LDS in the USA: Mormonism and the Making of American Culture

4. An American Theology

73 4 An American Theology Christianity and Culture The contemporary importance of religion is evident in the abundance of religious organizations active in American politics and in attempting to define American culture. The political scientist Eldon J. Eisenach describes two cases where religion plays a role in both American politics and culture.1 In the first case, religious groups operate like any other interest groups, such as labor unions, environmental groups, or the chamber of commerce, that seek recognition and advantage in social, cultural, and political struggle. In this sense, religious organizations are private groups that translate their beliefs, desires, and demands into public interest issues when they participate in social and political processes. However, in the second case, religious organizations are unique in that they partake of the definition of a civilization’s culture. They define the cultural basis of social and political processes so as to determine which values society should accept, which groups are included (or excluded) from mainstream society, and what defines 74 — LDS in the USA social and political relations in America. From this perspective, religion is foundational to a social and political structure that is tolerant, pluralist, and democratic. American civilization cherishes the values of religious tolerance, social pluralism, separation of church and state because religious groups, among them many Christian groups, are instrumental in creating them. Like most religious groups in the United States, the LDS Church can be understood from both perspectives. But what makes Mormons unique is that they have challenged and continue to challenge the cultural foundation of politics in the United States. With the exception of Muslim Americans, no other religious group asks whether the traditional understanding of the Judeo-Christian values that has influenced and shaped America’s cultural foundation is correct. This disagreement stems from the unique theology of Mormonism, a theology that not only emerged in the United States but continues like no other to cause controversies among Christians and thereby raises broader political questions about tolerance and social pluralism in the United States. This chapter will explore how Mormon theology and the Church’s relationship to other religious groups both contribute to and question the cultural foundation of American civilization. Because of its recent origins and innovative teachings, Mormonism has had a contentious relationship with other religious groups in America, even though Mormon voters are aligned in their political beliefs and voting patterns with those at the conservative end of the spectrum. A Recent History A proper understanding of the place of Mormonism in American life must begin with a discussion of its history. Because the Mormon faith is less than two hundred years old, some elements of its foundational story are surrounded by controversy, and a number of questions exist about Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon, An American Theology — 75 and how the Mormon Christ differs from the Christ of mainline Protestantism. Like many religious movements, the LDS Church had humble beginnings, though it began with extravagant claims. In the spring of 1820, a fourteen-year-old boy emerged from the woods in rural upstate New York with a story that would challenge the very foundations of religious belief in America. He was not a scholar and had no theological training. In fact, Joseph Smith had attended church meetings only a few times in his life, despite the overwhelming fervor of the “burned-over district” that surrounded him.2 He attended camp meetings and Sunday services for various sects, but found himself dissatisfied by the way that the claims of each group seemed to contradict the others.3 Smith worried for his soul and felt compelled to be baptized into some church to ensure his eternal salvation. But still he was confused. He wondered, “What is to be done? Who of all these parties are right; or, are they all wrong together? If any one of them be right, which is it, and how shall I know it?”4 One night, especially troubled by the tumult of religious sectarianism around him, Smith found special meaning in a passage he read in the New Testament: “‘If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God. . . . .’ Never did any passage of scripture come with more power to the heart of man than this did at this time to mine.”5 Prompted by the promise of this verse, Smith decided to ask God which church he should join. Of the spectacular experience that...