Why Mormons Don't Like the Cross

Ever since I began engaging in apologetics with Mormons, back in the 1980s, their skittishness about and rejection of the cross, as a symbol of Christ and His atoning sacrifice, has always seemed odd to me.  After all, St. Paul himself proclaimed to scoffers, "We preach Christ crucified" and "I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified" (1 Cor. 1:23, 2:2).

The rationale I've heard from many Mormons for their aversion to the cross as a Christian symbol has included rejoinders such as, "We don't use them because that's a Catholic thing," and, "Why would I want to see a reminder of the thing that killed Jesus? That's morbid!" The fomer president of the Mormon Church, Gordon B. Hinkley, had this to say: For us [Mormons], the cross is the symbol of the dying Christ, while our message is a declaration of the Living Christ.”

One Mormon missionary who, along with several LDS confreres, attended one of my parish seminars on Mormonism some years ago, told me in all earnestness, "We don't use crosses because Jesus died on a cross. If your brother were murdered with a knife, you wouldn't hang a little knife on chain around your neck, would you?" I told him that this was precisely the point. "What happened on the cross is, in itself, the reason we Catholics display the cross," I said. "The most important event in history took place on the wood of the cross at Golgotha, upon which Christ suffered and died for our salvation."

I could see from the look on his face that that Mormon missionary didn't accept my reasoning.

In a future post on this blog, I'll supply a précis of the Catholic reasons for venerating the cross, whether it be a crucifix (i.e., with the corpus of the Lord affixed) or an empty cross. But for the moment, I think the primary reason, at least from the explanations given by Mormons I've discussed this subject with over the years, is that the cross of Christ is inextricably identified in their minds with the Catholic Church. Until recently, the Mormon Church has been up front in its opinion that the Catholic Church is nothing other than the "counterfeit" church which, Mormons say, arose out of the maelstrom of syncretism, corruption, and heresy which occurred when Christ allegedly withdrew the "keys of authority" from the Church He had established, thus  (c.f., Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1979 ed.], 42-46, 172-174, 712, James E. Talmage, The Great Apostasy [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 1968], 130 ff.; and Hugh Nibley, Mormonism and Early Christianity [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 1987], 282-288).

In any case, in light of the above, here's an interesting blog piece about Mormons and the cross and why they eschew it. 

Terrorist Threat: "Guaranteed to kill 330,000 Americans within a single hour!"

Lord, I thank You for Your many blessings, especially that the 80s are over

New poll shows most Americans have high regard for Pope Benedict XVI

Well, what do you know. This Catholic survey's findings run directly contrary to what the secular mainstream media would have you believe. MSMS has of late been unrelenting in its negative coverage of Pope Benedict XVI, which in itself is nothing surprising,  since the Pope is unrelenting in his proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world — a message that the world simply does not want to hear. No matter. The pope will continue speaking the Truth, and the MSM will continue doing what it can to obscure, spin, ridicule, and obfuscate his message. And in the meantime, at least if this poll is an accurrate indicator, most Americans still have an openeness to the Pope — at least for now.

Americans overall and American Catholics in particular hold Pope Benedict XVI in high regard, according to a Marist College poll conducted in partnership with the Knights of Columbus.

Sixty percent of Americans reported they have either a favorable or very favorable impression of the pontiff while 76 percent of Catholics hold the same view, the telephone poll of 2,078 people found.

At the same time, 20 percent of Americans and 11 percent of Catholics told interviewers they have an unfavorable or very unfavorable view of Pope Benedict. (continue reading)

Pat's Top Ten Things That Sound Sinful But Really Aren't

In hopes that this will help alleviate any anxiety of conscience, be assured that, under normal circumstances, you will likely never have to go to confession for having been involved with any of these activities . . .


10. Perambulation

9. Thespianism

8. Tax withholding

7. Homogenization

6. Depilation

5. Getting high on life

4. Infarctions (alone or with others)

3. Eating dead chickens

2. Artificial breath control

1. Failing to renew your subscription to Envoy Magazine (actually, this one's borderline)

Watching Last Night's Season Finale of "24" Made This Even Funnier

(With thanks to Mark Shea for finding this jewel.)

