a little problem here

Watched all four hours of the Frontline/American Experience piece on The Mormons last night. Gotta tell yez, those who would see truth can only see it in the way their minds are set up to take it in. Mystical visions take the forms dictated by each mind's store of image metaphor. Most people just cannot process messages from existence itself without giving it a persona with whom they can relate. Not only do we project what we in our own consciousnesses cannot get close enough to in the world onto certain walking around unsuspecting others (usually lovers) (sometimes leaders), but when we are even more deeply prepared to begin fathoming fundamental reality, we do the Joseph Smith thing: give it human form. Instead of using an existing one to imagine has these qualities, we conjure one to do that talking -- mostly only heard, but often seen too. Angels, for instance.

There's something of a GIGANTIC problem with this. They're not there. Reality is. Existence itself is. Truth is. A revelation has taken place, sometimes, but the ordinary consciousness is almost instantly all over that action, creating a speakable analog for it. Therein lies great tribulation, my friends. The mundane pressures begin to seep in, and your revelation gets muddied badly while needing to deal with those somehow. This all turns into a great way to order societies, to turn masses of willy nilly survival instincts in skin bags into workable units: cultures.

Cultures crop up around various heavily deluded spiritual rock stars who really did get glimpses into the fundamentally real, but nevertheless managed to muck it all up with their genuinely-felt-but-still-fake piety being driven by their adamantine-but-still-thin-air ego delusions. Cultures crop up around war lords, all manner of other strong personalities, economic systems... whatever offers enough people refuge from the elements. Cults don't just grow into religions, they also grow into states. Each is designed to create and maintain sustenance for their own, and this at some point clashes with outsiders, even in the very most benevalent of them. It cannot be otherwise.

A lot of things were shown in that program. One of the most pressing concerns revealed is that Mormons owe absolute obedience to the leaders of their faith. Public advocacy of gender equality, among other things, is grounds for excommunication. This means exile from one's family in eternity to Mormons. Beside the fact that they are exactly as Christian as Muslims, the United States is not a theocracy (yet). And I just don't see how a Mormon can hold office without it actually ultimately being the church leadership holding office.

Harry Reid.... Mitt Romney....

Either you are not ultimately a good Mormon or you are not ultimately a good American... leaving aside the distinct possibility that you can easily be neither while posing as both... and this is leaving aside completely any measurement of which is better. Equal weight in favor of Mormonism and Americanism. There is a little problem here.