Mormon Cult
People who speak against the Mormon Church sometimes speak about the Mormon cult, or the Mormon cultists. “Cult” is definitely a frightening word and can scare people well away from the Church and anything to do with it.
But what is a “cult?” By the authority of many dictionaries, cult means nothing more than a religious organization, but this, of course, not how anti-Mormons are using the word. They use it in the most negative way possible—they use the word “cult” to mean a dangerous religion, a dangerous system of extreme beliefs grouped around a charismatic leader.
And many do believe Mormonism to be wildly false and even extreme. It does stand out from other faiths. Mormons have behaviors that no one else shares in quite the same way. One could see the Mormon refusal to drink, smoke, have sex outside of marriage, and watch R-rated movies as eccentric, if maybe more “square” than strictly dangerous. People may be more likely to look unfavorably on the uniquely Mormon temple worship, which only Mormons are privy to (and the Western world is oft uncomfortable with anything not completely public). They may also look with concern on the Church president, Gordon B. Hinckley, who is certainly charismatic, as was Church founder Joseph Smith.
So, indeed, Mormonism is headed up by a charismatic leader and believes in things others may see as dangerous, or at least unknown. But when we speak too much of charismatic leaders and strange practices, then we must also look at original Christianity as a cult as well, something Stephen R. Robinson brings up in his book, Are Mormons Christian?
Christianity was originally seen as false and dangerous. It was violently persecuted. Many Christians take a certain pride in their spiritual ancestors taking refuge in catacombs and being tossed to the lions. Why would the persecution have been so fierce if Christianity was not seen as false and dangerous? Early Christians lived by different moral laws. They separated the “milk” of the gospel from the “meat” of the gospel to avoid throwing “pearls before swine”—not all parts of the gospel were open to all people. They performed miracles. And has there ever been a more charismatic leader that Christ himself? (Whom Mormons also follow—the president of the Church is seen as His prophet.) His Word was the Word of the Church.
But very few would call Christianity a cult—Christianity has some number of centuries to be widely accepted. And although the Mormon Church is still viewed with wariness, the wariness is far less than it used to be. Were Mormonism one of those self-destructive personality cults that it’s often compared to, it would have died with Joseph Smith and the vestiges would have died out long ago.
Another point Stephen R. Robinson brings up is that to call any religion a cult is more a matter of name-calling than fact. To call the Mormon religion a cult is to dismiss it out of hand, with no consideration whatsoever about what it teaches or doesn’t teach. It is a way of saying that one disagrees with a religion and is not comfortable with it without really engaging. It is a way to justify a fear of the unknown, while leaving the unknown completely unknown and un-understood.
But the only way to know the Church is to find out about it for oneself.