But Pastor Matthew Johnson of the First Baptist Church in Bellhaven, North Carolina (Go Tarheels!) thinks that Mormons have quite a bit in common with the living dead. I take the following quotes from a Deseret News article written by Joseph Walker (the full article can be found at http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700195913/Are-Mormons-like-zombies.html).
In the article, Walker quotes Pastor Johnson as follows:
"The most frightening scene of any zombie movie is when the hero is confronted with a loved one who has been turned into a zombie. The zombie might look like the hero's mother . . . But it isn't his mother anymore. It is now a mindless monster that wants to eat him alive.
"From the viewpoint of many Southern Baptists, Mormons are Southern Baptist zombies. Mormons hold the same family values as Southern Baptists. They talk about Jesus like Southern Baptists. They send out missionaries like Southern Baptists. They baptize people like Southern Baptists. But they believe the wrong things about Jesus, God and the Bible. For many members of the (Southern Baptist Convention), Mormons' foreign/familiarity leaves them with the same creepy feeling that we all get when we watch a George Romero movie . . . What's more, many Mormon converts were previously Southern Baptist. Isn't this simply a version of the basic plot of any zombie movie? They are trying to turn us into them."
My thoughts on Pastor Johnson's statements:
1. I love zombies. Especially when they are fighting plants.
| Plants vs. Zombies: "Braaaaaains!" http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/plants-vs.-zombies/id350642635?mt=8 |
2. I think I make a great looking Mormon zombie.
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| Mormon or Zombie? |
3. I am grateful to be a member of the Church, even (and especially) when people say funny things about us. It makes me want to try harder to be a good person and help people understand that we really aren't that weird.
4. Although I disagree with Pastor Johnson's analogy, I appreciate the point that he is trying to make. He feels that although we share similar moral values with Southern Baptists, we have different beliefs on core doctrinal issues. This is indeed a fact. And it is a fact that we boldly proclaim to the world. God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ are certainly "one" in purpose, but they are physically two separate beings. This is part of the very foundation of our faith, and it is made clear in Joseph Smith's "first vision" in the Spring of 1820. Joseph described: "When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other--This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!" (Joseph Smith History 1:17). It doesn't get much more wonderful than that.
