Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeWaters
This is making me realize what it must be like to be a moderate Muslim. And that being a moderate Mormon is a little bit like being a moderate Muslim. The main difference being that you are less likely to be murdered as a moderate Mormon.
People in the west like to demand that moderate Muslims change and reform Islam. But how?
How as a moderate Mormon, would I go about any kind of reform of Mormonism? I don't have any levers. I don't have power or position or responsibility on any kind of scale to make a difference. State some opinions on blogs or social media.
I feel like Mormonism is in a lot more flux than Islam. But that could be a product of my ignorance of Islam. What I mean is that we could have radical changes in policies in Mormonism in a very short period of time. For example, polygamy and blacks in the priesthood. We could wake up tomorrow to a new revelation on homosexuality that wraps them and includes them in the plan of salvation in a way that was previously not known. I doubt that kind of thing would happen in Islam in the same time frame.
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Where the comparison breaks down is that Mormonism has evolved into this neat hierarchy that more resembles Catholicism, whereas Islam is huge as all of Christendom and infinitely diverse culturally even with many adherents in Asia and large subgroups. So change in Islam necessarily occurs in ways that seem trivial in relation to Islam overall, but examined discretely can be profound and involve millions of people. For example, I think Islam in the United States (despite Trump's claims) has developed an overall impressive record of assimilation and easy and mutually respectful relations with our country's religious and secular elements--much better than Europe. Islam is different here. Also, Islam is more important because of its size and reach into secular authority. So you have moderate Muslims such as Malala Yousafzai, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, and Reza Aslan who capture the admiration of people across the world regardless of faith. Mormon moderates are not international celebrities because Mormonism is essentially a footnote, and if they achieve any celebrity they seem inevitably to become outcasts from the faith. Because Mormonism is more tightly organized, smaller and homogenous its moderates who achieve any celebrity usually become enemies of Mormonism.