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Mormons and Creationism

Piscivore

Smelling fishy
Piscivore
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We have school board elections next month, and while none of the candidates mention the issue, the most obviously religious of them are LDS. Are Mormons commonly creationists?
 
I think so. The Book of Mormon doesn't address the issue, as far as I can recall, but I'm pretty sure they're basic young earth creationists.
 
Probably depends on the Mormon.

I don't think that the church has an official stnce on it.

I have a good friend who is Mormon, and he definitely is not a creationist. But I don't know how typical he is.

Another Mormon recently told me that after studying evolution, he had realized there was nothing about it which conflicted with Mormon doctrine.

But I would imagine that there are plenty of Mormons (Utah Mormons, Hal! :) ) who feel that evolution and Mormonism are at odds.
 
Officially, the LDS Church does not have a stance on evolution. But the average Mormon believes in the creation. It's very common in the religion that if there is no official position on something, the average person takes on the fundamentalist Christian view.
 
I've met Mormons who are young-earth creationists, and I've met some who are not. Though Mormon apologetics can get quite creative at times.
 
When I grew up I can't remember the authorities (top dogs in SLC which is the headquarters) ever taking a stand against it but I knew a number of Bishops (local leaders) who did. It was the source of discussions at my house and friends. I don't remember it ever being mentioned in seminary and I don't remember it being mentioned at the Mission Training Center. When I went on my mission I believed in macro evolution and an old earth. IIRC most Mormons don't accept evolution but aren't too certain how hold the earth is. Creation is seen as both symbolic and literal with no firm demarcation as to what is literal and what is symbolic. You just kinda know, ya know!? ;) FWIW my mom is an ardent anti-darwinist but couldn't care less how old the earth is.
 
I have had the misfortune of being drawn into a debate with a mormon. I was not the wisest thing I have done. There is a good video in IFILMS about the mormon church.

ifilm.com/posts/list/104771.page
 
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Bill Thompson said:
I have had the misfortune of being drawn into a debate with a mormon. I was not the wisest thing I have done. There is a good video in IFILMS about the mormon church.

ifilm.com/posts/list/104771.page
Click to expand...
Mormons can actually be quite educated on a number of topics. However they are often very naive on many more.

I couldn't get your link to work.
 
I called two of them, and left a message for a third. I didn't tell them my position. The two I spoke with said they would support teaching ID in school. The fourth doesn't give contact info, and she's the one that makes the most of her faith. :(
 
RandFan said:
Mormons can actually be quite educated on a number of topics. However they are often very naive on many more.
Click to expand...

I used to work witha mormon who was also a licensed professional engineer (I am too). We would have some interesting philosophical discussions while playing chess at lunch. We never convinced each other of much, but I think it gave me a much needed edge at the game. He was a pretty good chess player. I needed to distract him as much as possible. IIRC, he remained undecided on creationism. He would just say, "It's all possible. God's pretty cool that way. Check."
 
The deeper I get into Mormon ideology the stranger it sounds. I wonder if anyone has heard of any scandals like the deaths that occured in Scientology Cult.
 
Bill Thompson said:
The deeper I get into Mormon ideology the stranger it sounds. I wonder if anyone has heard of any scandals like the deaths that occured in Scientology Cult.
Click to expand...

The Mormon scandals pretty much ended when they moved to Utah. But, having grown up in Utah, I've never really gotten anything but the Mormon perspective on them. I think that only one well known in Utah is the Mountain Meadows Massacre, and that's hardly the type of thing you are referring to.
 
Piscivore said:
I called two of them, and left a message for a third. I didn't tell them my position. The two I spoke with said they would support teaching ID in school. The fourth doesn't give contact info, and she's the one that makes the most of her faith. :(
Click to expand...

The official statements from the LDS church regarding creation basically offer 2 acceptable views of the creation of man.

1) Creation somewhat (but not exactly) like the version in the bible.
2) Effectively the modern Intelligent Design theory.

Anyway, the position of the church is basically that the religious texts do not answer the question sufficiently, so it is not worth making a serious religious argument over it.
 
Bill Thompson said:
So they are not into the whole prayer-heals-all sort of thing?
Click to expand...

No, Mormons go to the doctor. Infact, they like to think that all technology is of God. Unfortunately, they also commonly accept all the quack medicine as well. I suppose when your brain is full of garbage, you will accept any reasonably harmless seeming garbage that comes along.
 
RenaissanceBiker said:
I used to work witha mormon who was also a licensed professional engineer (I am too). We would have some interesting philosophical discussions while playing chess at lunch. We never convinced each other of much, but I think it gave me a much needed edge at the game. He was a pretty good chess player. I needed to distract him as much as possible. IIRC, he remained undecided on creationism. He would just say, "It's all possible. God's pretty cool that way. Check."
Click to expand...

"God's" and "Gods" too. The whole many Gods thing is strange to me. So are the racist undertones as the ifilm shows. The lure of becoming a God I think seduces people. But what does that really hurt?
 
The only Mormon I ever knew was a creation literalist who quite earnestly believed that faith in the face of overwhelming evidence was a virtue.

I have to say, he was a darn nice guy. Darn nice.
 
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