posted
Richard Bushman (prominant Mormon historian from Columbia University) recently gave a short speech followed by a fairly interesting Q&A session to various members of the print media. You can find it liked here.
I think he did a great job of presenting an interesting and engaging introduction to Mormonism. It's nominally about Mitt Romney's presidential bid, but it has a lot of general information about Mormonism's place within the broader American culture, as well as the way it has changed from a theologically and socially radical religion to one that reveres conformity and conservativism. It took me about an hour to read, but I found it well worth it.
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posted
Thanks for posting this. I enjoyed it a lot.
One thing I'd like to add (as a practicing Mormon) is on the topic of political leaders obeying the prophets' counsel vs. their own ideas or those of their constituency, and whether disobeying the prophets makes you an apostate:
Something that I see a lot in the LDS Church is an intense devotion to our Constitutional rights. This is very tied to the idea that the freedom to choose our own path in life is sacred and important to our eternal salvation.
So while Romney would be breaking with traditional church doctrine to say that he thinks women SHOULD have abortions (for the sake of their own convenience and nothing else), or that gay couples SHOULD get married, he is perfectly free to be a Mormon in good standing and still suggest that they should be ALLOWED to do so.
While certain actions may be condemned by the hierarchy of the church, the legislation of these actions is not. The prophets only discourage members from doing such things themselves.
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While certain actions may be condemned by the hierarchy of the church, the legislation of these actions is not. The prophets only discourage members from doing such things themselves.
That's an interesting thought. I wonder if that's always been the case and always will be.
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In the linked interview, Bushman gives great history of Mormons and politics, and (I doubt that it's always been the case, but...) currently, I really feel that's the political climate, and I don't see it changing soon.
posted
As long as we are linking to great Mormon interviews, you can't miss reading Terryl Givens giving an interview. By the way, the whole PBS Interviews section can be better than the two programs. The only negative suggestion is that Michael Coe doesn't know anything about Mormonism. He is simply on the show as an opposing viewpoint about the Book of Mormon as an archeologist. As for the topic of Mormonism itself, he knows next to nothing. The rest are great.
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Oh, yeah, I read all the interviews before the shows came on, and they were really good. In the first night, at least, they made Kathleen Flake come across as a detractor when she actually has an awesome testimony. I still haven't seen night two.
While it would be argued by some that the freedom to make bad* choices should exist, I came to believe a few years ago that failing to teach people what is right and wrong shifts some of the guilt for their choices onto us. That was when I first became relatively pro-life. I became totally pro-life when my efforts to argue moderation were squished by pro-choicers.
By bad* choices, I mean those things that harm ourselves and those our society doesn't acknowledge as being people.
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A must read"A Mormon Goes West: The German Apostle" from a German newspaper. It is translated into English and leaves out a few good remarks from the orginal, but probably better than most American treatments. Interesting because most treatments of Mormons by the non-American press is even more extremely mistaken and biased. There is a discussion about the article at T&S Mormon blog.
Some good quotes from the article:
quote:The Mormons take that literally: They view their apostles as prophets in the Biblical sense, as mouthpieces of God, just like in the New Testament. The reference to "Latter-day Saints" in the church's name signifies that its saints are direct successors to Jesus Christ.
No theological rangling about who is and isn't "Christian," but simply stating how Mormons view things. The only quible is that "Latter-day Saints" means "followers" and not "Successors" of Jesus Christ, although I think the writer conflates the name of the members with what they believe of the leadership.
quote:The president of the Mormons, Gordon Hinckley, is 97 years old but in perfect health
I only wish, but he is old and time is catching up. He has spots of energy now rather than a continual stream. Apparently there the German version includes, "a crack about the apostles being older on average than ministers in the Kremlin during the days of communism."
quote:Every apostle is a prophet with divine inspiration; each of them is in direct contact with God. But just to be safe, none of them is allowed to turn his own private inspirations into commandments for all the faithful. The 12 can only answer theological questions collectively.
Although that isn't exactly true, especially when talking about Joseph Smith, it is something the American press has completely ignored. One of the reasons, for instance, no prophet will just come up out of nowhere with a commandment. Any official changes have to be approved by the 12 Apostles and even the membership. It might not be a "vote" situtation, but it will be a sustaining; and the bigger the "revelation" historically the more turmoil within the Church.
quote:Romney belongs to the Mormon elite, whose members can often be found in Washington: in Congress, as employees of various government ministries or as members of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Romney made a fortune as an entrepreneur, saved the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City from ruin and successfully ran for governor in ultra-liberal Massachusetts, of all places.
This paragraph is the kindest treatment of Romney and Mormons I have read so far. That is because it is mostly factual information with little agenda wording. Although, more than likely the German audience would find it scary because of anti-U.S. feelings. By the way, despite his father I don't think he belongs to the "Washington Mormon" elite. They do exist from both political parties, but he is actually on the perifery.
quote:the secrecy with which it shrouds the rites celebrated in its temples
Another subtle fact that American media has so far placed on all things Mormon, rather than a particular part of it. It reminds me of what Bushman said in his interview:
quote:QUINN: What are the secret doctrines?
