TRENDS in FEMINIST THEOLOGY 23 .]Anice Allred

MORMON EXPERIENCE, SCHOLARSHIP, ISSUES, AND ART

JUNE 1991 Volume 15:2 Issue 82

2 Our Readers ...... READERS’ FORUM FEATURES 13 Eugene England ...... PSALM: It Hurts to Think of You 17 Sheila Greeve Davaney ...... TRENDS IN FEMINIST THEOLOGY 23 .]anice Allred ...... DO YOU PREACH THE ORTHODOX RELIGION?: A PLACE FOR THEOLOGY IN MORMON COMMUNITY 34 Todd Compton ...... COUNTER-HIERARCHICAL REVELATION 42 Hodgson Van Wagoner ...... REFLECTIONS OF THE LOST AND FOUND 1989 Brown fiction contest 2nd place winner POETRY The poems in this issue were read by their authors at a session at Sunstone Symposium West. SUNSTONE (ISSN 0363-1370) is published by the Sunstone 11 Mary Blanchard ...... BEREFT Foundation, a non-profit corporation with no official connection to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 33 Karen Marguerite Moloney ...... THE TRUANT OFFICER RECALLS SWEET MAGGIE Articles represent the attitudes of the writers only and not 41 Margaret Rechif ...... LE BONNE VAUX necessarily those of the editors or the LDS church. 46 R.A. Christmas ...... CONVERSATION WITH A CANCER Manuscripts should be submitted on floppy diskettes, IBM PC compatible and written with Word Perfect format. Manuscripts 46 Kathryn R. Ashworth ...... BETHANY may also be double-spaced typewmten. Submissions should 51 Margaret Rechif ...... IF EARTH WERE A WOMAN not exceed nine thousand words and must be accompanied by 52 LiMa Sillitoe ...... OCTOBER SHOOT a signed cover letter giving permission for the manuscript to be filed in the Sunstone Collection at the University of Utah COLUMNS Marriott Library Archives (all literary rights are retained by the author). Unsolicited manuscripts will not be returned; authors 12 Daniel H. Rector ...... FROM THE PUBLISHER will be notified concerning acceptance within sixty days. An Open Letter About Sunstone Support 14 Sheldon Greaves ...... SUNSTONE is interested in feature and column length articles TURNING THE TIME OVER TO... relevant to Mormonism from a variety of perspectives; news Joseph’s Amazing Technicolor Dream-Church: stones about Mormons and the LDS church are also desired. Interpreting Scripture in the Video Age Short stories are selected only through the annual Brookie and 47 B.J. Fogg ...... FROM THE CAMPUS D.K Brown Memorial Fiction Contest (submission deadline: Letter From BYU 15 June 1991). All fiction submissions will be considered as contest entries. 49 Elise Lazar ...... MORMONS & THEIR NEIGHBORS A Non-Mormon in Zion: A Stranger in Paradise Letters for publication should be addressed to "Readers’ Forum." SUNSTONE does not acknowledge receipt of letters to 51 Ellen Fagg ...... ARTICULTURE the editor. The Gathering of the Faithful Letters addressed to specific authors will be forwarded to them. Upon request, SUNSTONE will not provide subscribers’ REVIEWS addresses to mail solicitors. 53 Gary Bergera ...... THE NEW MORMON ANTI-INTELLECTUALISM Send all correspondence and manuscripts to: "To Be Learned is Good if... ": A Response By SUNSTONE Mormon Educators to Controversial Religious Questions 331 South Rio Grande Street edited by Robert L. Millett Suite 30 56 Salt Lake City, UT 84101-1136 ...... BOOKNOTES 801/355-5926 Susan Howe ...... The Owl on the Aerial by Clarice Short United States subscriptions to SUNSTONE are $32 for twelve Danny May ...... My Hard Bargain by Walter Kirn issues. International subscriptions are $45 (U.S.) for Canada George D. Smith, Jr...... Evolution of the Mormon Temple Ceremony: 1920-1990 and Mexico and for surface mail to all other countries. Airmail by Jerald and Sandra Tanner subscriptions are $62 for Europe and South America and $70 for Asia, Africa, Australia and the Pacific. Bona fide student and NEWS missionary subscriptions are $10 less than the above rates. 57 Carol Lynn Pearson ...... OAKLAND STAKE HOSTS KING INTERFAITH SERVICE This magazine is printed on acid-free paper. Sunstone Correspondents ...... UPDATE ¯ PECULIAR PEOPLE ¯ SUNSTONE CALENDAR ¯ SPEECHES ~ CONFERENCES ¯ Copyright © 1991 by the Sunstone Foundation. MORMON MEDIA IMAGE ¯ AWARDS ¯ ONE All rights reserved. FOLD ¯ SUNSPOTS Printed in the United States of America. Cover Larry Clarkson SUNS1DNE READERS’ FORUM Founded in !975 thing seem so sad? Had I really not supported SCOTT KENNEY 1975 1978 STANDING INDEPENDENT ALLEN D. ROBERTS 1978-1980 my leaders? Was I on that proverbial "high PEGGY FLETCHER 1978-1986 IT SHOULD BE clearly understood by road to apostasy"? But then why were my Publisher Editor the readers of SUNSTONE magazine that the deepest prayers answered so miraculously, so DANIEL H. RECTOR ELBERT EUGENE PECK talks by Eider Boyd K. Packer ("Let Them often? Why did Church members regularly :~ocutive Secretary Associate Editor Govern Themselves") and by Elder Ronald E. approach me and say: "Your testimony RYAN JENTZSCH KRISTOPHERJON MAGNUSSON Poelman ("The Gospel and The Church") mirrored the feelings in my soul today"? If I Contributing Editor Production Manager were printed in the October 1990 5~NSTONE were so bad, where did I get the strength and MARTI DICKEY ESPLIN ttlNCKI_EY LISOTA-JONES magazine (14:5) without the permission of love to teach and baptize a dozen friends in Advisory Editorial Boa~fl The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day the previous four years? Why was I always PATRICK BAGLEY, BRIAN BEAN, T.E. BEHREND: fiction M. SHAYNE BELL: poetry;JAY S. BYBEE Saints. The Church wishes to avoid any im- willing to home teach six or eight inactives? DENNIS CLARK: poetry reviews, CONNIE DISNEY plied endorsement of any private business or Going into that meeting, to quote Jim MICt tAEL HARWARD, DANIEL MARYON PEGGY FLETCHER STACK, LYNNE KANAVEL VgttlTESIDES publication. In addition, the Church wants Croce, "I had begun to doubt all the things

Contributing Columnists to protect the copyright ownership of writ- that were me." And yet, from deep within I ORSON SCOTT CARD, DORICE WILLIAMS ELLIOTT ings and other creative works created or cried out as Martin Luther: "Here I stand; I MICHAEl_ HICKS, DAVID KNOWLTON, MARYBETH RAYNES ROBERT REES, PETER SORENSEN published by the Church. cannot do otherwise:, so help me God!" COPYRIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS OFFICE I got to make my complete presentation. Cartoonists CALVIN GRONDAHL, PAT BAGLEY THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST Then we talked for an hour. That is, I talked; KIRK ANDERSON, KENT CHRISTENSEN, KEN CRITCHFIELD OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS my Brethren listened. My pain kept coming DANA JACQUES, STEWE KROPP, BRIAN KUBARYCZ, LEGUME CARL McBRAYER, ROBERT MURRAY, i~ S. MUELLER out; flashes of anger threatened the spirit. But BRAD VELEY, RYAN S. WAYMENT LOCKED OUT I was largely able to maintain my composure. Volunteers Finally, my stake president looked straight at PENNY AI_LEN, CARI_ENE GEORGE-McMILLEN BARBARA HAUGSOEN, TERRY TILTON, ROBERT VERNON IN A VERY real sense, I have been inside me, his eyes filled with tears. "Brother Hoefelmann, if you say these things hap- US. Correspondents the Church locked out. A year ago my STAN CHRISTENSEN, Cambridge, Ma relationship to the Church hung in the bal- pened to you, then I believe you." NANCY HARWARD, Neward, De. jACK ~ RENEE CARLSON, Potomac, Md. ance. For over sixty days, I had labored on a A million pounds lifted from me. I love ALICE ALLRED POTTMYER, Arlington, Va. document through which I was making a the Church so much. I love the gospel. I love NEAL & REBECCA CHANDLER, Shaker Heights, Oh. JONATHAN & COLLEEN THOMAS, Chicago most sincere effort to purify myself, to separ- the Lord. Then I felt the encircling love of my KARL SANDBERG, St.Paul;JOHN DURHAM PETERS, Iowa City ate my personal problems and challenges leaders. And I knew that if they ever again STEVE MAYFIELD, Denver; ROB PRIDDIS, Salt Lake City JOHN COX, Winnemucca, Nv; ERIN SILVA, San Diego from those I felt stemmed from the counter- had questions or doubts about what I said or JOHN ~JANET TARJAN, Bakersfield, Ca. productive emphasis in Church administra- did, they would call me in directly and com- IRENE BATES, Pacific Palisades; KAREN MOLONEY, Los Angeles T. EUGENE SHOEMAKER, Sacramento; BONNIE BOBET, Berkeley tion. I came to understand its purpose: It municate their concerns to my face. A year has now passed. For eleven International Correspondents would become a formal presentation to my MARJORIE NEWTON, Australia; WILFRIED DEC()(), Belgium stake presidency. months I’ve served as a counselor to the JAMES FIELD, WERNER H HOCK, Germany WILLIAM P COLLINS, Israel; PAUL CARPENTER, Mexico My willingness to associate with the so- elder’s quorum president. My strengths and IAN BARBER, New Zealand cial!corporate Church would depend on the talents are recognized and called upon as I outcome of the meeting. I was very fright- visit the homes of each member. THE SUNSTONE FOUNDATION ened. I needed four serious issues addressed: I stand amazed that while I labored on my Board of Trustees 1. Accusations that I do not support Church tender Leaves of Grass, Elder Packer was KATHERINE BOSWELL, KENT FROGLEY LISA BOLIN HAWKINS, EDWARD L. KIMBALL, GLEN LAMBERT leaders; 2. The corollary idea that I have not preparing a presentation of his own on de- ROBYN KN1BBE, MARY ANN MORGAN,J BONNER R1TCHIE programming the Church and stressing indi- DANIEl_ H. RECTOR, ELBERT EUGENE PECK received support from my Church leaders; 3. Spiritual damage sustained consequent to vidual revelation and spirituality. My long Presidcn~ F_xecurtve Director night of darkness is over. I am among the DANIEl_ H. RECTOR ELBERT EUGENE PECK the pervasive "program emphasis" in evidence everywhere in the Church; ~-. And Saints once again. Symposium Chairs DON HOEFELMANN MOIJX BENN1ON, Seattle acknowledgement of the mean-spirited treat- CINDY DAttLE, Salt Lake City St. Louis, MO STEVE ECCLES, Los Angelas ment I’d experienced for years at the hands DON ~ LUCINDA GUSTAVSON, Washington, D.C of "program-oriented" leaders. Development Board After several hundred pages of revision, DOING ZION MARSttA S] I!WART. President my document still amounted to over twenty RONAI_D L. MOLEN, Vice President MARTHA S BRADLEY, BAINE CARl_TON, JEROLD KINDRED pages. I knew that if we got sidetracked I WITHOUT THE NET ROBYN KNIBBE, NICHOLAS SMITH, MARK J. WILLIAMS wouldn’t be able to communicate the gravity I WAS GLAD to read Elder Packer’s National Advisor)’ Board of my situation. To that end, with soft instru- ALAN ACKROYD, MOLLY BENNION, ROBERT L. BR1NTON remarks to the regional representatives and BELLAMY BRO’WN, TONY &" ANN CANNON mental hymns in the background, I spoke COLE CAPENER, STEP!tEN C CLARK, DOUGLAS CONDIE the prayer into a tape recorder. I went to the the responses thereto. He forthrightly high- D. JAMES CROFT, ROBERT FII_LERUE MARK GUSTAVSN lighted that the Church’s "safety net" works JEFFREY R ItARDYMAN, REED HUNTER, GREG KOFFORD meeting fasting; I received a priesthood FARRELL LINES, BRIAN C McGAVIN, PATRICK McKENZIE blessing before leaving home. so well that members have less incentive to GRANT OSBORN, RICHARD SHERLOCK, GEORGE D. SMITt l, JR RICHARD SOUTHWlCK, LORIE W1NDERSTROMBERG What could have happened in the four- be self-reliant. NOIA W WALIACE, DENNIS & CAR[AN YOUKSTETTER teen years since my baptism to make every- The Church doesn’t have the resources to

JUNE 199I do all things. Many leaders and members are Myth of Objectivity: Some Lessons for Latter- years ago), the task is to remake history, even having a hard time in adjusting. That’s what day Saints," SUNSTONE 14:4). if events, names, and whole peoples have to makes the claim that the Church should do Midgley’s major point is that historical vanish from the record. Official "historians" more to feed, clothe, and medicate the world objectivity is impossible. He also asserts that doctor photographs, and incidents must be at large so ridiculous. If we are having a hard Mormons who seek objective history betray depicted so as to confirm in every case the time taking care of our own members, how their faith because the explanations of secu- ideology and perfection of the party. can we possibly take care of the rest of the lar historiography "preclude the possibility The New Mormon History is faith-en- world? (I don’t think there can be much that the claims upon which the Mormon hancing for many Saints. I am moved to question that the Church itself should look faith rests are true." This is simply sophism. gratitude and wonder that God can work after its own members first: after all, we are The new Mormon historians whose works I through frail and imperfect people. I love to an extended family with bonds of mutual aid have read do not claim that they have see Saints of the past in three dimensions, and support.) achieved absolute objectivity or even hope complete with their mistakes and contradic- The trend is towards equality and fair- to. Their limited goal is to claim as historical tions. They do not make the saga of the ness. This applies not only to the new budg- only that which the weight of documentary Latter-day Saints less inspiring or divine. etary system but also to the new missionary evidence will support. What kind of faith is it that must fear for its support system, and to the way chapels are I can imagine only two kinds of Mormon existence every time one of its historical fig- built. Inequities between rich and poor history of which Midgley might approve: ures is discovered to have had blemishes? Saints are being levelled out. We are moving "Disneyland history" and "Kremlin history." WAYNE SANDHOLTZ toward a Zion Society. In Disneyland, every detail works to sustain Clarernont, CA CHARLES L. SELLERS the image of a "Magic Kingdom," where error Knoxville, TN and evil are always the work of painted NOT ALONE monsters (never of Mickey, Goofy, and the DISNEYLAND HISTORY rest of the insiders). The bad guys always AS A NEW subscriber I have been disappear once you ’round the next corner to thrilled so far with many (not all) articles in LOUIS MIDGLEY’S discourse on the reassuring refrain, "It’s a small world after SUNSTONE. I was glad to read the views of Mormon history is a mystery to me ("The all." With the Kremlin (at least up until five other Mormons expressed in complete hon-

"But we’ve been goin’ to church for years, Bishop...we just haven’t got there yet."

JUNE 1991 esty without fear of censure. I am willing to OBEDIENT VOICES which suggests there: is another way than wade through the muck in order to find what I interpret as the: gospel of Jesus Christ. occasional treasures. WHENEVER SOMEONE in authority Any voice which would lead us away from I have wondered why the brilliant ones speaks, the alternate voice, in consciously eternal goals, through whatever means, be- are seldom the leaders. Perhaps it is because assuming the role, is compelled to regard comes an alternate voice. We need voices of obedience, stability, and competence are val- everything with a degree of suspicion: The faith and obedience. Obedience does not ued more in the Church than brilliance, and Church is automatically an organization to mean blind faith or silence when there is the that the Gods prefer to try the brilliant spirits control minds and actions; any program or need for opinion, scholarship, discussion, through suppression and loneliness rather policy is examined and fault found. The al- and experience. But it does mean to be true than to risk losing millions of mediocre ternate voices want to learn from other alter- to the call to increase faith, to serve, and to (nevertheless precious) spirits who could be nate voices and the mind sometimes closes to live the commandments. befuddled or led astray by the occasional other edifying sources. Experimenting on the THOMAS D. COPPIN tangents of brilliant thinking. Or perhaps it word (Alma 32) and feeling the spirit are not Tacoma, WA is something else. At any rate, some articles objective and are omitted. in SUNSTONE exude an exquisite intelligence Some of the issues upon which so much A CANDID COMMUNITY and beautiful faith seldom encountered, time and effort is given have to be met with a which strengthen me when mine is lacking. big "SO WHAT?" There are all sorts of justi- I HAVE OFTEN heard members express, I feel challenged, stimulated, and gratified in fications to make some items issues, but most as did Elbert Peck, that the knowledge that I am not alone in the pale against the needs of true service in both the social experience in wards often poignant suffering that comes from asking the Church and the world. Ideas which ques- compels conformity rather than cel- too many questions in a church where many tion and challenge existing doctrine and ebrating God’s diverse creations think it is sinful to question. practices make far more interesting reading, among us; cultivating orthodox ap- ADRIENNE FOSTER POTTER but where do they lead? pearances instead of blossoming Corona, CA To me, the alternate voice is that voice genuiness, and this bnngs censure and stifles the opening of our vulnerable hearts ("Homemade Gatherings knock- knock of Zion" SUNSTONE 14:5). We members are responsible for this in joke from C od our official gatherings: some of us speak, some teach, some ask and answer questions, some administer, and most of us bear testimony. We protect our appearances and con- form to social norms when we use these forums. Admittedly, it takes two to engage in honest dialogue, but it takes only one to ask an honest question, and only one to speak candidly and openly in a testimony meeting, in a sacrament talk, or as a teacher. These create, if only momentarily, the united and loving community. For example, after preparing for several months, a Sister in my ward spoke on the assigned topic of forgiveness. She had suffered a tragedy several years before and was hurt by the insensitivity and coldness she encountered in her grief. Her talk was an unflinchingly honest discussion of her struggle to understand her feelings and to learn to forgive. It was not the talk of one who had mastered the principle, but of someone struggling to forgive. She revealed some of the weaknesses that made her need the Atonement, helping me and other members, who still mention the power of her talk, face our weaknesses and our need for Christ. Recently the bishop asked me to speak on hope in Christ. I tried to speak openly about my struggles with pride and materialism that keep me from Christ, and the importance of those times when I have felt the love of God. Though I felt directed to put myself on the

JUNE 1991 line, the experience was very frightening. However, in the course of the talk, I saw my GIVING DIGNITY THE SORROW OF ward and ward members through new eyes. TO CONVERSION CONVERSION There was one man who listened intently, a quiet man, with whom I have exchanged MARY HARRINGTON’S "Not Every I RELATE TO and agonize with Mary B. only one or two words. He had just suffered Family Rejoices to Have A Child Go on A Harrington, over her supposed loss of her a deep loss, one of many in his life. As I Mission" (SUNSSONE 14:6) about her Protest- son. I am certain it would be of little comfort looked at his upturned face, I felt the burden ant-raised son covertly converting to for her to know that her story has been of his pain and longing and knew that my Mormonism, going on an LDS mission, and reenacted in thousands of LDS homes. My covenant to bear another’s burdens extended the subsequent betrayal and disappointment own fifteen year old Danish grandmother to this unknown man. And before I finished her family felt, aroused the annoyance I feel was literally booted out of her home; she my talk, I felt for a moment a shared longing with my parents over joining the Church. paid a high price for her faith in subsequently with that congregation to put aside the world However, I concede that a church that claims coming to America. On the other hand, it and come to Christ. It was a clear vision that a monopoly on the ends will tolerate any may be eye-opening for Mrs. Harrington to a ward can be one. means to accomplish them. realize that somewhere along her own SONDRA SUMSION SONDERBORG Mrs. Harrington, apologize to Jack for family’s line that at least one of them left the Ann Arbor, MI your family’s disrespect of Jack’s maturity and Catholic faith, perhaps to the sorrow of commitment to God. Apologize for a home many, and converted to Protestantism. It may THE LEGACY OF environment where he did not feel free to prove profitable if she and her husband were discuss the changes he felt without encoun- to pleasantly and in good faith study the OUR MANUALS tering argument and judgment. Approach tenants of their son’s new found faith. They Jack without judgment and with genuine could then, with love and understanding, AS A CONVERT from the Protestant curiosity about his spiritual walk, his doubts, speak knowledgeably with him of the error tradition, I was distressed to learn that the and any self-protection he may have put up of his ways. Presbyterian Church concluded that Mor- against the family’s opinions of his choices. MAX H. RAMMELL mons are not Christians ("Presbyterian Study When Jack begins to yearn for what was Rexbug, ID Concludes LDS are Not Christians~’ SUrqS-CONE good in his family’s faith that is not in his new 14:4). The Presbyterian judgment presents a faith, and he will, them will be a barrier grave injustice to the millions of fine, dedi- rather than a bridge to what he needs. The PROFESSIONAL cated Latter-day Saints who are devout in barrier is the lack of respect for his sincerity, THEOLOGIANS their love for the Savior and who render his maturity, his availability to the Spirit. genuine Christian service in full measure. NATHAN KIRK REGARDING BLAKE OSTLER’S review What is particularly unnerving about the Kennewick, WA of Paul and Margaret Toscanos’ Strangers in pronouncement is that the research was based on LDS materials. About the same time this action was reported, The Legacies of Jesus was released, written by Lowell Bennion, whose life and writings exemplify the teachings of the Savior. Two things are apparent: (1) The Pre- sbyterian researchers did not read the works of Lowell Bennion; and (2) the pondering wisdom of Lowell Bennion is not reflected in current official Church materials and manuals--sadly, his writings are no longer used as Church materials. This comes as no surprise. Philip Barlow, in his fine forthcoming book, Mormons and the Bible (New York: Oxford University Press), details the process and extent to which the thinking of Eider Bruce R. McConkie has been embraced by the Church, to the exclusion of the influence of Lowell Bennion. As a result, the Church dis- penses doctrine similar to advancing a technology: mastering the detailed skills of how a machine is put together. Unfortunately, this sterile approach is applied to the rich and The rest of the pioneers would’re had a much tougher weighty matters of principles and faith. LAURIE NEWMAN DIPADOVA time finding the Salt Lake valle~v were it not for Greenwich, NY Brother Hezekiah’s paper plate inspiration.

JUNE 1991 PAGE 5 Paradox: Explorations in Mormon Theology are largely business people ~vho do be a general authority to receive exaltation" ("Speculation, Myth, and Unfulfilled not have competence in philo- and that "it’s not where you serve, but how Expectations" SUNSTONE 14:6), my compli- sophical theology--but on second you serve"? Could it be because we simply ments to Ostler for his "philosophical" de- thought maybe the Church is better don’t believe that? Why wouldn’t we believe fense of twentieth-century Mormon off without professional theologians. those very "real people" who are telling us doctrine. What really makes me smile is First, who is telling "the great lie"? Who is that? Too much theo-socio-cultural evidence Ostler’s closing comments: counseling against humanizing the Brethren? to the contrary, I suspect. I have had enough direct contact to Who is sanitizing the historical record? Who Second, why would anyone "lament that know that the "institution" is simply has been offered the second-anointing or- the Church leaders are largely business peo- made up of real people doing their dinances? Surely Ostler is not suggesting that ple without competence in philosophical best to promote the kingdom of God. we, the great LDS unwashed, are deserving of theology?" The Lord (.’ailed them and chose They are far from perfect--but to that which has not been granted. Or is he them. Considering how much the Lord expect them to be somehow more merely suggesting that rank indeed has its taught Joseph Smith about business (mostly divine that the rest of us is the great privileges after all? Why is it we must be to avoid it), it is little wonder He would call lie. I lament that the Church leaders constantly reminded that "you don’t have to in the experts now---especially in the face of the complexities of our times. On the other hand, considenngJoseph’s obvious preemin- ence in simple theology, the Church is better off without professional philosophical theologians in its hierarchy. Otherwise, we might never give up the philosophies now plaguing us. It is tough enough overcoming the inadequacies inherent in the mastery of business administration, but even the thought that we must overcome inadequacy in an institutional sense is a lie. It’s a lie because salvation and exaltation are not corporate processes. Neither are they corpo- rately preventable. JON LARSEN Sandy, UT PHILOSOPHY’S MYSTICAL SIDE AS USUAL, Blake: Ostler raises excellent theological points. He does, however, seem a bit too left-brained to appreciate a book which taps into our mystical sides, and for every objection one can raise to the Toscanos’ views, other thorny theological/philosophical problems to the alternatives can be made. Ostler is too dismissive of heterodox but legitimate Mormon theorizing. Our theological conceptions need to adapt to our expanding knowledge. The marvelous thing about the Toscanos’ book is that they raise so many provocative questions and toss around so many fascinat- ing ideas that one can disagree with many of them and still find it one of the most valuable LDS books ever published. Sco~ S. SMITH Thousand Oaks, CA REALITY AND THE IDEAL I HAVE THOROUGHLY enjoyed Strangers in Paradox. As far as the Toscano’s argument against polygamy, though gener- "With our girls he was a Liahona, with the boys an Iron-Rodder."

