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Apologia Report 16:36 (1,086)
November 3, 2011
Subject: Polygamy's surprisingly current role in LDS life
In this issue:
ISLAM - "Christians" and atheists band together to oppose its "invasion" of Europe
MORMONISM - polygamy not as distant from today's LDS culture as many are led to believe
NEW APOSTOLIC REFORMATION - NPR takes notice
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM - examples of "intolerance being imposed in the name of tolerance"
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ISLAM
"A 'Christian' Europe Without Christianity" by David Gibson (RNS) -- discusses examples of Christians and atheists joining to oppose the "Muslim invasion" of Europe. Gibson begins: "Does European Christendom need Christianity to survive?
"It may seen an odd question for a religious culture that once stretched from Britain to the Bosphorus, born of a deep and diffuse faith that inspired great cathedrals and monasteries and filled them with believers for centuries. ...
"The modern-day crusade for Christendom by nonbelievers tends to be rooted in fears about Muslim immigration, but it's also fueled by worries about the deterioration of European culture - and nostalgia for the continent's once central place in world affairs. ...
"One of Christendom's most prominent atheist advocates is the
Italian philosopher and politician Marcello Pera. In 2004, he delivered a series of lectures with then-Cardinal Ratzinger that set out their shared view of the need to restore Christian identity in Europe in order to battle both Islam and moral degeneration.
"Later, [Pope] Benedict wrote a forward [sic] to Pera's book, 'Why We Must Call Ourselves Christians [1],' which promotes Benedict's argument that Western civilization can be saved if people live 'as if God exists,' whether they believe that or not. ...
"In a landmark ruling last March, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Italy could continue to display crucifixes in public school classrooms because the cross with Jesus on it is a 'historical and cultural' symbol rather than a religious one.
"While the Vatican welcomed that decision, others wonder whether the cost was too high - essentially emptying a container of its meaning in order to preserve the cultural form.
"And an empty container, no matter how attractive on the outside, can be filled with all manner of beliefs on the inside." Huffington Post, Aug 13 '11, <www.huff.to/nKbAJz>.
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MORMONISM
"Are Mormons through with polygamy?" by Peggy Fletcher Stack -- "If polygamy became legal in this country, would the LDS Church, which abandoned it in 1890, embrace it again?
"After all, some say, it remains part of Mormon doctrine, enshrined in LDS scripture, and many Latter-day Saints believe it will exist in the afterlife. Even the late Mormon apostle Bruce R. McConkie wrote that the 'holy practice' would resume after Jesus Christ's Second Coming."
Brigham Young University political science professor and anti-polygamy crusader Valerie Hudson "sees an urgency in confronting these notions because she predicts the United States will, within a decade, allow same-sex marriage, polygamy, polyandry and all kinds of relationships among consenting adults.
"So it's time, she says, for Mormons 'to come to grips with the whole doctrinal mess.' ...
"Hudson explored the topic during a speech this month at the annual FAIR conference for Mormon apologists [www.fairlds.org] ...."
Stack asks: "[W]hat about the fact that, even today, Mormon men can marry more than once for eternity in an LDS temple ritual, but women can marry only one man? ...
"Persistent beliefs about the return of polygamy or plural marriage in the afterlife, she adds, have had many negative consequences in the here and now.
"Hudson knows Mormon men afflicted with what she calls 'celestial lust.' They spend time figuring out how many wives they will have in the next life and LDS women who say they don't want to go to heaven or be married in the temple because of the possibility of polygamy." Salt Lake Tribune, Aug 19 '11, <www.bit.ly/n0ezl5>.
In "What Is Celestial Polygamy?", Bill McKeever of Mormonism Research Ministry notes that three current LDS apostles - L. Tom Perry, Russell M. Nelson, and former BYU president Dallin H. Oaks - all widowers, have each been "sealed" in eternal marriage to a second wife. <www.bit.ly/tgU4gi>
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NEW APOSTOLIC REFORMATION
"The Evangelicals Engaged in Spiritual Warfare" -- an August 24 National Public Radio feature from its Fresh Air program in which "Rachel Tabachnick, who researches the political impact of the religious right, joins Terry Gross for a discussion about the growing [New Apostolic Reformation] movement and its influence and connections in the political world." The segment begins: "An emerging Christian movement that seeks to take dominion over politics, business and culture in preparation for the end times and the return of Jesus, is becoming more of a presence in American politics. The leaders are considered apostles and prophets, gifted by God for this role.
"The international 'apostolic and prophetic' movement has been dubbed by its leading American architect, C. Peter Wagner, as the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR). Although the movement is larger than the network organized by Wagner - and not all members describe themselves as part of Wagner's NAR - the so-called apostles and prophets of the movement have identifiable ideology that separates them from other evangelicals.
"Two ministries in the movement planned and orchestrated Texas Gov. Rick Perry's recent prayer rally, where apostles and prophets from around the nation spoke or appeared onstage." Those two are The Call, "led by Lou Engle, who has served in the Apostolic Council of Prophetic Elders of the NAR" and "the International House of Prayer founded by Mike Bickle. ...
"The apostles teach what's called 'strategic level spiritual warfare' [because they believe that the] reason why there is sin and corruption and poverty on the Earth is because the Earth is controlled by a hierarchy of demons under the authority of Satan. So they teach not just evangelizing souls one by one, as we're accustomed to hearing about. They teach that they will go into a geographic region or a people group and conduct spiritual-warfare activities in order to remove the demons from the entire population. This is what they're doing that's quite fundamentally different than other evangelical groups." <www.tinyurl.com/3ry6cb7>
The above web page ends with several links to additional info.
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RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
"Religion and the Cult of Tolerance" by William McGurn -- voices concern over "intolerance being imposed in the name of tolerance." The basic complaint: "Faith organizations are told whom they must employ and what they must assent to, or face being shoved off the public square."
McGurn discusses "the question whether faith communities are free to live their own beliefs in their own institutions. Somehow the more 'tolerant' we become, the more difficult that becomes.
"In the debates over same-sex marriage, for example, the question is often asked of opponents: What can it possibly mean to you if two people of the same sex have their commitment to each other recognized as marriage? We're now finding out. To give but one example, in Washington, D.C., it means that Catholic Charities no longer qualifies to do adoptions and foster care because it will not place children with or extend health benefits to gay couples. ...
"During a 1785 debate in the Virginia legislature over state subsidies for Christian teachers, the future author of the First Amendment, James Madison, opposed that measure as state coercion. His alternative was giving all religions free exercise, which he said would add a 'lustre to our country.' When it comes to how we treat religion, 21st-century America is, of course, nowhere near China. The question is how far we've moved from Madison." Wall Street Journal, Aug 16 '11, <www.tinyurl.com/6ycwjcd>
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SOURCES: Monographs
1 - Why We Should Call Ourselves Christians: The Religious Roots of Free Societies, by Marcello Pera (Encounter, 2011, hardcover, 220 pages) <www.tinyurl.com/6axogzl>
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