Reader Jen left a detailed comment today on my post entitled "Man on a mission," explaining the position of the Mormon Church on a number of issues — including the Israel-Palestine conflict. She also mentioned something I was completely unaware of. In her comment, she stated that Jordan actually recognizes the Mormon Church:
I do commend the state of Jordan for being the only Muslim country to officially recognize the Mormon church and to allow people in Jordan to worship in the open.
This was news to me. I had always thought that the Mormon Church had not been allowed to set up shop in the Kingdom. After doing some Googling, I found this:
In 1989, Jordan became the first Arab country to grant formal recognition to the [Mormon] Church, allowing it to establish the Center for Cultural and Educational Affairs in Amman.
To make my position clear, I do not agree with many of the teachings of the Mormon Church but I am all for facilitating the freedom of religion in Jordan and elsewhere.
Read Jen’s full comment here.
I’m sorry everyone but I’m finding these Islam-Mormon parallels totally fascinating. Here’s one where the Mormons win ten to four:
“. . .if any man espouse a virgin, and desire to espouse another, and the first give her consent, and if he espouse the second, and they are virgins, and have vowed to no other man, then is he justified; he cannot commit adultery . . . . And if he have TEN VIRGINS given unto him by this law, he cannot commit adultery.” (Doctrine and Covenants 132:61, 62)
http://www.challengemin.org/17little.html
-jo
I found these:
http://www.irr.org/mit/changingscrips.html
2 Nephi 12, p. 117, [1830 Book of Mormon]
… and many generations shall not pass away among them, save they shall be a white and a delightsome people.
(see original text http://www.irr.org/mit/1830bom-cs-p117.html )
2 Nephi 30:6 (1840 edition) … and many generations shall not pass away among them, save they shall be a white pure and a delightsome people.
(Later editions until 1981) … white and delightsome
(1981 to current edition) pure and delightsome
NOTE: Before 1978 dark-skinned males were not allowed to hold positions of priesthood authority within the Mormon church. Today Mormon scriptures continue to teach that dark skin is a curse from God and a sign of His displeasure (See 1 Nephi 12:23; 2 Nephi 5:21; Alma 3:6). Brigham Young, second president and prophet of the LDS church referred to those with dark skin as being “cursed with a s[k]in of blackness” (Journal of Discourses, vol. 11, p. 272).
On Mormon racism:
http://www.angelfire.com/ms/seanie/mormon/lds_racism.html
A Mormon response to the changes:
http://www.lightplanet.com/response/changes.htm
Wow, this shows even more similarities to Islam: seems they believe in naskh wa mansoukh too – such an useful mechanism for the would-be prophet plagued by slips of the tongue and those wretched “satanic verses”. What amazes me is that people accept it:
jo
The rise of Islam parallels the rise of the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in a lot of ways, particularly when comparing Joseph Smith and Muhammad. However, Joseph Smith’s concerns that led him to pray and receive revelation was a result of the Christian sectarianism that confused him. It is amazing how many similarities there are between Islam and the LDS church though. We have dietary and modesty laws, and believe strongly in missionary work. There are essential differences as well though.
An extra bit of info, we don’t actively proselytize in Jordan. Basically, we have a branch primarily made of already existing members. My professor who was in charge of the district in Jordan(a district is a geographical designation the LDS church uses for a region of small congregations) says we don’t because of the concerns we have about honor killings. I think the LDS church prefers to respect the sanctity of life and the existing values than converting people unless there is a way for that not to happen. Of course, this isn’t based on any official statement, and that could change although we would still be careful.
Oh, I get it: Islam Reloaded!
I hate sequels
jo
“I believe that the Mormons are just an evolution of the Protestant Christianity with conventional innovation for the white settlers of the United States”
Thats funny, I always thought Mormons were an evolution of Islam for the white settles in the USA. You know… new scripture, new prophet, angel, gold plates, restoring the ‘true’ faith, claiming continuity from Christianity, etc etc…
Anyway I believe they were able to register on the condition they only go after Christians… Which really makes the current situation with the Government against the Evangelicals quite ironic…
Hello everyone,
Well, I find this to be a very interesting topic. Before I speak, here is a little about me:
I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (aka the “Mormon” Church).
I am majoring in Middle East Studies and Arabic.
My Arabic teacher was the person who was in charge of the Mormon district in Jordan (he was District President until recently).
Basically, yes, Jordan recognizes The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints(to use the official name of the “Mormon” church).
We are not a “crazy” cult. We are often called that because of ritual worship we do in temples, but Jews did ritual worship in their temples, and Muslims do ritual worship in the hajj. Christian churches have rites they perform, such as sacrament. Jews and Muslims had/have restrictions as to who could/can participate as do we, and it is to preserve the sacredness of the experience. Even we are not allowed in temples until we are of the proper standing in the church, but we wish all mankind to attain to such standing, so the restriction is to make sure we to do not lightly treat sacred things. We believe the Bible, and additional scripture such as the Book of Mormon. We believe in Jesus Christ as Savior, Redeemer, and Messiah.
Much like Islam and Christianity, there are several sects of “mormonism”, but the church based in Salt Lake (the one this article is about) is the one that still has prophets, apostles, the priesthood, and proselyting missionaries, with the missionary success that we believe was prophesied to happen. Other “fundamentalist” sects often give us a reputation we do not deserve because they practice illegal things, such as poligamy and under-age marriage, but these are no more representative of our beliefs than some fundamental Islamic groups are representative of most Muslims. However, this may be another reason we are sometimes considered a “crazy” cult.
We believe that the Book of Mormon testifies that the Bible is correct and true scripture. I have read the Old Testament and the New Testament and testify that these are scripture and the words of prophets of old who spoke the word of God.
Most members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints now live outside of the United States. We have members all over the world.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has no official position on the Iraqi war. It does officially teach against murder, rape, etc.
My personal opinion is much evil has happened at the hands of human beings in wars, and some good has when people have done it for self-defense. It is unfortunate that wickedness happens in wars. It is unfortunate that innocent lives are taken and virtue is not respected.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Book of Mormon teaches that all mankind is equal, that all truth is for all people, that life is sacred, that virtue is sacred, and that all mankind ought to have charity for all nations, kindred tongues and people.
Sami, to get in touch with the person in charge in Jordan please email me at
jabrafghneim@yahoo.com
i am from jordan,please i need email address for the person in charge to mail him i need advice and help.
Here is a good documentary in arabic about the Church and what the church does in the Middle East
http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=arab+mormon
Ha. you see it is not the fear of being branded an apostate. you make it sound as though people want to convert to christianity but its the oppression that prevents them from doing that. my dear fellow human beings, have some dignity and conscience, for God’s sake! leave us alone, we do not want your way of life, we do not want your problems. These missionary people support wars like the iraq war, so they can come in and pretend to be good doers in the eyes of the iraqis. how do you claim to be after peace and love when you support a war that sanctions the killing and raping of people and their homes! americans have no clue what is going on in iraq, because brown eyed black eyed girls being raped and killed by soldiers are not human, they are ‘subhuman’. that is why they do not get the same attention that a blue eyes blond haired girl would get. and these missionaries have the blood of iraqi people on their hands just as much as george bush has the blood of the iraqi ppl on his hands… “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are” matthew 23:15.