Definitely Not A Cult
Once upon a time, a young man claimed to have seen God personally, and that God had given him special revelations that only he was allowed to see. He told people that he was the Lord’s chosen Prophet, and gave everyone scriptures that he received directly from God. People came from all over the world to learn from him, giving up their homes and possessions and families to be part of the community he created and follow his teachings. The Prophet had many wives, some of them young girls, but he said this was okay because God wanted him to. All of this went on until the Prophet was killed one bloody, terrifying afternoon.
I’m guessing that when you read that story, you thought to yourself, Wow, that sure sounds like the story of a cult leader.
And if you thought that, you should be very disappointed in yourself. In fact, Heavenly Father is disappointed in you, too.
Because that Prophet was the furthest thing from a cult leader that you could possibly imagine: he was a True Prophet of God, and his name was Joseph Smith.
To the confusion of all reasonable people everywhere, certain apostates and Gentiles for the last 200 years have leveled the assertion that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a cult. As a fourth- (and in some cases fifth-) generation Mormon, I am here to tell you that this is unequivocally FALSE. It’s also kind of mean-spirited and hurtful. I mean, I (probably) don’t go out there and call your church a cult, do I? Rude.
It’s time for me to set the record straight, once and for all. This continual mischaracterization and slander has to stop, and I am the skank to stop it.
Let’s go ahead and take a close look at the key characteristics of cults, which will make it clear to everyone how ridiculous it is to call the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints a cult.
According to research that I’m too lazy to reference, cults share the following characteristics:
Charismatic, authoritarian leader who is viewed as infallible and/or divine
Exclusivity or elitism: the belief that they, and they alone, have the full truth
Isolation enforced through thought reform and indoctrination
Exploitation
Demand for absolute loyalty
Apocalyptic world view
Characteristic #1: Charismatic, authoritarian leader who is viewed as infallible and/or divine.
To borrow a phrase from Alicia Silverstone’s character, Cher, in the 1995 movie, Clueless, “As if!”
I mean, have you seen our leader? Have you actually listened to him talk? I don’t care which decade you read this essay in, whichever geriatric white guy is serving as the current Prophet is NOT charismatic. He’s barely alive. His talks cure insomnia (in a holy way, of course). I probably couldn’t pick the guy out of a lineup of the other guys who had his job, that’s how not-charismatic he is.
And of course we don’t believe he’s infallible! At least, we don’t believe he’s infallible when he’s doing normal human things, like getting his oil changed or pooping. When he’s speaking "as the prophet,” he’s 100% divine and infallible, but if he wasn’t, he wouldn’t exactly be a prophet, would he?
“How do you know when he’s speaking as a human, and when he’s speaking as a prophet?” you may ask, but that question sounds pretty critical of God’s ordained prophet, so you need to stop asking it.
There are some historical references that insist that Joseph Smith was pretty charismatic. Or at least that’s what Gentiles call it. Those of us in the One True Church call it Speaking With the Divine Light of Heavenly Father and In His Truth, which is completely different from being charismatic. He only talked all of his followers into leaving their homes and families behind and giving him their money because Heavenly Father was working through him. That wasn’t charisma, that was a Calling, and if you don’t know the difference you need to educate yourself.
Characteristic #2: Exclusivity or Elitism - the belief that they alone have the full truth
I’m just gonna say it: this is only bad and cult-y if you don’t actually have the full truth, which, in fact, we do.
I mean, of course David Koresh didn’t have the Actual Truth - he couldn’t even pick out glasses that were flattering to his face shape, which should have been a tip-off for anyone paying attention. As for cult leaders like Shoko Asahara and Charles Manson, if generations of Mormon men have taught us nothing else, they’ve taught us that you can never trust a guy with a beard (with the exception of Brigham Young, of course).
Let’s just focus in on the central facts, people. Jim Jones made stuff up; Joseph Smith translated the record of an entire ancient civilization that just happened to be buried in his backyard with the help of only his hat and some magic rocks (and God, of course). Marshall Applewhite of Heaven’s Gate was delusional; Joseph Smith actually saw Dad God and Jesus God and the Angel Moroni and John the Baptist and a magic salamander. Warren Jeffs exploited his position of authority to sexually assault teenage girls; Joseph Smith married teenage girls.
I think you’ll agree, when placed in context, the differences are stark.
Joseph Smith, clearly translating the Book of Mormon from Golden Plates, even though the Golden Plates are not in evidence and what Joseph seems to be doing is staring into his hat, which is holding magic rocks.
Could a cult leader do this? I think we both know the answer to that.
