Hi I was just watching a south park episode about the mormans and I read that they were trying to parody it. Then the morman family that moved in son said to the main character to look past his religion and just be his friend. My aunt pam was into the different Christian religions. And I’m protestant and I’ve noticed that The catholics and the protestants believe in many of the same things. But the mormans believe the same way we do but it’s told differently. Which my uncle phil would wonder if it’s a different religion itself because he’s a die hard protestant. So I guess what I’m wondering is why is the morman writing differently. By the way my grandma on my dad’s side was a Jehovah’s Witness. So that may be why I have many different views on this subject. By the way my grandpa on my mom’s sides brother believes in past lives and that as we’re going through heaven are bodies will become astral like ghosts and then later on orbs. My friend who’s an unorthodox catholic said what religion is he from. Just to let you know my grandpa’s brother Dennis(mentioned above) is Christian too.
One Response to “Hi I was just watching a south park episode about the…”
Fernando Ramos
2013-09-22 19:34:31
The Mormons were apparently the only functional family in all of South Park
Hi Michael. I'm happy you posted your question here. Lots of people see that South Park episode and assume it's accurate. Good for you for trying to find out what Mormons really believe by talking with actual Mormons!
First off, let me say that that South Park episode is hilarious. However, just because something is funny doesn't mean it's true. It's nice, I guess, that the Mormon family is depicted as pretty much the only functional family in all of South Park, but the show does not describe our history accurately.
There's nothing wrong with satire, of course. There's also nothing wrong with subtly misrepresenting history for comic effect. Like you said, the show is a parody, and anyone with half a brain will realize that it's not meant to be an accurate historical account. The real problem with that South Park episode is the way it implies all Mormons are dumb. Try to ignore all the funny jokes and really think about that. The shows creators are saying an entire ethnic minority is stupid. What if I said all African Americans were stupid? Or all Jews? Comments like that are so obviously offensive. Why is it okay to say that about Mormons?
Anyway, I don't mean to get all serious in my critique of that episode. It was funny and some of it was even pro-Mormon, but the writers did cross some disturbing lines in my opinion.
You're right in recognizing that Mormons, Catholics, and Protestants teach many of the same things. Each of these groups do have some beliefs that differ from the others, but for the most part all Christians believe similarly. Like you said, though, Mormons have a unique way of describing their beliefs that can be confusing to some people. Here are some possible explanations for why we sometimes "believe the same way but write it differently."
1) Mormons belong to a unique branch of the Christian tree, so it's natural that we approach some doctrines from a somewhat different angle. Both Protestants and Catholics are credal Christians, meaning they accept the doctrines laid forth in "creeds" that were written after Biblical times. Mormons, on the other hand, are non-credal Christians. We don't accept post-Biblical creeds as authoritative, though we don't automatically disagree with all credal teachings either.
We believe the Bible is the Word of God, His sacred revelation to ancient prophets and apostles.
2) Mormons believe God has continued to call prophets in our days, just as He did in Bible times. We accept and honor the teachings of Biblical prophets, of course, but we also believe God can reveal new teachings to modern prophets. Some other Christian denominations accept the Bible as the only source of God's words, so they're perhaps more prone to use Bible-specific metaphors and terminology to describe their beliefs.
3) Though Mormon Christianity is now an international denomination, for the first 100 years or so our religion was very isolated both geographically and culturally. Basically, Mormons lived mostly in Utah and the surrounding colonies and didn't have so many interactions with outside groups. As a result, we developed our own way of talking about religious teachings. Sometimes, even when discussing a teaching that we have in common with the rest of the Christian world, we end up using Mormon-specific terms that other Christians might not understand.
First off, let me say that that South Park episode is hilarious. However, just because something is funny doesn't mean it's true. It's nice, I guess, that the Mormon family is depicted as pretty much the only functional family in all of South Park, but the show does not describe our history accurately.
There's nothing wrong with satire, of course. There's also nothing wrong with subtly misrepresenting history for comic effect. Like you said, the show is a parody, and anyone with half a brain will realize that it's not meant to be an accurate historical account. The real problem with that South Park episode is the way it implies all Mormons are dumb. Try to ignore all the funny jokes and really think about that. The shows creators are saying an entire ethnic minority is stupid. What if I said all African Americans were stupid? Or all Jews? Comments like that are so obviously offensive. Why is it okay to say that about Mormons?
Anyway, I don't mean to get all serious in my critique of that episode. It was funny and some of it was even pro-Mormon, but the writers did cross some disturbing lines in my opinion.
You're right in recognizing that Mormons, Catholics, and Protestants teach many of the same things. Each of these groups do have some beliefs that differ from the others, but for the most part all Christians believe similarly. Like you said, though, Mormons have a unique way of describing their beliefs that can be confusing to some people. Here are some possible explanations for why we sometimes "believe the same way but write it differently."
1) Mormons belong to a unique branch of the Christian tree, so it's natural that we approach some doctrines from a somewhat different angle. Both Protestants and Catholics are credal Christians, meaning they accept the doctrines laid forth in "creeds" that were written after Biblical times. Mormons, on the other hand, are non-credal Christians. We don't accept post-Biblical creeds as authoritative, though we don't automatically disagree with all credal teachings either.
3) Though Mormon Christianity is now an international denomination, for the first 100 years or so our religion was very isolated both geographically and culturally. Basically, Mormons lived mostly in Utah and the surrounding colonies and didn't have so many interactions with outside groups. As a result, we developed our own way of talking about religious teachings. Sometimes, even when discussing a teaching that we have in common with the rest of the Christian world, we end up using Mormon-specific terms that other Christians might not understand.