Mormon tribalism has never been weaker
 

Many forces, both from within and without, have conspired to place Mormonism in its weakest position, from a tribal standpoint, since its founding.

I was pondering the several posters here who said that they would vote for an overtly anti-Mormon candidate. Why? Because the tribal identity is dissolving.

Some of this has to do with Mormonism emerging from the mountains, and the world becoming smaller.

Much of it has to do with mainstreaming efforts by the General Authorities. "We are a Christian church just like you. Our beliefs are not so different than yours. We wish to be loved and accepted."

The primacy of "a personal relationship with Jesus Christ", very similar to traditional Baptist precepts, has supplanted the message of the restoration. 40 years ago, you were very likely to hear primarily of Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon, and the restoration in a sacrament meeting. Today, it is much more rare.

The push back against "the old prophets" has never been greater. Romney's statement that he can imagine nothing more awful than polygamy hardly raises a single eyebrow among Mormons in 2008.

The irony, is that when we are accepted by the world, as we seem to wish, Mormonism will be done and over. Assimilated into Babylon.

And we wonder why convert baptisms in America are flat or falling.

It takes more than one set of hands to keep the Ark in its place. It has always been steadied by human hands, and any injunction to silence members only hastens the death of the tribe.

Your American myopia is staggering … we are no longer an American church but rather a global church. The American faction of the tribe is not weakened but rather struggling to adapt to their place in larger context.

Don't forget: GA A to GA B, "Hey, I've got an idea, let's but everything to do with JS and the Book of Mormon in the basement of the Visitors' Center. Make it really hard to find. Only Bible and Jesus stuff above ground level. Then let's decorate our new Albert Speer knock off edifice only with pioneer sculptures and paintings. I've already seen to it that Pres. Hinkley's latest book didn't have a single reference to Nephite or Lamanite in its index or table of contents."

It mirrors the United States struggle in the current world landscape ... Europe is proving to be a superior economic superpower and China is quickly becoming an equal economic and military superpower.

Oh the ignorance ... did you know the church collectively will be studying the teachings of Joseph Smith for the next two years?

You're bemoaning the fall of Mormon tribalism yet you campaign against Romney?

You are the one who doesn't see the larger picture. Romney as president actually harms Mormon tribalism, instead of helping it.

You argue from so many angles, I'm not even sure whether you are for Mormon tribalism or against it. Is this a John Kerry thing?

Yeah, the green jellow version. Certainly not the stuff that excites Harold Bloom and MikeWaters. Really this white-washed two-year study is a way to control the agenda in the way Waters is decrying. They've labotomized Smith.

This is what Mauss considers to be the impetus for the more fundamentally inclined mullahish bent of mormon. Since there's no longer a really obvious way to distinguish "the one true faith" from the others, they make up extra rules to show their piety, like caffeine or white-shirts or facial hair.

I think you're right in pointing out how it has fractured the community of believers.