The Most Important Aspect of Mormonism

Sonia Johnson

Trying desperately to appear Christian, Mormons cling to doctrines that contradict the gospel of Jesus Christ. Many are cited in this blog, including that Christ became a God, mankind is saved by human works, there are plural Gods, man can become a God, and that men of African descent were rightfully barred from the Mormon priesthood until 1978. Many other LDS doctrinal errors are discussed on our Web site (www.gco4lds.org).

Among the most bizarre tenets of Mormonism, also the most important, is the injunction to fanatically sustain LDS church leaders, especially the church president, whom Mormons hail as a “prophet, seer and revelator” like Moses (Doctrine and Covenants 107:91, 92).

During my 11 years in the Mormon church, I witnessed firsthand that the urging to “follow the prophet” is more crucial in LDS circles than following Christ or the teaching of the Bible. And while I realize Mormons believe their “prophet” speaks the words of Christ, this carries no more weight than saying the Pope does the same.

A Doctrine Christ Never Taught

When issuing the injunction for Mormons to follow their leaders, LDS General authorities speak the language of infallibility. For example, one church-published magazine, the Improvement Era in June 1945, featured this Ward Teachers’ message:

“When our leaders speak, the thinking has been done. When they propose a plan—it is God’s plan. When they point the way, there is no other which is safe. When they give direction, it should mark the end of controversy. God works in no other way . . . ”

With an equal aroma of infallibility, Wilford Woodruff, fourth Mormon church president, taught: “ . . . The Lord will never permit me or any other man who stands as president of the Church to lead you astray. It is not in the program” (The Discourses of Wilford Woodruff, pp. 212, 213, italics added).

And erstwhile Mormon church president Heber J. Grant declared: “ . . . Always keep your eye on the president of the Church, and if he ever tells you to do anything, and it is wrong, and you do it, the Lord will bless you for it . . . But you don’t need to worry. The Lord will never let his mouthpiece led the people astray” (cited in LDS Conference Report, October 1960, p. 78, italics added).

While a student at the Mormon-church-owned Brigham Young University, I saw the most important aspect of Mormonism: Stand by the prophet no matter what.

Sonia Johnson

During the early 1980s, Sonia Johnson was renowned among Mormons. Now a former longtime Latter-day Saint, she vocally supported the Equal Rights Amendment during the late ’70s and early ’80s and immediately came to loggerheads with Mormon leaders. Consequently, Johnson was excommunicated (as were others who refused to bow to the “prophet”).

The most visible aspect of Johnson’s case wasn’t her support for the ERA. In my experience at BYU, numerous faculty, staff and students secretly agreed with the amendment, wherein “equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex” (Proposed Equal Rights Amendment, Section 1). But the demure Johnson had spoken openly against the LDS church’s stance on the proposed legislation. She blatantly disagreed with the church’s “prophet” at the time, Spencer W. Kimball. I met her in 1981. She was likable and wasn’t a threat to anyone.

Mormons will deny it, but they castigated Johnson for speaking out against the “prophet,” not for supporting ERA. I recall the atmosphere at BYU and throughout northern Utah during those troubling months in the early 1980s. Many Latter-day Saints hated Johnson and quickly became incensed at the mention of her name. The authoritarian way LDS church members treated the ERA advocate was reprehensible, and it was diametrically opposed to how Christians should “love one another as [Christ] loved [us]” (John 13:34).

Whatever Mormonism’s opinion of the Equal Rights Amendment, it doesn’t excuse their un-Christian conduct toward Sonia Johnson.

The Most Crucial Aspect of Christianity

Contrary to Joseph Smith, the founding president of the Mormon church, man’s most important duty is not to seek after his dead relatives and have Mormon temple ordinances performed for them. Smith said, “The greatest responsibility in this world that God has laid upon us is to seek after our dead” (History of the Church 6:313).

But Jesus has a dramatically different notion of man’s greatest responsibility. In the Lord’s view, the most crucial aspect of Christianity is to love God and our fellow man. The Bible records: “And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, Which commandment is the most important of all? Jesus answered, The most important is, Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:28–31 ESV).

We’d expect Mormonism’s answer from a legalistic, manmade and man-centered religion. And it’s among the most compelling proofs that Mormonism is masquerading as Christianity.

Comments or questions? Write loren@gco4lds.org.

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