JUNE 1991 ally enlightening, it has a few faults. Almost puritanical reasons, I just don’t quite get it. sion that a nation can make. Such a decision always our ideal of anything is significantly (Might I suggest a different brand of necessarily involves the imposition of death, different from the reality. On page 235, they tampon.)) I know what I’m revealing about suffering, and destruction by one people suggest that women have problems with myself. I’m saying I’m one of those women: upon another people. Because the decision is polygamy as part of the celestial kingdom the old fashioned, shallow, uptight type who so important, it should not only take into because it doesn’t fit in with an image of an sews her own clothes, cans fruit, and ex- account strategic and political considera- ideal heaven. After Toscanos’ discussion of presses her philosophy using quotes from tions, but should also satisfy the most string- the polyandrous as well as polygynous Madonna movies. I also realize that it takes ent ethical and moral standards. When relationships among Mary, Eve, Adam and so much more effort and talent to create referring to United States actions in Iraq, the Lord, and also among Sarah, Abraham piercing and sophisticated poetry (like President Bush often claimed that what we and the Lord, it seems a bit oversensitive for Sharp’s) than it does to write pithy letters to did was "just" and "moral." Lest such claims them to worry about polygamy in heaven. I the editor! Please keep the great poetry and lose all significance through repeated invoca- am afraid that we will find conditions in fiction coming. I always turn to it first. tion in every decision to go to war, we feel it heaven a good deal different than we expect. DONNA BANTA is important to examine their meaning and Just because we think the condition weird Lewisville, TX their applicability to the Persian Gulf War. doesn’t make it so. We started with the belief that peaceful I hope that the Toscanos will continue to A STATEMENT resolution of international disputes is always write such exciting, enlightening works. Too preferable to violent resolution. We acknowl- often we turn off our thinking processes and FOLLOWING THE edge further that a peaceful resolution is not live with cliches and easily defined descrip- PERSIAN GULF WAR always possible, but believe that the admoni- tions of the gospel. tion in Mormon scriptures to "renounce war DON LARRY PETERSON AS THE UNITED STATES recovers from and proclaim peace" (D&C 98:16) is a firm Mapleton, UT war in the Persian Gulf and contemplates its mandate, to which very few exceptions are role in the post-war world, we feel it is appro- justified. In particular, we believe that a na- A STIMULATING priate to express some concerns about the tion must pursue all opportunities for a conduct of the war which continue to be peaceful resolution before going to war. A THEOLOGY relevant, and offer some recommendations war cannot be "moral" or "just" unless this for the future. As members of the Church of has been done, even when dealing with an STRANGER5 IN PARADOX was the first Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we derive enemy that appears to be extremely defiant treatment of Mormon theology I had read in our concerns and recommendations largely and intransigent. years-~official or otherwise--which did not from principles found in the teachings of Unfortunately, we feel that the U.S. did bore me to utter distraction. Whatever its Jesus Christ. We believe, however, that these not exhaust all possibilities for a peaceful faults, it has the virtue of being able to engage principles are universal, and are widely ac- resolution before waging war on Iraq. Eco- the reader in a way in which few other writ- cepted by most religions and creeds. nomic sanctions may have been effective in ings on Mormon theology (with their intel- The decision to go to war is the single persuading Iraq to leave Kuwait, but we be- lectually inbred arguments and totally most serious, profound, and significant deci- lieve they were abandoned before they had a predictable conclusions) are able to do. I did not always agree with the Toscanos, but even where I disagreed, my own thought processes were stimulated positively. In reading some writers on Mormon theology, one is never quite sure that they believe what they write, or anything at all for that matter. Not so with the Toscanos’ book. ROGER THOMAS Normal, IL PERIOD POETRY I AM A big fan of Loretta Randall Sharp. However, her "Blood Poem" (SUNSTONE 14:4) left me confused. I suppose I don’t share that obsession with the menses some women embrace. I’m reminded of the line from the film Desperately Seeking Susan: "Not all women are obsessed with orgasms; some women just have them." Well, I guess I just have my period every month. I don’t flush with "fists clenched at/cramps and the thought of being strapped spreadeagled,/for a D~C .... " It’s not that I object to this poem for any

JUNE 1991 PAGE 7 real chance to work. In addition, we feel that yond the liberation of Kuwait. In justifying or that the ends justified the means. Vietnam Iraq’s acceptance of the Soviet peace plan, our rejection of the Soviet peace plan, our was wrong because we lost; the Persian Gulf while deserving of caution and skepticism, leaders stated explicitly that their goal was to was right because we won. Such a belief is presented a possibility for peaceful resolu- cripple Iraq’s military capability, and that dangerous because it is tantamount to a belief tion that should have been taken seriously by they would not be satisfied merely with an that military might is equivalent to moral the United States. The ease and swiftness of Iraqi withdrawal. Thus, many of our actions justification, that might makes right. The our victory indicate not only the superiority were disproportionate to a purely defensive American people must avoid the tendency to of United States military capability, but also goal. To the extent that United States goals justify our actions merely because we were the utter lack of commitment within the Iraqi went beyond the liberation of Kuwait, we successful in attaining our goals. army to remaining in Kuwait. We feel that a believe that our actions were not purely de- We are also concerned that the relative peaceful withdrawal was eminently feasible fensive in motivation. A defensive war is jus- ease and painlessness of this military opera- just prior to the ground assault and should tiffed against actual threats, not the tion might render violence a more attractive have been earnestly pursued. possibility of future threats. Any future option for resolving international disputes in Another defining criterion of a just war is threats should be prevented first through the future. The liberation of Kuwait was inthat its motives must be purely defensive. peaceful means such as treaties, international deed a success, but it would have been a Mormon scripture teaches that nations monitoring, or arms embargoes. much greater success if we had accomplished should go to war only "to defend themselves, These and other issues regarding the just- it through peaceful rneans. and their families, and their lands, their ness of war were discussed before and during Finally, we are alarmed by the apparent country, and their rights, and their religion" the war, but have been largely forgotten since lack of concern over the death and destruc- (Alma 43:47). We believe that a nation may it ended. The United States-led operation tion that our operations inflicted on Iraq. be justified in going to war under this was a stunning success, both strategically Iraqi casualties number in the tens of standard to help a fellow nation that has been and militarily. It is only natural to feel a thousands, approaching one hundred attacked and has asked for assistance in de- mixture of joy, relief, and pride. We are con- thousand. Much of their infrastructure was fending itself. Thus, the liberation of Kuwait cerned, however, that this success may have destroyed, and the suffering and disease will from a hostile and brutal invasion may have rendered the moral and ethical questions continue for many years to come. We fear been a just motive for going to war. pertaining to the war irrelevant in the minds that the American media, with the implicit We are concerned, however, by indica- of the victors. It would be all too easy to backing of our leaders, have characterized tions that the United States agenda went be- believe that victory means moral correctness, the Iraqis as irrational fanatics, thus dehumanizing them and allowing us to justify the death and destruction that we poured on them from the sky and the ground. In addition, the media and our leaders have sanitized this war, refusing to show us the casualties or other suffering caused by the war. We feel that any dehumanization of the Iraqi people or sanitization of their suffering is immoral. Christian teachings require us to recognize the Iraqis as our brothers and sisters, to acknowledge the suffe~ng that they have experienced and are experiencing, to mourn with them for their losses, and to provide them with aid so that they can recover as quickly as possible. Jesus Christ taught that it is blessed to be a peacemaker. We take his teachings as our ideal, and have faith that it is possible for nations to meet this ideal, difficult though it may seem. In the future, we urge that the United States patiently pursue constructive policies of diplomacy and reconciliation before resorting to violence, and that it confine its goals to defense of the defenseless. In addition, we urge that the United States apply rigid ethical and moral standards to its o~ actions as well as to those of other nations. On behalf of the Bishopric I’d like to welcome you to the Temple view The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has taken no stand on the Persian Gulf Second Co-dependent Singles Ward. We’ll open our Sacrament Service war. We believe, however, that individual today by singing, from hymn 115: "Come, Ye Dysfunctional." members of the Church have the right and

JUNE 1991 the responsibility to exercise their conscience impossible to fix any true relation between But England’s arguments for peace-seeking in evaluating whether the actions of their things of different kinds." If England is going actions based on these Christian principles country are morally and ethically justified. to argue an ethics for the nation, he must fall short on four points: STIRLING ADAMS ANN BAGLEY HARDY address the categorical difference between 1. Christ’s admonition certainly assumes that MARK H. BREWER STEPHEN HARDY individuals and nations. while we love our enemies we also love and help PANDORA BREWER JOSEPH IZATT The danger of not making the distinction our friends, particularly those in need. M. D. CANNON SUSAN IZATT between Christian and nation has been seen Sometimes (as in this case), choices must ALLISON PINGREE JEFFREY S. TOLK time and time again in history. The "nation," be made regarding who and how we are to GREGORY A. CAMPBELL ASTRID TUMINEZ when associated with statehood, will inevita- help. England asks us to follow the highest MARNI ASPLUND CAMPBELL KAREN EARB TULLIS bly be guilty of corruption, tyranny, and Christian ethic of meeting force with active, Cambridge, MA abuse and it seems even more horrible when even self-sacrificing love (rather than coun- it is done in the name of God. The Middle terforce). The question must be asked, how- A MORALLY East in the twentieth century is a cauldron of ever, whose cheek are we to turn? At the most violence and instability precisely because fundamental level in this conflict, it was not JUSTIFIED WAR? there are already two nations, both with our cheek, but the Kuwaitis’. How conve- strong and legitimate claims to historical and nient to use someone else’s cheek to accept I’M FEELING SO full of pride these days, religious truths, both making claims of moral the next blow as a demonstration of our after the Allied forces’ stunning victory, that superiority, fighting over whose "nation" is righteousness. Are we asked to bless them it has taken until today for me to remember right. The last thing the Middle East needs that curse others while ignoring the plight of President Benson’s stern warnings regarding right now is a Christian "nation," no matter those being abused? Doesn’t Christ’s teaching pride. I suspect that a large share of the credit how well intentioned, prescribing moral of doing good to them that hate you include for the U.S. victory in the Gulf War belongs rights and wrongs. Both the Muslim and the doing good to those who are friends as well? to the Lord. When did any alliance or nation Jews have had more than enough experience 2. England’s article, with its plea for Christ- ever win a war so decisively and quickly, with with crusading Christian nations. like love, carefully avoids consideration of indi- so little loss of life of noncombatants and In fact, I lean to the more extreme vidual Kuwaitis--the victims of 5addam’s allied ("friendly") soldiers, without His aid, if possibility in Christianity--a total rejection outrageous aggression. not His blessing? Perhaps it was partially a of civic identity As Christians, our saving England discusses Iraqis, Jews, Ameri- "morally justified" war, because a virtually message is that God loves and judges all his cans, Bush, Hussein, Christians, Palestinians, defenseless people were saved from a brutal children as individuals, not as nations. Mormons, and even Hitler, but never the aggressor. Also, we haven’t seized "spoils," DIANE TUELLER PRITCHETT Kuwaiti victims. Kuwait is mentioned only as nor indiscriminately destroyed property, nor Vienna, VA a country, not as a people. That makes it taken hostages, etc. easier to be indifferent to their plight. Amer- CARVEL THATCHER A CASE FOR WAR ica has practiced this technique more than Sandy, UT once in the past. SUNSTONE READERS ARE unlikely to It is hard to denounce war under any NO "CHRISTIAN NATION" take issue with the general theme of Eugene conditions unless one’s eyes are closed to England’s article which is, as I read it, an suffering and genocide. Who would advo- IN RESPONSE to Eugene England’s "On admonition to be non-violent, turn the other cate waiting for sanctions to take effect while Trusting God, or Why We Should Not Fight cheek, love our enemies, bless them that a sister, daughter, or friend is being raped? Iraq" (SUNSTONE lar:5), while I agree the war curse us, do good to them that hate us, and Nor is it easy to suggest that the victim await is not going to help solve the many problems let God’s loving miracles assure our success. the Lord’s intervention when nagging in the Middle East and will probably exacer- bate them, I disagree that the problem of war can be solved if only the United States had "the spiritual and moral force of a united Christian nation." Aside from the obvious surprise and alienation the Jewish and Muslim communities in the United States would feel at hearing they are part of a Christian nation, there is a logical problem with the very idea of a "Christian nation" which has deep historical resonance in the Middle East. Even though England cites Spencer Kim- ball as the authority for applying the ethics of Christianity to relations between nations, this is still a categorical mistake. Because something is morally imperative for individual Christians, it does not necessarily follow that it is morally imperative for nations. As Jean-Jacques Rousseau succinctly points out It’s from the Bishop, "In line with the new Church Budget Program of this very problem in relation to war, "it is you owe $416.25 for missing Sacrament all last year... "

JUNE 1991 PAGE 9 thoughts intrude that perhaps He has already tions arg >/ror~g. we could watch and do nothing, or inter- intervened by giving us the power to help. England implied that Iraq has a legitimate vene. England’s solution: watch from the Maybe our blessings came with the full ex- right to Kuwait by claiming that Kuwait was sidelines, pray it ends well, and admonish pectation that we would use this power for only a vague Sheikhdom a hundred years others not to interfere; since, (1) we are not good. And contrary to what England implies, ago. Sheikhdom yes, vague no. Unlike Iraq, perfect, (2) we could get hurt, and besides, we probably don’t even have to perfect Kuwait has a 250 year history of a stable and (3) Kuwait was just getting what she de- ourselves before we can help. largely benevolent government. Since Iraq’s served, that is, she provoked the whole inci- 3. In an unacceptable descent from his initial formation as a country in the 1920s, Kuwait’s dent by her behavior--she wore her skirts arguments based on Christian ethics, England independent existence was repeatedly and too short. adds this clincher: What’s in it for us? officially recognized by world leaders and RICHARD CR1DDLE The moral force of England’s proposed Iraqi government leaders, including Saddam. Provo, UT lack of militant action against Saddam is un- England accuses Kuwait of "thumbing its dermined when he explains just how expen- nose" at poor, war-torn, heavily indebted THE BOOK OF MORMON sive and troublesome a strong response Iraq. The truth is, Iraq sits on large oil would be for us: "If the West uses force in the reserves, and unlike its Arab neighbors Iraq AND WAR Middle-east, a Westerner will not be safe in a has more than one source of wealth: ample Muslim city for 200 years." "Inevitably our water, hydroelectric power and a broad in- I AM NOT sure where Eugene England long-term goals of a stable, friendly, or at dustrial and agricultural base. Iraq just ap- has been but I have heard quite a few prayers least a divided Middle East, free of Soviet pears poor. Unlike Kuwait, its wealth is not of gratitude for the opening of the nations for influence, would be lost." "We can work with distributed equitably. To finance his failing the teaching of the Gospel. England’s basic our Arab allies to arrange a withdrawal of our war efforts against Iran, Saddam demanded premise is that pacifism is the most righteous troops, in stages corresponding to replace- loans and concessions at gunpoint from course in all circumstances. A careful and ment by their own." Better them than us? His Kuwait and other Gulf states. prayerful study of the Book of Mormon has righteous cry for peace just degenerated into Kuwait was rich and Saddam wanted it. led me to conclude that this is not so. a whine for self-serving convenience! The sack of Kuwait was like a girl being An important and even major theme of 4. Most of the article’s historical generaliza- raped. As spectators with the power to help, the Book of Mormon is that the righteous are often compelled by circumstances to take up arms to defend themselves, loved ones, possessions, and freedoms. They were commanded through their prophets to go into battle retaining the companionship of the Spirit of God (equated in Alma 6I:15 with the spirit of freedom). God’s manner of pro- tecting them from tk, eir enemies was to inspire them with courage and ingenuity and to add to their own strength and ability. This pattern was established in the inno- cent days of Nephi, who of necessity used the sword of Laban in battle and also as a model to make additional swords for his people. The stoW of the People of Ammon clearly demonstrates that some evil people can become so hardened that, if not resisted, they would continue the slaughter until they destroyed every righteous person from the earth. God’s method of preserving the People of Ammon was to put them under protection of the prophet-warrior Moroni. Surely these people qualified to be protected by the power of God, and so he did protect them by blessing the Nephites in battle. Could it be said that the Anti-Nephi-Lehi’s were more righteous than the Nephites who gave their lives to protect them? AkLEN HUNT Carnation, WA A RIGHTEOUS ACTIVISM EUGENE ENGLAND deserves credit for trying to slow down the headlong rush to

JUNE 1991 PAGE l0 war with Iraq. Yet I wonder if the "proper was miraculously helping the Fascists. The Christian response" he advocates takes too lament over the missed armistice doesn’t take THE MIRACLE OF narrow a view of both the conflict and Chris- into account the possible reluctance of Hitler PACIFISM tian ethics. to agree to one. England’s first objection is that the threat On every point the Persian Gulf war I HAVE NO doubt that Eugene England’s or use of force to meet another force violates meets the "just" war criteria better than article on peace and pacifism will be dis- the Christian ethic of meeting such force WWII: missed by a great many who read it as naive with active, self-sacrificing love. While such 1. The Allies fought on enemy territory; and starry-eyed idealism from a peacenik a response clearly makes sense when applied whereas, the Kuwaitis fought with coalition who doesn’t realize how our sophisticated to a rebellious teenager or fractious neighbor, help on their own soil. world works in this day of nuclear realpolitik. does it apply literally when one is attacked 2. WWII ended after six years of devasta- England’s thesis, that God provides a way to on the street by a mugger or terrorist? tion with an unconditional surrender, thou- peace for those who seek peace, seems We are taught to love our enemies. We sands of Germans were held prisoner for strange and foreign indeed to a culture stee- also are encouraged to love our friends. years in the Soviet Union, and thousands ped in the "patriotic" idea that there is no Saddam Hussein’s vicious regime has caused died in captivity; whereas, the ground war in substitute for victory. Non-violence in the the deaths of over 200,000 men, women and Kuwait was halted after four days, Iraqi face of madness seems at best irrational. children, including many of his own coun- soldiers were allowed to withdraw even be- And yet testimonies are born every fast trymen. His premeditated genocide of Kurds fore a formal cease-tire took effect, and Sunday about the blessings received in the and Kuwaitis, surprise attacks on peaceful prisoners were repatriated without delay. face of "irrational" but principled sacrifice. neighbors, murder of dissenting aides, 3. WWII introduced the world to massive Our Heavenly Father keeps his promises and support of terrorists and launching of bombing of civilians, wholesale killing of blesses his children who follow his word, missiles into civilian populations might lead prisoners, and brutal treatment of defeated even (especially) when the enemy is Satan some Christians to wonder what atrocity populations; whereas, in the Gulf conflict himself. Do we believe that the rules change would follow if we were to turn yet another coalition forces tried repeatedly to resolve the when the enemy is Saddam Hussein? cheek. Does the inunction against meeting issue without war, heroic measures were We must remember that there is another force with counterforce apply in the case of taken to avoid targeting Iraqi civilians, Iraqi and better way to resolve even our most known pathological killers? Would England prisoners were treated better than they were challenging difticulties--with love, long- stand by and allow a Ted Bundy to torture by their own government, and our soldiers suffering and compassion. In the world as we and kill his child, responding only with love? said they would rather go home than shoot find it, such a way does seem irrational and And if force is justified in self-defense, are we the enemy. logically unworkable. But then, most allowed to use force to defend a neighbor, Why does England insist that God takes miracles do. even an Arab neighbor? True Christian love sides in men’s wars? We would do well to RANDALL K. EDWARD5 would lead us to do everything possible to take Lincoln’s approach, and pray that we are 5parks, NV free our Arab neighbors, including the Iraqis on God’s side. How do we know it was God from Saddam’s control. who raised up "a Soviet leader he could in- SUNSTONE ENCOURAGES CORRE- England’s other point is that the Middle spire with patience and restraint?" Did God SPONDENCE. LETTERS FOR PUBLICA- East conflict violates the following condi- inspire Gorbachev to open fire on the Lithu- TION SHOULD BE ADDRESSED TO tions of a "just war": (1) one fights defen- anian demonstrators? England claims God "READERS’ FORUM." WE EDIT FOR sively, on his own soil; (2) one fights only so inspired U.S. presidents from Eisenhower SPACE, CLARITY, AND TONE. LETTERS long as necessary, never insists on uncondi- through Carter not to respond to force with ADDRESSED TO AUTHORS WILL BE FOR- tional surrender, and sends the enemy home counter-force. What about U.S. intervention WARDED TO THEM. ~’ as soon as fighting stops; and (3) one never in Greece, Korea, Cuba, Viet Nam, and Af- sheds blood in a spirit of revenge. ghanistan? No war is "just," England tells us, but then The world can breathe easier now that he goes on to make the obligatory exception Saddam’s military toys have been taken away. BEREFT of World War II. "Hitler finally had to be Now the West must act quickly to take ad- stopped . . . with force . . . because he be- vantage of its accumulated moral capital to the man who lives behind us came insanely ambitious and impervious to establish a lasting peace which must include whose fence we share all peaceful means." Chamberlain was a hero a solution to the Palestinian problem (some- the one whose wife left for trying to avert war, but when war finally thing Saddam never intended to do). If we suddenly last may came "God helped us miraculously act wisely, we might not once again have to has let his fruit trees go throughout the first years of the war." An wait patiently for forty years for God to tackle wild and unpruned, heavy with armistice in 1943, when the war "was essen- the job and work the same miracles he fat npe plums and golden apricots tially won" would have ended the holocaust, worked in Eastern Europe. He has that hang way over avoided further casualties and prevented the thoughtfully given us the tools to do the job our side of the fence, reaching arms cold war. more quickly ourselves, if we can avoid being full and wild with leaves Actually, most historians have concluded sidetracked by those who would urge us to bent down with so much fruit that Chamberlain’s appeasement helped sit back in righteous pacifism and let God it spills tom, oozing-sweet launch the war. The first years of the war fight our battles for us. onto. our lawn brought one disaster after another to the Al- DOUGkAS R. BOWEN lies-it must have seemed to many that God St. George, UT -MARY BLANCHARD

JUNE 1991 PAU~F 1 1 is not a replay of the crisis we faced five years FROM THE PUBLISHER ago; we now have a larger base of subscribers to fall back on, and th:is individual’s setback is hopefully only temporary. But it’s obvious that we’re still relying too :much on a small group AN OPEN LETTER ABOUT of our largest donors; those who give over $10,000 to the foundation. SUNSTONE’S SUPPORT Sunstone’s best strategy for mitigating this vulnerability is to increase both the donation amounts and the number of contributors in our other giving categories. These giving levels and our 1990 percentages for each are illustrated below.

$10,000 By Daniel H. Rector

WHEN I CAME to Sunstone five years donor search that had been in process for ago, the foundation was still reeling from the several months, Steve’s death left the foun- $18,000 $40,000 repercussions of Steven Christensen’s murder dation facing a lean and unce~’tain future. by Mark Hofmann. For those who knew Fortunately, soon after Elbert and I arrived Steve, his loss was primarily a personal and at Sunstone, a few individuals came forward religious tragedy, but it left many of the peo- to fill the financial lacuna Steve left behind. $12,000 ple and institutions he supported bereft fi- Since then, Sunstone has not only recovered, nancially as well. Sunstone was hard hit in it has also grown and prospered. We now Sunstone’s 1990 both of these regards. have 8,000 subscribers compared to 3,500 in donation income by size of gift Steve was generous to a fault and Sunstone 1986, and we have four annual symposiums was one of his dearest causes. He was a col- today instead of two. We’ve paid all our old Of course, the majority of our contributors umnist for the magazine, but his first love was debts, and the future of the foundation is are in the under $200 category, and most of the Sunstone symposium. More than once he secure. these donations come in response to the two underwrote all its expensesna single dona- Recently, however, one of the donors who fund-raising mailings we initiate each year. tion providing over one-third of Sunstone’s rescued us in 1986 has experienced a finan- Our spring 1991 fund-raising letter coincides yearly fund-raising budget. In the year before cial reversal of his own. Primarily as a result with the publication of this issue; if you he died, Steve’s personal finances dwindled as of losing his support, Sunstone’s 1990 finan- haven’t responded to it I hope you will do so did his gratuities, so the foundation was not cial statement (available for the asking) shows soon. Every such offering means more to us caught entirely unprepared. But in spite of the a $12,000 deficit for the year. Fortunately, this than you may imagine. As the sidebar at the

AS WITH MOST INTELLECTUAL PUBLICATIONS, SUNSTONE SUBSCRIPTIONS ARE HIGHLY SUBSIDIZED

It may come as a surprise to some readers that Sunstone relies have to raise nearly $17,000 in contributions. To put it another on donations at all. However, it’s a hard fact of life for virtually all way, the magazine in you,r hands that cost you as little as $2.67, intellectual publications that sub- actually cost Sunstone $6.42 to scription, advertising, and news- produce, $2.10 of which came stand revenues must be matched, as from donors. The effect of this much as dollar for dollar or more, subsidy on each subscription is with outside subsides. In Sunstone’s illustrated in this graph. case, our total budget in round fig- Raising subscription prices would likely affect subscription ures is $300,000 per year. New sub- revenues inversely because of the scriptions and renewals bring in number of readers who would about $120,000; other sources of revenue including symposiums, ad- find $57 for twelve issues to be vertising, and book and tape sales prohibitive. At least until our cir- culation grows large enough to at- generate another $80,000; the tract national advertisers, we will remaining $100,000 must come continue to seek donations from from donations. This means that for Total cost to produce each twelve-issue SUNSTONE subscription by income source those who value SUNSTONE. every 5UNSTONE issue we publish, we

JUNE 1991 PAGE 12 bottom of page twelve indicates, only those gifts of insurance or appreciated stock, please The Steve Christensens in our community who donate in this way pay their own share let us know. continue to play an invaluable role in making of Sunstone’s expenses. This group also I believe that Sunstone’s principal virtue is this enterprise possible, and so do each of you forms an invaluable safety net of support that it speaks to and for a large cross-section who subscribe and donate to Sunstone at the wRhout which Sunstone would surely falter. of the Mormon community. If this is correct, level of your ability. Thank you all for contrib- The group of donors who give t~etween then it’s important that the foundation be uting what you can. ~ $200 and $999 yearly has the greatest poten- supported by the broad constituency it serves. tial for expansion. As some of you who have given $50 or $100 in the past increase your donations to this level, you will help keep subscription prices within the reach of others PSALM and meet many of our pressing needs. For example, Steve Eccles, who gives liberally of his time as our West Coast symposium chair, IT HURTS TO THINK OF YOU also gave us money recently for a sorely- needed fax machine. It hurts very much to think of you. How could you suffer not only Only a small percentage of our readers can our pains but our sicknesses and infirmities? Did you actually donate in the $1,000 to $10,000 range, but become sick and infirm or merely feel, with your greater imagination, the impact of each of these contributions is something like what we feel when we are sick and infirm? But could great, and gifts of this size fund many of our you actually "know according to the flesh," as you say, if you didn’t most urgent necessities; travel and honoraria literally experience everything with your body? And if you did for non-Mormon guest speakers at our sym- literally experience our infirmities, did you know our greatest one, posiums cost $1,000-$2,000 each, and print- sin? Everyone says you didn’t sin, that you were always perfect. But ing SUNSTONE now costs $7,000 per issue. how then could you learn how to help us? And yet if you did sin, if Nicholas Smith’s recent mutual fund dona- you actually became sick and infirm and unwilling, for a moment, to tion, which printed our previous magazine, is do what you knew was right, how does that help us? I don’t want a good example of what gifts of this size can you to hurt like this, like I do now, to be ashamed, to hate the do. Another recent gift in this category is a detailed, quotidian past. Yet I want you to know the worst of me, the new laser printer from Kathy Call that will cut worst of me possible, and still love me, still accept me-like a lovely, our typesetting costs considerably. terrible drill, tearing me all the way down inside the root, until all the These are most welcome offerings, and we decay and then all the pulp and nerve and all the pain are gone. need many more. Undaunted by the mag- Can’t you tell us directly, without all the mystery and contradic- nitude of our fund-raising task, we now have tion, if what I feel is right? Could it be that your very willingness to an enthusiastic all-volunteer, Salt Lake-based know the actual pain and confusion and despair of sin, to join with development board working hard to support us fully, is what saves us? It’s true, I feel your condescension in that; Sunstone’s efforts. Marsha Stewart, the devel- I feel you coming down from your formidable, separate height as my opment board president, spends part of three Judge and Conscience. I feel you next to me as my friend. Did it days a week at Sunstone’s office coordinating happen in Gethsemane, when you turned away from your father and the board’s activities and setting up appoint- your mission for just a moment? I think so. So how can I refuse to ments with prospective donors. If you or accept myself, refuse to be whole again, if you, though my Judge whom someone you know can help Sunstone as a I hide from, know exactly what I feel and still accept me? Yet it hurts development board member or as a major so much to hear you tell of your pain to Joseph Smith, when you contributor, please call or write to Marsha or remember that moment in the Garden. You say, "Which suffering me at our office. Of course, calls from donors caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of of all sizes are welcome any time on our pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and toll-free line (800) 326-5926 or use the spirit-and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink- response card we’ve included in front of this Nevertheless glory be to the Father, and I partook and finished my issue if you prefer. preparations unto the children of men." Those who are able to make large gifts Was that preparation so painful, even when you recalled it as the should also know that Sunstone has retained resurrected Lord-and so many hundred years later-that you still Aldon Tueller, a nationally-recognized, shrank and could not complete your sentence? Is that pause between planned-giving consultant to provide legal "shrink" and "nevertheless" the actual moment of your Atonement? counsel to anyone with questions about cre- And why did you also tell Joseph that you will be red in your ating a trust or making a bequest to Sunstone. apparel when you come, in garments like the one that treadeth in the We’ve identified several areas of need where winevat? Why will you have to say then, "I have trodden the permanent endowments could be established,, winepress alone, and have brought judgment upon all people; and including a magazine printing filnd and en- none were with me." dowed symposium chairs in each academic Who is it can withstand your love? discipline. If you have any questions about -EUGENE ENGLAND the options and tax benefits in this sophisticated area of philanthropy, or about From "Easter Weekend," Dialogue 21 (Spring 1988):22-23.

