This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
This past week, New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd wrote a column, "Anne Frank, a Mormon?" that listed silly-sounding Mormon beliefs: "Magic underwear. Baptizing dead people. Celestial marriages. Private planets. Racism. Polygamy." She quoted the acerbic comic Bill Maher: "By any standard, Mormonism is more ridiculous than any other religion."
I'm a secular humanist, but Maher's statement is incredible. How are Mormonism's unique beliefs any "more ridiculous" than believing that a virgin gave birth, that five loaves and two fishes fed 5,000 hungry people, that spitting in mud and rubbing it in a blind man's eyes made him see, that you can walk on water or that people dead for centuries will be brought back to life looking just as they did in their prime? And on and on…
My point is not to make fun of Mormons or Christians — people are free to believe whatever they want (but they can't force their beliefs on others). No, my point is that Mormon beliefs only appear strange because they are not commonplace, not part of the culture. So leave the Mormons alone.
The bottom line of the hit "Book of Mormon" musical has it right: Whatever their weird beliefs, Mormons are good, decent people. That's what matters.
Frank Whitaker
Park City