Mormons Want to Excommunicate Romney Critic

[moonbladem]

After writing negative articles about the Republican candidate, the managing editor of MormonThink.com says he faces excommunication. Is the Church on a witch hunt? Jamie Reno reports.

David Twede, 47, a scientist, novelist, and fifth-generation Mormon, is managing editor of MormonThink.com, an online magazine produced largely by members of the

Comments

[natyanayaki]

Kind of unrelated, but I've been wondering lately if the Church was going to Excommunicate Sen. Reid.

[baked_goldfish]

I think he's high profile enough to be safe. And I wonder if his status as a convert rather than someone born into it protects him too - would they want to send a message to prospective converts that they can take back your membership over disagreement?

[serendipity_15]

This a good point considering that aside from having their own extra book of the Bible probably the one other thing people knew about Mormons before this election was that they actively seek new members. It would be horrible PR for them to be shown attempting to or going a head with the excommunication of someone who converted.

[natyanayaki]

Maybe. That's what I told myself too, but he's still, boldly, going after Romney...and one could argue that a President Romney would further the Mormon Church's agenda (and I'm not saying anything about the majority of Mormons, just the "establishment" if that makes sense), than a Sen Reid would.

Regarding the fact that he converted, that might make a difference? Hmm, I actually didn't know that he had converted.

[amyura]

I've thought that for awhile. Not that it's the same religion, but look at what Catholic leadership has said and done to pro-choice Catholic politicians, and Catholic Democrats in general.

[natyanayaki]

Didn't some Bishop excommunicate Kerry because he's pro-choice? And honestly, the fact that they're difference religions doesn't matter, I think that extremely organized religions...the establishment of most religions...act in very similar manners. It's why I'll never support extreme organizing of Hinduism and try my best to fight against it.

[wrestlingdog]

I'm fairly certain they refused to let him take communion (or maybe that was a different Catholic Democrat), but I don't think they went as far as to excommunicate him.

[natyanayaki]

Oh, maybe it was that he wasn't allowed to take communion. Things like baptism, communion, excommunication...even "Church" or "Temple" membership (or whether or not you believe in God/Goddess/Gods/Goddesses/Nothing) was never emphasized in the religion I grew up in, so I get these things confused.

Is communion the bread and the wine? I know it symbolizes the taking of Christ's flesh, but do you know why that is important? I'm just curious.

[wrestlingdog]

Yeah, communion's the bread and the wine. Whether it's truly supposed to be the body and blood depends on the demonination, but Catholic doctrine calls it "transubstantiation," meaning that they are transformed into the body and blood. It's one of the seven official sacraments of the faith- the most holy rituals in the faith. To be denied communion is a big-time deal for many Catholics- it essentially mean that they are being condemned and ostracized by their faith and (possibly) their community and are denied access to one of the most important rituals in the faith.

To be ex-communicated is a much bigger deal than that, though- it means being thrown out of the Church entirely.

(In the spirit of full disclosure, I'm not actually Catholic; I'm Episcopalian, and our rituals are very similar to those of Catholicism. Also, I grew up in a very Catholic area (and with some very Catholic relatives), so I've absorbed a bit of the doctrine and liturgy.

[natyanayaki]

I trust your knowledge/understanding, and thank you for sharing. Though I'm American born and raised, religion is approached very differently in India (at least in certain regions of India), there are some Hindu temples that require visiting a specific Church or Mosque before visiting them, my parents -neither of whom are Christian- both went to Catholic school and were allowed to take communion, according to a friend of mine...every major religious celebration (of the religions represented) would be celebrated by all the households in his neighborhood and that's sort of the method I was raised with (of course, this isn't true of all of India...especially now :-/). LOL!

Thank you again!

[wrestlingdog]

Out of curiousity, where in India are you/is your family from? I lived in Pune for a while a couple years back.

[natyanayaki]

From the South --Kerala to be precise, though my father grew up in Tamil Nadu. I have relatives all over though, but culturally Malayalee and slightly Tamil (because over half of my family lived in Tamil Nadu).

What did you think of Pune? The farthest North I've been is Karnataka, I've never toured India because when I visit it's all about pilgrimages and family visits. LOL.

[wrestlingdog]

I loved Pune, and Kerala too! (I only spent four days in Kerala, but I thought that it was pretty much as close to a tropical paradise as I've ever experienced.) I didn't get to travel much aside from that and a weekend trip to Goa- I didn't get to do the Golden Triangle like I hoped to, but Kerala was amazing, so who am I to complain?

But yeah, Pune was... amazing in every way. Granted, my whole time in India was pretty much based in Pune, so nearly everything I felt about India comes from there. I just totally loved it. I loved the colors, the sounds- just everything.

[natyanayaki]

:-DDDD

[freuen]

To give a bit more background on the Catholic doctrine regarding the Eucharist/communion, it is probably the most important sacrament in the Church. I'm not sure how else to explain the significance, so I'll just quote some relevant Church documents.

"The Eucharistic sacrifice is 'the source and summit of the Christian life'”.

"The Church was born of the paschal mystery. For this very reason the Eucharist, which is in an outstanding way the sacrament of the paschal mystery, stands at the centre of the Church's life".

"From it [the Eucharist] the Church draws her life. From this “living bread” she draws her nourishment".1"The Lord is immolated in an unbloody way in the Sacrifice of the Mass and He re-presents the sacrifice of the Cross and applies its salvific power at the moment when he becomes sacramentally present- through the words of consecration-as the spiritual food of the faithful, under the appearances of bread and wine

[natyanayaki]

Thank you, if communion is denied, can it be given later?