My family and the book of Mormon

It has come down to me a late 1800s copy of the Book of Mormon that my 2nd great-grandfather -- and his daughter -- was converted with. It is a family treasure.

My cousin treasures another copy of the book that converted another of our ancestors about the same time.

It needs to be remembered how much this European sacrificed because of the firm testimony they received of this book, fleeing country and family, at times. To come to America where she lived in a tent in the foothills near Provo. My great grandmother suffered a terrible burst appendix as a child and was told she would never have children, but faith helped her have one child, my gentle grandfather.

All this was driven by the results of this remarkable book, the Book of Mormon.

I attach a quote from Elder Holland's talk that critics must answer, if they are serious about their firm attacks on the faith:

For 179 years this book has been examined and attacked, denied and deconstructed, targeted and torn apart like perhaps no other book in modern religious history—perhaps like no other book in any religious history. And still it stands. Failed theories about its origins have been born and parroted and have died—from Ethan Smith to Solomon Spaulding to deranged paranoid to cunning genius. None of these frankly pathetic answers for this book has ever withstood examination because there is no other answer than the one Joseph gave as its young unlearned translator. In this I stand with my own great-grandfather, who said simply enough, “No wicked man could write such a book as this; and no good man would write it, unless it were true and he were commanded of God to do so.

Another witness

In my study of Mormons and the media, one thing has repeatedly stood out: how little care there is in reporting on the Book of Mormon.

While I am largely grateful for the writings of journalists in that their stories of what Joseph Smith said about the Book of Mormon are largely accurate -- telling as they do about golden plates.

They rarely, if ever, however, go into the teachings of the book nor do they really make the Book of Mormon seem as the profound religious challenges that it is. Journalists never frame the story as: what if Joseph Smith really did see an angel in his small bedroom in New York and if he didn't, how, seriously, did Joseph Smith produce a work of such remarkable depth and breadth amid such poverty in such a short time and how is that he was he willing to die for his testimony of the work.

So, my faith in the Book of Mormon has increased, as has my desire to have reporters get -- and report -- what we are actually saying, in all its dimensions.

Hence, this week, I was greatly moved by Elder Holland's talk at general conference on this remarkable book. I urge anyone to read it. To be a serious critic of Mormonism, you must get through the Book of Mormon's origin. No one has successfully done so.

The return of Angels in Washington

The Washington Times is reporting today that Tony Kushner's play Angels in America, which won him a Pulitzer in the 1990s, is back in the Washington D.C. area.

The stellar review of the play was much like the reviews of the 1990s. As my friend Dan Stout observed back then, there are very few writers who even care to notice how painfully mocking the play is of my Mormon faith. The angel in the title is a deliberate metaphor on Angel Moroni. A dying gay man, the plays hero, in that sense, becomes a symbol of Joseph Smith. One scene was set in a visitors' center.

Mormonism in the play is the symbol of all that's wrong with America. I believe the play, therefore, may well be responsible for some of the hostility gay America has felt for Latter-day Saints.

The play mocks Mormon doctrine and the Book of Mormon origin story. Now, I have never chosen to see the play, but I read it when I was a young reporter so I could carefully write about it at the time, so it remains startling to me how few journalists care to point out the bigotry inherent in the play's heart.

Is it that the stereotypes of Mormons are so unquestioned that people don't even see them as bigotry? Is it that Mormonism is so unknown that people don't realize how offensive it is? Is it that Mormonism is seen as just another religion and there is a general antipathy toward religion?

I urge reviewers to think if an ethnic minority were portrayed as Mormons are portrayed and ask whether the play could, in fact, be deeply offensive and ask why. I suggest that Latter-day Saints quietly avoid seeing it. Its author deserves no more money for this terrible play than he has already received.

Travel piece from the Mirror

This article in the U.K.'s Daily Mirror is a generous portrait of Utah's beauty and variety, but a lazy approach to the church.

It's sort of like complaining about dandelions to complain about some elements of coverage in a British tabloid, but, alas, the story shows the chronic and annoying way Mormons are often portrayed in Britain. The name of the church is wrong; no distinction is made between Mormons and fundamentalist Mormons and the stereotype of backwardly quaint is a big part of the portrayal. Here is what it says:

""Utah?", laughed a friend of mine from New York. "Why the hell are you going there? Isn't it just fields and religious nuts?" He meant the Mormons, the controversial, conservative and supposedly polygamist followers of the Church of the Latter Day Saints - which the majority of Utahns are.

"Other than them, and maybe The Osmonds, little is known about this landlocked state.

"Surprisingly, I didn't meet many while I was there (Mormons, not Osmonds). Unsurprisingly, the few I did were down-toearth, friendly and disappointingly monogamous."

Near the end, the author says he can't understand what is wrong with the state. He probably thought he was being kind. Alas, it seems not too much to ask to get a few basic facts right.

Important news piece from CPI

An important piece of journalism -- and model for the future -- is the Center for Public Integrity. Its non-profit investigations are difficult to produce and represent a high-level of craft. I wish to have everyone go to see their latest.

Wonderful Mormon piece

The New York Times shows a powerful way to tell stories and to provide moving stuff online with its 1 in 8 million people stories. Its authors picked a young Mormon missionary traveling the streets of Chinatown -- a three-year convert. Just a great piece of journalism and storytelling -- and one that makes the church look good.

Here is the story.

Back in the saddle

I haven't updated in a while. Been working on a dissertation. We'll see how it goes this week. School is also starting again.

Worth noting this week is a wonderful story of Gary Neeleman in The Economist of London. Neeeleman evidently started a version of Jet Blue in Brazil -- building on his missionary experience -- and is being remarkably successful.

Unfortunately, I can't find this article online. Worth noting, however, is how much the article implied that his very positive missionary experience shaped his life's work.

It concluded with this quote about missionaries serving there:

"But perhaps a few will form an enduring attachment to a country that resembles America in so many ways, and will use their experience of converting the natives to start a business in Brazil too."