It once had a claim to be the fastest-growing religious sect in American history, but the prospects don’t look so rosy for the Mormon Church these days. The sense of confidence and momentum is absent in the current Church, which is registering only 1.59% annual growth – its “slowest pace since 1937”. That’s still a respectable figure in these secular times, but hardly impressive for a sect that maintains “a massive force of more than 70,000 full-time proselytising missionaries worldwide”. Part of the problem is that the structure of the Mormon Church prevents it moving with the times and softening its stance on issues such as homosexuality, gay marriage and female priests. Its presidents are regarded as prophets whose words have the authority of scripture. As a result, new Church leaders must “constantly contend with the words of previous prophets”, which they dare not gainsay. “This model worked very well for an emerging religion in the 19th century.” But it’s not so well-suited to the modern age. (Eric Armstrong, The New Republic)

I remember being visited by young Morman missionaries years ago. The lads were courteous, well dressed, articulate and confident about their beliefs, touchingly so. But what struck me was that, pause for a few minutes from the religious advocacy, and they knew nothing. They were from Salt Lake City and were operating in England. They seemed to know nothing about England except their temporary addresses, nor about any other topic I brought up. The words “brainwashed” popped into my mind. They seemed ill-prepared for the modern world. Among their tribe I am sure they will have thrived, but outside the protective arms of the Mormon system, they came across poorly. I felt sorry for them. But that is what blind faith alone can do for you. Epicureanism is, on the contrary, a pragmatic, humanistic set of principles, open to debate and to new ideas. Or it ought to be!