Dave's Mormon Inquiry

How To Be A Good Anti-Mormon

Most people have better things to do with their life than to be an "anti" anything. But for the benefit of Evangelical Christians who think it's their calling in life to become religious stalkers to Mormons and Mormonism, it is worth taking a few minutes to talk about how to at least be a good anti-Mormon (one that can one day stand confidently before God to report on their labors) as opposed to a bad one. My thoughts here, while not responding directly to any one post, were motivated by this post -- apparently by an Evangelical who is just figuring out that the strategy of attacking another's religion and religious beliefs does that person harm rather than good. That's a great place to start.

Inoculation Now?

The B'nacle has been so busy talking about the possibility of "inoculation," we might just have missed the real thing. That's the thought that occurred to me as I read a post entitled Should the LDS Church Deal With Its Controversial History? at an off-MA blog, Mormons Talk. The post notes that several rather direct historical articles have appeared in the Ensign and Church News this year, and the thought struck me ... it has begun. LDS leaders don't generally announce policy changes on sensitive topics, so we sort of have to guess what's going on. I suspect the PBS documentary "The Mormons" was a real catalyst on this one.

Other inoculation posts worth reading if you're interested: "The Mormons" and Inoculation (at BCC) and The Devilish Details of Inoculation (here at DMI, although I forgot about it until I did a 'nacle search at MA and it popped up). There are also a couple of podcasts, here and here.

A Quick Verdict

The jury has returned its verdicts in the Warren Jeffs case in which he was accused of being an accomplice to rape for instigating a monogamous FLDS marriage of a 14-year-old girl to a 19-year-old man, and the media and blogs are awash in coverage:

• The Salt Lake Tribune: "Jeffs guilty on both counts"
• The Deseret News: "Jury finds Jeffs guilty"
• Messenger and Advocate: "I am very, very surprised ...'
• Freespace: "God's favorite serial rapist ..."
• Freespace, remembering his libertarian values: ... a lot of troubling questions ..."

Folklore Presentation in Logan

The SL Trib ran an article previewing William A. Wilson's upcoming Arrington Lecture on Mormon folklore, scheduled for Thursday at 7 p.m. at the USU Library in Logan. I noted strong reader response to my earlier posts on Wilson's folklore stuff (Mormon Folklore and Telling Stories) so I'm guessing this is of interest to some of you. Anyone who attends is welcome to post a comment here or on some other blog. Wilson's lecture is entitled, "What's True in Mormon Folklore? The Contribution of Folklore to Mormon Studies."

Mormons and Science

For this week's online essay, go read "The Mormon Retreat From Science," the editors' introduction to a collection of essays published by Signature in 1993 under the title The Search for Harmony: Essays on Science and Mormonism. The editors are Gene Sessions, a historian, and Craig Oberg, a microbiologist, both at Weber State University. The essay chronicles the open-minded attitude towards science of 19th-century LDS leaders like Joseph and Brigham; the expressly pro-science view of early 20th-century LDS leaders like Talmage, Widtsoe, and Roberts; and the increasingly anti-science tilt of recent LDS leaders, most notably Joseph Fielding Smith and Bruce R. McConkie.

Barbarians at the Gates

And who might they be, these cultural barbarians? You and me, according to the author of The Cult of the Amateur: How Today's Internet is Killing Our Culture (Doubleday, 2007). Will it kill the Church too?

"Superheroes Aren't True"

That was one reaction to Bible action figures being test-marketed at a few Wal-Mart stores in Pennsylvania. Seems that customer was afraid his children would equate Action Jesus with Spiderman or the Hulk. Maybe Action Samson is a safer bet. If Pennsylvania is too far to drive, just be patient: Target will be selling them online starting next month.

Pictured to left: Action Moses.

All About the Flood

For this week's online essay, go read an article from the latest Dialogue, entitled "On Balancing Faith in Mormonism with Traditional Biblical Stories: The Noachian Flood Story." The authors review a variety of scientific evidence suggesting there simply could not have been any worldwide flood, as some Mormons and Christians suppose. The authors also review the scriptural account itself, questioning the interpretation that a global flood is what is being described.

There has been spirited discussion on the article in a T&S post. There is also a conservative rebuttal at NDBF Gary's site.

Technology and Religion

Get Religion has posted a review of an interesting Wall Street Journal article examining how cell phones are affecting Hutterite culture. The GR post uses that example to touch on the larger issue of religion and technology, which is one of those rare topics that hasn't been kicked around the Bloggernacle much. Christian radio, televangelism, and online churches come to mind for American religion in general. How has technology impacted the LDS Church?

Pictures of Athens, Words of Paul

Meridian Magazine has a nice post with some beautiful photos of Athens, mingled with a review of Paul's sermon to Athenian intellectuals in Acts 17. Interspersed with the post are ads for a ten-day Mediterranean cruise next summer with the author and his photogenic eternal companion. Normally I kind of sneer at that sort of thing (hosted cruises; self-promotion; blog ads), but a cruise sounds pretty tempting at the moment. Eat my way around Italy with my own photogenic eternal companion. Stroll through the agora followed (no-doubt) by a latter-day sermon on Mars' Hill. Stranger things have happened. Are cruise ships wired for Internet? If not ... make it a three-day cruise. Couldn't handle ten days offline. Ten days is forever.

Elect Lady or Mormon Enigma?

Or both? The SL Trib carried a recent story announcing the production of a new film, "Emma Smith: My Story," scheduled for release in spring of 2008. The article notes that it will be filmed at the LDS Motion Picture Studio in Provo, so I doubt that Emma's full enigmatic story will get told. And it is described as a "feature film" rather than a documentary, suggesting that the script will, uh, massage the facts a bit in order to correlate enhance the storyline and rewrite sharpen the characters. But who knows? I actually like the new Joseph Smith movie. Maybe this one will be a pleasant surprise as well.

Generations

The tireless Kevin Barney is hosting a discussion of LDS apologetics for teenagers over at BCC, trying to get a handle on the tone, approach, and content of a fireside-type presentation to LDS youth on that topic. Reflecting on this, it occurred to me that one of the challenges is how the topics that get thrown at Mormons (and that therefore get discussed by LDS apologists) change from generation to generation and how this might be a problem.