JUNE 1991 PAGE 13 According to Boomershine, these upheavals TURNING THE TIME OVER TO ... came when the dominant media of communication were changing. ~ This thesis, first articulated by Marshall McLuhan,2 has largely Sheldon Greaves been discredited by later research) Boomershine’s second point, however, was that when a culture adopts a new medium of communication, it adopts certain aspects of JOSEPH’S AMAZING TECHNICOLOR the culture in which the medium was developed. While I have trouble believing that this DREAM-CHURCH INTERPRETING "cultural capitulation" was as pronounced in earlier media paradigm shifts as Boomershine SCRIPTURE IN THE VIDEO AGE claims, I agree that it has happened with the mass media techniques we are inundated with today. We are all aware, for example, of the increasing presence of the advertising and marketing mentality in. the Church as it has made widespread use of television, raOio, and other mass-communication technologies. In the recent LDS video presentation "Our Heav- enly Father’s Plan," for example, we see our protagonist as a young, white, middle-to upper-middle class male searching for lite’s meaning. This is a marketable image. The image most loved and emphasized by the Church is the white, middle-class American family with more than the average number of bright, beautiful children and an obedient wife under the wise leadership of the husband and father. Because this kind of family group represents a small percentage of the Church membership, it is not a realistic image of Mormonism, nor that of an international church. To get a better idea of the thinking involved in these projects, I interviewed a representative of Living Scriptures, which is a different company than. the one which produ- ces the videos for the Church. I was told that the primary purpose of their products was When scriptural video producers refuse to take interpretative entertainment, and that as a study help they were secondary; no video could substitute for liberties the tyranny of event over meaning is maintained. a daily reading program, the representative explained. They hoped that these tapes might IF OTHER SCHOLARS are anything like the same time I was uneasy for reasons that inspire some interest in the scriptures and me, they do much of their work based, at first seemed obvious at the time: these presen- encourage people to read them more. In anyway, on intuition and gut feelings. This tations did not cover the whole book of scrip- many ways I applaud this. These kind of tapes paper started from a nudge of intuition. ture, and no attempts were made to cover the are one way of showing what the Biblical It began when I got my first look at the more abstract, theological sections. I also felt world was probably like (assumin~ the pro- New Testament video which is being used by that this film stretched the imagination no ducers have done their homework~ without the Church in the Sunday School materials on further than about nineteen inches. On the all that tedious floundering about in books the Gospel of Luke. This video is produced by other hand, when I saw The Last Temptation o.f whose informative value is exceeded only by a non-denominational group called The Gen- Christ, I was treated to a film that was pro- their effectiveness as a cure for insomnia. Peo- esis Project. I was impressed with the atten- vocative, disturbing, frustrating, inspiring. ple may become interested in biblical scholar- tion to detail and the obvious effort that went Simply put, it had me going for days, and I ship; then again, maybe they won’t. Is this a into re-creating the early biblical milieu. At was enriched seeing it. new way to get people interested in the scrip- Some months later I encountered a rather tures, by way of light entertainment? Or are interesting article by John Boomershine. This these people greasing the Iron Rod? Easing SHELDON GREAVE5 is a doctoral student article made two points. The first was that the the process of study often translates into over- in Near Eastern Studies at the University of medium-is-the-message idea also contributed looking things that are uncomfortable or con- California at Berkeley. to the great theological upheavals of history. tradictory. Eventually, one or more of these

JUNE 1991 PAGE 14 gremlins will turn and bite. If the victim relies context. Suddenly the requiem resounds in ing Translation, and that the text is internally on having easy answers, they can bite hard. the living room or automobile, and the big- consistent throughout. By clinging to this The Iron Rod leads both to and from the Tree screen panavision extravaganza gets translation alone, one stands to lose the fruits of Life; Nephi never said anything about a scrunched onto a television screen. Similarly, of nearly 400 years of biblical scholarship. I revolving one-way gate. I believe scripture itself can be regarded as a know there are some who would say "good It is still too early to tell whether people legitimate art form. Without going into specif- riddance 2 These same people might ask what will take to these videos and use them in lieu ics as to why I feel that way, the natural good all that scholarship has done, other than of reading and studying, despite the manu- question is: "What is that art form’s use, con- to confuse issues that are perfectly clear to the facturer’s intentions. I believe it is still too text, and purpose?" What happens, for exam- careful reader of the KJV. In fact, the contribu- early to tell. Nevertheless, the potential de- ple, when scripture is used as entertainment? tions have been enormous. Today, the loca- mand for these tapes appears great enough One could begin to answer by looking at tions of many biblical cities are known, along that Living Scriptures took out a sixteen page how we view scripture in the Church at large. with detailed information on how their in- ad in a recent BYU Today. The rules of adaptation employed by the Liv- habitants lived. Extra-biblical literature like ing Scriptures are especially instructive here. the Annals of Sennacherib have been brought GETTING back to the problem of cul- Their intention was to make their programs to light, which discuss some of the events also ture-mixing, these video scriptures actually "scriptural," which meant absolute fidelity to recorded in the Bible. I might add that even if represent the assimilation of two cultural the King James Version. No artistic liberty was the King James scholars had known of these phenomena: television and the King James allowed if it in any way conflicted with the important histories, they would not have Version of the Bible. These seem to mix well text of the KJV. The text was rendered in a very been able to read them. Languages like enough on the surface; dramatic use of the literalistic way as a record of events which Akkadian, Egyptian, Eblaite, Moabite, Hittite cinematographer’s art merges well with the were faithfully reproduced on video tape as and Ugartic have been discovered and stately text and Shakespearean style of the accurately as possible. This was monitored by deciphered only over the last two centuries, i

JUNE 199i PAGE 15 to interact with text without any interpreta- there will be those who will inevitably take the screen. Unlike a book, however, these tion whatsoever. Trying to reduce artistic in- offense when the symbols do not seem pro- materials will include photos, music, anima- terpretation will inevitably sacrifice meaning perly literal or historical. tion, and video, as well as text. Study groups for the event’s reality And a search for abso- Likewise, literalist and historical views of of the future might make such projects part of lute correctness can be hazardous, especially scriptural interpretation will always produce their research programs. This kind of techno- if the ~ear of being incorrect is too strong. a badly warped reproduction of scriptural logy presents its own advantages and pro- Unbridled fear of error inevitably leads to a theology, history, and sense of significance. blems. sterile skepticism. Trying to interpret through a filter created from a rehabilitated symbolic construct will I FEAR that a great opportunity is being ON the positive side of image and also be distorted, but less severely. wasted. Replacing the old seminary "Scrip- scripture, the possibilities of actively inter- The bold and daring use of allegory, sym- ture Stories" filmstrips with videos takes very preting scripture through video are enor- bolism, music, screenplay, and so forth could little imagination. I suspect that a corre- mous. This should be obvious to anyone produce stimulating, exciting and disturbing sponding low level of mental activity will who is at all familiar with the legacy of reli- interpretations of our sacred writ. Unfortu- result. Everybody already knows the script, gious art in both Eastern and Western civili- nately, I doubt this will happen for two so what’s there to get all excited about? On zation. Perhaps the most potent of these reasons. First of all, there are several indepen- the other hand, taking some artistic license images are the symbols which are woven into dent companies who are starting to market and using video as a vehicle for interpreta- the artist’s work. Although they certainly do produc.tions of this type, both live and ani- tion offers many exciting possibilities. It’s not not represent a historical reality, they tell us mated. As is the American Way, they are com- just novelty that we are after, it is our own much about how the artist resonated to the peting with each other. According to the attempt to reach back, as generations past events being described. Gospel of Competition, that is how superior, have done, and breathe new life into works The furor over the movie The Last Tempta- innovative products are produced. In actual grown weak from superficial familiarity. As tion of Christ was partially caused by Martin fact, competing products usually look more art historian Jo Milgrom once noted: "Our Scorsese’s daring use of symbols and events in and more alike over a period of time as com- challenge is to sustain intimacy in an old the composition of the film which were petitors attempt to outdo each other by im- relationship .... like any longstanding mentioned nowhere in scripture. (The film, itating each other to gain the broadest appeal. relationship, it can grow stale. Only new by its own admission, is ’intended neither to I fear the process will be accelerated by the metaphors can revive it.’’8 ~ be a file of Christ n:or "based on the Gospels’,’ fact that these companies are all trying to NOTES but is an allegory on the struggle between the appeal to the same set standards of the same physical and the spiritual.) Because this film Utah LDS church. And because the larger 1. Thomas E. Boomershine, "Biblical Megatrends: Toward a Paradigm for the Interpretation of the Bible in was attacked and unwittingly promoted by your target audience, the less controversial Electronic Media," SBL 1987 Seminar Papers, Kent Harold Christian fundamentalist groups, it inspired a you are, the usual fruits of mass marketing, Richards, ed. (Atlanta: Scholars Press), 144-157. number of discussion groups, lectures, and sameness and mediocrity will prevail. Even 2. Herbert Marshall McLuhan, "The Medium is the general dialogue among those who saw it. The worse, marketing competition might Message" (New York: Random House, 1967), 8. strengthen the notion that marketability 3. John Peters, personal communication, 27 August Last Temptation, for better or worse, was a very 1988. provocative and interesting film. equals exegetical validity. This could initiate even more creeping changes in the theological 4. This can be a problem. An acquaintance of mine THERE are more than fundamentalist bought for his son a children’s Bible book which tells the fabric of the Church. stoW of Jesus and his disciples rubbing the ears of corn on sensibilities working against the use of overt The second and more pressing problem is the Sabbath. The artist, however, shows the scene taking place in a fields of maize--"corn"--lS00 years before symbolism. Along the paths of realism and our own reluctance to interpret scripture for Cortez made the Eastern Hemisphere aware of its existence. the scientific method, humans today have ourselves. Both individually and collectively, 5. Walter Benjamin, "The Work of Art in the Age of lost their common religious, mythic, and we have abdicated the rights of interpretive Mechanical Reproductions," lluminations (New York: mystic lingua franca translation. I refer to revelation to those who lead us. I do not Harcort, Brace ~ World, 1968). believe that Peter’s warning that no "scripture 6. Such as "What are these wounds in your hands?" that collection of common archetypes and (Zechariah 13:6), and "behold a virgin shall conceive . . . " symbols that seem to be all-pervasive is of any private interpretation" (2 Peter 1:20) (Isaiah 7:14). throughout archaic societies, and were found should keep us from reading and interpreting 7. Krentz, Historical Criticism (Philadelphia: Fortress, to be incredibly consistent both in form and the scriptures for ourselves. Ultimately, any 1975), 65. meaning. Much of the work of comparative spiritual exercise is a matter of private inter- 8. Jo Milgrom, as cited in "The Last Temptation of pretation. The important factor is the spirit in Christ. A Discussion Guide by Cultural Information religionists like George Frazer, Theodore Service," Cultural Information Service, 1988, 8. Gaster, Mircea Eliade, and Joseph Campbell which that interpretation is done. In ~act, this has been to reconstruct and, in Campbell’s last point applies as much to Sunday School CALL FOR PICTURES case, reintroduce what was once a universal lessons and sacrament meeting talks as it does symbolic vocabulary of the sacred. These to paintings, videos, or stained-glass win- OF LDS STEEPLES symbolic themes include the primordial hill, dows. for an architectural paper I am the idea of sacred space, the temple as a As the computer age becomes more and writing. Include location of chapel model or microcosm of the universe, the more a part of our daily living, it will become and your name and address. Waters of Life, the Tree of Life, the axis mundi, possible to treat the text in ways which we Photos will be returned. and so on. If these terms seem strange and have never even considered before. The Send to Marti Bradley, c/o Sunstone unfamiliar, that is precisely the point. With- emerging technologies of HyperText and 331 South Rio Grande, Suite 30 out such a common basis, attempts at sym- HyperMedia will allow text to be immediately Salt Lake City, Utah 84101-1136 bolic interpretation will be hit or miss, and linked to cross-referenced materials right on

JUNE 1991 PAGE 16 S U N S T 0 N E

As LDS women increasingly explore the feminist aspects of Mormon theology in the 1990s, it is helpful to understand the historical and contemporary movements in feminist theology in society as a whole. TRENDS IN FEMINIST THEOLOGY

By 5hdla Greeve Davaney

WOMEN HAVE as feminist theology. always been present in This paper introduces religious movements, this theological per- and they have invari- spective and an attempt ably been active par- to locate it historically, ticipants in the life of and explains some- religious communities, thing of the current di- shaping the character rections that are un- and direction of reli- folding within it. gious traditions. As Let me, at the outset, worshippers, preachers, state that there is no teachers, and transmit- unified, singular femi- ters of belief and ritual, nist view of religion, women have played vi- nor is there a clear con- tal roles in the religions sensus about particular of the world. But, until religious doctrines. recently, history has While feminist theo- given little recognition logy had its origins in to those roles and has PAUL AND BARNABAS AT ANTIOCH the women’s movement recorded little of wo- Theological positions of the human and the and has, therefore, men’s religious lives divine are deeply grounded in experience and the often reflected the and activities. More- experience that has been the source for white, middle-class, over, while women and Christian make-up have been central par- theological reflection has been male. of much of that move- ticipants within tell- ment; its proponents gious tradit.ions, their reflections about the nature of thosehave always included a diverse set of women representing traditions have been almost totally absent from the com-broad and even conflictual perspectives. Thus, from its begin- munities’ self-interpretation, and their experiences have rarelynings, and in ever-greater ways now, feminist theology has been considered worthy of religious analysis or understanding.been characterized by variety, creativity, and experimentation. Thus, both historically and theologically, women have beenI will outline some of the diverse options that are presently essentially invisible. being articulated. In recent decades, in North America and Europe and now, If uniformity and homogeneity are not characteristics of increasingly, in the rest of the world, much of this is changing.feminist theology, there exist nonetheless, real commonalities Women are rejecting their invisible status and are claimingthat shape the feminist theological discussion. One way of more public roles within religious communities and are insist-highlighting these commonalities is to trace the rise of feminist ing upon their right to share in the theological interpretationstheological reflection. of their traditions. This last development can be seen most clearly in the emergence of the theological perspective known THE ROOTS OF FEMINIST THEOLOGY 5HEILA GREEVE DAVANEY is a professor of Christian theology at FEMINIST theology is rooted in what is known as the Iliff School of Theology in Denver This paper was originally second wave of feminism that arose in the 1950s and 1960s. presented at Sunstone Symposium XII in Salt Lahe City on 23 However, it has had deep resonance with the first women’s August 1990. movement of the nineteenth century. In 1895 and 1896, Eli>

JUNE 1991 PAGE 17 S U N 5 T 0 N E abeth Cady Stanton and other feminists published Theincreasing numbers of women began to go to seminaries and Woman’s Bible. This work presented the various biblical verses schools of theology, and to enter graduate programs in religion, that referred to women and complemented these verses with only to be met by an almost total absence of women faculty feminist commentary. For a variety of reasons, this work wasand continued resistance from the churches. Slowly, but with not well received, but it served the purpose of raising import-rising intensity, voices of protest began to be heard. Articles ant issues with which women today still struggle. One of thoseand books began to appear whose explicit focus was women. issues is the recognition that religion has played a role in theTwo early feminist theologians who are still prominent today oppression of women and that liberation from this oppressionwere Rosemary Radford Ruether and Mary Daly.2 Ruether, must entail the radical transformation of religion as well asespecially, linked her feminist concerns with the commitments other social and political realities. of two other developing theologies--black theology and Latin A second issue that The Woman’s Bible raised that remains a American liberation thought--which were also challenging central topic on the current agenda of feminist theology wasthe hegemony of traditional white male theological reflection. the importance of history, and in particular, the role the BibleAll three movements, perhaps inevitabl); were labeled non- and biblical religion played in shaping female identity. Both oftheology and mere fads by the powerful white men who these areas of concern--the relation of religion to oppressioncontrolled the discipline of theology. in general and the particular role of the Bible in determining Feminist theology, at this formative stage, began with seve- women’s lives--continue to animate much discussion amongral central convictions and commitments. First, it argued that feminists. all theology is perspectival; that is, it grows out of and reflects While the authors of The Woman’s Bible raised critical particular social locations. As such, it is not, as it is often questions concerning religion, many other early feministsclaimed to be, universal and neutral, but, in fact, is and always positively linked their endeavors on behalf of women andhas been partial, relative, and ladened with the values of its other oppressed groups, especially blacks, to a religious vision. proponents. Feminist theologians did not deny this local char- This anchoring of feminist commitments in the inherited tra-acter of theology for themselves but publicly declared that they ditions of Christianity and Judaism continues to ground thewere working out of a commitment to women and to the thought and action of many feminists today as they seek waysstruggle to transform women’s lives. With this conviction of not only to engage their traditions critically, but also to garnerthe perspectival, value-ladened character of all theology and from them resources to transform the condition and experi-out of this commitment to women, feminist theologians began ence of women. to rethink the basic ideas of God, Christ, human existence, and Both the critical challenge to religion and the positive ap-nature. propriation of its resources continued to inform the feminist While it is impossible to detail all the: work that went on movement as it moved into the twentieth century. It was,during this first, mostly critical stage of feminist theology, I will however, only with the 1960 publication of an article byhighlight several of the central arguments. Much energy was Valerie Salving entitled "The Human Situation: A Femininedevoted to the analysis of the Western idea of God. Here Mary View" that women’s experience emerged as an explicit issue forDaly is the most important feminist thinker.~ With compelling theological reflection.~ Salving suggested that much theologyinsight, she unmasked the male character of the Jewish and was primarily grounded in the analysis of male experience andChristian God. Moreover, she argued this was not just a ques- that it neglected the female experience. She expounded thistion of male language. Rather, Daly insisted that the Western claim by an exploration of the then-current doctrines of sin andconception of God is not accidentally expressed in male lan- salvation, arguing that the widespread interpretations of sin asguage but is, instead, inherently and irrew)cably male--that is, pride and the proposed redress of this hubris in terms of the attributes of omnipresence, omniscience, and, especially, self-sacrifice and self-giving actually reflected the condition ofomnipotence are male values that emerge out of and contrib- men and did not adequately describe or respond to the situa- ute to the maintenance of patriarchy. Put succinctly, as Daly tion of women. Saiving’s analysis pointed in the direction ofstated in Beyond God the Father: "If God is, male, then the male what has become an enduring theme in feminist theology: theis God." ~ insight that theological positions, including both interpreta- There were other related theological doctrines that came tions of the human and the divine, are deeply grounded inunder critical scrutiny during the 1970s and early 1980s. The experience and, historically, the experience that has been theancient christological formulations were examined with spe- source for theological reflection has been male, excluding orcial reference to Jesus’ maleness and to his advocacy and negatively evaluating women’s experience. It has been pre-embodiment of an ethic of self-sacrificial love and the cisely this absence of women’s experience as the data forrepercussions of these for women.5 The traditional and still theological reflection that feminist theology has sought to alter.prevalent understanding of human nature along a dualistic Feminist theology did not emerge full-blown in response tomodel in which males and females were: essentially different Saiving’s article. Instead, there was relative quiet on the the-and males were considered superior and females inferior, was ological scene for the next decade. However, other changes also consistently challenged. And, finally, the traditional inter- were taking place that would lead ineluctably to the emergencepretations of nature and the body as lacking in inherent value, of an explicit feminist voice in theology. During this period,and as the possession of an essentially spiritual humanity to

PAGE 18 JUNE 1991 S U N S T O N E

use for its own purpose, were disputed and criticized. In each majority of women continue to abide in these religious com- instance, feminist theologians insisted that there was an inti-munities because leaving would entail abandoning most mate connection between religious beliefs and theological in-women. They also insist that Christianity and Judaism, despite terpretations and the oppres- being implicated in the long sion of women, and that the history of the oppression of liberation of women entailed women, still contain rich unmasking the unholy alli- resources for women in their ance between this oppression struggle for liberation. More- and religious traditions and over, they argue that much the theologies that supported talk about the Goddess is his- them. torically inaccurate and represents a kind of naive ro- CURRENT DIRECTIONS manticism. And, finally, they IN FEMINIST THEOLOGY suggest that Goddess religion MUCH work was ex- essentially leaves out men and thus cannot function as pended on this critical analy- an adequate emanci~atory vi- sis, this theology of protest. sion for all humans. But increasingly constructive For their parts, the pro- alternatives also began to ponents of Goddess language emerge and be developed. As for the divine and of a God- alternatives have taken dess-centered spirituality ar- shape, along with these cre- gue that without a fundamen- ative options, new tensions tal rejection of the traditional and conflicts have also sur- Western god, and the pre- faced. At this juncture, I will dominantly male-centered set forth several debates that religious traditions that have are presently taking place oppressed women, women within feminist theological will never be able to value circles. By examining them, themselves fully and posi- we can discern the current tively and will never be able directions of feminist theo- to claim their female power logy and can see what is at and potential. Carol Christ stake in the options that are has been, perhaps, the most now on the scene. THE BATTLE OF THE ANGELS articulate proponent of this Mary Daly insisted that the Western position,s She has eloquently Staying with the Christian argued that the symbol of the Tradition conception of God is not accidentally expressed in male language but is Goddess acknowledges fe- ONE ongoing debate male power and will as legiti- inherently and irrevocably male--that mate, and affirms the female revolves around the issue the attributes of omnipresence, mentioned earlier of how to body and life cycle that have relate to our past. On the omniscience, and, especially, omnipotence been so thoroughly deni- most fundamental level this are male values that emerge out of grated in male-centered religious traditions. In contrast dilemma has been focused on and contribute to the the question of whether to to those who say leaving their stay or leave the inherited tra- maintenance of patriarchy. inherited traditions signals an abandonment of oneg sisters, ditions of Judaism and Christianity. Not only has this questionChrist insists that the Goddess symbol embodies the value of represented deep and painful personal choices for feminists,women’s bonds with one another. And, finally, for Christ and but it has also issued forth in a sometimes bitter and divisiveother proponents of Goddess language and spirituality, the public struggle with various women calling themselves, or ’’6 Goddess is an important symbol for earth, for concrete, em- being labeled by others, as "reformers" or "revolutionaries. Inbodied life. Over against traditions that stressed the divine’s recent years, the debate has centered on the viability forutter transcendence of nature and the material realm, the women of God-talk versus the developing notions of the Goddess proponents repeatedly emphasize the connection be- Goddess. The former group, those who remain, if uneasily,tween the divine and the finite, the ever-changing world of within the Christian and Jewish traditions, argue that thenature, and they suggest that only such a vision will bring us

JUNE 1991 PAGE 19 S Ll N S T 0 N E back from the threats of alienation from our bodies, of ecolog-ary along with their white counterparts, and they began to ical disaster, and of nuclear destruction. articulate a theological vision out of their already powerful This ongoing debate has indeed been full of tension, but itlocation in the black church. It soon became clear that the has also contributed to the development of constructive alter- vaulted "women’s experience" to which so much feminist natives for women. Increasingly, women who intellectuallytheology appealed really referred to white, middle class and existentially can no longer remain within Christianity orwomen’s experience. In the women’s movement in general, Judaism are finding a vibrant and growing Goddess-spiritual-and with special force in theology, black: women, including ity whose proponents are developing an ever more theologians such as Jacquelyn Grant, have asserted that, while sophisticated theology. Those who continue to find intellectualmuch is shared in common between white women and women and religious sustenance within Christianity and Judaism are,of color, much divides these groups. It is not at all clear that with ever greater force, articulating new interpretations of thethe divisions are not greater than the commonalities. divine that eschew the traditional doctrines, especially con-Moreover, any real solidarity, black women argue, necessarily cerning God’s proported omnipotence, and that support fe- presupposes white women’s willingness and capacity to ac- male experience and the struggle for transformation. kno~vledge their racism and to repent of it. 10 Black women’s voices are increasingly influencing theology, How to Approach the Bible especially as they develop what is termed womanist theology. While committed to the liberation of women, womanist theo- WHILE the discussions have raged about staying or logy testifies to the distinctive experience: of women of color leaving, there have also been differences among those womenand asserts that out of that unique history, shaped not only by who have remained within Christianity and Judaism aboutsexism but also by racism and classism, come resources and how to relate to their pasts, especially that part of history, theinsights that are different than those of white feminists and Bible, that remains so powerful today. Early on, there was whatthat, in alliance with those of men of color, challenge many of I term the search for the pristine Bible. Many feminists insistedthe values, privileges, and goals of middle class feminism.~1 that either the Bible really was not patriarchal and, as such, not It has not only been black North American women who detrimental to women, but had only been misinterpreted andhave challenged white feminists. Third Vvbrld women, as they wrongly appropriated by males. Others took what might be have explicitly entered into the formal theological discussion, called a "canon-within-the-canon" approach, that is, they ac- have also raised profoundly troubling questions both to their knowledged the male character of much of the Bible butmale compatriots and to First World women, especially those insisted that the true core, the essential biblical message, waswho are white. Importantly, they have stressed cultural and and is liberating to women. More recently, a different approach class concerns and have detailed a different religious and social has emerged. While there are still proponents of the first twohistory than is articulated by their white North American ways of conceiving of the Bible, increasingly I think feministcolleagues. In particular, they have sought to analyze the theologians are clearly stating that the biblical material isinterconnection of their oppression as wo:men and the life-de- predominantly the product of male experience and perspec- feating poverty in which so many exist and have emphatically tive, that it is often anti-female, and that it has a long historystated that their struggle on women’s behalf is a struggle, in of having been utilized to oppress women.9 As such, it mustsolidarity with their brothers, against unjust political and economic systems that perpetuate poverty and deny so many be thoroughly criticized. But, it also contains intimations of ~2 other more inclusive and just visions, and where that is true,access to life’s necessities. such visions should be seen as resources for the creation of a new human society. Thus, for many Jewish and Christian Religious Pluralism women, the Bible has been demythologized and is no longer seen as the repository of unquestioned divine revelation, but a VARIATION of this challenge by Third World women is being heard from non-Euro-American women living or as the deposit of human interpretations of God and of human 13 life, and that, as such, it is an important human resource butstudying in the United States. The theological reflection no longer the final religious norm. being done by these women is also giving new direction to feminist thought. Pluralism has been sounded as one of these Third World Women and Women of Color themes. Many of these feminists grew up in cultures that offer much greater religious variety than the United States. This is IF the question of how to relate to inherited traditions,especially true for Asian women who have heritages shaped by their central symbols, and their time-honored resources, hasnot only Christianity, but Buddhism, Confucianism, Islam, captivated much of the consideration of feminist theologians,and folk religion. By attending to this pluralism, these women other issues are now vying for attention with these perennialare proposing that feminists must not conclude that they have concerns. A central issue is that of the relation of white womento choose to live in only one tradition and reject all others, but to women of color and, alternatively, First World women tothey must learn to incorporate the valuable beliefs and rituals Third World women. This issue first emerged for feministof many traditions in a vision adequate for today. These femi- theology as growing numbers of black women entered semin-nist theologians, such as Chinese theologian Kwok Pui-lan and

JUNE 1991 PAGE 20 S U N S T O N E

Korean theologian Chung Hyun Kyung, are not calling for afeminists and their Third World sisters has resulted in a strong simplistic syncretism but for the profound recognition thatsense of the ambiguities of history and a determined commit- there are other histories than Western Christianity that offerment to give priority to those voices from history, especially of ways of apprehending reality and leading meaningful lives. women, that have been ignored heretofore. While history is While these women propose that we acknowledge the value relativized, it is also broadened, offering new sources, often of other traditions, they also untraditional sources, such suggest that we do not ap- as songs, folk tales, poems, propriate them or our own myths, and prayers, for the traditions uncritically, but creation of religious visions. apply norms that test the Though there are new gifts value and utility of religious to be discovered there, most beliefs in terms of how they especially the stories of affect women and provide women who over the centu- for the creation and ries persevered in the face of nourishment of humane dehumanizing conditions, life. Chung Hyun Kyung there is also the clear calls for a "survival-libera- recognition that history is a tion-centered syncretism" tale full of losses, of beliefs and states that finally "life- and practices that did not giving power is the final cri- ~ give life but destroyed it, terion by which the validity -- ~ : - and that often women have of any religion isjudged.’’~4’ i themselves been implicated Thus, while deeply rooted in the suffering and oppres- in particular religious tradi- sion of their sisters. tions, many women who come from cultural contexts Exile and Community characterized by religious diversity are more inter- A FINAL theme that ested in how to learn from recurs in the writings of all the various traditions Third World women, espe- than in maintaining the superiority of their own tra- cially those residing in the dition. United States, is that of This norm of the "contri- exile. These women are bution to the struggle for separated from their land, life" resonates strongly with cultural context, family, the claims of many North and, often, their primary religious communities. American feminist the- NAOMI AND HER DAUGHTERS-IN-LAW ologians, such as Elisabeth Being in exile highlights for SchOssler Fiorenza, who are Feminist theology must give priority to them the importance of insisting that while the past, the poorest and most oppressed among us. community, and separation especially the Bible, may be Without such commitment, it becomes from their natural networks of support and accountabil- a resource for present the- a vehicle for the advancement of the few at ological reflection, the criti- ity points to the necessity of cal norms of assessing the- the expense of the majority of women. a global community of women who struggle, not ological claims finally reside in the present and, in particular,only for advancement in their own narrow contexts, but who emerge from communities of struggle. Rather than existingseek to improve the lives of women everywhere. By so doing, unchanging in the past, our criteria of theological judgmentThird World women have reminded feminist theologians in should lie, as Pui-lan states, "in the praxes of the religiousthe context of relative privilege in the United States that more communities struggling for the liberation of humankind. Allis at stake than ordinations or faculty appointments or middle- theologies must be judged as to how far they contribute to the ’’~class upward mobility; in much of the world the struggle on liberation and humanization of the human community. behalf of women is a life and death struggle against poverty, Thus, whether it is our own religious traditions or those ofpolitical repression, and age-old beliefs in women’s inferiority. others that we are evaluating, the central measure is how theyThey challenge First World women to examine not only our can contribute to a more adequate vision of life today. own oppression but also our implication in the pain and The articulation of this approach by both North American suffering of women a world away.