The Naked Truth About Anti-Theft Deterrents

Big News In the World of Darwinian Evolution

The media is hailing the recent discovery of a Lemur monkey fossil that some scientists are saying is a transitional form (i.e., an animal that was "in between" one species and another during what Darwin claimed is the evolution of species) that "proves" Darwinian evolution to be true. We'll see.

If nothing else, someone should get the popcorn and maybe grab some earplugs, too, because I think this news is going to provoke a whole new level of raucous debate on evolution.

Scientists have unveiled a 47-million-year-old fossilised skeleton of a monkey hailed as the missing link in human evolution.

The search for a direct connection between humans and the rest of the animal kingdom has taken 200 years - but it was presented to the world today at a special news conference in New York.

The discovery of the 95%-complete 'lemur monkey' - dubbed Ida - is described by experts as the "eighth wonder of the world".

They say its impact on the world of palaeontology will be "somewhat like an asteroid falling down to Earth".

Researchers say proof of this transitional species finally confirmsCharles Darwin's theory of evolution, and the then radical, outlandish ideas he came up with during his time aboard the Beagle.

Sir David Attenborough said Darwin "would have been thrilled" to have seen the fossil - and says it tells us who we are and where we came from. . . . (continue reading)

Mormonism Goes Airborne

Most likely, this new radio initiative has been planned by the Mormon Church for a long time — they are known to be meticulous planners, after all — but the announcement from LDS Church headquarters in Salt Lake City about its imminent launch of a 24/7 religious radio station comes at an interesting time.

Just last week, the rapidly expanding Immaculate Heart Radio Network of Catholic stations (22 and counting) announced that it has just closed the sale of a new 50,000-watt AM radio station that will blanket all of Utah with 24/7 Catholic programming. It is scheduled to commence broadcasting by mid-summer.

Logistically, the most significant difference between the Mormon and Catholic stations would seem to be, at least for now, that the former can be heard only via the Internet and on select High-Definition radio stations, while the latter, Immaculate Heart Radio, will be booming out across Mormon Country 365 days a year on a powerful AM signal that anyone can hear via radio practically anywhere in the state, plus it will also be streamed on the Internet and made available in podcast form.

The Mormons send us their missionaries on bikes. We send them Father Corapi, Bishop Fulton Sheen, and Catholic Answers on their radios. Sounds like a good arrangement to me.

SALT LAKE CITY 18 May 2009 Mormon Channel, a new radio service of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, launches 18 May and can be accessed via the Internet or HD radio affiliates. The newly created 24-hour, 7-days a-week format is available live online at http://radio.lds.org, but content may also be downloaded.

Broadcasts originate at Temple Square in Salt Lake City and feature a vast and varied array of programming, according to Chris Twitty, director of digital media for the Church.

“We have the responsibility to extend the messages of the Church in yet another way with the new station,” Twitty added. “We have access to all the resources of the Church in creating program content. Though it seems a daunting task to fill the airtime, we have a wealth of information that will be of interest to listeners — much of it new and never before heard or seen.”

Personal interviews with Church leaders are included in a program titled Conversations . In the initial episode, Deseret Book head, Sheri Dew, interviews Elder David A. Bednar and his wife, Susan.

Other program content includes informational packages about the ministry and teachings of Jesus Christ and the doctrines, history and news of the Church. Several planned segments focus directly on young children and teenagers.

A unique program, Into All the World , spotlights the lives of Church members in many parts of the world. “The first interview, for example, invited the stake president in Rome, Italy, to profile the members of his stake and to document their responses to the announcement that a temple will be constructed in their city,”

Additional content includes Music and the Spoken Word, the weekly radio broadcast featuring the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, as well as other choir concerts and events. Further input comes from Brigham Young University, LDS Business College, the University of Utah institute of religion, the Deseret News and Bonneville Productions.

