A real Mormon? How can you tell?

[sock puppet]

In the thread about an insinuation that John Dehlin was not a real Mormon, we don't have a definition of what a real Mormon is. The LDS Church counts anyone that has been baptized or who is not yet 8 years old but lives in a household of Mormon parent(s). If that is not the badge of being a real Mormon, what are the badges?

More importantly, if someone professes and acts like a real Mormon, how can we know for sure?

[malkie]

Priesthood discernment, of course!

Duh!!

[drumdude]

If they speak ill of the brethren, that is the sure sign of the nail.

[Wonhyo]

In the thread about an insinuation that John Dehlin was not a real Mormon, we don't have a definition of what a real Mormon is. The LDS Church counts anyone that has been baptized or who is not yet 8 years old but lives in a household of Mormon parent(s). If that is not the badge of being a real Mormon, what are the badges?

More importantly, if someone professes and acts like a real Mormon, how can we know for sure?

Seems like the people who assign the label of "real Mormon" define the title as someone who believes and behaves in way that doesn't offend them.

Drinking a caffeinated soda was (along with watching television on Sunday, or breaking the fast before 24 hours, or changing out of formal clothes after church) for years in the hyper-pharisaic Mormon pop-culture, the sign of a less valient member, perhaps not a "real Mormon".

To Mopologists such as Midgely, someone who questions and can't accept the silliness that Mopologetics peddles might not be a "real Mormon".

Of course, these days are no more Mormons in any case.

[malkie]

In the thread about an insinuation that John Dehlin was not a real Mormon, we don't have a definition of what a real Mormon is. The LDS Church counts anyone that has been baptized or who is not yet 8 years old but lives in a household of Mormon parent(s). If that is not the badge of being a real Mormon, what are the badges?

More importantly, if someone professes and acts like a real Mormon, how can we know for sure?

Seems like the people who assign the label of "real Mormon" define the title as someone who believes and behaves in way that doesn't offend them.

Drinking a caffeinated soda was (along with watching television on Sunday, or breaking the fast before 24 hours, or changing out of formal clothes after church) for years in the hyper-pharisaic Mormon pop-culture, the sign of a less valient member, perhaps not a "real Mormon".

To Mopologists such as Midgely, someone who questions and can't accept the silliness that Mopologetics peddles might not be a "real Mormon".

Of course, these days are no more Mormons in any case.

Several years ago one of the apologist crowd (I think it may have been Gee) posted about the topic, and set several criteria that a "real" Mormon must meet. I commented that it sounded great, and that he should perhaps advise the church membership department.

He approved my comment, and then shortly after deleted it.

[Xenophon]

I think the point of the phrase, at least as it is being used in this context, is that it has no hard and fast rules and it will change heavily dependent on who is doing the judging at that moment. Even if you lined out a neat and tidy little list of core beliefs: 1)Belief in the Abrahamic God and the resurrection narrative of Christ 2)Belief in the teachings of the Book of Mormon 3)Belief in living prophets from Smith to Nelson 4)Belief in Temple Ordinances. You're still left with so much grey area in how an individual will define "belief" as to render the list almost useless. Faith is, by its nature, a deeply personal thing and because of that personal nature it doesn't lend itself to a tidy set of checkmarks or badges one can hit to know where one stands, especially for an outside observer.

The other part being that even if you hit all the above points for the vast majority of your life shifting your ideas on a topic at any point would instantly move you into the "other" column. It isn't all that useful to think about it in doctrinal terms because it is merely a rhetorical device to dismiss or demean the target.

[Philo Sofee]

If someone has to act like a real Mormon, does that mean the current President has to act like a real prophet?

[Morley]

I'm surprised that this is even a question. Everyone knows that a real Mormon has skin that glows.

Study Shows ‘Mormon Glow’ is Real
By Morgan Hampton

A recent study found that Mormons can be picked out of a crowd, simply due to their skin texture.

The Canadian study was performed by non-LDS psychology professor, Nicholas Rule of Toronto University. Rule began the study with several pictures of both Mormon and non-Mormon men and women.

“We first took out the hair, then took away the shape of the face, then looked at different features: Is it the eyes, the mouth, the nose?” Rule told The Universe. “We kept going until we got to having a face with very little left, and so the only thing that seemed reasonable was that it was skin texture.”

Participants were then asked to identify which of the men and women pictured were LDS and which were not. Following several tests and additional studies, Rule came to the conclusion that skin texture was the common factor that indicated whether or not the individual was of the Mormon faith.

Rule said these results stem from the healthy lifestyle many Mormons live, including the abstaining of drugs, tea, alcohol, coffee, and tobacco. As a result of this healthy lifestyle, Mormons live an average of seven to ten years longer than the average American.

Results of the study showed that 60 percent of non-Mormons could identify Mormons in a crowd, and an even greater amount of Mormons could identify other Mormons in a crowd. Rule feels like these results are statistically significant.

“People make inferences about group membership based on how healthy someone looks, and some see spirituality in that,” Rule told The Universe. “Something as benign as skin texture can tell us if someone is in a particular group and may affect how we behave toward that person.”

https://thirdhour.org/blog/buzz/study-glow-Mormons/

[Philo Sofee]

Glowing skin? Preposterous. Mormons are by no means of any stretch of the imagination the only ones who have glowing skin and bright, shiny, happy smiling faces in the world.

[Moksha]

They vote Republican, have Trump stickers on their van, and have a collection of Bowie knives and WW2 memorabilia. Bonus Saint points if they live in Utah County. They have well-read copies of Mormon Doctrine and The Miracle of Forgiveness. The names Bruce R. McConkie and Daniel C. Peterson will put smiles on their faces.