Joseph Smith was so spiritually advanced that he was able to translate scripture from words that absolutely, definitely weren’t scripture, like that time he translated an entire previously undiscovered Bible book written by Abraham himself, from an ordinary Egyptian funerary scroll that post-dated Abraham by a couple thousand years. That’s next-level spirituality.
You’re not paranoid if everyone’s actually out to get you, and you’re not elitist if you actually are better than everyone else. You’re not exclusive if you’re actually right and everyone else is actually wrong. That’s called being correct, not being exclusive.
Characteristic #3: Isolation enforced through thought reform and indoctrination.
This one’s just silly. Have you seen a Mormon family? We’re HUGE! If there’s one thing no Mormon family has, it’s isolation! We’re always together! We’re stacked like cordwood! Growing up, I never even had my own bedroom. The only question was, how many siblings would I be sharing that bedroom with? I would have paid good money for a little isolation, if I’d had any money, which nobody in our family had because of the nine thousand or so kids in our house.
Even after we grow up and (sometimes) move out, we’re still never alone. The Church is always sending missionaries or Home Teachers or Visiting Teachers or the Relief Society President to check up on you and make sure you’re keeping the faith. They do this even when you haven’t been active in the Church for decades - that’s how opposed to isolation the Church is!
I mean, just TRY to be isolated in that family.
Seriously, try, and if you figure it out, please share. There are a ton of Mormon kids who want to know how you did it.
In fact, when missionaries are serving their two-year mission, they don’t even poop alone. Their mission companion has to stand right outside the door, listening, to make sure nothing happens during a poop, apart from the pooping. They pray together, sleep three feet apart (or closer), and read The Book of Mormon together. It’s an incredible amount of non-isolation.
As for thought reform and indoctrination - please. The One True Church does not encourage thinking, at least among the normal, everyday members.
As an article in the Church-sponsored Improvement Era magazine in 1945 read, “When our leaders speak, the thinking has been done. When they propose a plan—it is God’s plan. When they point the way, there is no other which is safe. When they give direction, it should mark the end of controversy. God works in no other way. To think otherwise, without immediate repentance, may cost one his faith, may destroy his testimony, and leave him a stranger to the kingdom of God.”
I mean, heck, the LDS General Handbook of Instructions from 1999 straight up warned members off of thought-related gatherings! Here’s the quote: “The Church warns its members against symposia and other similar gatherings that include presentations that (1) disparage, ridicule, make light of, or are otherwise inappropriate in their treatment of sacred matters or (2) could injure the Church, detract from its mission, or jeopardize its members' well-being. Members should not allow their position or standing in the Church to be used to promote or imply endorsement of such gatherings.”
Checkmate, people. Skank = 1; Gentiles = 0.
But because it’s important to be thorough, I’ll complete my inventory.
Characteristic #4: Exploitation
This one’s just offensive. Because every last one of us - I’m not making this up, just ask any practicing Mormon - is delighted to dedicate our time to unpaid volunteer service on behalf of our beloved Prophet and faith. Paying that 10% tithe (on gross income, not net) is a BLESSING.
Working for the Lord pays you in something much more valuable than money: it pays you in joy and fulfillment. It pays you in an eternity in the Celestial Kingdom. It pays you in the sense of knowing that what you’re doing is RIGHT.
I mean, sure, maybe some of us feel some kind of way when we find out that all of our free time over the next five years will be spent serving as the Young Women’s leader to a dozen 13-year-old girls, without so much as a $10 gift card to Dairy Queen in compensation. But that’s just because sometimes Satan gets his claws in us. It’s nothing that a priesthood blessing won’t fix!
When it comes right down to it, we’re more fortunate than you Gentiles, because we know that everyone working in our religion is doing it for the right reasons: not money, but for the joy and honor of serving the Lord. Also maybe some socially-imposed devastating guilt, but mostly just the joy and honor thing.
It’s only exploitation if you don’t WANT to do the thing, and we all definitely want to do the thing. 100% of us, 100% of the time.
Characteristic #5: Demand for Absolute Loyalty
Look, the Church is really clear about this: Free Agency is important. Heavenly Father gave us the right to make all of our own choices, including being wrong and sinful. The Church doesn’t DEMAND absolute loyalty! The Church allows us to be wrong.
Of course, there are consequences for being wrong. Like disfellowship, or excommunication. But that’s because there are consequences for everything! There are consequences for leaving your ice cream out on the kitchen counter - it will melt. There are consequences for forgetting to call your mom on her birthday - she will never let you forget it, ever, not even on her deathbed (or yours).
We wouldn’t be living in the real world and following the real Church if there weren’t consequences to our actions. But Mormons are free to choose whatever we want to choose!