JUNE 1991 PAGE 21 THE FEMINIST THEOLOGICAL AGENDA FOR THE 19905 and to a reconceived relation between humankind and the I HAVE given an overview of some current trends inearth, but also to the sustained effort to rethink theological ideas and to reconstruct central religious doctrines, such as feminist theology. I have emphasized that there is a fair amountGod and Christ in a manner more adequate for today. This of diversity among feminist thinkers and that more rather thanmust take place, not only on the level of complex theological fewer options are coming on the scene. Despite this realsystems, but also on the level of concrete metaphor and image. diversity, an outline of feminist theology can be discerned. ByAs theologian Sallie McFague has pointed out, we have made way of closing, I will summarize what I take to be the feministprogress in rethinking our abstract systems but, for the most theological agenda for the 1990s. part, continue to live out of outmoded, indeed dangerous, First, I believe the call is for the creation of a constructivemetaphors and images such as God envisioned as an omnipot- and substantive theology. While the critical theology of protestent male. ~6 played a central role in the development of feminist theology, Combined, these trends suggest a feminist theology that and while ongoing, critical scrutiny of historical theologicalwill be pluralistic, ecologically and bodily centered, focused claims and contemporary male offerings is certainly required,toward the margins of society, and self-consciously construc- the main task for feminist theologians must be the articulationtive. It will claim its local and relative character and will, with of new visions that will contribute to the creation of morehope and not a little fear, be about the creation of new world humane life for all persons and especially the most oppressedvisions. I hope you will join us in this venture. ~ among us. Second, this means that the loyalty of feminists must not be NOTES to the past but to the present and future generations. The past 1. Valerie Salving, "The Human Situation: A Feminine View," Womanspirit Rising, Carol P. Christ and is ambiguous, offering gifts for the struggle and a legacy of lossJudith Plaskow, eds.. (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 19791. 2. See MaU Daiy, The Church and Second Sex (New York: Harper & Row, 1968), Beyond God the and suffering. It should be viewed as such, instead of as aFather: Toward a Philosophy oj Women’s Liberation (Boston: Beacon Press, 1973), Rosemary Radford Ruether, divinely sanctioned repository of unchanging truth. Liberation Theology: Human Hope Confronts Christian History and American Power (New York: Paulist Press, 1972), and New WomanINew Earth: 5exist Ideologies and Human Liberation (New York: Seabury Press, 1975). Third, as feminists carry out their constructive agenda, a 3. See Mary Daly, Be_yond God the Father: Toward a Philosophy oJ Women’s Liberation (Boston: Beacon commitment to the poorest and most oppressed must be Press, 1973). 4. Daly, Beyond God the Father, 19. central. Without such commitment, feminist theology be- 5.Daly, Beyond God the Father, chapter 3. comes a vehicle for the advancement of the few, at the expense 6. Carol P. Christ and Judith Plaskow, "Introduction: Womanspirit Rising," in Womanspirit Rising, Carol P. Christ and Judith Plaskow, eds; (San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1979). of the majority of women. 7. Rosemary Radford Reuther, "Goddess and Witches Liberation and Countercultural Feminism," Fourth, this entails a global perspective for the doing ofChristian Century (10-17 September 1980): 842-47. 8. See Carol P. Christ, "Why Women Need the Goddess," in Womanspirit Rising and The Laughter of feminist theology. While all theology is local, reflecting theAphrodite: Reflections on a Journey to the Goddess (San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1987). experience of those who carry it out, feminist theology today 9. See Elisabeth SchOssler Fiorenza, In Memog oJ Her: A Feminist Theological Reconstruction o.1 Christian O~igins (New York: Crossroad, 1983) and Bread Not Stone: The Challenge oj Ferainist Biblical Interpretation must be done against the horizon of the broader world and(Boston: Beacon Press, 1984). 10 See Jacquelyn Grant, V~ite Women’s Christ and Black Women’s Jesus (Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1989). within a global network of women working for change. 11. See Jacquelyn Grant and Katie G. Cannon, Black Womanist Ethics (Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1988) Fifth, as more and more women contribute to the creation and Delores Williams, "Womanist Theology," in Weaving the Visions,Judith Plaskow and Carol P. Christ, eds.. (San Francisco: Harper and l~(~w, 1989). of a feminist vision, greater diversity will appear and feminists 12. Virginia Fabella, M.M. and Marcy Amba Oduyoye, With Passion and Compassion: Third World must learn to attend to their differences and welcome theWomen Doing Theology (MaD, knoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, 1988), Elsa Tamez, ed., Through Her Eyes: Women’s Theologyj~om Latin America (Maryknoll, N Y.: Orbis Books, 1989). plurality of voices that are being raised. Feminists must un- 13 Letty M. Russell, Kwok Pui-lan, Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz, Katie Geneva Cannon, eds., Inheriting Our learn their fear of difference and conflict and embrace the hopeMothers’ Gardens Feminist Theology in Third World Perspective (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1988). 14. Chung Hyun Kyung, "Following Naked Dancing and Long Dreaming," in Inheriting Our Mothers’ that, even out of their discord, new and richer possibilities willGardens arise for them and the rest of humanity. 15. Kwok Pui-lan, "Mothers and Daughters, Writers and Fighters," in Inheriting Our Mothers’ Gardens, 32. Sixth, feminist theology must not only give priority to the 16. SMile McFague, Models of God: Theology for an Ecological Nuclear Age (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, poorest and most oppressed among us, but also to the earth 1987). and the body. If the human community is to survive at all, our wasteful, plundering, and arrogant treatment of nature and its resources must be radically transformed. This entails, I think, a radical revisioning of humanity’s relation to nature and a thorough rejection of our assumption that we are the center of Includes: creation. Moreover, if we are to overcome the profound alienation to our bodies that characterizes so much of our experience, we will need to rethink what it means to be embodied, finite creatures who live out of the flesh and in deep interde- pendence with one another and the rest of the material world. This means, finally, that we must develop a theology and spirituality of sexuality. Seventh, feminist theology must attend not only to the articulation of the heretofore ignored experience of women

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Orthodoxy is given by authorities, while revelation comes from God; orthodoxy is available to anyone who can learn the ideas, revelation requires faith in God; orthodoxy views truth as absolute, revelation sees it as relative. In its demand for objective certainty, orthodoxy deceives itself into believing that it possesses the absolute truth of God. Orthodoxy thus sees itself as revelation, but it is really a kind of theology. DO YOU PREACH THE ORTHODOX RELIGION? A PLACE FOR THEOLOGY IN MORMON COMMUNITY

By Janice Allred

DO YOU PREACH THE ORTHODOX RELIGION? IT IS any particular religious beliefs; instead, I will criticize the Satan’s question. The orthodox religion is what he offers Adamconcept of orthodoxynits conception of truth and its role in and Eve as a substitute for what they have been seeking. Theyindividual spiritual development and in the development of have been calling upon God and are looking for messengersChristian community. What I want to show is that for Mor- from him. For the revelation they desire, Satan substitutesmons the concept of orthodoxy is unorthodox. Putting my aim orthodoxy. The particular creedal brand of orthodoxy thus paradoxically, I retain the concept which I hope to persu- preached by Satang hired minister is one Mormons readilyade you to repudiate. I do so consciously. I hope you will reject. But the notion of orthodoxy itself is firmly embedded inunderstand why by the end of this paper. our thinking. In Mormon Doctrine, Bruce R. McConkie writes: In the true sense, orthodoxy consists in believing that ORTHODOXY VS. REVELATION which is in harmony with the scriptures. Thus gospel orthodoxy requires belief in the truths of salvation as LET us return now to the contrast suggested by Satan’s they have been revealed in this dispensation through promotion of orthodoxy as a substitute for revelation. Con- Joseph Smith, and as they are understood and interpre- trasting orthodoxy and revelation reveals the limitations, the ted by the living oracles who wear the mantle of the poverty, and the lack of vitality of orthodoxy. Prophet. 1 Satan makes sure that the man he has engaged to preach What constitutes true orthodoxy and false orthodoxy depends, orthodoxy to Adam and Eve has been trained for the ministry of course, on what you believe; it is a question of content. Inat the university. Orthodoxy is thus presented as something this essay I will ignore the question of content and focus on thewhich is acquired primarily through the intellect and available notion of orthodoxy itself. To understand what I will be doingto anyone who can pay the fees and meet the intellectual you will need to understand the distinction between the mean-requirements the university sets. Adam and Eve, however, are ing and the reference of the word orthodoxy. This distinctionseeking light and knowledge from God--revelation. Their is also named by the terms connotation and denotation, or receiving revelation depends upon their faithfulness in keep- "form" and "content." "Orthodoxy" means right or correcting God’s commandments. The prophet Alma taught, "Yea, he belief and it refers to whatever doctrines a particular religiousthat repenteth and exerciseth faith, and bringeth forth good community holds as constitutive of faith or necessary toworks, and prayeth continually without ceasing--unto such it membership in its church. I will not discuss the correctness ofis given to know the mysteries of God" (Alma 26:22). Because it is addressed primarily to the intellect, orthodox JANICE ALLRED received her B.A. in English from Brigham Young theology is fundamentally propositional--logical and sys- University and has published several articles in St2bas-rob~E. This tematic. The scriptures, however, contain large portions of paper was presented at the 5unstone Symposium XII in Salt Lake narrative--consisting of both history and myth--as well as City on 24 August 1990. metaphors, parables, and poetry. These cannot be reduced to

JUNE 1991 PAGE 23 5 U N 5 T O N E propositions without loss of meaning; indeed, it can be arguedstruggling to write when the thought came to me that God that the meanings of metaphor, parable, poetry, and narrative could not give me something that did not exist. Someone had cannot be given in propositions. Therefore, much contained into do the work of giving a form to the jumble of ideas, feelings, the scriptures is unavailable to orthodox notions of truth. concerns, and questions which I had in mind if the paper were This point can be further elucidated by contrasting theever to exist. I could do it if I was willing. And God helped me. objective and subjective dimensions of revelation. The objec- Truth is also relative to the language in which it is spoken. tive dimension refers to what is revealed the subjective dimen- For example, Navajo orders reality differently than English, sion refers to how revelation is received. A messenger from Godforcing some distinctions that English ignores while ignoring or God himself might speak certain some distinctions that English words. These words might be makes. There are also different thought of as the content of the re- spheres or languages of discourse-- velation; these words might even be the language of everyday conversa- propositional. Nevertheless, the The meanings of tion, the language of formal science, words of the revelation do not ex- the language of mathematics, the haust its content. If God speaks to language of poetry, the language of me, what I see and feel and the very metaphor, parable, love--and each of these spheres has fact of his speaking to me are at least poetry, and narrative its own vocabulary and truths. as important as the words he speaks. Truth is also relative to its audi- The subiective dimension of Joseph cannot be given in ence, the listener or reader. This Smith’s First Vision has proven more truth was brought home to me by my important to Mormon theology than propositions. daughter. When she was three years its objective dimension. Because old, we had a two-hour argument on revelation always entails the appro- Therefore,much what day of the week it was. I knew priation and interpretation of what is the truth and I was determined never revealed and because human facul- contained in the to lie to my children, but she won the ties and experience play such an im- argument by screaming for twenty portant role in this appropriation and scriptures is unavailable minutes and then falling asleep. My interpretation, the obiective dimen- final point was, "You think it’s Thurs- sion of revelation can never be to orthodox day and I think iit’s Friday," but she separated from the subjective dimen- refused to accept even this effort to sion, and orthodox propositional notions of truth. harmonize our views, and she knowledge remains only a severely shouted, "I don’t think it’s Thurs- limited substitute for revelation. day-it is Thursday!" before she Orthodoxy regards truth as abso- lapsed into her final passionate plea lute; revelation sees it as relative. Since orthodoxy regardsfor understanding. No one speaks or writes without an audi- truth revealed by God as absolute truth and considers relativ- ence in mind, and the presumed knowledge, experience, lan- ism atheistic, this assertion requires some elucidation. Abso-guage, and circumstances of the audience: affect the way the lute truth is true for all people, in all circumstances, times, andtruth is formed. places, but truth related to person, circumstance, time, and Truth is relative to history. Every utterance, every sentence, place is implicit in the concept of revelation. A revelation ishas a story and is embedded in history. Yet orthodoxy is given by someone to someone else at a particular time andahistorical. Orthodox thinkers believe that truths can be ex- place in particular circumstances. The objective dimension oftracted from the scriptures without any reference to the cul- revelation may be thought of as the truth of revelation, butture, language, and history of its writer, or to the specific because of the interconnectedness of its subiective and objec- circumstances of its recording. tive dimensions, the truth of revelation must be relative. I Orthodox thinkers are especially incensed by moral relativ- would like to point out several ways in which truth is relative.ism. They believe that there is one set of commandments First, truth is located in language; where there is no languageequally relevant to all circumstances by which all people are to there is no truth. The orthodox mind sees truth as existing outlive and be judged. Concerning this idea, Joseph Smith wrote, them, independent of mind, waiting to be found. But sentences"God said, ’Thou shalt not kill’; at another time He said ’Thou or paragraphs or speeches or books or symbols are created by shalt utterly destroy.’ This is the principle on which the gov- human beings or spirits or angels or gods; where there is noernment of heaven is conducted---by revelation adapted to the circumstances in which the children of the kingdom are mind, there is no truth. Truth, then, is relative to mind and ’’2 language generally, and specifically to the maker of a particularplaced. sentence or group of sentences. It is related to her experience, I am saying that truth is contextual in the broadest sense of his knowledge, her language skills, his intelligence, her integ-the word. I am not, however, arguing that nothing can be rity, and his love. Once I prayed for help on a paper I was understood without understanding its full context. In fact,

PAGE 24 JUNE 1991 5 U N 5 T O N E since context is potentially infinite, a full understanding Indeed,is extracting doctrines from the scriptures has proven to impossible. Such an understanding would, indeed, be absolute be a very difficult task and Christians have never come to a truth. Orthodoxy, however, sees absolute truth as being with- complete agreement about what the scriptures say. This is why out context. One orthodox thinker, confronted by the view Elder McConkie, in his definition of orthodoxy, found it that there is no final truth, exclaimed, "Then there is no pointnecessary to say that "gospel orthodoxy requires belief in the in discussing theology at all. We should all stop talking." Atruths of salvation as they have been revealed in this dispensa- believer in relative truth responded, "No, if there were a finaltion through Joseph Smith, and as they are understood and truth then we should all stop talking, for after uttering it weinterpreted by the living oracles who wear the mantle of the should have nothing more to say. But Prophet. ,4 This statement shows that because truth is relative, we must the concepts of orthodoxy and con- talk more, but more humbly and tinuing revelation are inherently more carefully." There is a truth, contradictory. Eider McConkie’s many truths, for every circumstance. Orthodoxy regards statement requires that orthodox The responsibility and the joy of cre- Latter-day Saints during Brigham ating truths and receiving the truths Young’s presidency believe his created by others are ours. The Lord truth as absolute; teachings about Adam-God and that said, "And because that I have revelation sees it contemporary Latter-day Saints dis- spoken one word ye need not believe them according to the most suppose that I cannot speak another; as relative. But recent interpretations of this doc- for my work is not yet finished; trine. But according to orthodoxy the neither shall it be until the end of speeches are created eternal truths of doctrine do not man, neither from that time hence-: change. Thus, Elder McConkie’s forth and forever" (2 Nephi 29:9). by humans. Truth is statement constitutes an admission This leads us to the idea of contin- that orthodoxy finally rests on au- uing revelation. In his article, "The relative to mind and thority rather than on truth. Structural Supports of Orthodoxy in In "Orthodoxy and Orthopraxies the Jewish System and the Christian :. language to in the Old Testament," Eric Zenger System," Andre Paul argues that or- discusses how Old Testament Israel thodoxy is a necessity and not simply experience, knowledge, dealt with the problem of orthodoxy a possibility for Christianity because and the open canon. He writes: revelation is finished and the canon integrity, and love. If we wish to talk at all about closed) A closed canon necessitates orthodoxy in the formation of orthodoxy. How does orthodoxy deal Israel’s tradition, we might per- with an open canon? No idea is more haps term it a kairological or- fundamental to Mormonism than that of continuing revela- thodoxy in dialogue form. Israel knows the three constit- tion, but, despite the fact that continuing revelation presents uents which are summed up in this concept. (a) Without many difficulties and contradictions to orthodoxy, some its ties with what preceding generations taught and Mormons persist in maintaining an orthodox mindset. learned, Israel would be without a home and a founda- One way that orthodoxy deals with contradictions, discrep- tion. (b) So that Israel could receive its social and politi- ancies, and inconsistencies in the scriptures and words of cal life from God’s hand in the fullest sense, continual Church leaders is by distinguishing between doctrine and new attempts were made to formulate what had been policy. According to this approach, doctrine refers to eternal passed down about God in a way that was related to the truth and policy refers to the procedures and practices of the present situation, so that the "today" of the language was Church as it directs the lives of its members and forms them comprehensible and part of contemporary experience. into a community. After making this distinction, orthodox (c) Israel allows these many different attempts to stand thinkers then assert that the eternal truths of doctrine never side by side unharmonized in its Bible and this must be change but that policies may change as the needs of the people interpreted as an offer of dialogue .... This Old Testa- change. The purpose of continuing revelation is to direct the ment orthodoxy rejects the notion of qualitatively pro- Church and give needed policy changes. Although the distinc- gressive revelation .... Israel required this commitment tion between doctrine and policy may be useful for some to itself: the dispute about truth must never be ended by purposes, it is not absolute. Were the revelations discontinuing any answers that have once been discovered.5 the practice of polygamy and giving the priesthood to all racesOn the other hand, orthodoxy deals with continuing revela- changes in doctrine or policy? Also, a careful study of thetion by refusing to engage in dialogue. New revelations result scriptures on any particular point of doctrine (for example, theeither in schism if the orthodox believer chooses to believe the nature of God, the nature of humanity, and the process ofold revelations and deny the new, or they result in forgetting, salvation) will disclose many passages difficult to harmonize.denying, and changing the past and its revelations if one

JUNE 1991 PAGE 25 S U N S T 0 N E accepts the new revelations. Joseph Smith said: through the enlightenment of the spirit. In other words, to I have tried for a number of years to get the minds of receive revelation you must have revelation. Elder Oaks impl- the Saints prepared to receive the things of God; but we ies that it is a bad thing for the Saints to have to be on guard frequently see some of them, after suffering all they have against error, but revelation teaches that receiving truth is as for the work of God, will fly to pieces like glass as soon much the responsibility of the receiver as the giver. Ironically, as anything comes that is contrary to their traditions.6 in demanding objective certainty, orthodoxy only obtains a This describes the orthodox believer who clings to traditionfalse certainty, for there is no such thing as objective certainty, and creeds. Joseph also said: while the believer who is receptive to the spirit is able to I cannot believe in any of the receive the subjective certainty that creeds of the different denomina- comes only from the spirit. I call this tions, because they all have some certainty subjective because it is felt things in them I cannot subscribe in the heart and in the mind: "I will to though all of them have some tell you in your mind and in your truth. But I want to come up into nterpretations heart, by the Holy Ghost" (D&C the presence of God, learn all contain both more and 8:2); "And by the: power of the Holy things but the creeds set up Ghost ye may know the truth of all stakes, and say hitherto shalt thou less than the revelations things" (Moroni 10: 5). come, no further--which I cannot In contrasting orthodoxy and subscribe to.r they interpret, more revelation we have seen that or- Orthodox believers who refuse to thodoxy is giw.-n by authorities, confront the contradictions, discrep- because of what the while revelation comes from God; ancies, inconsistencies, and difficul- that orthodoxy is available to anyone ties inherent in an open canon will theologian adds and who can learn the ideas, while never have more than a shallow un- revelation requires faith in God and derstanding of revelation. " less because no obedience to his will; that orthodoxy Orthodoxy craves certainty. It is addressed primarily to the intel- cannot abide contradictions, ambi- interpretation can give lect, while revelation communicates guity, paradoxes, and the discomfort in a variety of ways; that orthodoxy and tension of not knowing. Elder everything the views truth as absolute, while revela- Dallin Oaks in his April 1989 confer- tion sees it as relative; and that or- ence address, "Alternate Voices," de- revelation gives. thodoxy is closed, while revelation is scribed this need for certainty, evi- open and continuing. In each of dently assuming it is the normal and these ways orthodoxy demands ob- even the desirable condition of jective certainty, while revelation rel- Church members: ies on the spirit. In its demand for objective certainty, or- We have procedures to ensure approved content for thodoxy deceives itself into believing that it possesses the materials published in the name of the Church or used absolute truth of the revealed word of God. Orthodoxy thus for instruction in its classes. These procedules can be sees itself as revelation, but it is really a kind of theology. somewhat slow and cumbersome, but they provide a spiritual quality control that allows members to rely on ORTHODOXY, REVELATION, AND THEOLOGY the truth of what is said. Members who listen to the voice GENERALLY, Mormons do not regard theology favor- of the Church need not be on guard against being misled. They have no such assurance for what they hear from ably. After all, theology transformed the gospel of Jesus Christ alternate voices,s into orthodox Christianity and has given us the philosophies Compare this to section 91 of the Doctrine and Covenants. In of men in the guise of the doctrines of God. In his foreword to this revelation the Lord tells Joseph Smith that the ApocryphaHugh Nibley’s The World and the Prophets, R. Douglas Phillips contains many true things and also many things that are notwrites: true. He then says: It is thus abundantly clear that the whole philosophi- Therefore, whoso readeth it, let him understand, for cal theological enterprise, however well intended, is in- the Spirit manifesteth truth; And whoso is enlightened compatible with the existence of continuing revelation. For this reason there can never be a theology, a sys- by the Spirit shall obtain benefit therefrom; And whoso 9 receiveth not by the Spirit, cannot be benefited (D&C tematic theology as such, in the true Church. 91:4-6). This idea, that theology and revelation are incompatible, that Elder Oaks seems to believe that "spiritual quality control"theology is a substitute for revelation, is widespread in the comes from a correct text (the view of orthodoxy), whileChurch. I will argue that, on the contrary, revelation and section 91 teaches that the benefits of revelation can only cometheology are inextricably interrelated and that the real danger

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to the Church is orthodoxy which does not recognize itself asrevelations they interpret, more because of what the theologian theology but thinks it is revelation. adds (philosophy, language, culture, questions, etc.) and less Satan characterizes the orthodox religion as the philosoph- because no account or interpretation of revelation can give ies of men mingled with scripture. This is, I think, a faireverything the revelation itself gives. Many prophets have definition of theology. These two components of theology arespoken of their inability to write all that they have seen and recognized in most definitions of theology and in most the-heard in their visions. After hearing his father tell of his vision ological writing. A typical definition of theology is "that dis-of the tree of life, Nephi desired to receive the same vision and cipline which strives to give a coherent statement of the doc-his request was granted. Lehi’s account of the vision was not trines of the Christian faith based equivalent to the vision itself. Nephi primarily upon the scriptures, placed also requested an interpretation of in the context of culture in general, the vision and received another vi- worded in a contempora~ idiom sion along with commentary by the and related to issues of life." 0 In this Spirit. An interpretation of a revela- definition, the scriptures are speci- heology is a danger tion may also be a revelation, but it is fied as the foundation of theology still not equivalent to the first revela- which also has rational, cultural, lin- only when it is tion (see 1 Nephi chapters 8, 11-14). guistic, and practical dimensions. combined with The idea that the interpretation of These dimensions we can call the revelation can itself be revelation "philosophies of men." orthodoxy, when we leads to another important idea. I We could also say that theology is pointed out two dimensions or sour- the interpretation of revelation, the think it is absolute ces of theology, the scriptures and the scriptures being a record of reve- philosophies of men, and then lations which the theologian inter- and final. As long as equated the scriptures with revela- prets through the medium of the .. tion and the philosophies of men philosophies of men. This is not a we recognize it for with interpretation. It should now be defect, but a necessary condition of clear that this dichotomy is concep- interpretation and a defining charac- what it is interpreted tual rather than existential; that is, if teristic of theology. Can we have I examine any particular scripture or revelation without interpretation? revelation it can be interpretation of scripture, I cannot "When you see a vision pray for the necessarily say how much of the interpretation," Joseph Smith coun- a source of growth. scripture is interpretation and how seled,ll and after receiving an answer much of the interpretation is revela- to his question about when the Se- tion. The scriptures are not pure cond Coming would occur, he wrote, revelation and some philosophies of "I was left to draw my own conclusions concerning this.’’12 men are inspired by God. Nephi wrote, "Cursed is he If we have no interpretation of revelation then we have nothat . . . shall hearken unto the precepts of men, save their thinking about revelation and no response to revelation, whichprecepts shall be given by the power of the Holy Ghost" (2 seems to me a very undesirable thing. Indeed, we might ask, Nephi 28:31). Reason, which guides our interpretations, is not "What good is revelation if we do not interpret it and respondopposed to revelation: to it, if we are not changed by it?" Interpretation has both And the light which shineth, which giveth you light, unconscious and conscious dimensions. Unconscious inter- is through him who enlighteneth your eyes, which is the pretation, our immediate sense of what is being seen and same light that quickeneth your understandings; Which heard, is influenced by our experiences, our culture, our light proceedeth forth from the presence of God to fill the worldview, and our particular circumstances at the time we immensity of space (D&C 88:11,12). experience or read about the revelation. Conscious interpreta- And, tion, or theology, can consist of recounting revelation, attach- [The] Holy Ghost has no other effect than pure intelli- ing literal or abstract values to symbols, placing the revelation gence. It is more powerful in expanding the mind, en- in its immediate or cultural context, attempting to answer lightening the understandingf3and storing the intellect philosophical questions on the basis of the revelation, and with present knowledge .... comparing revelations for doctrinal content. At this point distinguishing between two kinds of revelation Since interpretations of revelation vary according to theis important. Joseph Smith alludes to this distinction in questions asked and to the presuppositions, world view, lan- response to a letter inquiring for revelation on a particular guage, culture, spiritual maturity, and linguistic skills of thosesubject. making them, it is obvious that the interpretation is not equiv- It is a great thing to inquire at the hands of God, or to alent to the revelation; theology is not a substitute for revela- come into His presence; and we feel fearful to approach tion. Interpretations contain both more and less than the Him on subjects that are of little or no consequence, to

