The "Mormon Moment"

There has been a lot of talk lately about Mormons, of which I am one.  All this attention has been kind of a double edged sword I feel.  The recent episode of Rock Center with Brian Williams pretty much exemplifies this.  I had high hopes for this show, because in general, Mr. Williams does some great reporting (and he is hilarious...have you seen the episode of SNL he hosted?).  Alas, I was once again disappointed.  Don't get me wrong, on the whole I felt like it was a pretty fair portrayal, and I didn't feel  the church was being attacked at all.  I did, however, feel that once again, they completely missed the point.

They spent a lot of time focusing on the temples and the 'secrecy' that surrounds them.  They also talked about the temple garments (so called 'mormon underwear').  But they didn't really explain anything about them; most of the information given came from the former members they talked to, not practicing members or church leaders, so it was pretty skewed.  First of all, the temple is not a secret.  In the temple church members participate in ordinances designed to help us make covenants with God, and help to remember them.  Having participated in them myself, I can promise you it is nothing crazy.  In fact it is pretty beautiful.  As far as the garments of the temple go, I like to compare it to a Jewish Yarmulke.  In and of themselves, they don't have special magical powers.  They are a reminder of the covenants made in the temple, the standards one is expected to live by, and of Gods love for his children.  (I don't know what kind of crack Ms. Huntsman was smoking...I have never ever heard someone talk about their garments saving their lives, and no one I know thinks they are magical; symbolic and sacred yes, but magic, no.)  Realistically the main point of the temple is families.  Through those temple ordinances that I mentioned earlier families can be families forever.  What is so bad and scary about encouraging that?

They talked to Joanna Brooks, who I think is an amazing person.  But the only thing they talked to her about was her feminism...and not even her feminism really, it was more about feminism on the outside looking in.  I am a feminist and a Mormon woman.  Sometimes I experience cognitive dissonance over this fact, I'll be honest.  But what this program didn't give Ms. Brooks a chance to talk about was the fact that the LDS church was founded on cognitive dissonance.  The reason Joseph Smith prayed and experienced the vision he did was because he didn't know what the right thing to do was.  In the church we are taught to question, study, pray, and find answers for ourselves.  (Does that sound like the blind obedience encouraged by a cult to you?)  The LDS church teaches that the purpose of this life is to learn all that we can.  Sometimes that means not being sure of the answers.  But they also teach that, through study and prayer, God will help us learn.  To hear Ms. Brooks' WHOLE story, read her book...it's pretty great.

They also glossed over a lot of church history, focusing only on the most sensationalized parts.  They didn't mention the extermination order signed by the governor of Missouri that forced thousands from their homes in the dead of winter.  They neglected to talk about the mobs of angry people who tarred and feathered, raped, pillaged, and murdered early church members in their own homes.  They didn't bring up the fact that those same people dragged themselves across thousands of miles of wilderness and built a home for themselves in the middle of the desert.  Or that that home quickly became one of the most prosperous territories in the west.  Did you hear about the university that the pioneers opened a mere three years after arriving in the Salt Lake Valley?  Oh that's right, they didn't talk about that either. (To be fair, I felt like they did an excellent job talking about the church's humanitarian aid work, and all the good that it does for people.  The whole 'we take care of our own' bit was spot on as well- the bishop's store house and the church employment centers are open to every one, not just members.)

I feel like those pieces of Mormon history go a long way in explaining why the church is the way it is today.  I will be the first to admit that LDS people tend to be very insular and a little stand-off-ish.  Can you blame them, knowing how they have been persecuted?  Even as recently as 20 years ago, missionaries in the southern UNITED STATES were regularly threatened or beaten or worse.  I myself have been yelled at, and called some pretty terrible names, when people found out what faith I belong to.  And it is not always as violent or blatant as that, the mocking and denigrating of our beliefs continues in pop culture (Big Love, The Book of Mormon: The Musical, references on South Park and The Simpsons...Speaking of the musical though, can you imagine the outcry if they made one called Qur'an: A Revue or something like that?  That would totally not be ok with me either.  Why is it ok to single out Mormons?) I 100% agree that the Mormon church as a whole should work on being more open, and they are.  But it is going to take a long time for the psyche of the LDS church to recover from it's history, especially since the mockery goes on.

I guess what I'm trying to say is take what you hear with a grain of salt.  Go to the source for the most reliable information.  Talk to people that you know who are church members.  The church website is a great resource.  There are commercials and videos called "I'm a Mormon" on youtube that will give a more accurate picture of who church members really are.  It is so sad to me that something that is so important to me is so misunderstood.  I hope that this helps clear up some questions.