Over at Patheos they are speculating on the future of Mormonism. They didn’t ask me to contribute, if you can believe it. I am, after all, a well-known pillar in the community of Mormon thought… ahem.
Anyway, I thought I’d voice my own independent musings on the future of Mormonism.
Women: The tide is turning on traditional Mormon motherhood. More and more women are realizing that having dreams and ambitions outside of housewifery is not a sin. Mormon women are becoming more assertive. I predict that the church leadership will tighten its control of the Relief Society, then be forced to let go. I hope to see more of an emphasis on service in the community, rather than serving your husband and children. I do believe that women will get the priesthood someday, but I’m not holding my breath.
Weirdness: I think Mormons are starting to realize that mainstreaming themselves is a good way to lose members. If you lose all of the strange/peculiar/unique things about being Mormon, what’s to prevent you from going to the mainline Protestant church down the street, which has a shorter service and better music? Mormon leadership will keep trying to spread the “We’re normal!” message, until they realize that the peculiarities of Mormonism are what attract people to the church and keep them in it.
A global church: I do not believe that Mormonism will ever be a major world religion, but I do believe that small, persistent populations of Mormons will continue to exist throughout the world. It will be interesting to see how the church deals with issues of tithing in countries where members are living on pennies a day, or convincing young destitute Mormons in third-world countries to attend early morning seminary. Will the church create more programs like the Perpetual Education Fund to help its members in poor regions, or will it suck them dry as it does in North America? Mormonism is, at its core, a white, middle-class American religion, so it will be interesting to see how it adapts in Africa and southeast Asia– and adapt it must, or it will die.
History: Mormonism will have to own up to its sordid past. There’s just no way around it. They will definitely sugarcoat it, but they will eventually see that in a world where all the “dirt” is readily available on the Internet, keeping church history a secret is a good way to hemorrhage members . One can learn more about church history in a ten-minute Google search than in a lifetime of church membership, and eventually the church leadership will realize what a problem that is. Catholicism has acknowledged and apologized for many of its mistakes, and survived. Mormonism must do the same.
Doctrine: I predict a less literal interpretation of scripture. There may be room in the church for people who believe the Book of Mormon to be “inspired fiction”, “mostly true”, or other unorthodox positions on the historicity and divinity of the Book of Mormon. The Book of Abraham is a sticky wicket. The church must own up to the problems of the Book of Abraham, either by abandoning it, or claiming that it was revelation that Joseph received after being inspired by the papyri.
The church will eventually acknowledge and condemn the racism that played into its past. Expect to see “inspired” editions of the Book of Mormon and Abraham with the racist portions removed– this will be tough with the Book of Mormon! In a world where most orthodox Mormons are made profoundly uncomfortable by Mormonism’s past racist doctrines, it is unfathomable that the church wouldn’t do more to put said racism to bed, permanently, even if it means admitting that Brigham Young was WRONG.
Homosexuality: As we find out more about homosexuality, and why some people are gay and some are not, the church’s position on homosexuality will become more and more ludicrous. Once science proves unequivocally that homosexuality is not a choice or temptation but something biologically determined, Mormons will have to find a way to reconcile that with their bigoted policies. Expect to see a bunch of apologetics tackle this issue, with most likely very humorous/sad results. The church will eventually offer full fellowship to gay members without requiring celibacy, but I don’t think we will see gay temple weddings for a very long time– I think everybody currently in the upper echelons of Mormon leadership will have to be long dead before that could happen.
Here’s how it will go down: exactly like blacks getting the priesthood. The prophet will plead with the Lord, and the Lord will finally say yes, and a new “revelation” will get tacked on to D&C. (I have the gift of prophecy today, babies!)
Polygamy: Admittedly, I have this weird fantasy that one day Monson will announce, “Polygamy’s back, babies! Frances, time to spruce up the guest room!” But that won’t happen.
What will happen is that the church will continue to distance itself from polygamy, eventually removing the doctrine from D&C 132. They will admit that it was a mistake, and remove it completely. No more multiple sealings for men. Sorry.
Mormon/Ex-Mormon dialogue: More and more people will leave the church, over history, over dubious truth claims, over sexism, racism, bigotry, etc. I predict that there will be less stigma attached to leaving, because frankly, more people will be aware of the excellent reasons to leave. Ex-Mormons and apostates won’t be as reviled, and respectful dialogue will take place. It IS taking place, through great podcasts like Mormon Expression and Mormon Stories. I predict a sort of omni-Mormon movement (let the record show that I coined the term), with an understanding of the many, many ways that a person can be a Mormon, and a dialogue between Mormons of all stripes and levels of faith (or lack thereof) about what that means.
Next prophet: Dieter. Oh yeah. Hottest prophet ever. I humbly submit that Dieter will choose to focus on Christlike love and service instead of, you know… everything else. When Dieter becomes Fearless Leader, I think we can expect the Mormon church to become a much more inclusive, welcoming, accepting place, which I think will be good for Mormons and the ex-Mormons who love them.
So there you have it. Frankly, I’m a little shocked at my own optimism. But if there’s one thing Mormons know how to do, it’s survive, and I think they’ll keep on doing it.
