With a very prominent member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints running for president, it seems like I can't go a day without hearing the words 'Mormon' uttered on the news. Sometimes it's very respectful and other times its...just...not.
I was curious and asked a few friends what the craziest things they'd heard about the Church and boy did I get some hilarious ones. I wanted to share a few of the myths and then explain why it's just a myth. Hopefully it'll clear a few things up.
Myth #1: We can't wear high heels.
Ok. I'm not going to lie but I kind of thought this when I first joined the Church. I have no idea why. Maybe because modesty is such an important standard and I associated heels with...not being modest? I have no clue what I was thinking but ladies, I'm happy to report that I can, in fact, still wear heels. I mean, my wedding shoes are bright, pink, glittery, and four inches high.
Myth #2: We're polygamists.
This simply isn't true. While it is true that in the past, the Church has encouraged plural marriage, they have since banned it. If it's found out that you are living in a polygamous relationship, you will be excommunicated very quickly. While I don't feel the church should endorse such practices, I think it's foolish to deny the history of the Church. Burying your head in the sand and pretending it never happened doesn't get you very far.
Myth 3: We don't believe in the Bible.
This is just plain false. We do believe in the Bible. It is one of our most sacred texts. The Church also has 3 other sources beyond the Bible, including the Book of Mormon. We believe that the Book of Mormon, like the Bible, is a source of great words of wisdom and strength and are the true words of God and Christ.
Myth 4: We worship Joseph Smith.
Yeah. Not so much. Joseph Smith was a prophet. He was given the task of restoring the Gospel to the earth in latter days (our times). We revere him very much and consider him to be an important man. He was God's direct mouthpiece on this Earth until the time of his martyrdom. We believe he was a prophet just like Elijah, Moses, etc. The Bible is filled with prophets and we believe that Joseph Smith is another one of those prophets of the Lord, but no, we don't worship him.
Myth 5: Women are degraded and seen as second class citizens.
I was raised by a very strong and independent woman. I was taught that women and men are equals and one gender is not better than the other. If this myth were true, I wouldn't be a Latter Day Saint. I have never felt so cherished, revered, and valued. We believe that Heavenly Father created both men and women to be equals, not one superior over the other and each have divine roles that we are destined and expected to fulfill.
Myth 6: We wear magic undies
Oh for the love of all things...If I hear this one more time...This myth is not only wrong, it's disrespectful and degrading. We wear special religious clothing, and that's the beginning and end of it. Just like Muslim wearing the hijab, we choose to wear special clothing to remind us of covenants that we have made. Plain and simple. We do not believe they have magic powers (I mean...come on...really?) and we do not believe that they will protect us from all danger.
Myth 7 (my personal favorite): We have horns that only other members can see.
I'm not even going to touch this one.
Myth 8: We can't use spoons.
. . .
where did this one even come from?
Myth 9: The Church demands we give them 10% of our income.
This one isn't exactly a myth. But it isn't exactly true either. Yes, we are expected and encouraged to give 10% back in tithing. But, every Christian faith has some form of tithing. In fact, the bible even states that we should give the Lord 10% of our earnings to do is work. It's a way to thank Him for our blessings because without Him we wouldn't be able to give back. So yes, we do tithe a little more specific guidelines but no, we are certainly not forced to give them tithing.
Some other's that didn't make the list? We worship the devil (nope), women are expected to be stay at home moms and nothing else (nah.), and that we wash our Mormon Bible (huh? If we washed them, they'd be quite hard to read and study from)
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints often gets a bad rep. I don't know why really but it saddens me to see how silly and ignorant people can get when they don't understand things. Yes, there are some beliefs of our faith that other's don't understand. Yes, we are a peculiar people. Yes, we're different but we're not bad people (generally. There's always that one bad apple.) Maybe if people would focus on the good that comes out of the Church instead of the misconceptions, maybe then the fear of Latter-Day Saints would subside and we'd all get along a little better.
Now, if you'd excuse me, I have to go polish my horns before I go into work.
;)
