loves2sing wrote:Thanks for the welcome, Seven.
"Chapel Mormons"?
Hi loves2sing,
Dr. Shades coined the terms “Chapel Mormons” and “Internet Mormons” to define the dichotomy that exists in the church between apologists and the rank and file members. It is very useful to use these terms when discussing where a person falls on the spectrum of Mormon belief and knowledge of church history.
“Chapel Mormon” represents the
majority of the church, the active members who fill the chapels each Sunday. These are members who have only studied whitewashed LDS history and doctrine from the church. These publications have been carefully crafted (e.g. they portray Joseph Smith as a monogamist) & make it as faith promoting as possible. They are ignorant of the controversial issues that are discussed on the internet between apologists and critics, partly because they have been taught to shield themselves from it. Anything troubling goes "on the shelf." They only read church approved publications and if they hear something negative on LDS history (like the PBS special on the Mormons) will view it as “anti Mormon lies" from Satan to destroy their testimony or people who have an axe to grind against the church. Most would view the writings of apologists as “anti Mormon” because they have never encountered this information from their faithful study.
I was a Chapel Mormon before studying Mormon polygamy as most critics of Mormonism used to be. Chapel Mormons actually believe the teachings and words of the Prophets are from God when they claim to speak as such (e.g. General Conference talks, church curriculum).
"Internet Mormon" refers to apologists and members that are aware of the controversial issues, but will discard the previous teachings and doctrine of the Prophets as "opinion" to fit whatever their belief is. They are a very small portion of the church and most members don’t even know they exist. Most internet Mormons prefer to keep the Chapel Mormons ignorant of the unvarnished history, and do not speak up in Sunday School to correct the myths and errors . (for their own good) They will misuse the metaphor “milk before meat” to keep members from learning issues that could harm their faith. There are always exceptions to these examples, but for the most part it's the most accurate way to describe them. Some apologists (like LDS historian Richard Bushman) are taking the innoculation approach now and give little bits of information to Chapel Mormons with the positive spin on it, in hopes of avoiding what happened to members like myself.
As an example:
Chapel Mormons believe polygamy was only practiced by a very small percentage of the church and only to take care of the widows who had lost husbands on the trek West. Most are unaware that Joseph Smith practiced mortal polygamy in Nauvoo and can only name his first wife Emma. The ones who are aware that he practiced polygamy, believe they were only sealings and not consumated marriages. They have never heard the teachings from Prophets that God and Jesus are polygamists, or that eternal marriage would only exist for those who entered plural marriage.
Internet Mormons know that polygamy was taught and practiced as a requirement for exaltation, to attain the highest level of the Celestial Kingdom. They are aware that young girls were coerced into marrying older men in polygamy to gain this reward and avoid damnation. They are aware that Joseph Smith had around 33 well documented wives and secretly married many women who had living husbands.
It’s best summed up by this:
“Chapel Mormons will typically try and bend the facts to fit the prophets, while Internet Mormons are far more comfortable bending the prophets to fit the facts.”
http://www.mormoninformation.com/imvscm.htmWhen I was first beginning to study Mormon polygamy, I came across countless sermons by LDS Prophets that stated plural marriage was required for exaltation, as part of the Patriarchal order for becoming Gods. There are three levels in the Celestial Kingdom and to attain the highest, Joseph Smith taught that members must enter plural marriage as the higher law. As a Chapel Mormon discovering this information, I became distraught over what I had learned because I actually believed these men were Prophets and these teachings either had to be true, or these men were in apostasy. So my options were to gain a testimony that plural marriage was a true principle of God, or reject these men as true Prophets.
Internet Mormons will easily discard all the sermons/revelations/teachings to the church on polygamy as “opinion” and believe that the Prophets of the church who lived it and revealed why it was required misunderstood what D & C 132
actually means.
Like many other issues, they have created their own doctrine out of this section and completely taken it out of context to fit with how the church currently views temple marriage.
Once you become aware of these issues, you either become a critic/apostate/New Order Mormon, or an internet Mormon. There is no going back to Chapel Mormonism.
The most common fallacy I see from Internet Mormons is that members who become disillusioned expected perfect Prophets. I NEVER expected perfect leaders and I know others didn't either. I just believed that when Prophets claimed to speak for God and define doctrine, that they were truly inspired. If Joseph Smith had affairs, it would not affect my faith. His personal sins or off the record statements do not damage my testimony of the church.
It’s that he claimed GOD TOLD HIM TO DO IT and coerced young girls into marrying him for exaltation that damaged my testimony.
There are obviously going to be some differences in beliefs between both groups but active believing Mormons will usually fall strongly on either end of the spectrum.
There are so many examples we could use to explain the differences between Chapel Mormons and Internet Mormons on topics like blacks and the Priesthood, the translation, the flood, Book of Abraham, etc.. Here is a blog listing a few:
http://mormon411.blogspot.com/2009/01/d ... s-and.html