“We’re deeply pleased,” said Bob Johnson, Bonneville International executive vice president and Salt Lake market manager, “to offer Bonneville’s broadcasting resources and industry reputation to further extend the reach and impact of Mormon Channel, a high-quality, values-oriented new product. Through our 29 radio stations in eight major markets coast to coast, we look forward to utilizing the unequalled qualities and capabilities inherent in HD radio technology to share the unique Mormon Channel content with our ever-expanding listening audiences." (Source)

Fiat Voluntas Tua

Catholic Is Not Enough

Just when you thought it was safe to call yourself "Catholic," an illustrious convert to the Catholic Church from Evangelical Protestantism explains what kinds of "Catholic" you should not be.

Catholic Is Not Enough

By Thomas Howard, Ph.D.
Envoy Magazine

A NUMBER OF YEARS AGO, I wrote a book (which was not a bestseller) under the title, Evangelical Is Not Enough. The editor of Envoy Magazine has asked me now to write this article with the title which appears at the top.

What a malcontent this man must be, readers may be pardoned for murmuring. What an ecclesiastical dyspeptic. Will nothing satisfy him? Is anything enough? Come.

On the surface of things, such would indeed appear to be a just reaction on the part of a reader. On the other hand, there is a certain point which perhaps may legitimately be made without ones taking on the guilt of merely carping.

What, then, can possibly be meant by ones saying that Catholic is not enough?

Clearly we must begin with a demurral, or perhaps even a slightly sheepish admission of artfulness: The title is an editorial eye-catcher, of course. Readers of Envoy Magazine expect this journal to be squarely behind the assertion that Catholic is enough. Hence, when they see this title (or, so hope the editors and the author), they will snap up the magazine with, Oh-ho! What have we here? Envoy gone soft, eh?

On the other hand, unhappily enough, there is a sense in which the assertion that Catholic is not enough is very widely true. To be rigorously just, however, we would need to insert some modifiers: This sort of Catholic is not enough, or, what you hear being taught over there in that RCIA program is not enough.

But clearly, to venture such remarks is to sail very near the wind of arrogance. Well! I see we have a self-appointed inquisitor here, pronouncing on everyone's faith, and handing out obiter dicta hither and thither as to the quality of that faith. And all unsolicited in the bargain.

Such an accusation might well hit home, and to tackle an assertion such as we have in the title of this article, one must venture along hesitantly and tentatively, frequently testing ones own attitudes with the litmus test of Charity.

We might canvass several situations in which we find ourselves encountering a Catholic outlook which is not enough.

For example, here is Mr. O'Brian, or Mr. Przybyzewski, or Miss Spiridigliozzi, or Mrs. de la Rocha or Mrs. Garcia who, if asked about their faith, might pass off the question with some reference to the Old Country from which their family emigrated to America and leave it at that. Obviously, that won't quite suffice when it comes to the Divine Tribunal.

There is neither Jew nor Greek (nor Englishman, Irishman or Mexican) in Christ. Your country of origin won't save you. A highly ethnically-conscious Catholicism can be a genuinely robust thing, most heartening to behold (besides being perhaps enormously curious to someone strange to that background). The pluck, fidelity and loyalty which often accompany such an ethnic faith can well turn out to be the stuff of which martyrs are made.
On the other hand, as we know, such a stance can . . . (continue reading) 

Proverbs 18:7 in Action!

Click the pic.

See also here.  And don't forget, this same fellow also said: 

“It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy. . . . remember I said it standing here if you don’t remember anything else I said. Watch, we’re gonna have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy.”

“I can give you at least four or five scenarios from where it might originate. And he’s gonna need help. And the kind of help he’s gonna need is, he’s gonna need you — not financially to help him — we’re gonna need you to use your influence, your influence within the community, to stand with him. Because it’s not gonna be apparent initially, it’s not gonna be apparent that we’re right.”

