The move by the Graham family to make a place for Mormonism at the ecumenical evangelical table has been notable. Not only has the designation of Mormonism as a cult been removed from the website of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, but Franklin Graham has written a column for Decision magazine bringing the faith within the ambit of Judeo-Christian acceptability:
While there are major differences in the theology of evangelical Christians and that of Mormors, as well as those who practice the Catholic faith or the Jewish faith, we do share common values that are biblically based.
Less noticed, however, has been a certain reaching out from the other side, in the person of Mitt Romney. At his meeting last week with Billy Graham, Romney prayed together with the old man and his son, according to reports. This was notable because Latter-day Saints generally shun ecumenical praying with those of other faith traditions--at least I thought they did.
So I asked a Mormon friend and sometime bishop whether, in fact, ecumenical worship is forbidden/frowned upon by LDS authorities. His answer: "Frowned upon is probably the more accurate phrase, but that means that very few bishops and stake presidents would be willing to reach across the aisle." So the current campaign has led Romney, himself a sometime LDS bishop and stake president, to go where few of his peers have gone.
One is, I suppose, entitled to be a little bit suspicious that political motives may be involved here. But the implications of the Romney campaign for the future of evangelical-Mormon relations are not to be underestimated.
Agnikan | Oct 18, 2012 | 11:25pm
Richard Land helped prepare the evangelical acceptance of Mormonism during the last presidential election cycle, by defining the LDS tradition as the fourth Abrahamic faith.
Mark Silk | Oct 19, 2012 | 7:29am
But what Land did was a double-edged sword. On the one hand, he raised Mormonism above the level of what evangelicals consider a cult. On the other, he put it in the same league as Islam—which his folks don’t quite regard as within the bounds of acceptability in America.
Jay | Oct 19, 2012 | 9:06am
Well its seems the evangelical church can conveniently abandon its own values at any time. How nice. Their hypocrisy knows no bounds.
Christopher | Oct 19, 2012 | 3:54pm
I’ve never met a Mormon who felt that praying with other Christians was inappropriate or wrong. The highest-ranking LDS Church leaders have prayed with several past U.S. presidents (and the current one), and this sort of ecumenicalism occurs increasingly often on the grassroots level, with bishops, stake presidents, and laity alike participating in community ecumenical events.
H. E. Baber | Oct 20, 2012 | 12:08pm
No surprise: just another moment in the Great Realignment amongst religious groups, for whom theology, i.e. metaphysics, is irrelevant. What matters are “values” and “lifestyle issues”—i.e. sexual behavior and sex roles. Conservatives have taken up the old liberal Protestant mantra: “It doesn’t matter what you believe (about the Trinity, transubstantiation, etc.) as long as you live right.”
Mark Koltko-Rivera | Oct 20, 2012 | 11:50pm
Mr. Silk asked a Mormon friend about Mormon attitudes towards “ecumenical worship.” That language, in a Mormon context, would probably be taken to mean worship _services_, including rituals like the Lord’s Supper. Many Mormons are not comfortable in ecumenical _ritual_ settings, because for the Saints (as they prefer to be called) rituals should involve the use of priesthood, and the Saints know that this is a place where they differ with other Christians (which the Saints consider themselves to be).
However, when it comes to _prayer_, Mormons typically have no problems whatsoever praying with people of any faith, in either formal or informal settings.
As a group, the LDS are not accepting of Land’s (rather presumptuous) labeling of the Saints as the “fourth Abrahamic faith.” The Latter-day Saints consider themselves Christians, and that issue is never going to just go away.
Yes, I am a Latter-day Saint.
Prudenter | Oct 21, 2012 | 7:06am
It is my understanding both belong to the “Masonic Temple”........
Nick Alexander | Oct 21, 2012 | 7:46am
At the most fundamental(ist) level, for many ‘evangelical’ leaders, regardless of their preaching, politics is more important than theology.
But what else is new?
Mark Silk | Oct 21, 2012 | 9:10am
Regarding Mark Koltko-Rivera’s comment, for what it’s worth I did raise the question with my friend in the context of Romney’s praying with the Grahams.
Mark Koltko-Rivera | Oct 25, 2012 | 5:18am
@Prudenter: To the best of my knowledge, neither Mitt Romney nor Billy Graham are Freemasons. Where are you getting your facts from?
@Mark Silk: Well, all I can say is, I have every reason to believe that your friend is incorrect. I know of no one of the many bishops and stake presidents I have had over the course of my more than 35 years of LDS membership who would have had the slightest problem praying with Billy Graham.