"The worst sinners, according to Jesus, are not the harlots and publicans, but the religious leaders with their insistence on proper dress and grooming, their careful observance of all the rules, their precious concern for status symbols, their strict legality, their pious patriotism.... [T]he haircut becomes the test of virtue in a world where Satan deceives and rules by appearances."Hugh Nibley called it like he saw it in all areas of human concern: politics, religion, economics, education, and modern society as a whole, and he pulled no punches even when -- perhaps especially when -- addressing the ills he saw creeping into the church he loved so much.
Though I fear that the following will be taken as being overly cynical, especially since it is being presented here by one considering himself a New Order Mormon at best, I feel that if one can imagine this coming from a fellow believing Mormon concerned by the existence, to whatever degree, of pride, arrogance, hypocrisy, unrighteous judgment, pretentiousness, or false piety within the Church, it can be quite instructive.
I think Brother Nibley would have approved.
"What's a Rameumptom, Daddy?"
"Well, the Book of Mormon says it was a place where the Zoramites stood to worship and pray."
"But my Primary teacher said it was a tower that evil people used."
"I can see how someone could think that. The Book of Mormon says it was 'a place for standing which was high above the head' and only one person at a time could go up there."
"Was it like the speaker's stand in the church?"
"A speaker's stand? You mean a pulpit? Yes, I suppose it was. In fact, the word 'Rameumptom' means 'the holy stand.'"
"What's so evil about a holy stand, Daddy?"
"Well, it wasn't the stand that was evil. It was how it was used. The people gathered there in their synagogue. . ."
"What's a synagogue?"
"Just a different word for chapel or church, honey."
"Oh."
"They'd gather in their synagogue one day a week."
"Which day, Daddy?"
"I don't know, honey. It just says 'one day,' and they called it 'the day of the Lord.'"
"It must have been Sunday."
"Why do you say that?"
"Because Sunday is the Lord's day."
"Well, maybe it was. . . Anyway, they'd gather there and whoever wanted to worship would go and stand on the top of the Rameumptom."
"Could anyone go up there?"
"Well, no, that was part of the problem. Apparently, they had to wear the right clothes. . . "
"You mean like us when we wear Sunday clothes, Daddy?"
"Well, not exactly, but in a way, yes, I suppose. Some of us might have a hard time accepting certain kinds of clothes or people in sacrament meeting. But we wear our Sunday clothes to help us be reverent, don't we?"
"Yes, Daddy."
"So anyway, where was I?"
"They went to the top of the Rameumptom. . ."
"Yes, they would go up and worship God by thanking him for making them so special."
"Were they bearing their testimonies?"
"Well, uh, I guess maybe they were in a way, but they weren't true testimonies."
"How come?"
"Because they were too proud."
"What do you mean 'proud,' Daddy?"
"Well, they would talk about how they were 'a chosen and holy people.'"
"My Primary teacher said Mormons are the chosen people and we're a special generation."
"Yes, honey, but that's different."
"How?"
"Because we are."
"Oh."
"Besides they were very, very proud about how much better they were than everyone else, because they didn't believe the 'foolish traditions' of their neighbors."
"What does that mean, Daddy?"
"It means that they believed everyone else was wrong and they alone were right."
"Isn't that what we believe?"
"But it's different."
"How?"
"Because we are right, honey."
"Oh."
"Everyone would stand and say the same thing. . ."
"That sounds like testimony meeting to me."
"Don't be irreverent."
"Sorry."
"Then after it was all over, they would go home and never speak about God until the next day of the Lord when they'd gather at the holy stand again."
"Isn't that like us, Daddy?"
"No honey, we have Family Home Evening."
"Oh."
An oldie but goodie taken from Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, Volume 22, Number 4, Winter 1989 (with corrections to spelling)
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