“God has not called us to call other people names”—a defense which is
about as thoughtful and persuasive as saying “Mormons really are nice
people after all.” As Dan Phillips over at Pyromanics
pointed out, how can you possibly argue with someone when they say that
God has not called them to do what you think they should be
doing? Doesn’t that mean you are arguing with God? Who, exactly, do you
think you are?
But there remains an obvious question that bears exploring: Is
Mormonism a cult? I want to put forward a nuanced answer: it depends on
what you mean by Mormons, and it depends on what you mean by cult.
First the cult part:
I read dozens of blogs skewering the Grahams for their defrocking
Mormonism of its cult status, but I don’t remember seeing anyone lay out
what exactly it means to be a cult. Certainly there are several definitions of cult. What are they, and how does one qualify? Continue at Jesse Johnson
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