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satisfy the queries of individuals, especially about the The things of God are of deep import; and time, and things the knowledge of which men ought to obtain in experience, and careful and ponderous and solemn all sincerity, before God, for themselves, in humility by thoughts can only find them out. Thy mind, O man! if the prayer of faith.14 thou wilt lead a soul unto salvation, must stretch as high Joseph is not saying here that the subject of this individual’s as the utmost heavens, and search into and contemplate inquiry was not important enough for him to ask God for the darkest abyss, and the broad expanse of eternity-- enlightenment. His words imply that he was declining to ask thou must commune with God.16 the Lord for a particular kind of revelation and advising the Theology is a danger to the Church only when it is com- man that a more common type was bined with orthodoxy, when we available to him. think it is absolute and final. But as The distinction may be thought of long as we recognize it for what it as being in the mode of reception of is--philosophies of men mingled the revelation. In the first type, the with scripture, revelation interpreted one receiving the revelation experi- rthodoxy, with its by people--it can be a source of ences it more objectively than in the concept of right belief, growth both for the individual and second; that is, she is aware of some- the Church community. We must thing outside herself. She sees a vi- focuses initially on not, of course, think of theology as sion or hears a voice or sees a heav- being purely intellectual. It plays a enly messenger who delivers her a knowledge, but its real vital role in the life of the individual message. The second type of revela- and the development of community. tion is experienced more sub- effect de-emphasizes jectively. Ideas are received, im- ORTHODOXY AND SPIRITUALITY pressions are experienced, feelings knowledge. Its ¯ are given. The recipient of the first CONTINUING my critique of kind of revelation has no doubt that emphasis is on orthodoxy, I will now examine the it was of God. Of course, there is the effect of orthodoxy on individual possibility that he was mistaken and obedience, and it gives spiritual development. The reason his revelation was from the devil. Jo- Satan brought a preacher to teach seph was very concerned about this little importance to Adam and Eve religion was not, of possibility and spoke often about the course, to teach them anything of discerning of spirits. The subjective thinking. value, but to distract them from what kind of revelation obviously contains they were trying to do, which was to more of the philosophies of men than receive messengers from God who the objective. The one receiving it would teach them what they needed formulates the thoughts and expresses the impressions andto know in order to return to His presence. Revelation does not feelings in his own words. What she writes or speaks or simply impart abstract information but tells us what God understands will be influenced by her culture, language, expe-wants us to do. It changes our hearts and enables us to do what rience, intelligence, and memory. It is less obvious, but thewe are commanded. Orthodoxy, although it presents itself as objective kind of revelation also contains something of thepure truth or correct doctrine, has a hidden agenda: it plays a philosophies of men. The vision must be recorded, in memoryrole in individual spiritual development and it performs an if not in writing. We receive the words of the heavenly messen-institutional function for the Church. ger in our own language with its cultural and conceptual "For behold, this is my work and my glory--to bring to pass biases. Brigham Young said: the immortality and eternal life of man" (Moses 1:39). The I do not even believe that there is a single revelation, purpose of God’s work is to bring us from. our present mortal among the many God has given to the Church, that is condition of being, where we are subject to sin and death, to a perfect in its fullness. The revelations of God contain state of being called eternal life, which is, according to our correct doctrine and principle, so far as they go; but it is revelations, the life God lives, the state of being of the gods. impossible for the poor, weak, low, groveling, sinful The relationship of knowing and doing to being is complex. inhabitants of the earth to receive a revelation from the Mormon revelations give great importance to knowledge. "The Almighty in all its perfections. He has to speak to us in a glory of God is intelligence, or, in other words, light and truth" manner to meet the extent of our capacities. 15 (D&C 93:36). "Whatever principle of intelligence we attain The scriptures, then, contain revelations as well as the ideas,unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection. And if experiences, and philosophies of men, and thus revelation anda person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life theology are inextricably related. Theology, as I have used thethrough his diligence and obedience than another, he will have word, is simply thinking, talking, and writing about the thingsso much the advantage in the world to come" (D&C 130:18, of God. Concerning this, Joseph Smith said: 19). Orthodoxy, with its concept of right belief, focuses ini-

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tially on knowledge, but its real effect in religious life is to The next stage, conjunctive faith, Fowler discovered in some de-emphasize knowledge. With orthodoxy’s notion that therepersons in mid-life or beyond; it integrates elements in are a few fundamental truths and commandments, its majorourselves, in society, and in reality that have apparent contra- emphasis is on obedience, and it gives little importance todictions or polarities or paradoxes. People in this stage believe theology or thinking about religion. that truth is more complex than the logical, either-or categories of the individuative-reflective stage can grasp. People in this THE work of James Fowler on the stages of the develop- stage are open to the truths of traditions and communities ment of faith sheds some light on the importance of knowledgeother than their own,not through a lack of commitment to and thinking in spiritual develop their own communities but through ment.17 For more than ten years, the humility that knows that the Fowler and his associates conducted truths of any tradition need to be extensive research in which they in- challenged. vited people of a variety of ages, of M The last stage, which Fowler both sexes, and of many different uch in our found only in a few individuals, he religious and secular orientations to calls universalizing faith. It is marked discuss faith in their lives. Interpre- theology encourages by the completion of the decentration ting the resulting interviews, he for- ill thinking. However, process. The individual in the univer- mulated seven stages of spiritual salizing stage experiences an episte- growth. Fowler characterizes these there isa fear that a mological decentration from self in stages according to their typical ways his ability and readiness to balarice of knowing and valuing. The ways of : ill critical theology will his perspective with others. He also knowing and valuing are directly decenters in the valuing process so related to fundamentally different destroy the faith of that he values from the point of view concepts of self, so that transition of the creator and not from the ego- from one stage to the next involves many. To develop centric viewpoint of what values will radi&l changes, not only in what is give himself worth and power. known and valued, but in ideas spiritually we must If we apply Fowler’s model of faith about the nature of knowledge and development to our Mormon com- value and in ways of verifying and experience the munity several interesting ob- justifying beliefs and actions. Be- servations can be made. Most ob- cause Fowler interviewed people stage of doubt. servers would agree, I think, that from a wide range of religious and Mormons are typical of the general secular traditions, he believes his population, that many Mormon findings are valid for all religions. adults are in the synthetic-conven- The first three stages of faith take us from birth to pre-tional and individuative-reflective stages; fewer are in the adolescence and they reflect the immature cognitive abilitiesconjunctive stage, and fewer still in the universalizing stage. and ego development of children. Fowler’s next three stages areWe may have become members of the Mormon community at stages where most adults are found. His fourth stage, the stage any of .the stages of faith (including the preadolescent stages, of synthetic-conventional faith, begins in early adolescence. At which I didn’t discuss). Our conversion to the gospel may also this age formal, operational thinking becomes possible andhave taken place at any of the stages and may or may not have abstract concepts and ideals are understood. The project of this been at the same time as our entrance into the community. stage is to construct a worldview, a synthesis of beliefs and Because Fowler characterizes the stages according to ways ideas. Fowler calls this synthesis conventional because it isof knowing and valuing in relation to the conception of self, largely taken over from significant others in the person’s life,we can use his conclusions to answer the question, "How does his family or church or an institution. the concept of orthodoxy influence individual spiritual devel- Stage five is called individuative-reflectivefaith. In this stage, opment?" Synthetic-conventional individuals formulate their people objectify, examine, and critically choose the definingbeliefs in abstract language, but they do not reflect critically on elements of their identity and faith. To be fully in this stage anthem; they simply accept them from their community. Their individual must no longer have a definition of self derivedbeliefs are thus, by definition, orthodox--the beliefs which simply from relations with others and the roles she plays, buttheir community considers right. There is a less obvious or- she must begin to be and act from a concept of self-authoriza- thodoxy in the thinking of individuative-reflective individuals. tion. Characterized as they are by analytical, critical thinkingBecause these people are critical and reflective, because they and the need to examine all beliefs in the light of reason ortest their beliefs in a variety of ways, and because they accept science or whatever tradition seems to offer valid principles ofpersonal responsibility for their beliefs rather than relying on discovering truth, individuals in this stage are likely to becomeauthority to provide them, our first tendency is to say that their skeptics. conception of knowledge is not orthodox. However, certain

JUNE 1991 PAGE 29 $ U N S T O N E elements of their mode of thinking also characterize or-perspective. The faith that is vulnerable to the theological thodoxy They tend to think that truth is propositional, thatquestions and methods of stage five is synthetic-conventional myths, metaphors, and symbols can and should be demythol- faith. Remember that this stage begins in early adolescence. ogized. Their thinking tends to be logical, rational, and either-Does the Church really want to encourage people to stay in this or; in other words, they believe that truth can be discovered stage? To develop spiritually we must experience the stage of through appropriate procedure. Mormons in this stage proba- doubt and criticism. We cannot skip it. It is not necessary, of bly think that the Church should have only a few requiredcourse, to leave the Church while in this stage. Many do not. beliefs, but this is because they trust themselves to find truthMore acceptance of stage five theology would encourage peo- not because they have developed ple to leave stage four and perhaps non-orthodox ways of thinking. In provide them with guidance and ac- order to pass from stage five to stage ceptance so that it is not necessary six, conjunctive thinking, orthodox for them to also leave the Church. modes of thinking have to be I have purposely defined theology relinquished. Stage seven, universal ontrol is the hidden democratically--simply as thinking, faith, has moved even further from writing, and speaking about religious orthodoxy. Since our Mormon com- agenda of orthodoxy. matters--because it is very import- munity comprises, as it must and Christianity’s ant that no group should think that should, individuals in all these stages theology belongs exclusively to it. I of faith, our thinking, speaking, and controversy over believe this is a real danger. I have writing about our religion, our theo- noticed that people who accept the logy, should be rich and representa- doctrines is a struggle validity of developmental stages usu- tive of all levels or stages of faith. The ally classify themselves as being at or scriptures have this richness. They for power. To define near the top. Those who would have can be read, understood, and appre- to classify themselves as being in the ciated from all these perspectives. a church by a set of lower stages usually think the cate- However, I am concerned that our gories are types rather than stages or public discourse, our talks, our class beliefs orthodoxy they think the theory of stages is to- discussions, our manuals, and mater- tally wrong. In other words, people ial of approved content published by is divisive and in stage four are not likely to regard the Church do not have this richness. those in stage five as being more de- They are dominated by the orthodox oppressive. veloped spiritually than themselves. notion of truth and have a conven- Rather, they are more likely to think tional, noncritical content. What this of them as irreligious or lacking in means is that there is much in our faith, while people in stage five may community discourse which hinders people from developingthink those in stage four are stupid, ignorant, or closed- beyond synthetic-conventional faith. People in this stage areminded. People in stage six may see those in stage five as being usually comfortable with what they hear at church and whattoo rational or one-dimensional, even closedminded, and they read in Church literature, but those in the next stage ofthose in stage five may think stage six people are too mystical faith often have difficulties. I do not wish to imply that the-and irrational and that they hold crazy, contradictory ideas. In ological difficulties are bad and that being comfortable inother words, people in different stages have difficulty under- Church is necessarily good, but I think that this is the generalstanding and communicating with each other. People often perception, which means that people experiencing doubts and feel threatened by those in the next stage because they feel having questions often feel that they are out of step with andchallenged to change, and those in the higher stage may feel outside of the community. contemptuous of or superior to those in the stage below, if they Mormonism has been more successful than some other have not entirely distanced themselves from it. Can people churches in keeping its critics. Much in our theology encour-with such diverse ways of knowing and valuing possibly ages critical thinking and seeking our own knowledge of thediscuss theology without coming to blows? truth. However, there is also the widespread feeling that critical thinking is only acceptable when it supports orthodoxy and ORTHODOXY AND CONTENTION that we should share our experiences in searching for the truth only after we have arrived at the truth of orthodoxy. There is a THIS brings us to the problem of contention and the fear among many of us that a critical and questioning theologyfunction of orthodoxy for institutions and groups. Elder will destroy the faith of many Church members. And this fearRussell Nelson in his April 1989 general conference address, is not groundless. Many people do become skeptics, agnostics, "The Canker of Contention," asserts that conflicting ideas are and atheists in Fowler’s fifth stage. Understanding the stages ofthe beginning of contention, that the divine doctrine of the faith, however, enables us to see this problem from a new Church is the prime target of attack by the spiritually conten-

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tious, and that dissecting doctrine in a controversial way inthat members of the church must submit to authority if they order to draw attention to oneself is not pleasing to the Lord. 18 want to remain in the church because the authorities get to Elder Nelsong remarks might lead some to conclude that anydecide what is doctrine and what isn’t. Heretics must then critical approach to understanding doctrine is contentious anddecide whether to be excommunicated or to lie. Because belief that the Church will become free of contention only whencannot be compelled, people cannot just decide to believe there are no conflicting ideas. The scriptures do teach thatwhat they do not really believe. So if they choose to submit to contention is of the devil and that there should be no conten-authority, they are compelled to lie about their beliefs. This tion in the church of God, but nowhere do they teach that God analysis of what it means to define a church by a set of beliefs requires everyone to have the same should make it clear that orthodoxy thoughts or beliefs. Such a notion is is an inherently divisive and oppress- so obviously absurd that I’m almost ive principle. embarrassed to mention it, but there In an article entitled "Orthodoxy does seem to be a widespread view in and Heresy in Marxism-Leninism the Church that in Zion where the and Psycho-analysis," Iring Fetscher people are of one heart and mind, include the whole writes: everyone thinks alike and holds the The end point of the development same beliefs. person: her anger as of "orthodoxies" outside the sphere of What is the nature of the conten- the churches is always not by coin- tion that the scriptures so vigorously well as her tolerance, cidence a "doctrine of infallibil- condemn? In the Book of Mormon, ity."... Examples from the extra-ec- contention is often synonymous with his feelings as well clesial use of the orthodox- war and war seems to be either the heterodox dichotomy shows that this literal or figurative meaning of con- as his ideas, her demarcation is always the work of tention whenever it is used in the organizations whose interest in self- scriptures. War is concerned with preservation requires the preserva- winning and so is contention. When tion (and transmission unchanged) of we contend over an idea the purpose her solutions, his a binding ideology. Such institutions of the argument is to get our oppon- outwardly behave in an authoritarian ent to admit that our idea is right. false ideas as well as manner towards their members, The concept of orthodoxy, that there while their posture towards other in- is only one right answer to every his true ideas. stitutions is defensive. 19 question, one best way of dealing He gives no reason why churches with any problem, which is @ ...... @ should escape this tendency of or- supposed to do away with conten- thodoxy I can only conclude that it tion, thus actually promotes it. Since there will always beis his unfounded prejudice or hope that they do. My observa- differing ideas, orthodox notions of truth will always lead totion is otherwise. Of course, the Church does not have a contention in a community that defines itself by its beliefs asdoctrine of infallibility for the president of the Church. We differing factions attempt to gain control of the community. have too many statements of the prophets specifically rejecting Control is, in fact, the hidden agenda of orthodoxy. this doctrine for it to be adopted, but we also do have our own Christianity’s long history of controversy over doctrines andLDS version of this doctrine in the widely held belief that the creeds, of schism and putting down heresies, is more of a Lord will not permit the prophet to lead the Church astray. history of the struggle for power than a history of the develop- Joseph Smith specifically rejected the idea that the Church ment of ideas. If we think of the Church as being defined byshould be defined by orthodoxy On one occasion he said, "did its doctrine, if the unifying principle of Mormon community Iis ever exercise any compulsion over any man. did I not give a set of fundamental beliefs, then orthodoxy becomes veryhim the liberty of disbelieveing any doctrin I have preached if important; Church membership is contingent upon it. Andhe saw fit,’’2° His most explicit rejection of the idea, however, who decides what the doctrine is and what views are consistentwas given at a general conference in which he discussed a with it? If orthodoxy is defined by consensus, then there willmember’s being brought before the high council for erring in be contention as individuals and factions compete to have theirdoctrine. The high council evidently considered it their duty viewpoints gain supremacy If orthodoxy is defined by author-to make sure no one erred in doctrine. Joseph said, "The High ity, then compulsion of beliefs will arise. In every case where aCouncil undertook to censure-and correct Elder Brown, be- church tries a member for heresy, the fundamental issue iscause of his teachings in relation to the beasts. Whether they always obedience to authority, not the truth of any particularactually corrected him or not I am a little doubtful, but don’t doctrine. Although the authorities may attempt to persuadecare." For Joseph, then, Church authorities didn’t have the the heretic to believe the orthodox view, they never openright to correct anyone’s doctrine and they didn’t necessarily themselves to his view. So the point of all trials for heresy ishave the ability either:

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I did not like the old man being called up for erring orthodoxy. When one of my sons was two years old he be- in doctrine. It looks too much like the Methodist, and lieved that he was five. He would often declare this belief, and not like the Latter-day Saints. Methodists have creeds my older boys, all orthodox thinkers, attempted many times to which a man must believe or be asked out of their get him to renounce his belief and say that he was two. They church. I want the liberty of thinking and believing as I were unsuccessful and appealed to me, the authority, to make please. It feels so good not to be trammelled. It does not him say he was two, to forbid him to think he was five. "How prove that a man is not a good man because he errs in can you let him say he’s five when he’s really two?" they doctrine.2~ demanded. M. Scott Peck in his book, The "How do you know what he DiJ.ferent Drum, which is about com- means when he says, ’I’m five’?" I munity making, discusses what he asked them. "Maybe he only means calls pseudocommunity: that five is his favorite number. A two In pseudocommunity a group We cannot exclude year old doesn’t understand time in attempts to purchase community the same way you do," I explained to cheaply by pretense. It is not an the concept of them. I told them that they could not evil, conscious pretense of delib- tell him he was stupid or yell at him erate black lies. Rather it is an orthodoxy. How then or make him feel that he had to say unconscious, gentle process what they wanted him to in order to whereby people who want to be does the community be accepted by them. They could try loving attempt to be so by telling to teach him about time and express little white lies, by withholding escape the division, their belief that he was only two in some of the truth about the- nonconfrontive ways. But he was to mselves and their feelings in order oppression, and be allowed to discover the truth in to avoid conflict... The essential his own way. dynamics of pseudocommunity is falseness in orthodoxy? conflict avoidance... [and] the THE COMMUNITY OF CHRIST basic pretense of pseudocom- By refusing to munity is the denial of individual HOW, then, is the community differences.22 define itself by a set of of the Church to be defined and uni- The assumption, then, that a com- fied? When Jesus spoke to Joseph munity consists of a group of people shared beliefs. Smith in the First Vision he ex- who share a set of beliefs actually plained why none of the churches prevents people from becoming a were true: "They draw near to me community. Again orthodoxy with their lips, but their hearts are far requires that people lie in order to maintain their membershipfrom me, they teach for doctrines the commandments of men" in the group. Peck makes it clear that this pressure to lie need(Joseph Smith--History 1:19). The churches put their own not come from a tyrannical inquisitor but can also come fromcreeds in the place of Jesus in their churches. They spoke of the pressures of conformity, the perception that only certainhim but he was not their real foundation. Speaking to the ideas, certain modes of talking and acting are acceptable in aNephites after his resurrection, Jesus declared, "And this is my group. doctrine.., and I bear record that the Father commandeth all Peck maintains that a community must be inclusive. Thismen, everywhere, to repent and believe in me. And whoso means not only that a community must include all kinds ofbelieveth in me, and is baptized the same shall be saved; and people but that it must include the whole person, his sorrows they are they who shall inherit the kingdom of God" (3 Nephi as well as his joys, her anger as well as her tolerance, his 11:32, 33). In a modern revelation he declared, "Behold, this feelings as well as his ideas, her problems as well as heris my doctrine--whosoever repenteth and cometh unto me, solutions, his weaknesses as well as his strengths, her falsethe same is my church. Whosoever declareth more or less than ideas as well as her true ideas. Thus we cannot exclude the this, the same is not of me, but is against me; therefore he is concept of orthodoxy from community. As we have seen, at not of my church" (D&C 10:67, 68). certain stages of development individuals have an orthodox The doctrine of Christ is not a metaphysical truth, an conception of truth. Since these individuals cannot be ex-eternal principle, or eternal law. It is that we must believe in cluded from the community, orthodoxy cannot be excluded. him to be saved. The unifying belief of the Church is not in How then does the community escape the division, oppres- correct doctrines or principles but in Jesus Christ himself. "I sion, and falseness which inhere in orthodoxy? By containingam the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6). it rather than being contained by it, by refusing to define itself The community of the Church is the community of Christ, by a set of shared beliefs. the body of Christ, where all members are of equal value, Here I would like to offer a little story about containingwhere the truth of every member is listened to and valued,

JUNE 1991 PAGE 32 S U N S T O N E where it is recognized that all members receive revelation. As 8. Dallin H. Oaks, "Alternate Voices," Ensign 19 (May 1989): 28. Joseph Smith said, "The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of 9. R. Douglas Phillips, Foreword to The World and the Prophets, The Collected prophecy," and "No man can receive the Holy Ghost withoutWorks of Hugh Nibley: Vol. 3 (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book and Provo: Founda- tion for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1987), xii. receiving revelations." Church members are united by their 10. Millard J. Erickson, Christian Theology (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, covenants with Jesus Christ and with each other. They are of1983), 21. one heart and one mind when each member values the heart 11. Smith, Teachings, 161. and mind of every other member in the same way he values his 12. Smith, Teachings, 286. own. ~ 13. Smith, Joseph. History of the Church Vol. 3, (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book NOTES Company, 1974), 380. 1. Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1966), 14. Smith, Teachings, 22. 550. 15. Journal of Discourses Vol. 2:314. 2. Joseph Fielding Smith, comp., Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith (Salt 16. Smith, Teachings, 137. Lake City: Deseret Book, 1968), 256. 17. James w. Fowler, Becoming Adult, Becoming Christian (San Francisco: 3. Andre Paul, "The Structural Supports of Orthodoxy in the Jewish System Harper & Row, 1984), 48-71. and the Christian System," Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy, Johann-Baptist Metz and 18. Russell M. Nelson, "The Canker of Contention," Ensign 19 (May 1989): Edward Scfllebeeckx, ed. (Edinburgh: T. &: T. Clark LTD, 1987), 26. 69-70. 4. McConkie, 550. 19. Iring Fetscher, "Orthodoxy and Heresy in Marxism-Leninism and Psych- 5. Eric Zenger, "Orthodoxy and Orthopraxies in the Old Testament," Or- analysis," Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy, 99. thodoxy and Heterodoxy, 7-9. 20. Ehat, 337. 6. Smith, Teachings, 331. 21. Smith, History of the Church, 5:340. 7. Andrew F. Ehat and Lyndon W. Cook, eds., The Words of Joseph Smith 22. M. Scott Peck, The Different Drum (New York: Touchstone, 1988), 88- (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, 1980), 256. 89.

THE TRUANT OFFICER RECALLS SWEET MAGGIE Loved her? I left her. Don’t think that qualifies. That marriage ain’t no bare-assed fairy tale--. Drank She’s single still (you know the grapevine here), Two solid months the summer I broke it off. And back in school. That came as no surprise: Then Cindy came along. No Mormon Church An ace brain, the safety there, her fear of getting stuck To keep us from shacking up--or getting hitched. Slaving away with the rest of us peons-- I’m not saying you can outclass a Rolls Royce-- The job for her a chance to save some bucks. But can you really see me driving one? Hell, at her age I had three kids to feed, OK. I wanted to. Tell you something else. If Maggie Not that I’d trade them for a hundred more degrees, Just snapped her fingers I’d be in her bed. But she’s been fancy-free her whole damned Amazing how she took my best yawning Life. Admittedly--part of her appeal. Behavior for a sign I thought Could never figure how she slipped the net-- The whole thing had a future. Chasms Mystery girl, Maggie of the books. Between us sometimes. That’s what you call them. Chasms. I was mateless, dateless, and she was damn Like the time she asked me how an orgasm Near a vision, G-rated like a Disney flick: Felt. Can you imagine her not knowing? Chasms. "Gidget Graduates and Finds a Job," And still she thought that we could make it. Try Or, better, "Pollyanna Falls in Love." Reasoning with rose-colored glasses. Try. So there I was, crass Mel the hooky cop, If she’d been born in the church.., maybe then. And there she is, falling for me for chrissake, but a convert? Gee7. How could I win? My ex denouncing A gift-wrapped virgin I couldn’t keep. I did Christianity as patriarchal rot-- Play at losing myself to find myself. Maggie running to her bishop for advice. Went cold-turkey on tobacco. Pictured Her consciousness so far from being raised Kids climbing out of windows, the house so full of them;She’d yet to see herself as a grown woman. Me a Mormon bishop, passing by the bars Interviews to check her worthiness? My uncles keep open. Tried to learn to dance. They couldn’t see it? And me share her with that? That really would have gotten my ex. Sweet Maggie, treasure of Sierra Madre. The final papers duly signed and me Loved her? Stripped down to her pagan self... Waltzing in monkey-suits in church cultural Hell. I would only disappoint her. Halls. But if I don’t know by now But she never thought so. Never. Can you beat that? --KAREN 1VIARGUERITE MOLONEY

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Revelation can go upward in the Church, upward through a hierarchy at its top or bottom, or even from non-hierarchical to hierarchical positions.

