I've read about the Freiberg Germany Temple in the former East Germany, which was established for the Mormon (Latter-Day Saints) community of East Germany (who were present in Germany since the 19th century), so they wouldn't have to apply for a visa and visit the West to appear in a Mormon Temple for religious functions. Indeed the local authorities were liberal enough to even let a golden Angel Moroni be placed on it, but the Mormons decided to be more discreet, so it was scrapped.
The Temple was even popular among non-Mormon East Germans, and in fact the tours before the Dedication (after which only Mormons could visit) were overcrowded with enthusiastic onlookers.
After Dedication, taking a newlywed photo in front of the Temple among even non-Mormon East German couples was common.
This got me thinking, could it have been possible for Mormonism to spread further into the East Bloc? During the Cold War, East Bloc countries were unique in the fact that there Sci-Fi was not a niche, but a mainstream genre, and there was a strong current of Pro-Americanism even in the shadow of Soviet domination. (Even today, the most Pro-American countries of Europe are places like Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary).
The theology of Mormonism heavily concentrates on the ancient history of the Americas, which would be positively received by a pro-American audience (to show a middle finger to both ultra-conservative local churches, and atheist communist authorities), and the Pearl of Great Price (a book of the Mormon canon) contains space-elements, such as God being near to the planet Kolob, which would be positive to those who appreciate both a Christian and a Futuristic milieu.
Also, in contrast to the Orthodoxy-dominated Eastern European East Bloc states, the Catholicism-dominated Poland, and the Secular/Atheist East Germany and Czechoslovakia, Communist Hungary was kind of a "Wittenberg" of the East Bloc, where religious sentiments ranging from traditional Christianity, through Pentecostalism, Paganism, to Buddhism were somewhat more freely expressed in OTL.
Do you think Mormonism might have gained a stronghold in the East Bloc in the 70s and 80s?
The Temple was even popular among non-Mormon East Germans, and in fact the tours before the Dedication (after which only Mormons could visit) were overcrowded with enthusiastic onlookers.
After Dedication, taking a newlywed photo in front of the Temple among even non-Mormon East German couples was common.
This got me thinking, could it have been possible for Mormonism to spread further into the East Bloc? During the Cold War, East Bloc countries were unique in the fact that there Sci-Fi was not a niche, but a mainstream genre, and there was a strong current of Pro-Americanism even in the shadow of Soviet domination. (Even today, the most Pro-American countries of Europe are places like Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary).
The theology of Mormonism heavily concentrates on the ancient history of the Americas, which would be positively received by a pro-American audience (to show a middle finger to both ultra-conservative local churches, and atheist communist authorities), and the Pearl of Great Price (a book of the Mormon canon) contains space-elements, such as God being near to the planet Kolob, which would be positive to those who appreciate both a Christian and a Futuristic milieu.
Also, in contrast to the Orthodoxy-dominated Eastern European East Bloc states, the Catholicism-dominated Poland, and the Secular/Atheist East Germany and Czechoslovakia, Communist Hungary was kind of a "Wittenberg" of the East Bloc, where religious sentiments ranging from traditional Christianity, through Pentecostalism, Paganism, to Buddhism were somewhat more freely expressed in OTL.
Do you think Mormonism might have gained a stronghold in the East Bloc in the 70s and 80s?
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