 Cult Conspiracy by the Mormon ChurchCult members of the unorthodox Mormon Latter-Day Saints religion are manipulated through fear and guilt.This Latter-Day Saints cult produces fear in their members because if they don’t practice church doctrine faithfully they will fail to reach the highest levels of heaven. Fear that if they don’t wear their garments they will not be protected by God. The Mormon cult is written about in further detail in the scholarly book The Mormon Conspiracy Hutchinson, (a teacher of religion) writes that the Mormon church cult proselytizing “functions at three levels: marketing strategy, missionary lessons, and use of friendshipping families....Seventy-five million dollars was earmarked by Bonneville International, the Mormon Church's powerful communications branch, for satellite dishes in Canada and Mexico. The Mormon Church set a similar goal for South America, Europe, Asia, and the Philippines. One source says the Mormon church's satellite is the largest video network in the world, having the ability to merge into any cable system in North America....it spends approximately $550 million a year.” In addition, the LDS cult has been cosmitized, that is; a sacred canopy has been developed. According to Hutchinson, the following explains what cults like the Mormon Church must do to establish this sacred canopy: “1. claim contact with heaven or the cosmos 2. claim God has chosen a leader as His divinely chosen representative 3. give royal or divine status to the leader 4. insist their society mirrors the divine structure of heaven 5. claim to be God’s chosen people 6. build temples to practice sacred ordinances 7. produce sacred literature 8. proclaim a bigger and better canopy than Christianity’s” Cult: Characteristics of the Mormon Church 1. Teaching that the doctrine of the Mormon Church is reality, the doctrine is to be accepted, not understood. 2. Reality is black and white, good and evil, spiritual world versus physical word. As an example, the Mormon Church cult is the only true church on the face of the earth. 3. Mormon Church members are taught to feel part of an elite corps. Following and accepting church doctrine insures members eternal life and a delightful life in heaven. 4. The Mormon Church promotes a sense of community with love and friendship, with special flattery and attention to new members 5. Mormon Church members are manipulated through fear and guilt, fear that if they don’t practice church doctrine faithfully, that they will fail to reach the highest levels of heaven, fear that if they don’t wear their garments, that they will not be protected by God. 6. Mormon Church members are taught that any problems that they may have are due to their own inadequacies. If they are having marital, financial or other difficult problems, it is because they are not following church doctrine, or are not praying enough. Guilt, fear and shame are present in the minds of Mormons, if they are not loyal, and fail to follow the church doctrine. 7. Unlike non-cult organizations, Mormon Church members find it difficult to leave, when they find out that church teachings are false, or otherwise become disenchanted with the church. Terrible things may happen to them, and their family if they leave. Those who do leave, often lose their family, friends and other social contacts within the Mormon community.This scholarly book was written by Charles L. Wood, Ph.D. Emeritus Professor at the University of Akron. |