C OUNTER- HIERARCH I CAL REVELATION

By Todd Compton

THIS PAPER DEALS WITH REVELATION AND HOW to Church history for the next generation of leaders to deal it is sometimes received. Specifically I will address a process ofwith. revelation in which revelation is received by someone compar- While some might make a strong distinction between atively low in a hierarchy, or not in the hierarchy, and isrevelation and inspiration, in this paper I will treat them as if eventually accepted by someone higher in the hierarchy. I havethey are closely related, different in strength, but on the same noticed this pattern in the scriptures and in Church history--continuum, and will consider inspiration, including moral in fact, this article is a direct outgrowth of my teaching Sundayinsight, to be a sort of revelation. For instance, in an 1892 School for two years, trying to read the New Testament and speech, President Wilford Woodruff seems to use revelation Book of Mormon carefully. and inspiration as more or less interchangeable terms.2 While Church leaders can be inspired, they are still human and fallible. We find this fact exemplified all through the PETER AND PAUL AT ANTIOCH scriptures and Church history: Moses disobeyed God at Meri- bath-Kadesh (Numbers 20:11-12, 27:12-14); as this paper will MY first test case is the confrontation of Paul and Peter show, according to Paul, Peter acted hypocritically in response at Antioch, which Paul describes in Galatians 2.3 Unfortu- to social pressure; Lehi joined Laman and Lemuel in murmur-nately, we don’t have Peter’s version of this event and some ing against the Lord; Jonah did not want to save the repentantinterpreters of this passage have viewed Peter with some sym- city of Ninevah. As President J. Reuben Clark said, "Even the pathy. But for the purposes of this paper, in true fundamental- President of the Church has not always spoken under the ist fashion, I will assume that Paul’s version is substantially direction of the Holy Ghost, for a prophet is not always atrue. It is worth noting that the idea of a fallible Peter was so prophet .... In our own Church, leaders have differed in viewtroubling to Patristic commentators that this passage became a from the first." 1 model case of "polemical theology," Kontroverstheologie, in the Some might think that an emphasis on this idea is overlyMiddle Ages. In fact, Augustine and Jerome had a famous critical of prophets and Church leaders, even anti-Mormon.epistolary dispute concerning it. While Augustine denounced Actually, emphasizing the fallibility of inspired leaders is theJerome’s simulation theory (in which Paul and Peter stage their only possible defense against simplistic anti-Mormon critics.dispute as a kind of teaching tool) because of the necessary Otherwise we have to run around in a state of paranoia truth of every word of scripture, he also tried to harmonize the covering up well-documented failings of Church leaders in antwo apostles. Later scholars also would be troubled by the unconvincing--and seemingly dishonest--way. And as we trydispute between Augustine and Jerome, and would propose to cover up past mistakes, we add a whole new layer of failingsharmonization theories to explain this dispute.4 When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was in the wrong. Before certain men TODD COMPTON served a mission in Ireland; received his Ph.D. came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But in classics at U.C.L.A.; and has published articles in American when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate Journal of Philology, Classical Quarterly, The Journal of Popu- himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those lar Culture and By Study and By Faith, Vol. I. This paper was who belonged to the circumcision group. The other Jews presented at the 5unstone Symposium West Symposium in Concord, joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy California, in 1989. even Barnabas was led astray. When I saw that they were

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not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to the president of the Church in a regional conference. Extraor- Peter in front of them all, "You are a Jew, yet you live like dinary as the situation was, the pattern is clear: moral leader- a Gentile, and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you ship and inspiration flowed from below to above. force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs? (Galatians Significantly, a passage like this found its way into the 2:11-14, New International Version.) scriptures and survived. Obviously, God wants us to ponder As we try to reconstruct the background to this incident, we the fact that our leaders, prophetic as they may be, have faults. see that Peter is something equivalent to the president of the(However, it is interesting that the confrontation between Peter primitive Church--the leading member of the twelve originaland Paul is not mentioned in Acts. "Correlating" is not a apostles selected by Christ. Earlier, Peter had received an uniquely modem practice.) important vision relax- ing the dietary laws of the Old Testament and ~o0~ NEPHI’S SUBTLE encouraging gentiles to REBUKE OF LEHI become Christian. Paul 00, was an apostle who had A SECOND ex- received a personal vis- ample comes from the itation from Christ, but Book of Mormon with was not one of the Lehi and his clan in the Twelve. In Mormon desert on the way to the terms, on one hand we Red Sea: we have the have a president of the "good," prophetic Lehi Church and on the and Nephi, versus the other, a junior apostle, "bad" Laman and not even a member of Lemuel. But, as often the Quorum of the happens in the Book of Twelve. Peter, in line Mormon, things are not with his revelation and quite that simple. Lehi, Paul’s perspective, eats the chief prophet of the with gentile Chris- group, who had com- tians--a highly symbo- A Church leader who seeks to wield his plete hierarchical and lic act of Christian ecclesiastical authority in an area in which he genealogical seniority, unity, since generally has a moral lapse (1 Jews were revolted by has little or no expertise perhaps runs the Nephi 16:18-20). We the idea of eating in risk of overstepping his bounds. have a moment of cri- common with gentiles; sis: Nephi broke his it was probably also a ritual act linked with the early celebra- bow and there was inadequate food for the exhausted desert tion of the sacrament.5 travelers. Laman and Lemuel and the sons of Ishmael But as Peter eats with Gentiles in the purity of Christian murmured "exceedingly," and Lehi, surprisingly, joined them fellowship, visitors arrive from James, the leader of a conserva- and "began to murmur against the Lord his God." Then they tive faction of the primitive Christian church concerned with all "were exceedingly sorrowful" and murmured against the preserving Jewish ritual practice. Peter immediately with- Lord together. draws; Barnabas and other Christians follow him. To Paul, this What might have started out as a moment of discourage- is an act of moral cowardice, and he denounces Peter publicly ment for the elderly Lehi ended up as a virtual group rebellion "to his face," "in front of them all." "He was in the wrong"; "he against God. Of course, it was Nephi who assumed moral was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group." leadership at this point. His reaction to Lehi’s lapse was quite Peter, along with others, "played the hypocrite" [in Greek, different from Paul’s reaction to Peter’s. But before he ap- sunul)ekr~th~san]; "they carried Barnabas away with their proached Lehi, he denounced his brothers (who were above "hypocrisy" [tel hupokrfsei]; "they were not acting in line with him in normal family status, if not in religious hierarchy) for the truth of the gospel." This hypocrisy language is strong, hardening their hearts to the extent of murmuring against God. especially since hypocrisy was the central accusation Christ There is an implicit reproach to Lehi here, for Lehi had been leveled against the Pharisees. doing the same thing. Nephi then made a new bow and arrow, Thus, when Peter had abdicated his position of moral and, instead of denouncing his father, asked him for guidance: leadership, Paul, though hierarchically inferior to Peter, as- "And I said unto my father: Whither shall I go to obtain food?" sumed it and felt it was even necessary to denounce him It is interesting that Nephi did not attack hierarchical struc- publicly. Imagine that scene transferred to a Mormon setting-- ture or try to place himself above Lehi, just as Paul wasn’t an equivalent might be a recently-called apostle denouncing trying to tear down Peter’s authority in an absolute way. In-

JUNE 1991 PAGE 35 S U N S T O N E stead, Nephi tried to strengthen his father in his propheticble, President Smith’s Gospel Doctrine, a Melchizedek mission. As quiet and constructive as this response was, it waspriesthood manual.9 President Smith had served a mission in nevertheless a subtle but telling rebuke to an erring propheticHawaii as a very young man. Then, after the notorious Walter leader. Gibson had been presiding disastrously as mission president Lehi inquired of the Lord and was strongly and overtlyin Hawaii, two apostles, Ezra T. Benson, then 53, and the rebuked by God "insomuch that he was brought down into the future prophet, Lorenzo Snow, then 50, accompanied by Jo- depths of sorrow." Lehi consulted the Liahona and receivedseph E Smith, then 25, visited the islands to set up the mission further chastening so that he "did fear and tremble exceed-again. Smith, not yet an apostle, acted as their interpreter and ingly." But the instrument gave direction for Nephi’s hunting,was left as mission president when the two apostles returned and he found and killed game. The crisis was averted. Once to Utah. However, as they arrived at the islands by boat, there again, the scriptures offer an example of a serious lapse in thewas a tense moment as they tried to land. Their vessel was chief prophet of a group and of moral inspiration going fromanchored in a rough channel, and the natives and young a hierarchically lesser figure to the higher. Joseph E Smith knew it would be difficult to get to shore safely. The natives had built a breakwater, and normally would care- EMMA AND THE WORD OF WISDOM fully ferry passengers to shore in their small boats. But, for some reason, the Apostles decided to take the ship’s "unwieldy MY third example is a delightful anecdote from modernfreight-boat" and try for the shore. Smith strongly disagreed Church history, the circumstances behind the bestowal of thewith this decision and warned the very much senior Church Word of Wisdom revelation. Joseph Smith, in February 1833, leaders that such a course would be extremely unsafe, that the held the School of the Prophets in a room above the kitchen of boat ran a great risk of capsizing. The older men refused to his house. According to Brigham Young, listen to him. Smith offered to go ashore alone and bring a safer the first thing they did was to light their pipes, and, boat back, but the brethren were insistent on taking the while smoking, talk about the great things of the freight-boat immediately. Emotions apparently became heated, kingdom, and spit all over the room, and as soon as the and one of the apostles told the young missionary, "Young pipe was out of their mouths a large chew of tobacco man, you would better obey counsel." The party got on the would then be taken. Often when the Prophet entered boat; but the strong-minded Joseph E Smith refused to leave the room to give the school instructions he would find the main ship. himself in a cloud of tobacco smoke.6 The freight-boat came to the dangerous, rough bit of sea; a Emma complained at "having to clean so filthy a floor," andgreat wave overturned it, dumping the two apostles, along according to Brigham Young, this in part "made the Prophetwith Elder W. W. Cluff and others, into about thirty feet of think upon the matter, and he inquired of the Lord relating towater. Natives saw the disaster and hurriedly came out in a the conduct of the elders in using Tobacco, and the revelationboat to rescue the drowning men. When they had pulled known as Word of Wisdom was the result of his inquiry."everyone they could see out of the water, they began to paddle David Whitmer adds a bit more, telling us that Emma actuallytoward land, but Eider Cluff realized that Elder Snow was suggested a revelation on the subject: nowhere to be seen. They turned back, eventually found him, Some of the men were excessive chewers of the filthy and brought him into the boat, though he looked dead. A weed, and their disgusting slobbering and spitting messenger went back to Joseph E Smith, who had helplessly caused Mrs. Smith... to make the ironical remark that witnessed all this, and told him Elder Snow had died. But "It would be a good thing if a revelation could be had fortunately, with a priesthood blessing, Elder Snow was declaring the use of tobacco a sin, and commanding its brought back to life on the shore. suppression.,,7 This example shows a young man who simply had more According to Whitmer, the men suggested the banning ofexperience and knowledge in a limited area than men who, tea and coffee in this proposed revelation as a counter-dig though they were apostles and his ecclesiastical superiors, against the women. Curiously, this proposed revelation came,were newcomers to Hawaii and probably not well acquainted and it discouraged use of both the men’s tobacco and the with seafaring, at least in the local area. Further, one of the women’s tea and coffee, though it was originally a word ofapostles--who should have bowed to the younger man’s counsel, not an absolute ban. Emma’s complaint "made thegreater experience~emanded his obedience. But Smith Prophet think upon the matter"; moral inspiration came first"reiterated his impression of danger" and refused to obey. to a technically non-hierarchical person, then moved upward Thus, a Church leader who seeks to wield his ecclesiastical to the head of the Church. We also have the important pattern authority in an area in which he has little or no expertise of reveiation coming through a husband-wife combination. perhaps runs the risk of overstepping his bounds, despite his ecclesiastical position. For instance, if a Church leader deals YOUNG JOSEPH E SMITH DISSENTS with non-ecclesiastical subjects---be they geographic, economic, scientific--he incurs a certain danger if he has only a MY fourth example is an incident from the life of Josephlimited background in those subjects. Joseph E Smith’s E Smith. This comes from the most conservative source possi-receptivity to an impression coincided with his knowledge and

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experience--inspiration and perspiration go together, as they he had learned the Adam-God doctrine from Joseph Smith. In say about genius.1° For example, a Church leader who has aan article on this topic, David Buerger concludes, convincingly, background in the methodology of history, or has even writtenthat Joseph Smith did not teach the doctrine; Young was either history attempting to use the highest standards of historiogra-elaborating on or misunderstood Joseph’s teachings. 12 Though phy, would be best fitted for critiquing historians. Even if athis conclusion, if correct, happily leaves us without the Church leader expresses true principles, as he ventures intonecessity of believing in the confusing (in my view) Adam-God matters with a secular dimension he may not be able to make doctrine, it also leaves us with a rather unnerving view of a his points as effectively as possible without some measure ofChurch president going fairly far astray, doctrinally. Though expertise. Brigham strongly believed in the doctrine, significantly, he The story of Levi never advanced it as a Savage and the Willie revelation to be added handcart company to the Doctrine and illustrates this princi- Covenants, and the ple. Savage spoke vehe- body of the Church, led mently against starting by Orson Pratt and vin- the westward journey dicated by time, never so late in the season, as received it (to Brigham he had knowledge of Young’s frustration).. the country and its This is an example of weather. However, he the body of the Chm:ch was voted down by the being more inspired highest Church leaders than its leader on this in the company, and he particular issue (assum- stoically chose to make ing that we reject the the trip with the com- Adam-God doctrine, as pany despite impend- Elder Bruce R. ing disaster. A little la- McConkie, for one, has ter, he was denounced instructed our genera- for his faithlessness by tion to do). This does an apostle, Eider If we follow Church leaders who are not doing not mean that we can’t Franklin Richards. The right, we are not absolved from wrongdoing; accept Brigham Young journey was, of course, as a prophet, an "Amer- a tragic mistake, and we share their guilt. Sometimes obedience to ican Moses" called by loss of lives and many Church leaders and obedience to God and the Lord to fulfill a injuries ensued. In an specific mission which ironic denouement, moral justice are not the same thing. he did with complete Brigham Young de- success though he was a nounced Elder Richards; he had been a Church leader for most fallible human being. Perhaps doctrinal exploration was not of his life and lacked practical knowledge, Young pointed outBrigham’s greatest area of expertise; like Elders Snow and disparagingly. Thus, in this case, the rank and file memberBenson in Hawaii’s treacherous waters, he was out of his depth with expertise in a limited area was more inspired than anin this matter. But in many other areas, his inspiration is apostle out of his element. 11 evident. I am not suggesting that he had no theological in- Another interesting example of counter-hierarchical revela-sights, but rather that he was more inspired in certain doctrinal tion is the conflict of Brigham Young and Orson Pratt over theareas than in others. 13 Adam-God doctrine (i.e., the teaching that Adam is God the Father, and Christ is Adam’s literal son), a topic so troubling to CONTEMPORARY EXAMPLES OF Church leadership that it has almost become a taboo subject. COUNTER-HIERARCHICAL REVELATION Brigham Young, as Church president, apparently was a strong proponent of this doctrine, though sometimes he seems to FOR balance, I add two examples of the pattern from the have had more typical views on Adam and God. Orson Pratt, contemporary Church. A friend of mine once had a stake on the other hand, was a strong opponent of it. In the fascinat- president who felt strongly that long hair was inappropriate for ing, long, drawn out conflict between these strong-willedmen at a time when that style was popular. He refused to allow leaders, Brigham Young never quite got Orson to knuckle any of the young men of his stake to be ordained to the under completely, and Orson, though he had moments ofMelchizedek priesthood if they had long hair; this went on for retraction, never stopped insisting that the doctrine did notyears, and as a result many young men did not go on missions. square with the scriptures. Brigham Young always claimed thatFinally, when there had been widespread dissatisfaction with

JUNE 1991 PAGE 37 5 U N S T O N E his policy, he submitted it to his high council for a vote. They brethren, as counselors in the Priesthood, as watchmen voted against it, and he bowed to their decision. When I first on the towers of Zion, and remind me of this covenant heard the story, I remarked that it showed humility that he and promise which I make to the body of the Church in would submit the question to the high council. My friend general conference assembled at this time. The Lord countered, "Yes, but only after years of practicing the previous never did intend that one man should have all power, policy with all its effects." and for that reason he has placed in his Church, Another example involves a rank and file member of the presidents, apostles, high priests, 70s, elders, and the Church. A friend of mine went to a foreign country on his various officers of the lesser Priesthood, all of which are mission, where he met someone who had been excommuni- essential in their order and place. 14 cated from the Church for questioning the morals of a local Here we have, connected with the concept of revelation leader. A stake president had become involved in a serious going from lower to higher, the idea of revelation coming to a moral problem, and this member, not part of the local hierar- group. There is both an upward flow and a downward flow of chy, found out and was very troubled. He went to his bishop inspiration--the counselors’ insights and inspirations go up to and told him the story. The bishop thought the member wasthe president, who in turn has a special link to God, and falsely accusing the stake president (who he thought should berevelation comes down in response. above suspicion) and excommunicated the member. Eventu- Also, the president, in true humility, welcomes reproof from ally there was an appeal to authority higher than the stakehis hierarchical subordinates, as watchmen,, if he acts without president and an investigation ensued. Finally the stake presi-taking counsel with those "beneath" him, the body of the dent was excommunicated, and the local member was re-in- Church. According to Joseph E Smith, for us to reprove leaders stated in the Church. who are too autocratic is not just an option, but our duty as This is, of course, a challenging and paradoxical situation.watchmen on the towers of Zion. Church members have the "follow the Brethren" principle As we ponder this recommendation for ecclesiastical impressed on them continually. But, what do you do whenreproving, we remember that a revelation given through Jo- church leaders have serious moral flaws? Fortunately, mostseph Smith authorized that he be reproved. In one of the Church leaders don’t, but it is always possible that someearliest sections in the Doctrine and Covenants, the Lord leaders could have lapses. I think the Church member in theinstructed Oliver Cowdery to reprove Joseph on occasion: story above did exactly as he should have done, though he had "Admonish him in his faults, and also receive admonition of to endure excommunication because of his actions. If he hadhim" (D&C 6:19). Thus we have an upward and downward a strong belief in the Church and Church leaders, this mustinterplay of reproval. But in the previous verse, Oliver is have been a harrowing, lonely ordeal. instructed to "stand by my servant Joseph, faithfully, in what- In addition, the counselor offices in Church governmentsoever difficult circumstances he may be .... " Paradoxically, implicitly acknowledge this pattern of checking leaders. If the"standing by" a leader and reproving his faults are not opposed prophet were infallible, if he received a steady, direct stream ofactivities, if done in the right spirit. absolute revelation, and were entirely self-sufficient, he would This is not to deny that many times the leader is right, the not need counselors. Yet they are there--counselors for bish- followers wrong, perhaps the most common circumstance. But ops, stake presidents, and the prophet of the Church. I’ve the other possibility exists: the pattern is there in the scriptures always been impressed with what Joseph E Smith said on for us to think about. becoming president of the Church: I propose that my counselors and fellow presidents in OBEDIENCE TO LEADERS AND TO GOD the First Presidency shall share with me in the responsibility of every act which I shall perform in this I WILL now discuss some of the implications this pattern capacity. I do not propose to take the reins in my own has for us as Church members, for leaders and also for rank hands to do as I please; but I propose to do as my and file members. brethren and I agree upon... I have always held, and do First of all, it challenges us as leaders to take seriously the hold, and trust I always shall hold, that it is wrong for ideas, insights, counsel, suggestions, and even rebukes of those one man to exercise all the authority and power of hierarchically beneath us, to accept inspiration wherever we presidency in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day may find it, and to look for it in other people, both "above" and Saints. I dare not assume such a responsibility, and I will "below" us. We should realize that we are fallible, morally and not, so long as I can have men like these [pointing to intellectually, and we should have the courage to admit our Presidents Winder and Lund] to stand by and counsel mistakes and get back on track, as did Lehi, instead of dog- with me in the labors we have to perform .... If at any gedly pursuing a wrong course--instead of thinking that, time my brethren of the apostleship shall see in me a because we are leaders, everything we do is; rubber-stamped as disposition to depart from this principle, or a perfection. It is dangerous to equate our mistakes with the forgetfulness on my part of this covenant that I make truth of the Church. There is also the danger of not subjecting today before this body of Priesthood, I ask them in the ourselves to the continual moral and intellectual self-examina- name of my Father, that they will come to me, as my tion that all human beings need---even and perhaps especially

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Church leaders. Lehi’s community was much better off becausemorally, we have a duty to address the problem. 16 Lehi did not lash out at the quiet rebuke given him by his son. Brigham Young instructed Church members not to take his The rebuke, combined with Lehi’s humility, opened the waycounsel thoughtlessly, but to subject it to careful examina- for a renewal of revelation in a community that was driftingtion.~r Hugh B. Brown, as a counselor in the First Presidency, away. said: According to one patristic tradition regarding the Antioch While all members should respect, support, and heed incident, Peter "humbly submitted to the reproach of his the teachings of the Authorities of the Church, no one ’inferior.’ " This interpretation helped create the "humble should accept a statement and base his testimony upon prelate" theme, which theologians cited when trying to reason it, no matter who makes it, until he has, under mature with obstinate popes in examination, found the middle ages. Later, it to be true and Luther would use this worthwhile; then his theme to argue that the logical deductions humblest Christian may b{be confirmednfirmed byby could correct an erring the spirit of pope.15 revelation to his The implications for spirit becausebecause realreal the rank and file conversion must Church members are come frofrom ~ within. 18 also important. We anin~An interesting :resting exalexam- may return to the Anti- ple in a non-Morronon-Mormon och incident and apply setting isi the the case case of to it a standard phrase Catholic theologian from Mormonism: Hans KOng, ng, whowh hashas "Follow the Brethren." openly spoken out Consider Peter eating against doctrines in the with gentile Christians, Catholic church he feels the arrival of a group are not compatible with from James, and then scripture. He has also Peter, the Church presi- God sees the Church in all its complexity, opposed the present dent, withdrawing While there is hierarchical order in the Church, pope openly, who in from the gathering. it also contains important democratic elements, turn has used every Then, others follow means in his power to him, including It is not strictly authoritarian, but a community, quiet the theologian. Barnabas, Paul’s KOng describes his dis- missionary companion full of checks and balances. sent as "critical loyalty among the gentiles. and loyal criticisms of These people who withdrew with Peter were, literally, follow-this Church.’49 His criticisms are a result of his loyalty. Their ing the Brethren, the "president" of the Church. How does Paul main thrust has been directed against the doctrine of Papal view this obedience? Does he commend it, since the people infallibility, which he argues is not biblical in any way. In 1979 were, after all, following the prophet of the Church? No, heKOng’s authorization to teach was withdrawn from him under denounces it strongly. They are "playing the hypocrite" alongthe direction of Pope John Paul II, causing immediate interna- with Peter, and share his guilt. To Paul’s shock, Barnabas (alsotional protest. Since then, the gulf between the theologian and an apostle and Paul’s former mentor) is even led aside "by theirthe Pope has, if anything, widened, and KOng’s criticisms have hypocrisy." Thus, according to Paul, if we follow Churchbecome sharp. leaders who are not doing right, we are not absolved from In the Church, we strongly hold to the idea of personal wrongdoing; we share their guilt. And the conclusion is ines-revelation but we often interpret it very hierarchically. You get capable: sometimes obedience to Church leaders and obedi- personal revelation only for yourself; the Prophet alone gets ence to God and moral justice are not the same thing. inspiration for the Church. But the story of Emma and the This principle puts a sobering burden on us. It can be easy, Word of Wisdom shows that inspired insights, for the benefit in one sense, to live by a religious version of "my country rightof the Church, can come to us as non-hierarchical Church or wrong"; "when the prophet speaks the debate is over." But members. If our leaders are sensitive and thoughtful, as Joseph this isn’t what the Lord wants; he requires us to subject ourSmith was, insights we receive, can affect them and lead them leaders’ actions and directives to moral and intellectualto receive further revelation. scrutiny; to serve with all of our mind as well as our heart. That Finally, this pattern leads us to one last implication. I have is more difficult. Then, if we find our leadership wanting,argued elsewhere that women have priesthood in our church,

JUNE 1991 PAGE 39 S U N S T 0 N E especially those who have been through the temple, and thatthe structure. The people I have looked at are usually on good it should be more recognized and integrated formally into theterms with the Church structure--either a part of it or related Church structure. But as matters presently stand, women are to it somehow. They were spiritually sensitive people. Nephi not part of the Church hierarchy--they are excluded from thedidn’t lay down the law to Lehi; he went to Lehi and asked him most important Church positions. However, the counter-hier- for leadership. There are ways of working counter-hierarchi- archical pattern shows us that women can receive revelationcally that are non-threatening. and inspiration for the benefit of the Church, not just for What of the problem of conflicting revelations--members themselves and their children. of the Church getting (false) revelations that counter the (true) I hope that we, as Church leaders, will be sensitive to revelations of the leadership? This obviously can happen. This inspiration from those "beneath" us, from the general member-is not a simple question; living in the real world, and in the real ship of the church, and that we in general membership can liveChurch, many times does not give us simple solutions to close to the spirit and convey inspiration to those above us oncomplex problems. Every Church member must simply use occasion, and, if necessary, constructively be the loyal opposi-judgment in evaluating what is inspiration and what isn’t. In tion. I hope that together we can all find the unity necessary insome ways the concept of counter-hierarchical revelation is the gospel. freeing; in other ways it is a great burden. If it is misused it can lead to apostasy; but if it is not used in certain situations, that AFTERWORD moral apathy can also lead to apostasy. Nephi helped bring his community back from the edge of rebellion. SINCE I gave this talk, a few reasonable objections have Some wonder how it would be possible to keep order in the been raised to it, which I will try to deal with now. Church with such a "counter-hierarchical" pattern in opera- Some object that many of my examples of people who tion. Again, I don’t see this pattern denying the structure of the receive counter-hierarchical revelation are still part of the Church. I see it as using the structure of the: Church. Any who hierarchy, and perhaps even ha~e a "calling" to dissent, i.e., a have "counter-hierarchical" inspiration must subject it to counselor. However, I shared some non-hierarchical examples, Church leaders and the Church, even if informally, for accep- such as Emma Smith and the Word of Wisdom, the case of Levi tance or rejection. I believe God in his infinite vision sees the Savage, and the two modern examples. Most of us can provide Church in all its complexity. While there is; hierarchical order examples of local leaders who have acted because of a com- in the Church, it also contains important democratic elements. ment from the rank and file. However, this paper emphasizes It is not strictly authoritarian, but a community, full of checks only that revelation can go upward in the Church, upward and balances, where important inspiration can come to any through a hierarchy at its top or bottom, or even from non-hi- one who is in tune, not just to a few (though Church leaders erarchical to hierarchial positions. I am certainly not saying have a responsibility to conduct the business of the Church). that upward revelation is the only, or most common, pattern One reader of this talk commented that it raised interesting for revelation, only that it can happen and that it happens more questions about how God looked at hierarchy, and mentioned often than we acknowledge. It is a necessary escape valve in that, after the Resurrection, Christ did not appear first to Peter, the Church, and we should make use of it on occasion, as but to Mary, who was not part of the hierarchy. Thus, a leaders or rank and file members. "non-hierarchical" person was the first witness of the most Another valid question: does my model lead to the danger important religious event in the history of humankind and was of schism? That danger obviously does exist. An authoritarian sent to take the message to the eleven apostles (Mark 16:7,9; wrong-headed leader can do the Church a great deal of dam- John 20:17-18). But this did not negate the ecclesiastical structure that was already in existence--Mary was sent to help age, but an authoritarian wrong-headed critic can also do the 21 Church a lot of damage (in my experience, some Sunstone it. symposium lecturers are not entirely immune to dogmatism or My paper could be seen as a critique of those critics of the Church who leave the Church, instead of staying with it and wrong-headedness). But in none of my examples did the 22 person leave the Church when they received their individual working constructively to improve it. ~ inspirations--they stayed with the Church and enriched it. Paul never dreamed of deposing Peter or leaving the Church, NOTES when he denounced him publicly, and there are hints that he 1. J. Reuben Clark, Jr., "When Are Church Leaders’ Words Entitled to Claim of Scrip- ture?" talk given to LDS Seminary and Institute Teachers, Brigham Young University, 7 July continued working closely with Peter after the Antioch inci- 1954, published in Deseret News, 31 July 1954, 2f. Clark quotes Joseph Smith, History oJ the dent.2° Levi Savage stayed with the ill-fated handcart company Church (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1978), 5:265. 2. Deseret Weekly 45:545 (9 October 1892), as quoted in Rodney Turner, Women and after his warning had been rejected and he did all he could to the Priesthood (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1972), 281. help the company endure the winter. His stoic heroism is all 3. For bibliography on this confrontation, see Hans Dieter Betz, Galatians, A Commen- tary... (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1979), 104; Karlfried Froehlich, "Fallibility Instead of Infal- the more poignant when you consider that he was denounced libility? A Brief History of the Interpretation of Galatians 2:11-14," in Teaching Authority & by an apostle for being faithless. Infallibility in the Church, eds. Paul Empie, T. Austin Murphy, and Joseph Burgess (Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1978), 259-269. Does non-hierarchcial revelation make a person a law unto 4. For defenses of Peter in this incident, see the Kerygmata Petrou 1:4-5, found in Betz himself or herself?. No, counter-hierarchical revelation does 331; Betz 109, 104, 103; for Augustine and Jerome, see Froelhlich 261-62, with bibliography. not negate the hierarchy. The hierarchy is still there; it is still

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5. Cf. Gonther Bornkamm, Paul, tr. D.M.G. Stalker (New York: Harper & Row, 1971), 14. Quoted from Gospel Doctrine 176-77; Conference Report (Special) 1901, 82. 45; S. Scott Bartchy, "Tablefellowship with Jesus and the ’Lord’s Meal’ at Corinth," in In- 15. Froehlich 263, nn. 24-26; Augustine, Epistle 82.2.22; Cyprian, Epistle 71.3. For the crease in Learning: Essays in Honor of James G. Fan Burn< ed. Owens and Hamm (Manhattan, humble prelate theme, Froehlich 265. For Luther, see Froehlich, 267. Kansas: Manhattan Christian College, 1979), 45-61, especially 57; J. Jeremias, The Eucharis- 16. See the thoughtful talk by L. Jackson Newell, "Personal Conscience and Priesthood tic Words of Jesus (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1977), 204-6,262. Authority," Dialogue: A Journal of Mormort Thought 13 (Winter 1980): 81-87. 6. Journal of Discourses (]D) 12:158; 17. JD 3:45, quoted in D. Michael Quinn, "From Sacred Grove to Sacral Power Struc- 7. David Whitmer, in Des Moines Daily News, 16 October 1886, 20; cf. Paul H. Peter- ture," Dialogue 17 (Summer 1984): 14. "Some may say, ’Brethren, you who lead the Church, son, An Historical Analysis of the Word of Wisdom, (Master’s Thesis, BYU, 1972), 19-20; Linda we have all confidence in you.., and if Brother Brigham is satisfied with it, I am.’ I do not King Newell and Valeen Tippetts Avery, Mormon Enigma (New York: Doubleday, 1984), 47. wish any Latter-day Saint in this world, nor in heaven, to be satisfied with anything I do, 8. Peterson, "An Historical Analysis," 19-20. unless the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ, the spirit of revelation, makes them satisfied." 9. Gospel Doctrine (Salt Lake City: Deseret, 1956) 10th ed., 534-35; from a "Biographi- Quinn cites instances in which congregations have voted against proposed Church leaders cal Sketch," written by Edward H. Anderson. For another account of this incident, see Eliza presented by even the President of the Church; in these cases, the President acceded to the R. Snow Smith, Biography and Family Record of Lorenzo Snow . . . (Salt Lake City: Desert community vote. News Co., 1884), 276-81. 18. "Pres. Brown Addresses BYU," Church News, 24 May 1969, 13. 10. Elder Dallin Oaks has said, "Seekers who have paid the price in perspiration have 19. Hans Kang, His Work and His Way, Hermann Haring and Karl-Josef Kuschel, eds. been magnified in inspiration," Ensign 19 (May 1989): 29. (Garden City, New York: Image, 1980, orig. 1978), 176, cf. 170-75; L. Swidler, K~ng in 11. See Wallace Stegner, The Gathering of Zion (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Com- Conflict (New York: Doubleday, 1981); H. K~ng, The Church--Maintained in Truth (New pany, 1964), 221-48; LeRoy and Ann Haler, Handcarts to Zion, 1856-60 (Glendale, CA: Ar- York: Seabury Press, 1980); Freedom Today (New York: Sheed and Ward, 1966); Truthful- thur H. Clark Co., 1960), 53-141; B.H. Roberts, A Comprehensive History of the Church... ness: the Future of the Church (New York: Sheed and Ward, 1966). (Provo, UT: BYU Press, 1965), 4:88-97. "To the overzeal, not to say fanaticism, of his 20. See Bornkamm 48; 1 Corinthians 9.6. "Paul reinstated the unity.., between the Je- brethren, Elder Savage opposed common sense, and his knowledge of the country .... " rusalem mother church and his churches, and down to the end sought to promote this with writes Roberts, 89. all his power." 12. David Buerger, "The Adam-God Doctrine," Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 21. A most paradoxical situation for a woman to be "sent" to the apostles, for apostle 15 (Spring 1982): 14; see also Gary Bergera, "The Orson Pratt-Brigham Young Controver- means "one sent," from the Greek apost~llO, "to send." I recently learned that Mary was sies: Conflicts within the Quorums, 1853-1868," Dialogue 13 (Summer 1980): 7. For known in the MiddleAges as apostola apostolorum, the apostle to the apostles (see The Golden Brigham’s inspiration, see L. Arrington, Brigham Young, American Moses (New York: Knopf, Legend of Jacobus de Voragine tr. by Granger Ryan and Helmut Ripperger [New York: Arno 1985); H. Nibley, Nibley on the Timely and Timeless (Provo: BYU, 1978), 229-61. Press, 1969], 357). 13. Brigham Young and Orson Pratt also disagreed about whether God progressed in 22. Cf. Levi Peterson’s discussion of Juanita Brooks as an "inside," loyal critic of knowledge. In our day, Elder McConkie, following President Joseph Fielding Smith, Mormonism, including the wonderful biography, Juanita Brooks, Mormon Woman Historiah supported the Pratt position, and Eugene England supports the Young position. See Eugene (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1988) and "Juanita Brooks, My Subject, IVy Sis- England, "Perfection and Progression: Two Complimentary Ways to Talk about God," BY/./ ter," Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 22:1 (Spring 1989): 16-29, especially 22-24. Studies 29 (Summer 1989): 31-47. Counter-hierarchical inspiration was operating in either There is also such a thing as a disloyal inside critic of Mormonism, of course. the earlier or later controversy.

