The Hijack of Christianity

It's an interesting thing... If you were to ask me about my association with the LDS Church, I'd probably tell you that I'm pretty much a member only because they still have my name on the records. But in reality, my Sunday attendance could rival the most devout of members. In the last year, I've probably only missed a handful of Sundays, and that was only because I was out of town.

So with that in mind... I got done teaching my Sunday School class yesterday, and headed over to the Primary room to check in with the amazing Mrs. Koda. Primary is the organization for all kids 3-12, and Koda Kid #4 has recently joined it's ranks. The purpose of my checking in was to see how things were going, and to see if he needed to come home with me for the last hour session of the day.

They were running a little late, and so I got to stand out in the hall for a while while they finished up.

A number of people passed by as I waited, amongst them, a lady, we'll call Spring. It may be her real name, it might not be, but it's a name which I think captures her personality. She's been through a couple of marriages, and the art on various parts of her body indicates some fun times in the past. She's pretty cute and the biggest reason for that is just a great attitude. She's vibrant, optimistic and always greats you with a smile and a twinkle in her eye. Yesterday day was no exception, and I got a bright and cheery, "Hi Mike!" as she passed by.

About a minute later she came back by, this time with her husband beside her... She looked upset, and he looked just plain angry. Under his breath he was muttering something about how she just wasn't going to let something drop.

I saw her a few more times in the minutes which followed, but her smile was gone, and she looked like she was on the verge of tears. I've had dealings with her husband before. He's one of the great leaders in the ward, and he's also an arrogant and conceited pig.

I got to thinking about it more as I drove home...

I do actually enjoy attending Church, because of people like Spring, and people like the kids I teach, and the gentleman who I team-teach with. They're just good people, who truly exemplify the lifestyle one would expect from a follower of Christ.

They'll never hold leadership positions though, because they're too nice.

They're not the kind who put obedience in front of being nice, who judge people based on their own prejudices and or who are so hellbent on following the rules that they miss the point of the gospel.

The leadership are generally those kinds of people though.

Mormonism has some truly great ideals at the heart of it, as do most of the other religions in the world. It just seems to me that those ideals have been hijacked by unscrupulous scumbags for their own edification and profit.

I had another though as I drove home, related to this, but I need to do a little 'historical research' into the story behind the thoughts first.