This is from a recent survey conducted by Trinity College:
The context in which this chart was originally brought to my attention was showing the increase from 1990 to 2001 and from 2001 to 2008 in Americans claiming to have “No religion“. You know, the “secularization” of America and all that jazz.
I always like to look at surveys like this and see where Latter-day Saints get categorized. Are we put with the Protestants, just plain Christians, or Pentecostals?
I thought we were beyond categorizations such as the one in this survey by Trinity College.
Mormons aren’t Catholic — Duh.
Mormons aren’t Baptist — OK, I’m still with you.
Mormons aren’t mainline Christians — I guess I can agree with that.
I figured I’d find the Church here in generic Christian — Nope.
Mormons aren’t Pentecostal/Charismatic?? I always thought of myself as a charismatic kind of guy.
Here we go, I thought I had found the category the Church would be in. Surely we could find ourselves with Jehovah’s Witnesses. Right? Wrong. Keep looking.
OH!! Here we are — Other. Other, really?
Trinity College honestly put the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the same category as:
Jews,
Buddhists/Hindus,
Muslims,
and those who refused to answer.
I thought we were beyond this. Is there any legitimate person in the field of religion that seriously still puts Latter-day Saints into the “non-Christian” category? Do you know what Jews, Buddhists, and Muslims all have in common? They all deny the divinity of Jesus Christ. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been telling people about their strong faith and devotion to Jesus Christ since 1830 [When the Church was organized!]. The Church has been ramping up this campaign as of recent decades — because for some reason, after having “Jesus Christ” in the name of our Church, people still haven’t gotten the idea.
With things like this coming out from other “Christians“, it really makes me not care whether we are perceived as being Christians or not. We are who we are. I thought we were beyond all this.
6 Comments
11 March 2009 at 4:22 pm
I can imagine your frustration. I’m a little suprised that Islam, being the second-largest religion was placed in the category of ‘other’. What it could mean though, is that they bunched all the lowest scoring stats, because in of themselves, would have made no diagramatical presence…what do you think?
11 March 2009 at 8:30 pm
There would be no need to put the Latter-day Saints in their own category — being, as you noted, comparably smaller than Catholics or the “non-denominational” crowd.
There are 6 categories in which 17 Christian sects were placed into — my argument is that the Church could have easily been placed into one of those categories.
I hear many Christians sects who are against Jehovah’s Witnesses being classified as “Christian”, yet they find themselves in “Protestant Denom.”
Why could not the Latter-day Saints be placed there — as opposed to being with NON-Christian groups?
16 March 2009 at 6:00 pm
I don’t think Mormons really understand themselves what category they are in. As I watched Big Love last night, I was in awe of the raw primeval purity of the endowment ceremony. And I have been through it. But last night I saw it in a totally different light. It was a beautiful thing. But to the eyes of someone on the outside, they go: “WOW!, this ain’t any category I have ever seen before” (except for some jews and masons).
Mormons are out there. Celebrate your diversity. Even Joeseph Smith did that. That is why he was killed. He was as wild and raw of a pioneer as Harvey Milk was for his people, no, Joe was even wilder. The future is forever bent.
18 March 2009 at 1:42 pm
I find it best to “awe in the raw primeval purity of the Endowment ceremony” by attending the Temple — not by watching HBO.
As I said in the post, things like this “make me not care whether we are perceived as being Christians or not”.
Thanks for you comment.
7 April 2009 at 5:00 pm
Hi Jayflow,
Again, I’m sorry that this is unrelated to the post (and I am beginning to worry about where in the world you have got to!), but I came across this lecture by Michael Ramsden. I heard it four years ago, before I gave my life to Jesus…
…and was wondering if you could give it a listen? I remember in a comment you once posted on my blog, something about my love for Jesus is similar in the way that you love your church.
I think this lecture is a good reflection of how much I think about Him who saved me. What do you think?
If you haven’t the time, what I do is download the mp3 file, stick it onto my mp3 player and listen to it on the way somewhere…that way, I’m not wasting time doing other things!
The lecture is by a guy called Michael Ramsden, who works for the same organisation as Ravi Zaccharias. His lecture is entitled, “The Root of the Gospel“.
Thanks for humouring me on this one…
17 July 2009 at 12:13 pm
Hi Jayflow22,
The problem isn’t with mainstream Christianity today or naming individual LDS members as ‘Christian’.
The issue goes right back to Walter Martin who in the 1950’s took it upon himself to investigate some of the religions that were thought to be on the fringes of Christianity or otherwise presumed to be sects or cults.
Unfortnately, his research is still accepted today and will continue until otherwise countered.
The criticism from mainstream Christianity is that LDS do not uphold the Bible and the Bible alone as their authority. LDS claim to have the restored gospel in the form of the BoM (Incidentally – had the gospel ever been lost for it to be ‘restored’?). For this reason LDS should be pleased to be classed as ‘other’ or ’seperatist’ or even ‘elitist’. To be wanting to be labelled under general Christianity or Protestantism seems to me to have a false axe to grind in the name of acceptance. If LDS think that they have the truth, then does it matter how the denomination is labelled. I can understand your frustration as too many anti-LDS have added to Martin’s conclusion of ’sect’ or even worse ‘cult’, but if LDS do not have the theology to combat the claims, then how can they ever be refuted ?
I know that I have Jesus for my Saviour. He is real for me and I am happy to be a Christian. But is a label important in your daily walk with Him if you are happy with the relationship that you have? If you are unhappy with you label, then maybe it is time to analyse where you are and look to change what your label says to the world about your relationship with Jesus!