LE BONNE VAUX You watch Ed pad his window secluded and so close to home, dreaming to mute the outside world. of ancient Jews who leave sands You close your door to invaders, of Egypt, wandering through the Red Sea take off the receiver to the telephone that opens, and feel yourself falling, move to the back back bedroom. through wilderness--wandering further Walls of your skin link together into the steady pulse of deep sleep to exclude all but inside and sink into the ebb, the flow sight that’s dropped inside you. of the ocean breaking and pulling You crawl under the web you in now, retreating again of sheets, your brain wrapped then gently pushing against in a bandage of fog so dense what is solid on shore. the sun has gone down behind You want your eyes that close and see to stay in this world of deep peace. honey-combed walls spun under- It is what you know, a place to be ground like Christians of old alone like Jews who finally found their own who hid in dark tunnels beneath Rome Jericho--a bonne vaux. What you love is this secretly close to what they loved familiar place where as a child you sank in catacombs and you drift off, barely inside to this comfort, seeing gardens remembering about cobweb cataracts-- like those in Rome where inner courts "The outside world was unclear held secrets of foliage growing lush to James Joyce" and you imagine behind terra cotta more primitive than cave his glasses thickening, "so he became intro- dwellings and recall your mother telling you spective," you read, feeling yot{rself falling of the desert when over walls of adobe inside where these sheets seem to tumble she peeked in, seeing green so luminous in soft down through layers of comfort it was like a combe of Eden, moist and you drop into the dark of sleep surrounded and rich like life here and you dream in salmon light and feed on what nurtures of marmots biting you, and jump you--joined to a primitive source almost from your sleep, thinking that if you like a desert dwelling or mother’s soft sink back now, this earthwomb might swallow adobe walls--your private Walden, you, bury you in warm moist walls for good. --MARGARET RECHIF JUNE 1991 PAGE 41 Second Place, 1989 Brookie & D.K. Brown Memorial Fiction Contest REFLECTIONS OF THE LOST AND FOUND

By Hodgson Van Wagoner

I LOOK OUT MY WINDOW. UNBLEMISHED NORWAY West. I can’t see out the windows anymore. The girl looks at skirts by; too pure, almost-too pure, at least to ignore. Even me helplessly as she gathers her handbags. Perhaps it’s a after twenty months. I shift my focus and see the girl in theFreudian event, and I’m the one looking helplessly at her. I sit, window’s reflection. She still watches me, hoping, perhaps, I’llwaiting politely to be the last one off. She brushes by and watch her too. I’m wishing I could. "God dagen," I’d say aftertouches my shoulder gently. An accident? I wait some more a timid smile. "Amerikaner?" she’d ask, less timidly, her faceand think of Elder Miller. open and expansive, pure and intoxicating like the land out- At last the car is nearly empty. I heft my !briefcase and walk side. But I don’t turn to announce my interest. I close my eyes,stiff-legged, like an old cowboy, to the baggage racks. Twenty- instead, and remember that Norwegian girls do not shave theirtwo months of ’iust-couldn’t-throw-it-aways’ bulge ominously legs.., nor their armpits. It doesn’t help, really. So I remem-against my luggage zippers. Must make :some adjustments ber I’m a missionary--a good missionary, a faithful missionary,before I fly home. Nothing very important in there anyway-- long legs, good language, beyond reproach. My companions just pieces of me. agree. So does the President. There are girls back home. Soon. On my final, burdensome descent to the platform, Elders Back to the office the train trains. Nine hours back to theJensen and Baker trudge to my rescue. New boys, the younger office. I’m tired, though I’ve strained only in thought. Thoughtcrop--President’s Secretary and Supply Manager extraordi- is not my friend. It is not my big, brown, scrumpled Kingnaire. They arrived at the office three months ago when I left. James, nor is it my little white bible--the one they say is myThey now look only slightly alive. friend. Thought is my nearest, most constant companion, "Elder Roberts!" Jensen hails. He’S wearing a dirty sweater however. Often my only companion. Usually my enemy. Per-and no coat. I look at the station’s huge circular thermometer: haps Elder Miller’s too. 0°centigrade. "You can’t believe how glad we are to see you." Eider Miller, the target of my return. It’s getting dark out-They take my heaviest bags and drag/carry them down the

side.-- Oslo in less than an hour. And Elder Miller. loading-strip, and I feel guilty. They both look exhausted. Yesterday before Priesthood meeting the Branch President "How’s Miller?" My question is feeble. taps me on the shoulder. "Telefon, Eldste Roberts. President "Tried to jump out the window this morning," Baker Forsgren." Zone leader stuff, I think as I walk to the telephone,mumbles. "Jorgensen dragged him back in." a speaking assignment for the upcoming Zone Conference. "Finances are a mess," Jensen says. "We’re getting late Strange news for a Sunday. Never happens--right in the mid- notices all over the place." dle of the President’s sacrament meeting too. I know; I’ve been "Why didn’t someone call me sooner?" there. Shrugging shoulders to both sides. "We didn’t realize, I "Pack your bags, Elder," the President says. Never heard guess." him sound so bad. "You’re coming home to Oslo. I need you Inside my brain I shrug my shoulders too. I’d known, I here. Elder Miller needs you here." suppose. Miller called me often enough with problems--too "Elder Miller?" I swallow hard. often. ’Tll get it Elder Roberts, I’ll get it. Just tell me this one "He’S ill." Tremoring voice. "Finances are shot. It’s not histhing and I’ll have it." What slightly derogatory, overly irritated fault.., too much for anyone. Will you please come quickly?"Miller comments had I cast upon my consoling Elder Hender- "Sure," I say. "Tomorrow’s train okay?" son after hanging up the telephone each time? Miller would "Have to be. Tell Elder Henderson it’s a threesome until Ihave cried had he listened. He was too sensitive for the job. replace you." Certainly I was more worthy of insult than he. "I will." In the mission van I hold myself tightly, begging warmth, "And Elder Roberts, don’t tell anyone aboutand I feel sorry for Jensen who must be frozen. Miller... please." "Everything’s failing apart," Baker confides. "We have to It’s dark and the train is squeaking and jerking into Oslowatch Miller twenty-four hours a day. V~k’ve hidden all the

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"I’m not crazy. I’m not crazy. I’m evil. Oh Elder Roberts, I love God. Why couldn’t I do it right for God?"

knives, locked windows--even stashed our ties, just in case." blonde hair seem ancient. "Don’t expect too much." I say nothing. At the top of the office’s circular stairwell I pace aimlessly "Millerg the sweetest kid I’ve ever met," saysJensen. "I don’taround the banistered platform for a time. I loook over the understand." railing and see only cylindric hollow space dropping down I understand--part of it, anyway. "No! Not like that!" I into eternal nothingness of dark, lower floors. I wonder what groan, looking over Miller~ shoulder. I want to turn aroundit’s like at the bottom, looking up. I’m too tired to explore, so and punch the wall. "I’ve told you before; you have to addI go to Elder Miller. these two columns to the total before you can enter on line twenty-six." Two Elders, more new blood in the office, stand up as I enter. Their expressions are shy and agreeable. Terribly tired. Miller looks up over his shoulder sheepishly and smiles. "I’ll stay for a while." "My dad used to hate to teach me new things too. You’re They nod thankfully and retreat. On the bottom bunk of a nothing compared to him, though." There is no malice, notwo-bedder, Miller, his back to me, breathes deeply, rhythmi- leverage in his voice; just apology. I grit my teeth and remem-cally, asleep. I sit down in a dusty old chair and stare at a ber what an asshole I am. And then my impatience chewscowlick on the back of his head. I’m still tiredhwide awake: through, and I cut once more. The twenty-two-month-tired is not a sleepy tired. Twenty-two My escorts heave my luggage up four flights of stairs. Theymonths. I’m tired of me; the Lord is tired of me, too. Still insist. My old room of ten months, my favorite bed, the sourcehaven’t lost myself.., still haven’t found myself. I act like I of my escape, is favored by another. So I take the green room have, though, and it makes time go faster. Nobody knows the at the end of the hall. I open my suitcases but take nothing out.difference but me and God. And a part of Elder Miller, maybe. An old face, a remnant from the old crew, appears. Shake of the "You should leave!" hand and a hug. I still feel like winter. I look up, startled. I scarcely recognize the speaker. Miller’s "Where’s Miller?" eyes are dark and recessive. How long since he’s eaten? His "Hansen’s old room." Elder Jorgensen kicks at the carpet smile is a bitter frown, more bitter than my own. He seethes after answering. Dark circles under his eyes make his white,self-hatred.

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"I’m Satan, Roberts." me. "But your dialect is sounding Swedish." "You’re Miller." I smile. "You’re not the first to tell me." I look at her closely. "No!" He screams the word, and I squeeze lids against She’s aged slightly, even in three months. Too old to be my tearing eyes. "You’re not safe around me, bud. You shouldmother, but not old enough to be my grandmother. leave. You should all leave." "Why haven’t you joined the Church yet?" "But I just got here," I lamely say. She’s not offended; probably expected it. "Not enough kind- Miller laughs hysterically. "I couldn’t do it, man. Why didn’tness in your church. I don’t feel Christ." you tell me I couldn’t do it?" I nod my head, almost imperceptibly, and say nothing. She’s "I don’t know." speaking of the Church in Norway, and I have no defense. "I’m not crazy. I’m not crazy. I’m evil. Oh Roberts, I love "I’m glad you’re here," I say, and kiss her on the cheek. God. Why couldn’t I do it right for God?" She kisses my cheek in return. "Miller needs me." "You did all right." "I did my best. But I didn’t do it the way you said to do it. I PUSH the ledgers away and consider vomiting numbers. My best wasn’t all right. It was evil, like I’m evil." The office is empty; everyone is asleep but me and Fru "No!" I say. "You’re not evil. You’re Miller!" He starts to cryJohansen. Reports are three months behind. I should work and rolls away from me, against the wall. I despise myself inlonger, but fourteen hours is all I’m good for on little sleep. I the mirrored comparison of his dedication, in the hot beatingturn out the lights and wander upstairs to Miller’s room. of his committed heart. "You’re Miller," I say again. "Roberts?" Fru Johansen’s voice warms and melts the black- ness. I WAKE up late in the night kneeling next to his bed, my "Is he asleep?" chest and shoulders are slumped across the mattress beside "Yes. Slept most of the day." him. A transient memory of prayer flickers and ebbs. I find the "Is he still Satan?" dusty chair, and force myself awake until daylight. "Still Satan--bad Norwegian and all." "Amazing how that works," I mumble. ~WouLD’~ ~ r he’ve done it?" I set the bottle of Dristan "You all right? You drive yourself too hard." on my desk beside the ledger. "I’m fine." "Don’t know," says Jorgensen. "Jensen practically had to "You lie, but you don’t have to tell me." beat him up to get the bottle away." "I’ll sit with him for a while." It’s very thick and dark again "He needs to go to the hospital." while she thinks about this. "President says no. Too much bad publicity." "You come wake me in an hour. One hour; understand? You I pretend to see the wisdom in this. Church News reads:need sleep." She leaves. "Norwegian Elder Sacrifices Self with Dristan to Save Church I take my shoes off and sit back in the dusty chair. It’s a good Image." Obedience, I tell myself, so I say nothing. chair. I wonder what it feels like to be Miller. He’s serving God. "Do you remember Fru Johansen?" Jorgensen asks. An In that bed, in that hazy head, he’s serving God. Still dedicated, eternal investigator; one of Millers’ investigators. I remember.still trying to please. Can’t ever do enough. New.job: he’s the "She’s a nurse. Came to see him yesterday. She’s moving in afterExterminator, God’s Exterminator, out to kill the only Devil work today." left, the Devil in his head. I wonder who will exterminate "You’re kidding?" whom. "Nope. Took her vacation time and everything." The bed squeaks and I see Miller’s outline against the "What does the Prez say?" window. ’"Thank you!’ He’S desperate, Roberts. You should’ve heard "Hi bud," I say. the blessing he gave Miller." He opens a drawer and fumbles around for a moment. Pulls I think about this for a minute. "I don’t understand thisclothes on--looks like sweats. Shoes come next, running happening to Miller." I wish for a moment to trade him places.shoes, I guess. "The President says maybe it’s a blessing in disguise. Fru "Where you going?" Johansen, you know, maybe this is going to get her in the He walks past me, out of the room, and heads for the water." stairwell. I follow. He winds down the stairs and pushes out "You don’t think God would do that, do you?" into the foyer. I stumble down the stairs after him in my "Sure, why not? The President says so." slippery, stocking feet. At the bottom the front door stands "Really, her vacation?" I ask, changing the subject. Jorgensenwide. No Miller. Outside on the steps I look both ways. He’s nods. "The Lord must love her a lot." not so far ahead, but far enough if you’re: not a fast runner. I run crazily onto the frosty sidewalk and then into the cobble- {~ELDSTE-"-" Roberts?" Fru Johansen throws her arms stone road. Miller is running next to the streetcar track, so I do around me. too. I think he knows I’m behind, but he never looks back. He "You look as lovely as always," I say to her. runs and I run harder. Ahead I see the light of an approaching "Your Norwegian is even better than the last time," she tellsstreetcar. Miller jumps from outside the right track to the

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middle of the two tracks, and keeps running at the floating "It’s not your responsibility to convert me." headlight. I forget my feet and run--and pray the driver is "That’s why I’m not a member anymore." paying attention. Like they usually aren’t. "Why?" I catch up with Miller on a side-swipe. It’s not that close, "Because if it were true, you’d be a member." really. But close enough to make me wet my pants. We both Fru Johansen looks sideways at me; it is a compassionate crash and tumble over cobblestones until my shoulder bladesglance. "It’s true, Miller. The good stuff is true--the parts hitch and catch on the the curb. He’s on top of me. I can’tyou’ve taught me. It’s the other stuff inside you, this torment breath, but he can. and punishment, that isn’t true. I see too much of it here--no- "Let me kill the bastard!" he screams. His face is five inchesthing is good enough. Not even for the moment." from mine and his tears are raining on me. "No, nothing is good enough," Miller repeats. "You just about killed this bastard," I groan back. "But why?" In the light of the street-lamp, I see the old Miller traipsing "Because it’s not the way it’s supposed to be. It’s not the way across wounded sensitivities. His eyes are soft and mild. "Ithey said it would be. It’s not even the kind of hard they said it wouldn’t hurt you," he says. He pulls himself up and drags mewould be. It’s dark and angry and lonely. God doesn’t want me. to my feet. He walks back to the office ahead of me. Neither of I’m not good enough in here, and here." Miller jabs at his head us says anything. and heart." "Who says you’re not good enough?" I ask from behind. I SIT on the edge of my bed and examine my bleeding feet. Miller looks past Fru Johansen at me. No pain until they thaw a little. "Satan," he finally says. "He says I’m not good enough." "Just think, if you wouldn’t have been there..." Jorgensen shakes his head. "Those pants are ruined." I RAISE my head from a stack of checks as Miller pads’into I nod my head and rub my feet. my office. He’s wearing huge, fluffy slippers; two giant plastic "What makes you such a good missionary?" Jorgensen asks.eyes bulge from each furry foot. His bathrobe hangs open, "What do you mean ’good?"’ untied. He hasn’t shaved for days. "You work hard, you get along with companions, you even "Do you think I’m Satan?" he asks. stay up all night with Miller so we can sleep." "No," I say. I look up. "Neither does Fru Johansen." He sits on the edge of my "You’ve baptized--that’s better than most of us." desk. "Do you think you’re Satan?" "I don’t know," I say. "I don’t think I’m very good." I don’t answer for a moment. "Sometimes, maybe.., in a I see surprise in Jorgensen’s face. "No big head, either." way." "No. I’m not good at the important things." "Why?" he asks. "What’s more important than baptizing?" "I’m not pure. I’m unkind." He won’t understand. "No, you’re very kind." "Honesty," I say. "Doing things, and wanting to do them. "You don’t know me." You know, forgetting home and losing yourself in the work. He shrugs like he doesn’t believe me. "How are the fi- Like Jesus said. Like Miller does." nances?" "Miller?" More surprise. "Not so bad," I say. "You did better than you think." "Yeah, Miller." "Fru Johansen says God appreciates the good things I do He doesn’t understand and I’m not sure I do anymore, and probably never even thinks about the bad stuff.., or the either. things I can’t seem to beat, like the finances. What do you "Do those little things really matter?" he asks. "Isn’t it howthink?" hard you work that counts?" "I think she knows a lot. More than I know." "They matter to me," I say. "Probably matter to Miller too." "She says I punish myself more than the Lord ever would." "You do. I don’t think you’ve made too many mistakes, ¢~OU’~" a member yet?" Miller asks Fru Johansen. I stand though." back by the bureau and watch. "She says the Lord could care less about mission finances. "No," she answers quietly. He probably thinks finances are messy and boring, like I do." "I’m not a member, either," Miller says. "They are messy and boring." The skin around Fru Johansen’s eyes jiggles. "Of course Miller takes my pen and scribbles absently on an old check. you’re a member." "Roberts, do you think I have to be just the way they say I "No!" Miller is emphatic. "I’m not a member, I don’t want tohave to be to be a good missionary? I mean, I’m not happy and be a member. I’m not a good missionary, and I’m not aI’m not enjoying my mission. Does God think I’m a bad member." missionary?" "Why aren’t you a good missionary?" "It’s hard to know what God thinks. The scriptures and all, "Because I can’t do the finances--because I don’t even want you know. I don’t know." to do the finances. And because I can’t convert you." "You don’t think so, then?"

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"I don’t know." polyester suit shimmer in the eariy morning light. "I don’t know either--I’ll think about it and tell you later." "I feel it." Elder Miller slides off the desk and thumps toward the door. He looks out the window toward the fjord. "Maybe we don’t know what’s good and what’s bad any- "That’s why you’re not afraid, like the others." more," Miller says, stopping. "Do you like my slippers?" "I’m afraid, just not like the others." "Love ’em." "I’m really not Satan, you know." Miller disappears. "I know." I go to the window. It is getting lighter. The boats move away from dock. ~;~;.[’-~.OW’~r can you spend so much time with Miller?" "What are you going to do?" he asks. Jorgensen stands in front of the sink holding a frothy tooth- "I’ll hang on in my own way, like you. It’s almost over." brush. I urinate in a toilet on the other side of the room. "I’m not hanging on. I’m going home." "It’s not so hard." "I know. You’re still hanging on, though." "He makes me feel funny. I can’t relate--all that Satan talk." "I don’t want to just hang on." "I relate, I guess." I flush the toilet and sit down on the "Maybe you’re doing more than just ihanging on. You’re radiator. "He’s all right." going home. That’s doing something." "Mmm," Jorgensen says, and spits. "I’ve been thinking Miller presses his nose against the window and blows fog. about what you said the other night." "The President thinks I’m making a mistake." "About?" "What do you think?" "About forgetting home and getting lost in the work." "I’m right. It makes God happy--he told me. I prayed about I look at myself in the mirror across the room. it." He turns and leans against the windoxvsill. "Why are you "I think I’m there," he says. "I feel good about it. I wish mystaying?" mission would never end. I’ll bet if you: really thought about "I want to." The sun is coming up behind us, I see it on the it, you’d feel the same, too." sails. "I’m. not done yet; I can’t leave until I know as much as I shrug my shoulders. you do." "Maybe you ought to pray about it. Do you pray about it?" "Oh, you know a hundred times as much as I do." "Sometimes," I say. "No." I shake my head. "I don’t know anything." "Oh. Well, maybe there’s something else you’re not doing. "You know God’s not what we thought ihe was." Maybe you need to work on faith or something." "I guess I do know that." I shake my head, smiling, and wipe "Maybe," I say. away the mist. "I can’t believe I actually want to stay." ’Tll bet that’s Miller’s problem, too." Miller watches me. He’s thinking about going home, facing "Hard to say." his family. I see it in the window’s reflection. "I’ll pray for you," Jorgensen offers, and walks out of the "What do you think God’s like?" I ask. room. "Like Fru Johansen," he says. "And like you." ~ ~You"" feel it too?" Miller asks. The shoulders of his

CONVERSATION WITH A CANCER BETHANY "Why don’t you ever tell me you love me?" No flesh could last in the early heat "Don’t actions speak louder than words?" That fired the sky to a thin and brittle blue "A woman likes to hear it sometimes." The road strapped the hills to Palestine "It would be easy to say if I didn’t mean it." And tethered BethaW upon the slope The women carried sorrow on the face "Why should it be so hard if you do?" As on a plate_ They walked the village streets "It’s only hard because it should be obvious." Thickly forested with stucco moons. "Well, if you love me all that much, The dust dissolved their feet like leprosy. why do I always feel like you don’t? I’ll bet you only love me because I love you. In none of this was Christ the Lord surprised. Maybe you can’t love me unless I love you first. And yet, as earlier he’d joined the dust To yield unstopping of the quiet eyes, You proabaly don’t even know you don’t love me!" So now his lungs, his pores inhaled the dust "Whatever you say .... No wonder I’m going crazy!" To break his blood upon the necessary grief, And the world goes ’round, and night after night, To voice the call, "Lazarus, come forth?’ the moon shines by reflected light. -KATHRYN R. ASHWORTH --R.A. CHRISTMAS

JUNE 1991 PAGE 46 immensely qualified, knows how the system FROM THE CAMPUS runs, and won on her own merits. Others acknowledge Baird’s experience but also point out that this year the campus ambiance was right to have a woman win, while just ten LETTER FROM BYU years ago BYU students might have voted against a woman presidential candidate. Though the majority of students quite frankly don’t care much about BYUSA, nearly 20 percent voted, giving Baird the largest landslide J. Fogg in recent memory. Throughout the campaign Baird repeatedly refused to discuss her gender THE FRESHMEN WHO entered BYU formances for BYU students would win their as an issue, but her victory made all the local last fall probably couldn’t decipher this year’s admiration. However, Rex doesn’t arrive as media and even USA Today. Baird also was changes here, but many veteran students unprepared as he’d like to appear. He is given access to Ronald Reagan when he could. Whether the differences stemmed briefed on almost every conceivable topic that spoke. from Rex Lee’s settling into his second year at students might ask about. Yes, this was also the year Reagan visited BYU’s helm or from better-prepared students Unlike what seemed a closed-door Hol- BYU. Only a minority of students attended entering school is difficult to say. In any case, land administration, Lee at least gives the because--the official story goes--a Sesame some aspects of BYU seemed as new to grad- impression that he’s willing to discuss campus Street show. was set up to perform in the uating seniors as to first-year students. issues without a safety net. His verbal acrobat- Marriott Center that night, closing off half the Of course, we older BYU students still ics have won him P.R. points, despite the fact arena. Those who did attend didn’t seem to remember the Holland legacy. We haven’t for- that he doesn’t always give answers the mind Reagan’s unlikely story about reporting gotten the warmth and intimacy Jeff and Pat students want or expect. On at least two oc- BYU sports scores when he was a radio broad- Holland projected to 26,000 listeners at the casions Rex’s spontaneity has gotten him into caster in the 1930s. On the contrary, my special devotional assemblies (what we affec- hot water. The most serious wasn’t at a Q&A friends said that Reagan captured the BYU tionately called the "Pat and Jeff Show"). Also, but at a pep rally for Ty Detmer, where the audience like no one ever has--not even Hol- Jeff Holland’s ability to remember names and campus paper, the Daily Universe, quoted Rex land--and that the brief protests from the minute facts about the people he passed each as saying that Ty had done more for the upper concourse failed to dampen the laugh- day on the sidewalk was equally amazing. In Mormon cause than all the missionaries out ter and overwhelming ovations. ("Mr. Reagan, fulfilling the role of BYU’S president--a fig- there. This upset students, many who are why did you arm Iraq?" two men shouted urehead and a fund raiser--more than one returned missionaries or are waiting for one. while holding a banner. Security guards en- student leader has called Holland "genius."A Rex clarified his remark a few days later, say- tered. Protestors exited. "Not BYU students," hard act to follow. ing he was, of course, exaggerating. the school quickly announced.) Some of the Now, two years later, it’s clear that Rex In his second year, Rex seems to have more thoughtful students wondered which (what most students call him) won’t try to changed his views about BYUSA, the student Marriott Center audience had been more gull- match the Holland legacy head on. Campus service association that replaced ASBYU, the ible that day: Reagan’s or Sesame Street’s. opinion says he’s doing an equally effective "student government" (really a student activi- The protest at the Reagan speech came as job of winning student confidence by per- ties department). Because Rex was student- no surprise to many. In the last few years, forming in a different arena: public question body president while a BYU student, he was activism at BYU has gradually increased, with and answer sessions. A refreshing change for initially suspicious of a service organization’s the Gulf War providing ample opportunity BYU. Holland would never touch this kind of role, one BYUSA leader told me. Rex didn’t for students ready to exercise their rights. open forum, one university official told me, seem to fully understand both the service and Transferring their energies from BYU’s ever- because he needed everything planned out; advisory aspects of BYUSA until this year. more-popular environmental movement, a he squirmed just thinking about the uncer- Apparently, he’s now ready to consult its lead- small but determined group orchestrated tainties a Q&A would present. ers when making policy changes that affect what The Militant claims was the largest anti- Yet this is Rex’s genius. And he’s put his students. While past BYUSA presidents have war movement on any campus, ironic consid- quick-thinking mind on display four times in had difficulty getting an appointment with ering that the Vietnam era reportedly passed two years, responding to students’ questions university presidents, the new BYUSA Presi- by BYU without public protests. One "teach- and gripes publicly, cleverly glossing over dent, Amy Baird, reports a change: "The ad- in" on the Gulf War reached an estimated sticky issues with humor, and in the end ministration came and asked me how often 1,000 students, a group attracted largely by endearing himself to most students. Of I’d like to meet with them." keynote speaker Hugh Nibley. Wearing just course, he also invites the press. (This show is Baird says she plans to make good use of one suspender, Nibley denounced war to the a P.R. move, after all.) Being a Supreme Court this advantage. The other advantage, one she standing-room-only crowd, many of them lawyer, Rex undoubtedly knew his Q&A per- won’t publicly acknowledge, is her influence conservative Nibley-philes, hawkish by tradi- as the first woman elected president in BYU tion, and suddenly confused. history. (In the past four years of BYUSA For the duration of the war, organizers of B. J. FOGG is a Master’s candidate in English at [s] elections, sixty people have applied to run, Brigham Young University and a founder and BYU’s peace movement were quick to stake unfortunately, only two of them women; out a table in the Wilkinson Center stepdown former publisher of the Student Review, BYU’s Baird was the second one.) Two previous stu- unofficial magazine. lounge, a major campus crossroads, where dent-body presidents tell me that Baird is they distributed literature and represented the

