Former Mormon Agrees With Baptist Minister That 'Mormonism Is a 'Cult'
Former Mormon Tricia Erickson agrees with Baptist minister Robert Jeffress' recent comments that Mormonism is a cult, and said she believes the American people do not know what they are in for if they elect Republican presidential nominee and Mormon Mitt Romney into White House.
"Because the wisdom, judgment and discernment of our president may be crucial to our survival, would it not be prudent to examine his fundamental foundation and beliefs?" asked Erickson in a commentary written for Christiannewstoday.com. "And if his beliefs are distorted, why would it not be critical to our existence to protect our country from being placed in the hands of such a person?"
Jeffress, the senior pastor of the First Baptist Church in Dallas, recently made headlines after telling reporters Friday that Americans should not vote for Romney because he is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and by doing so they would be "giving support to a cult."
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In a later interview with Fox News, the pastor would not recant his statements, calling Mormonism a "theological cult," not a faction of Christianity, because of the fact that it was founded nearly 2,000 years after Christ, its leader is human as opposed to divine, and its book of faith is distinct from the Bible.
Erickson, who grew up as the daughter of a Mormon bishop and finally left the church in her early 20’s, is "an expert on the well-masked cult of Mormonism," according to Christiannewstoday.com, and she recently wrote a book on Romney's history with Mormonism entitled, Can Mitt Romney Serve Two Masters?
In her commentary, Erickson describes some of the Mormon rituals and practices she claims Romney has taken part in, including secret Mormon Temple ceremonies and blood oaths.
"Mitt and Ann were married in the Salt Lake City Mormon Temple in which they participated in the secret endowment ceremonies," said Erickson in a July interview with CNN. "They continue to go to, as all temple Mormons do, and participate in these ceremonies."
Erickson added, "I experienced this same ceremony myself when I was married in the Mormon Temple. I cannot explain to you in a few words here just how completely violent, mind controlling and alarming these ceremonies are."
However, not all ex-Mormons are quick to criticize or bash their former religion. Latayne C. Scott, a former Mormon and author of The Mormon Mirage: A Former Member Looks at the Mormon Church Today.
In an earlier interview with The Christian Post, Scott said she left Mormonism after she found her own beliefs conflicted with those of the Mormon church. She found this immensely difficult, she said, because she loved her religion.
When asked if the faith may interfere with Romney's service to the American people if elected president, Scott stated, "The concern that many people have about someone who is a faithful Mormon becoming a high level leader, especially a powerful leader like the President of the United States, is if the Mormon church and the government of the United States had a disagreement, where would his loyalties lie?"
"That's not to say he's not a good man. I believe that he is a very good man. I believe that he's a man of integrity, in terms of his political feelings. But there is a difference between someone who has great integrity and someone who has divided loyalties in terms of authority," Scott said.
Scott insisted in her interview with CP "that everything that is truly good about Mormonism is Christian," but that there were some things about the LDS faith Christians could do without.
