Typing Religions, Teachings, and Movements: Mormonism

Mormonism, formally called The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is one of the religions I am closely acquainted with. Here I will analyze the socionic content and development of the church and its teachings, whose integral type is ESI.

As has been the case with many other religious teachings, the early days of Mormonism had a different information emphasis than the church we know today. The founder, Joseph Smith, was an ethical extravert of some kind - possibly EIE or SEE (or maybe even SLE??) - and a very dominant, charismatic, and action-oriented individual. The early days of the church were tumultuous and involved moving from state to state, rapid expansion and extensive missionary efforts, and continual conflicts with local residents as they tried to establish their new society. There were also experiments with communal property, a banking fiasco, and armed conflicts with locals. The general spirit of the movement was one of overcoming tribulation necessary to achieve the young church's lofty mission - establishing the "restored gospel of Jesus Christ" and preparing the Earth for the Second Coming.

As I discussed in a previous post, numerous charismatic and ambitious people were drawn to the new movement who later "apostatized" and left the faith after making great contributions to it. Many of them, as well as occasional charismatic individuals after them, went on to create churches of their own (here's a list of all the Latter-day Saint splinter groups). A handful have been reasonably successful.

The dramatic and exalted atmosphere of early Mormonism also carried over to the area of spirituality. Powerful spiritual experiences such as visions, speaking in tongues, and other dramatic external expressions of spirituality were not uncommon. During this period, missionaries converted thousands of new members overseas, who left their homes to travel to the new Zion. This was a very extraverted time.

The extraverted period of Mormonism culminated in the conquering of the American West after Joseph Smith was killed and the Mormons were essentially driven out of the country. They made a grand exodus across the Great Plains and settled in Utah, where they built a new society and established new settlements across the Great Basin region.

Now, with external threats mostly out of the way, the church gradually metamorphosized into an introverted structure. The church's focus shifted to keeping traditions, maintaining a stable and growing society, and developing personal moral qualities in a family and community setting. Ultimately, the conservative, kind-hearted and soft-spoken, family-oriented Mormonism that we know today was born. The most-emphasized mission of the movement switched from external expansion and conquering to perfecting one's home, community, and personal life.

Naturally, these changes were reflected in the spiritual practice of Mormonism as well. Much of the initial dramatism of the faith was lost, and spiritual experiences became "tamer" and more internal. In modern Mormonism, spiritual experience centers around "the still, small voice" or "the warm fuzzy feeling." External spiritual manifestations are extremely rare and are generally treated with suspicion. The "Holy Spirit" as understood by contemporary Mormonism expresses itself through feelings.

Introverted ethics is also the common language of the religion. You will feel it in almost any Mormon congregation all over the world. People speak in a soft, sentimental tone and move around gently and thoughtfully, and there is a lot of tenderness and meekness, good will towards newcomers, and soft crying during frequent emotional moments. Compared to the importance of cultivating and sharing this feeling, all other considerations such as studying holy writ, developing a meditative state, or balancing one's physical sensations (which correspond to , , and ) clearly take a distant back seat. Of course, there are pockets of these information aspects wherever there are charismatic church members of these types, but these aspects do not become the common language of the congregation.

This information focus is generated at the very earliest stages of missionary work. Missionaries try to create a atmosphere at lessons, deemphasize the importance of gaining a logical understanding of how the pieces of the theology fit together, and constantly share personal experiences and feelings in a spirit that often bring tears to people's eyes. "This," say the missionaries, "is the Holy Spirit." New members are taught to make this feeling the basis of their personal religious practice and to let it guide their lives.

Collectively, Mormons cultivate the image of nice, concerned, faithful, strong-principled, morally upright people who can be trusted and counted on, and who uphold family values and honor their communities and government. Going back to my descriptions of the information aspects as they apply to religions and teachings, we see that this is a centered spiritual teaching.

Now let's see what weight the other information aspects are given in Mormonism, going back to my descriptions of different spiritual emphases.

: The idea that spirituality involves an external, open-ended search is given little if any emphasis. In fact, it is essentially discouraged, except for people who are investigating the religion and whose search leads them to Mormonism. After a person has joined the church, however, additional searching is frowned upon. Also, it is institutionally made very difficult, as members are given duties and responsibilities and are encouraged to cultivate stable family, work, and community relationships and to take part in frequent church activities. All of this makes concerted external searching - which might involve travel, trying out random things, and letting oneself get carried away - extremely difficult as long as one is involved in the Mormon lifestyle and community.

: The idea that spirituality involves overcoming hardships and tribulation is given considerable emphasis. Great attention is given to the themes of resisting temptation and combatting one's weaknesses. Spiritual development is perceived as being a long, thorny road with many obstacles. Church members frequently discuss their hardships with one another. However, this is not the main theme of the religious practice.

: The idea that spirituality involves service and being "actively engaged in a good cause" is also prominent in Mormonism. It is commonly believed that righteous living leads to prosperity, and members are not shy about their professional achievements and prosperity, but proudly consider them "blessings" or rewards for proper living. Church members are kept busy with numerous meetings, activities, and service. However, achieving goals in a rational and effective way is not the primary goal of these activities. Instead, their purpose is mostly to provide a setting to feel more , and they are not very externally productive nor carried out in the most rational way.

: The idea that spirituality involves emotional coalescence with other worshipers and with God is not given much emphasis. Mormons are widely known for their restraint and for not getting involved in "loud fun." However, they don't necessarily view external emotions as a bad thing; they're simply not emphasized.

: The idea that spirituality involves giving up worldly cares, a meditative state, and visions and similar experiences receives some emphasis. In fact, the concept of "soul searching" in a way replaces the idea of a related external search. Soul-searching and thoughtful reflection about one's life and mission is recognized to be a part of Mormons' spiritual journey. However, sophisticated related practices have not been developed.

: The idea that spirituality involves perfecting the bodily experience receives very little emphasis in Mormonism except for a simplistic eating and drinking code called the "Word of Wisdom" that forbids alcohol and tea and coffee. Ways of improving health and balancing one's internal sensations are almost never discussed; these areas are considered to be members' personal prerogative.

: The idea that spirituality involves a concerted study of holy writ and mastering the religion's theology is given little emphasis. Scripture study classes are held, but the focus is almost on subjective aspects (i.e. personal application) rather than mastering teachings themselves. Generally, doctrinal instruction is undemanding and unsupervised. There is almost no definitive doctrinal statements in Mormonism from which to build a set-in-stone theology.

: As we have seen, the idea that spirituality involves perfecting one's behavior and stable relationships and cultivating a sense of duty and gratitude towards others permeates all areas of Mormonism.