BUSHMAN: You have stated them all right there. (Chuckles.) There are things that go on in the temple that are not talked about outside the temple, but they are not really doctrine; it is really a set of rituals that are practiced in the temple that are not discussed.
It isn't secrecy that keeps people from learning about Mormonism, but ignorance and bias. Another is to read into Mormonism things that Mormons don't believe are core doctrines. Usually, they are educated speculation.
To quote from a quote at T&S, from a translation:
quote:Their faith has nothing refined, let alone intellectual, about it. Mormons do not, like the Pope, attempt to harmonize faith and reason. Neither do they deal much with theodicy, the justification of God in view of misery here below, unlike entire armies of theologians in other faiths….The Mormons like things simple, so they don’t maintain an elite corps of priests for an elaborated interpretation of the faith….God is for them an originary figure of flesh and blood, and also married, of course….A nice, childish faith….Christ’s return to save humanity is at the door. Faith rarely presents itself so simply….Firm in the faith, they seek expansion rather than a deepening of piety.
And to quote the post response:
quote:With the exception of the last sentence, which is entirely untrue, I found this to be an extraordinarily accurate and good description of Latter-day Saints. I would go so far as to say that Spörl has found the keyhole through which to present/view Mormonism to Germans in this summation. . .
I should note that I do not see this statement as incompatible with the idea that plenty of Latter-day Saints are happy to take an intellectual approach to the religion itself and especially to its history; taking such an approach while at the same time harboring/fostering such a “nice, childish faith” (”childlike” would, of course, be much better a description) are not mutually exclusive. Recognizing that could not be expected of Spörl, I realize, so this description is great.
Probably the best synopsis of understanding Mormons made by the writer was not translated in the English:
quote:It probably helps to see things as they appear to the pilot of an airplane, far above it all, the sun gleaming on the horizon and the earth below, so heart-warmingly beautiful, both ordered and endangered at the same time and perhaps even amenable to salvation.
Again, as a blog respondent said, "It is true that the Church has both exotic arcana and yet at the same time appeals to a simple faith, and just successfully explaining that much to his audience strikes me as not a bad start." It would be wonderful if reporters were to recognize this. It is something that Bushman tried to explain:
quote:BUSHMAN: Well, I hear two things in your comment. One is the notion of peculiar, heterodox, wild ideas about the nature of God and how to cope with such departures from conventional Christianity. The other is the idea of a certain degree of trickery. That is, you're brought into the church with simple, plain doctrines, like the story of the Book of Mormon.
JENKINS: I am not trying to make these accusations, please understand.
BUSHMAN: Yes. I do understand. I thought you were very tactful in the way you stated it. But still, that is the question, because often the evangelical critics of Mormonism will make that very point. They will make it look like it's simple, but boy, wait till you get inside of it and you'll find all sorts of terrifying beliefs.
I think the missionary system of the church is not deceptive in the sense that it does present basically what Mormons work with, live by day by day, which is belief in revelation, belief in these new Scriptures, belief that you shouldn't smoke, drink, and so forth, should pay tithing – all of those basic things are made clear. But once you get into the church, there is a vast amount of lore about how the priesthood works, how the ecclesiastics work, things about baptism for the dead and genealogical work that don't go into the fundamental teachings. Not that the missionaries would conceal them consciously, but they just don't figure in the everyday conversation of Mormons or the life of a Mormon. You can be a perfectly good Mormon without knowing every last detail.
However, when it comes to the doctrines that you describe, which are extreme departures from standard Christianity, I think they mean quite a bit to Mormons – not to all Mormons, but to many, including myself – as an elaboration of these stories of eternity, as I call them. So you get a larger and larger picture. The trouble with them is that when you begin to explore them in detail, there are all sorts of mysteries and perplexities, things you can't understand because you're out at the edge, and how does this work, how does that work – I don't know how it works. But the overall picture is that humans are being taught by a father to become like him. That is a fundamental Mormon belief.
And it can be stated quite innocently in a way that many other Christians would agree with, that the purpose of becoming a Christian is to become godly, become like God, in his moral image. It's just that Mormons carry this further and start talking about governing worlds. The business of governing worlds is an extrapolation that is not in the Scriptures; it's just something Mormons have made up to make it concrete. But all of that is part of this extended picture, which does come as a shock to many people.
I don't think it's a matter of concealment, but just milk and meat.
Now if the press could become more reflective rather than reflexive. Of course, experience shows that is nearly impossible.
quote:While certain actions may be condemned by the hierarchy of the church, the legislation of these actions is not. The prophets only discourage members from doing such things themselves.
I dunno. I thought the LDS church's public support of an anti-gay marriage amendment a few years ago strayed from their typical "teach correct principles and let them govern themselves" stance.
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Yea, but no one (thinks Harry Reid) was excommunicated for either not supporting it or voting against it. That doesn't mean the LDS Church can't stand up politically or morally for something they hold important.
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