[...] “This president, the next president, is gonna be left with the most significant task. It’s like cleaning the Augean stables, man. . . . There are gonna be a lot of you who want to go, ‘Whoa, wait a minute, yo, whoa, whoa, I don’t know about that decision.’” 

St. John Vianney: The Dreadful State of the Lukewarm Soul

In speaking to you today, my dear brethren, of the dreadful state of the lukewarm soul, my purpose is not to paint for you a terrifying and despairing picture of the soul which is living in mortal sin without even having the wish to escape from this condition. That poor unfortunate creature can but look forward to the wrath of God in the next life. Alas! These sinners hear me; they know well of whom I am speaking at this very moment.... We will go no further, for all that I would wish to say would serve only to harden them more.

In speaking to you, my brethren, of the lukewarm soul, I do not wish, either, to speak of those who make neither their Easter duty nor their annual Confession. They know very well that in spite of all their prayers and their other good works they will be lost. Let us leave them in their blindness, since they want to remain that way....

Nor do I understand, brethren, by the lukewarm soul, that soul who would like to be worldly without ceasing to be a child of God. You will see such a one at one moment prostrate before God, his Saviour and his Master, and the next moment similarly prostrate before the world, his idol.

Poor blind creature, who gives one hand to God and the other to the world, so that he can call both to his aid, and promise his heart to each in turn! He loves God, or rather, he would like to love Him, but he would also like to please the world. Then, weary of wanting to give his allegiance to both, he ends by giving it to the world alone. This is an extraordinary life and one which offers so strange a spectacle that it is hard to persuade oneself that it could be the life of one and the same person. I am going to show you this so clearly that perhaps many among you will be hurt by it. But that will matter little to me, for I am always going to tell you what I ought to tell you, and then you will do what you wish about it....

I would say further, my brethren, that whoever wants to please both the world and God leads one of the most unhappy of lives. You shall see how. Here is someone who gives himself up to the pleasures of the world or develops some evil habit.

How great is his fear when he comes to fulfil his religious duties; that is, when he says his prayers, when he goes to Confession, or wants to go to Holy Communion! He does not want to be seen by those with whom he has been dancing and passing nights at the cabarets, where he has been giving himself over to many kinds of licentiousness. Has he come to the stage when he is going to deceive his confessor by hiding the worst of his actions and thus obtain permission to go to Holy Communion, or rather, to commit a sacrilege? He would prefer to go to Holy Communion before or after Mass, that is to say, when there is no one present. Yet he is quite happy to be seen by the good people who know nothing about his evil life and among whom he would like to arouse good opinions about himself. In front of devout people he talks about religion. When he is with those who have no religion, he will talk only about the pleasures of the world. He would blush to fulfil his religious practices in front of his companions or those boys and girls who share his evil ways . . .  (continue reading) 

See For Yourself How it Looked at Fatima in 1917

Click for more info on the Fatima Apparitions

Father Z Pins the Tail on the Donkey

You simply must read Father John Zuhlsdorf's brilliant and devastating analysis of "the ultra-left-wing National Catholic Reporter [which] has an editorial in which they reveal their darkest fear:

...the goalposts have shifted in the U.S. episcopacy in the past decade – and they have swerved in a decidedly rightward tilt on both the ecclesial and political spectrums.

As you read this mournful baying of desperation, keep in mind that the NCR editors know they have lost the Catholic identity debate.  

Catholics cannot be pro-abortion.  NCR and their pack are still weakly proposing we can be soft on a politicians pro-abortion agenda if they are doing other good social justice things. They claim this will really result in a reduction of the number of abortions anyway.   

They know now that they have lost that argument because it is being made clearer and clearer from pulpits and in the blogosphere and press that Catholics cannot support abortion.  We can differ on how to help the poor but we cannot compromise on the fundamental human right: the right to life precedes the right to liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

What follows in this long NCR editorial is a demonstration of desperation.  Because they have lost the Catholic part of the argument they now fall back on the only weapon they have left: party politics. . . . (continue reading)