Why is the question whether Mormons are Christian somehow interesting, whereas the question whether Mormons believe in God absurd? I suspect Rod Dreher calls Al Sharpton a "boob" not because of this question, but because of Mr Dreher's opinion of the Rev Sharpton's past history.
For many Christians, the two questions are one and the same. Christians believe that there is one and only one God. That God is Christ. It's no more absurd to ask whether Mormons believe in God than to ask if they believe in and worship Jesus Christ, who is God. Some Christians deny that Jews believe in God because they reject the divinity of Christ. Some Christians deny that Muslims believe in God because they reject the divinity of Christ. The theology is simple. Arrogant, maybe, as it assumes a monopoly on truth, but, still, simple. If the question whether Mormons are Christian is interesting, so is the question whether Mormons believe in God.
In any case, the debate reminds me of historical debates over who is and isn't African-American. The old "one drop of blood" rule was one outcome of that debate. Modern scientists no longer find "race" to be a meaningful scientific classification. The human genome is too complex, the human population too diverse, for there to be clear dividing lines. Religion may not be quite as muddled, but the same complexity is at work. There are similarities and differences between Catholicism, Orthodoxy, Protestantism, Mormonism, etc. Comparing and contrasting the various traditions is useful. But arbitrarily ruling which traditions are to be granted official status as "Christian" and which are not, is not useful. Like the racial debates of the past, such a question is intended more to divide, discriminate and exclude than it is to achieve anything that Christ himself was interested in.
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