Dave's Mormon Inquiry

A Visit to Temple Square

While in Salt Lake City this afternoon, I managed to fit in a visit to Temple Square for a couple of hours. It's always fun to visit the center place of Mormonism (which is a rather different category than "sacred ground" or "holy site"). I browsed through the South Visitors Center and its exhibits showing how massive granite blocks were hammered, drilled, and blasted out of Little Cottonwood Canyon, then transported twenty miles by wagon (later, railroad) to the site of the LDS temple. Just across the street, the Museum of Church History and Art has a temporary exhibit showing the details of the construction of the Tabernacle, which went through several architectural upgrades before attaining the fine sound quality offered by the rounded dome design.

Misguided Rights Talk

Funny what post-election behavior reveals about people. Republicans who lost the presidential race are quietly supporting a smooth transition of power to the incoming Obama administration; Prop 8 opponents are busy organizing angry marches and targeting Mormons for retribution, using misguided rights talk to justify this unfortunate response. A National Review Online piece, "Legislating Immorality," is a good place to correct some of this misguided rights talk.

Is There a Mormon Image Problem?

Gary Lawrence thinks so, as related in an SL Trib piece. He's the author of a new book, How Americans View Mormonism: Seven Steps to Improve Our Image. Lawrence, a pollster, sampled a thousand people. Here's the bad news:

Forty-three percent said the church treated women as second-class citizens, 39 percent said it used pressure tactics, 38 percent said it was pushy, 16 percent saw it as racist and 16 percent said it was a "church to be feared."

Huckabee Redux, or Trying to Do the Right Thing

At Hugh Hewitt, "A Conversation With Mike Huckabee," including a text transcript of the entire interview. Governor Huckabee is promoting his new book, Do the Right Thing. The most interesting part of the interview, however, concerned his infamous remark suggesting Mormons view Jesus and Satan as brothers.

Three Rules of Religious Understanding

Krister Stendahl died earlier this year (hat tip: Lehi's Library). He was a Swedish scholar and theologian, and also served for a period as the Lutheran Bishop of Stockholm. In LDS circles, he is fondly remembered as the author of three rules of religious understanding, which he propounded during public debate critical of a planned LDS temple in Sweden. They are good rules to follow in any religious or interfaith conversation. Here are Stendahl's three rules.

• When you are trying to understand another religion, you should ask the adherents of that religion and not its enemies.
• Don't compare your best to their worst.
• Leave room for "holy envy." (By this Stendahl meant that you should be willing to recognize elements in the other religious tradition or faith that you admire and wish could, in some way, be reflected in your own religious tradition or faith.)

Originally posted with comments at Beliefnet.

Facing East

I just finished Facing East from Indian Country: A Native History of Early America (Harvard Univ. Press, 2001) by Daniel Richter, a history professor at the University of Pennsylvania. This fine book (a finalist for the 2002 Pulitzer in history) tells early American history from an entirely different perspective, that of Native Americans looking east as scattered groups of Europeans make visits, then trade, then settle, fight, and spread along the Atlantic seaboard and beyond. More than just being good history, Facing East also helps the LDS reader appreciate the religious and cultural lens through which early Mormons, like other early Americans, viewed North American Indians. Below are comments on some of the more interesting examples of this I found in the book.

The End of a Long Campaign

And the end of an era, the era of conservative politics in America (at least in the executive branch), which stretches back to 1980 and possibly to 1968. Sen. McCain, an American hero who somehow missed his political moment in 2000, gave a gracious concession speech. President-elect Obama, who moves into the White House with clear majorities in both houses of Congress, gave an eloquent and rather restrained acceptance speech. It's over. Time to move on to something besides politics.

So, as promised, I'm going to take a break from the blog for a week or two. Or three. I'll be back.

The Forgotten Man

Haven't heard much about Mitt Romney the last few months, but he's been busy. In the Wall Street Journal yesterday: "Romney's Campaigning Gives Him Big GOP Role." Romney has been doing a lot of in-the-trenches leg work — speaking at Republican rallies, supporting Republican congressional candidates, and using his PAC to raise and distribute money to candidates. The article notes that Giuliani has also done a lot of work since dropping out of the race.

Maverick or Messiah?

Today is the day when all those "undecideds" can either break right or break left or just stay home. Today is the day that everyone will see how how poorly (or how well) the polls have performed. Today is the day that the media can stop campaigning and get back to reporting. I'll have a post or two running today, then some sort of liveblogging going on this evening. Win, lose, or draw, tonight's the night.

On the Eve of Electoral Battle

T minus one day and not counting anymore. I finally submitted to the soul-sucking NY Times registration yesterday — I figure this election will fill my soul-sucking quota for the year, I might as well get the news too. So here's what the Gray Lady has to say the day before the election.

It Will Be A Night to Remember

So where do you plan to get your news on Election Night? Major networks? CNN? Online with MSNBC or other websites? Radio? (It's that thing you used to listen to in your car before you bought an iPod.) To win, McCain needs to get Florida, Ohio, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania, plus one of the following: Virginia, Colorado, Nevada, or New Mexico. So we'll know fairly early if it's going to be a close one or not. Here are poll closing times for these key states.

Missing W.

T minus two days and counting.  The NY Times ran a piece with six columnists writing on the theme "What I Will Miss About President Bush."  One, citing many staffers he interviewed, noted that "he never pointed fingers, harbored grudges, snubbed, publicly belittled or boasted."  Another said, "I’ll miss President Bush’s moral clarity."  A third said, "What I will miss most about George W. Bush as president is his sincere concern for promoting human dignity." 

Comedy or Farce?

In the waning days of a decisive election that may set the path of the United States for the next generation ... John McCain appears on a comedy show to mock himself and make jokes about his opponent.  What has our election process become?  Should we just chuck the debates and just go with candidate comedy routines?  A national joke-off?  In a further bizarre twist, Sarah Palin unwittingly fielded a prank phone call from a Canadian comedian posing as the president of France.  Canadian!  Like we can't produce our own lame comics this side of the border ... or even elect them.

Rumors of Tightening?

T minus three days and counting.  I keep reading rumors that the race is tightening, but it doesn't really pop out of the polls.  There is the Zogby poll which now shows McCain "within the margin of error" and actually outpolling Obama 48-47 among likely voters in the most recent dailies.  [Note: that link is to the main page, not the particular story, so what I'm quoting may not be there when you click through.]  But the Gallup likely voter dailies are moving strongly against McCain. 

Net Beats Out Newspaper

From the Pew Center: "Internet Now Major Source of Campaign News."  The precentage of those relying on television as one of their primary sources is declining; for the Internet, the percentage is climbing quickly; and for newspapers, it is holding steady. Can you imagine an election in 2020? That's assuming we still have elections with two or more candidates in 2020, of course.

Steve Young Pulls A Trick Play Out of His Bag

Call it the Prop 8 Reverse: "Steve Young lines up against Mormon church on Prop 8," in the SF Chronicle. I don't know that it will change many votes, but it certainly provides some cover for those Latter-day Saints in California who have "No on 8" signs in their front yard or who have made public statements detailing their opposition to Prop 8.