For those of you who aren’t very familiar with Boise, there are a lot of Mormons here, and also a lot of ex-Mormons. So in my time here I’ve become a lot more familiar with a religious group that I frankly didn’t care the least bit about.

As weird at their theology is and in spite of the fact that they have scriptures that were supposedly found on gold tablets in upstate New York and required magic stones to translate, it’s one practice of theirs that really bugs me. It’s not the aversion to alcohol, tobacco, coffee, or premarital sex, it’s not even the baptism of the dead or their secret rituals, it’s their weddings.

Mormon temples are large and imposing enough of buildings, but they also require a “temple recommend” card to so much as walk in the front door. So they are closed to outsiders and the less than perfect Mormons. From what I’m told their walls are lined with mirrors making it so that you’re looking at a reflection of a reflection of a reflection to infinity. I’ve heard it described as an amazing picture of eternity. It sounds interesting and I would like to see it, but it seems just a tad bit creepy.

Not all Mormons have their weddings at the temple, but they are supposed to at least eventually have their “sealing” ceremony there. The idea is that with that ceremony the couple is not only united in on earth but are sealed for all eternity. On such an occasion, especially if it’s combined with the wedding, you’d think you’d want to be surrounded by all of your closest friends and family, you know like just about everybody does, but not for Mormons.

That temple recommend card is required to enter the temple, even if that’s where a very close family member (such as a sibling or child) is getting married. Just recently I’ve had a friend (yes ~pickles you’re getting mentioned again) and a co-worker both recently have to wait outside during their sibling’s weddings. Even crazier is that they’d have to watch their Mormon family member’s children since unbaptized children who obviously wouldn’t have that card aren’t welcome either.

Talk about bullshit. Excluding adult family members is one thing, but to exclude children based the fact that their too young to take part in your religion’s rituals…that’s just despicable. The church that’s known for being so incredible pro-family, literally shuts the door on family at important family events.

It makes since why they would want to have these kinds of policies. I’m sure that knowing that any rejection of the bullshit, any thinking for yourself, could exclude you from family weddings would make you think twice about it, especially in a culture where marriage is idolized so highly.

Most people view Mormons as a cult. When it’s a religion that tries so hard to exclude the out group and with so much secrecy, it’s well deserved. Their theology is no more twisted than anybody else’s, but their rites and rituals are. If they want to shed the cult identity, they need to open up. A great place to start would be to open up the temples to non-Mormons for weddings. Until then, they are nothing more than a creepy, secretive cult.