I’ll give you a few examples. In 1993, six LDS scholars were excommunicated for publishing teachings and doctrines that were critical of Church leadership and questioning the official narrative of Church history. Nobody told the “September Six” that they couldn’t publish whatever they wanted! The absolutely could, and did. Does that sound consistent with a demand for absolute loyalty? Of course it doesn’t!
I mean, sure, the consequences for being disloyal involved excommunication from their social and religious circles, and, in some cases, loss of a career as a professor at Brigham Young University, but those are just natural consequences. Clearly these six scholars were communicating that they were no longer interested in being part of the faithful LDS community; Church leadership was just respecting that.
Just like they respected Kate Kelly’s right to push Church leadership to change their policy on ordination of women. They respected her right to do that all the way through her excommunication! Just like they respected John Dehlin’s right to publish the podcast Mormon Stories, which was often critical of Church leadership. They only excommunicated Mr. Dehlin because he’d basically excommunicated himself through his criticism, and the Church was respecting the H-E-double-hockey-sticks out of that choice!
Apostle Dallin Oaks made it super clear what the consequences of using our Free Agency poorly were when he reminded us, “It is wrong to criticize leaders of the church, even if the criticism is true.” This is why at every General Conference, 100% of us vote to support and sustain our spiritual leaders by raising our right hands. Except for that one time in 2015, when like five people out of like 22,000 at the Tabernacle at General Conference voted against sustaining the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (which was totally inappropriate, it makes us look super bad if our vote to sustain our leaders isn’t at least as uniform as the average North Korean election).
And sure, the consequences of criticism may be excommunication and exile from your entire social support network. But it’s just ridiculous to characterize that as a DEMAND for loyalty.
We are free to choose to be disloyal. And we are free to suffer the consequences of disloyalty, like excommunication. That’s what Free Agency means! It’s Heavenly Father’s perfect plan!
Characteristic #6: Apocalyptic World View
If we truly had an apocalyptic world view, would we stockpile a year’s supply of food, like our Prophet told us to? Of course not. An apocalyptic world view would mean that we thought the whole world was ending, and if the whole world was ending, there would be no need for a year’s supply of food. That’s just basic logical reasoning.
The world isn’t ending, at least not yet. Like, at least not for a solid year after Armageddon starts, which could be any time.
When I was growing up, I was taught in church that if the entire history of the world was conceptualized as a single week, with Jesus returning on Sunday, we were essentially living one minute from midnight on Saturday night. But a minute is a really long time, if you’re looking at it in terms of what that would mean in a geological sense, with the entire history of the world being one week. I don’t math very well, so I’m not going to try to work that out, but it’s a long time, I know that. We may have until, like, 2040 or 2050 before Armageddon. I wouldn’t count on it, but it’s definitely possible.
Also, I’d like to point out that what we’re preparing for isn’t really the Apocalypse, per se. It’s the End Times that come just before the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, technically, which lands totally different. Because Apocalypses are bad, and nobody likes them, but the Second Coming of Jesus Christ is good, and all righteous people are super looking forward to that.
It’s like Apostle Dallin Oaks said in 2004: “Signs of the Second Coming are all around us and seem to be increasing in frequency and intensity. . . . While we are powerless to alter the fact of the Second Coming and unable to know its exact time, we can accelerate our own preparation and try to influence the preparation of those around us. We need to make both temporal and spiritual preparation for the events prophesied at the time of the Second Coming.”
Sure, there are going to be a lot of wars and famines before the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. But there are wars and famines now, and those aren’t the Apocalypse, right? Or maybe they are, and I’m just not super clear on what an Apocalypse is.
Anyway, the point stands. We're stockpiling food so that Mormons survive to see the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, and if you think Jesus coming back is the Apocalypse, then you’ve got some real problems with your spiritual journey and I suggest that you go read The Book of Mormon right away.
So, there you have it. Cults are small, fringe groups that exploit people, drain their resources, and insist on loyalty and obedience in preparation for the Apocalypse. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, on the other hand, is a massive worldwide faith that gives us the privilege of dedicating our time and money to the Church, while voluntarily sustaining our leaders with our complete loyalty and obedience, in preparation for the Second Coming of Christ. We’re not even a little bit fringe; you should see our investment portfolios! (You can’t, of course; nobody can. Church leadership keeps those on lock. But if you saw them you’d realize just how mainstream we are.)
So please stop calling us a cult. It’s hurtful, and I don’t have unlimited time to spend refuting Gentiles. I have a year’s supply of food to stockpile, and my Church calling isn’t going to do itself.