JUNE 1991 PAGE 47 minority opinion. Supporters told me they Prepp.y Handbook advocated the sockless look be based on a minimal Ievel of religious com- were skipping classes to maintain a presence in the early 1980s). After a few months-- mitment and then more dramatically on aca- there throughout each day of the war; one some claim years--of committee meetings, demic achievement. Yet the critical problem even dropped out of school. Eventually an- the Board of Trustees finally approved a new for general authorities and Board members other group set up a "support the troops" standard. remains: appeasing faithful, tithe-paying booth across the lounge. Throughout the con- The first proposed revision of dress Church members whose children are denied flict students sat mesmerized between these standards went through BYUSA channels last admission to BYU. two booths while watching CNN, which was fall, where it passed with no mention of The three-yea>old "ecclesiastical endorse- continually broadcast onto the lounge’s big beards, earrings, or long hair, implying that ment" program, a yearly worthiness interview screen. A free-speech euphoria filled the those decisions should be left up to each required of students with their BYU bishop lounge and spilled over to the rest of campus student. When the local press heard that the before they can register for the fall semester, when students realized that BYU had never BYUSA group had passed a new dress and seems to have done little to reduce the student seen such intense political involvement be- grooming proposal, it mistakenly announced population, although it is an attempt to marry fore; it was a j ust-watch-us-make-history feel- that the official BYU policy had changed, faithfulness with academics. ing. And they did. Clashes in the stepdown which caused confusion on and off campus. Nevertheless, BYU has started to wel- lounge were frequent and usually unproduc- It took a few weeks and several articles in the come-or at least tolerate--diversity; there is tive, one peace activist told me; the discus- Universe to straighten things out, but by that one notable exception.: illicit sex. Rumors sions often degenerated into name-calling time it seemed both students and faculty had sometimes circulate of people sleeping and and "stupid arguments." started viewing the dress and grooming policy living together, even homosexual couples, but The peace movement also dovetailed off with more leniency. For example, as tension virtually all students here frown on such the rise of political correctness. Though most mounted in the Gulf and student activism things. Even with the opening of an instant- students here still can’t define "politically cor- increased, beards sprouted all over campus. marriage chapel in Salt Lake City, the inci- rect," P.C. issues surfaced as much at BYU as And not just on students. One department dence of quickie marriages and annulments (a on most other campuses. For example, what chair confided that he was thinking about "chastity loophole" formerly exploited in Las was once viewed as a harmless scavenger hunt getting one of those much-talked-about Vegas) probably won’t increase, in spite of for women, a traditional activity for the ASA medical waivers to grow a beard, while an- student folklore. Too many stories also circu- Sportsmen club, quickly turned into a major other faculty member went ahead and did just late about campus bishops--even the lenient discussion on the exploitation of women, as that. ones--who’ve thrown the book at the "’til shown by letters in the Universe. P.O. also When the Board of Trustees finally did Monday do we part" honeymooners. entered the classroom. While one academic pass the new standards a few months later, the A recent informal survey by the Student department attempted to immerse students in announcement was an anti-climax. The new Review of students exiting the Lee Library the Western classical tradition, another de- standards stressed principles over rules but shows some interesting stats on both religious partment &constructed Plato and Aristotle. beards and earrings on males are still specific- commitment and sex: 91 percent of students P.C. also entered the religious realm when a ally forbidden; shorts are acceptable as long as study the scriptures at least once a week and student offering the April commencement they reach the knee. No mention of socks. a full third study more than five times each prayer began: "Our dear Father and Mother in Now the hyper-orthodox students write let- week, yet 24- percent have "broken the code Heaven .... " ters to the editor, not about wicl

JUNE 1991 PAGE 4-8 two seem to be inextricably interwoven. MORMONS & THEIR NEIGHBORS My husband, our three children, and I came here by choice. We moved to Salt Lake from Baltimore where we had lived for twenty years, driven out by a crime rate which did not allow us to feel comfortable allowing our A NON-MORMON IN ZION children to play in our own backyard, where walks, even during the day, were a risk, by a A STRANGER IN PARADISE public school system which had removed school psychologists and replaced them with security guards, and by the staggering tuition of the alternative education of private schools. We were drawn to Utah by the compara- By Elise Lazar tive safety of the city and relative quality of public schools, the skiing, the beauty of the state, and by what seemed to be a very healthy environment in which to raise children. I also came with some misgivings. In fact, I am astonished by the prejudices and mis- perceptions I brought. They’re worth men- tioning because they’re not unique to me. Responses to the announcement of our moving included, "Utah, where’s that?!" or "Why would you want to live among Mormons?" Even some of the people I met who had lived in Salt Lake City had negative impressions (although, interestingly, they always mentioned how clean the city was). They spoke of proselytizing, which was, more or less, synonymous with Mormons. They said that Mormons made good neighbors, but they’d never be friends. But what also emerged from conversations was the fact that either you were dropped as a potential friend if you weren’t perceived as a likely candidate for conversion, or you experienced what I call "passive ostracism," where you were dismissed simply because LDS members, who have much of their time dictated by the structure of the Church and by "callings," There are problems and some very serious issues that need to have little time for you. I also came with the perceptions, again be addressed. However, living among Mormons does not fit the gleaned from people who had lived here as extreme negative image. In fact, I very much like it here. well as from the media, that Utah was conservative, backward, and controlled--a back- MY OBSESSION WITH JOTTING drop made all the more sensational by the for pen and paper would be triggered by a national coverage Utah receives about such notes began over four years ago when I full-blown experience, sometimes by merely persons as Gary Gilmore, Ted Bundy, and moved to Utah. With no preconceived no- a word; for example, "they use the word Vickie Singer/Addam Swapp. This, so far, is tion to do so, and for reasons unbeknownst ’tending’ down here instead of ’babysitting,’ not news to anyone. But, yes, there are pro- to me, I found myself se.ized by the impulse very biblical." blems and some very serious issues that need to document new, or what I called "unique to For years I accumulated these notes, with to be addressed. However, living among Utah," experiences. With the fresh eyes of a regular transfers from purse to desk, eventu- Mormons and living in Utah does not fit the newcomer, I hoarded and recorded hun- ally acknowledging that somehow they were extreme negative image. It’s not as bad as itg dreds of observations. Sometimes my search serving a role toward my adjustment. The cracked up to be. In fact, I very much like it challenge now is in trying to organize these here. little pieces of paper--disjointed thoughts-- Given the perceptions I came with, that is, ELISE LAZAR is the co-director of the 1991 into something which is coherent. I also rea- conservative, backward, and controlled, I’ve Walk For Life and director of the Utah/Soviet lize that I don’t know whether these had many pleasant surprises. The first hap- Awareness Program. A version of this paper was observations are on Mormon culture or just delivered at the B. H. Roberts Society. pened when we drove into the state and trav- reflect the experience of living in Utah--the eled through Park City before reaching our

JUNE 1991 PAGE 49 new home. Coincidentally, the Arts Festival ily, anything national or international, could until moving here, was pretty irrelevant to was in progress, complete with the Saliva not be discussed. They would listen politely me. I am Jewish and practice my faith, but Sisters--hardly controlled. I watched televi- but the conversation would go fiat. I remem- religion was never a factor that pertained in sion that evening and caught "Civic Dialogue~ ber distinctly the day I decided to stop walk- any way to work, politics, or the social fiber on KUED which was the first Utah program I ing. I had mentioned how delighted I was of my life. Now, living in Utah, there’s a self- sa~a: It was lively and controversial. that Robert Bork had not been confirmed to consciousness that my family and I have The next day, after moving vans had de- the Supreme Court. They had never heard of never known before. It’s disconcerting. The parted, there was a knock on the door. My him. These were bright women, but women religious issue is a hindrance in ways that I’m husband and I looked at each other here it whose world was not stretched beyond the probably not even aware of, and is, at the very is--and opened the door on two smiling Church. least, a nuisance: implications in offering faces; one was the bishop. His opening com- On other occasions, I sat next to a young and/or accepting coffee; discomfort in using ment was, ’~I am here to welcome you, not to man on a plane, a freshly scrubbed mission- our favonte expression, "Oh my God!" (I convert you." Unexpected and unusual, may- ary off to the big adventure of Pittsburgh (he’d refuse to accept that this shows disrespect and be, but to my way of thinking this bishop never left Utah before), who thought that that "Oh my Gall" is an acceptable substitute.) should serve as a role model because with that Margaret Thatcher was the U.S. ambassador My children, ages 12, 14, and 11, thus far statement, I relaxed. I have since been invited to England. A junior at BYU came to interview have been affected only in minor ways. They and felt comfortable attending ward func- me about my Utah/Soviet Awareness Pro- have friends who are both Mormon and non- tions, including a lip-sync tribute to mothers gram. He had never heard of the words glas- Mormon. But I understand that will change for Mother’s Day and, our offering, a Han- host or perostroika, and when told that as a gradually as dating begins, and will be most ukkah service. part of the program we had an actress portray- difficult in upper grades when there’s a clearly In this conservative state, I have found ing Catherine the Great, he asked whether we defined schism. However, as long as we are in Yoga teachers, nude models in my drawing also had an actor portraying Alexander the an area where the school is mixed, and we are, class (I was told it wouldn’t happen), and a Great. And so on. Now certainly there are well then I think we’ll be okay. I have known other counterculture that is alive, well, and thriving informed LDS members, but my experience families who have been unaware of the per- and actually very intense--perhaps as a has been that there is an undeniable paroch- vasiveness of this social division and have had response to conservatism. I walk during the ial, insular orientation here. And although I teenagers who had some very damaging expe- day, at night even, without a fear reflex when do have some Mormon female friends whom riences. shrubs move. Cars actually stop when I cross I enjoy very much, I have found that my So far, the effects for my children of living the street; I’m no longer a moving target when interests and need for debate have, just by in a predominantly Mormon culture have I step off a curb. The schools, while uninspir- natural selection, led me toward more non- been more subtle. I think it’s interesting how ing, are adequate in my area. In addition, and Mormons. they started to question people about their this is no small thing, there is a high courtesy There is also another barrier toward religion. That’s new. And how, when we trav- quotient: a sweater lent by a stranger when I friendship here: the emotional orientation of eled outside of Utah, they were delighted that was cold, a tennis racket lent to me by some- Mormons to "put on a happy face." I’ve heard they were surrounded by all those Jewish one I had never seen before--"Just bring it up it in lessons in Relief Society and I’ve seen it relatives--not delighted by the relatives, to the house when you’re finished. Here’s my in action. Emotional testimonials are sanc- mind you, but by the fact that there were so address." There is a trust and innocence remi- tioned, but there is a denial of real feelings to many Jewish people. For them, just as for me, niscent of the 1950s, a confirmation of the the outside world. religion has become a focus. It is an adjust- accusation made by a Los Angeles reporter I’ll relate one of several examples. I was ment, particularly since I have always felt that we’re behind times. Maybe, but it sure instrumental in placing a foreign student in religion is a personal, private matter. I resent feels good to me. the home of a Mormon neighbor. After a being asked, or sometimes ascertained month, I knew it was not working from hor- through disguised means, to what religion I BUT there is a trade-off. Shortly after I rendous stories 1 had heard flom this neigh- belong. moved here, I met two neighbors, Mormon bor’s young daughter. But when I called, And yet, even with these nuisances and women, who invited me to join them in their suggesting that perhaps a different placement hindrances, adjustments, compromises, is- daily routine of walking. I accepted, and for could be found, she refused and completely sues, and problems, the balance of the scale of a year we walked two or three times a week. denied that anything was wrong. In fact, she pluses and minuses still leans to the positive. I saw it first as an opportunity for friendship. enthusiastically stated that "it was a tremen- And, just as important to know, is that the Gradually, I became a social scientist merely dous growing experience7 During the rest of reality of living here is vastly better than the studying their culture, and then, finally, I the year I heard terrible stories, but never prejudice from the outside would lead one to stopped walking with .them altogether. One from her. When I spoke with her everything believe. of the warnings had begun to prove itself was always wonderful. I’ve seen it, of course, A few years ago members of the New- accurate. As we walked and talked the con- in men, too. This is an attitude that leads comers Club met on several occasions with versation always seemed to turn to Church some Mormons to a strong avoidance of con- LDS church officials to voice their grievances. I was fortunate enough to be at two of those matters, not j ust activities but interpretations frontatiom of passive-aggressive behavior, of strong depression, particularly in women, meetings. Richard Lmdsay said, "We are not of events. For example, if a child had mis- thin-skinned; we want to hear all." The "do behaved, it was the devil. Now, as a social and for me (a direct person) to sometimes question the sincerity of some people and to Mormons make good neighbors" issue was scientist, I could deal with this and for the addressed at a general conference as well as in rest of the year I learned a lot about the have the disquieting feeling of not knowing where a person is really coming from. a cover story in This People magazine. This Mormon religion. I was curious and inter- dialogue must continue. Some of the people ested. But topics outside the Church or ram- The whole issue of religion is one which,

JUNE 1991 PAGE 50 who are leaving this state with bad feelings are confirming, in exponentially increasing ARTICULTURE numbers, the worst of Utah. We’ve got to continue openly discussing these issues, but in a receptive, safe atmo- THE GATHERING OF THE FAITHFUL sphere. Some time ago KUED had a television program on the reasons for out-migration from Utah. I was on that program but only By Ellen Fagg after three other women withdrew their commitment to appear: all three were afraid of adverse ramifications. Somehow, we’ve got to get past that fear and feel free to have constructive, creative interchange. To have dialogue, for example, at the ward, inviting non-Mormons within each community for frank but friendly discussion to foster respect for differences, to broaden MAC the perspective both of non-Mormons and Mormons to ease the tensions both real and imagined between neighbors. I, for one, ap- CO/JBO MEAL preciate being a part of this important process. ~

IF EARTH WERE A WOMAN

she would breathe cycles During two usually blustery weekends in April and October, and season, days and years Utah’s capitol city becomes Mormon Central. in ebbs and in flows knowing both sides her lightness and HE APPEARED TO be in a hurry, that next door to tractor-pulls and demolition der- darkness, her days man scurrying along the sidewalk in down- bies. There’s a brew pub downtown, and just nights through cold town Salt Lake City. He wore earphones this year you can now buy a Polish sausage and warmth. plugged to a Walkman. And as he walked, from a street vendor. Despite the state’s listening to a general conference session, he bumper crop of Republicans, Democrats If Earth had a gender raised his right arm to sustain leaders of the claim a slight edge in city voting districts, and it were female LDS church. He didn’t miss a step. Just raised keeping environmentalist Wayne Owens in she would moan with us his arm to the square in support of his pro- Congress, so far. Hell, we’ve even got over greed, over war. phet. Curiously, no one gawked. No one ourselves a Catholic mayor. She would carry, let go of stared. But then, this is the place. And this is But twice a year, the city spit-shines its her gifts for the good the time. Welcome to general conference in streets to prepare for an army of the faithful of her whole humankind. Salt Lake City. who return to the hometown of the Mormon New Orleans transforms itself for Mardi Tabernacle Choir. Both local newspapers If Earth were a mother Gras; New York, during Macy’s Thanksgiving splash full-color, talking-heads-from-the- she would have valleys Day Parade; and during two usually blustery pulpit on their front pages. Tradition is tradi- and hills of fullness. weekends in April and October, Utah’s capitol tion, after all. And, anyway, there are some She’d want children city becomes Mormon Central. weekends when newsstand sales override the to respect her troves, Salt Lake City acts pretty cosmopolitan international news. the substance beneath her most of the year. Recent articles in the New Evening newscasts are filled with scenes of to nurture her living York Times and U.S. News and World Report wooden pews and lines of Saints serpentining and replenish all who live on said so. We’ve got ballet and opera playing across Temple Square. Then there’s the cut to our Mother Earth. a golden statue, glittering against multiple views of the everlasting hills. And Bill Alder, -MARGARET RECHIF ELLEN FAGG doesn’t wear ~ngham, anymore. local media guru at the National Weather

JUNE 1991 PAGE 51 Service, eagerly tallies the historical percent- gathered to Utah, still, the line between pro- of the ring (the "Choose the Right" adage is age of rain- or snow-covered conferences; fits and prophets blurs. "Anything with a tem- part of the baptism training course), but it’s after all, as Latter-day Saints curiously boast, ple on it sells right now," says Bruce Hamilton, become trendy for teens and adults to wear when the Mormons meet, the heavens weep. assistant superintendent at Pioneer Trail State grown-up versions. At conference time, LDS headquarters’ Park. At the ZCMI Center, Doug Mendenhall gardens appear to naturally blossom, regard- April and October brings the battle of the sells animated Living Scripture videos, kind less whether all other flowers have died from mails, a contest between Crossroads, the gen- of Walt Disney does religion. Mendenhall an early autumn frost or an unusual wintery tile center (open on Sunday) with the better used to peddle behind a massive, simulated spring. And just as traditionally, the season location, and ZCMI Center, the Mormon stone display, but other retailers at the mall brings the Lawn People, folks who think that complex with the one-and-only-true book- complained. Indeed, Utah Holiday labeled watching sessions on television pales in com- store: Deseret Book. This year, one book the styrofoam structure the "ugliest monstros- parison to being there, even without a seat. propped up in the store’s windows was What ity in Utah." But, ugly or not, the attention- Then there are reunions. Returned missionar- I Wish I’d Known Sooner: Personal Discoveries of grabbing display sold a lot of cassettes, and ies get together with former companions to a Mother of 12. Mendenhall misses the sales it generated. show off a fiancee or a new baby in cultural The Church-owned Deseret Book hosts a "At the first of the week, they [visitors] halls across the city. In addition to all the special Saturday evening sale for general start coming from Australia and Japan," says meeting-and-greeting, conference doubles as priesthood session widows. Pat Bagley, Salt Land Peck, owner of the Missionary Empo- a cheap date for BYU students. Lake Tribune and Mormon cartoonist, saw lots rium. "We try to be well stocked with the hot Church spokesman Joseph Walker says of ruffles and lace when he played author-in- stuff, the churchy stuff." Peck says many of some 35,000 visitors pass through the gates of residence at the Ladies’ Night Sale. "They her customers are semi-annual visitors. Temple Square on conference Sunday. Con- would say things like ’I’m just up here for They’re not interested in Utah souvenirs, but ference is such an important event that Zions conference.’ It was like their annual pilgrim- eagerly snatch up church knickknacks they Security Corp. planned a major building pro- age to Mecca. It kind of makes you wonder if can’t buy in their hometowns. ject around it. The Church-owned develop- Mecca has a bookstore." Conference weekends are gravy time-- ment company wouldn’t tear up State Street For those who make the pilgrimage, a make that chocolate sundae sauce time--for to build an underground walkway until after sideline to all the religion is the shopping and Mendenhall and other merchants. "Those April conference visitors left. And the project the eating. Conference is a time to stock up on weekends are two of the best of the year, right must be completed by October. Church-related paraphernalia, from scripture up there with Christmas," says Richard guides to gold Primary CTR rings for adults Snelgrove, of the Snelgrove’s ice cream family. CONFERENCE spills over the Temple which retail from $57.95 to $165.95. Chil- Square walls into downtown commerce. It’s a dren, of course, earn the inexpensive versions time when the most popular color is white- shirt-white. "On Super Bowl weekends in most cities the bars are packed," says Mary Dickson, director of advertising and public relations for KUED-TV. "On conference weekends in Salt Lake, it’s the ice cream OCTOBER SHOOT parlors. You can’t get into an ice cream parlor from here to Monticello." Cars boasting out-of-state license plates we stopped north of the reservation flood city parking lots. The church atmo- to tape a roadside infemo, not ours. sphere crowning downtown is enough to afterward, breakdowns pursued the van- make locals seek shelter in the south. One Salt a pack of rattle-mouth skinwalkers. [aker, complaining about missionary side- walls, vows never to get a haircut during April running ham and late all day, we walked or October. "One of the best times to go one night awake with stars flashing mall-ing is during conference weekend be- crystal and garnet, a rainbow round the moon cause it looks like a different city," Dickson above stone sentries, breathing dark. says. "They’re all in their dark suits, carrying their three-in-ones, and they’re everywhere." outside a female hogan-a navel in field She vividly remembers "the parade of dark- suited men" on the South Temple crosswalk a and sky-as foreigners we waited passage_ few years ago. "It was like watching a Fellini inside its weave, the medicine man talked us movie. They all looked just alike and there from our world into his and staked us there weren’t any women." As regularly as general authorities pass out withholding unearned vision, saying come back. pulpit edicts to be clean, play fair, and convert oh, we left tracks everywhere, like leaf and lizard thy neighbor, local clothiers advertise two- on sandstone, our every wish indelible and known, pant-suit sales. And although the conference our cameras full, our plans and maps windlost. sales aren’t as splashy as they used to be in the - LINDA SILLITOE pre-satellite days when the faithful really

JUNE 1991 PAGE 52 amored with the use of academic jargon or REVIEWS theoretical models from other disciplines to interpret that which is only to be fully understood with an eye of faith" and who "rush about, putting out historical ’fires’" and sug- THE NEW MORMON gesting "naturalistic explanations" (3). Millet longs for the day when "academically compe- AN TI- INTELLE CTUALI S M tent Latter-day Saint thinkers [willl make judgments by the proper standards--the Lord’s standards" "TO BE LEARNED IS GOOD IF... ": A RESPONSE BY MORMON For example, Millet continues, "It has be- EDUCATORS TO CONTROVERSIAL RELIGIOUS QUESTIONS come somewhat fashionable.., to stress the humanity and weaknesses of those called to lead the Church; to cast aspersions on their edited by Robert L. Millett motives or character; and to reveal personal Bookcraft, 1987, 232 pages, $11.95 and intricate historical details, the context and true meanings of which are often lacking" (5). Since "prophets are called and approved of God," Millet wonders, "what further and greater recommendation do we need?" (6). Thus "those who attempt to mar the name or works of the Lord’s anointed are covenant-breakers and will eventually answer to God himself for their actions" (6). Instead, "we must do all that we can in the present to reconstruct the past, to write the story of the Latter-day Saints and prepare Reviewed by Gary James Bergera that sacred history, that saga of a message, which will yet touch the hearts and build the faith of many. But we must be patient in ~ j- oT BE LEARNED Is Good If.. "_,4, reinterpreting the generative texts and writing it, avoiding the temptation to attri- Response by Mormon Educators to Controversial founding events of the Mormon past in secu- bute improper motivation or to jump pre- Religious Questions is one of the more chilling lar or naturalistic terms" (219). However "el- maturely to confusions, and seeking exposes of anti-intellectual paranoia to have oquent, scholarly, and diligent in the pursuit earnestly to give the leaders of the Church appeared in recent years. According to its of learning," "these skeptics" in many ways the benefit of the doubt" (7). contributors, groups of "savants" (225) and are "further away from true intelligence than "Cultural Mormons" (226) at work in the the vast majority of ordinary, faithful FROM this point on, each succeeding LDS church today members of the kingdom" (206). essay builds on the foundation Millet feel some sense of mission to steady Facing such developments, each of the erects. Colleague LaMar E. Garrard notes the ark; a compulsion to bring the twelve contributors to "To Be Learned Is Good that Joseph Smith’s grandfather and father Church up to date; a desire to super- If..." feels the time has come to begin ad- were reported to be men of honesty and sede traditional values, to liberate the dressing some of the "controversial religious integrity, suggesting that these same "naive" believer; and an inordinate zeal questions" these so-called "Mormon traits--either genetically or to revise the message of the Restora- intellectuals" (205) have been publicly rais- environmentally--would have also been tion in a manner that would be more ing in order to defend the LDS church and its present in the prophet Joseph despite the palatable and acceptable to a cynical members from what they see as attacks from claims of his detractors (9-19). Milton V. secular world (ix). within the Church’s own ranks. Editor Backman, Jr., follows with a "Grievous wolves," these misled men and Robert L. Millet sets the tone and theme in twenty-one-page discussion of Joseph’s First women "preach from forums of dissent" (x), his introductory call-to-arms, "How Should Vision, addressing some of the published mingling "the philosophies of men with the Our Story Be Told?" objections that have been raised against it revealed word" (ix). They "have their own Millet, a professor in Religious Education since the mid-1960s. Drawing upon his own voices, outlets, and sounding boards" and are at Brigham Young University (as are six other previously published responses, Backman "often the center of controversy" (205), contributors--in fact, all twelve are employ- insists that such a vision actually occurred, as pointing out "what they consider to be flaws ees of the LDS educational system), explains Joseph and later LDS prophets have testified, in the doctrines, history, or practices of the that Mormon history "must be told in the Church" (205). Attracted by "fashionable that it took place in 1820, that Joseph’s Lord’s own way" (2)--that is, "written and description of associated religious revivals is new explanations," they have been "busy understood properly by the spirit of pro- accurate, and that as a direct result Joseph phecy and revelation" (3). Millet, who was learned that the Father and the Son are recently appointed dean of Religious Educa- separate, perhaps even corporeal, beings. GARY JAMES BERGERA is co-author of tion, bemoans current Mormon historians, in Brigham Young University: A House of Faith. Next, Bruce Van Orden offers numerous particular, who, he feels, have become "en- examples of Joseph’s compassion, while Mil-

JUNE 1991 PAGE 53 let, in his second essay, emphasizes that since stones, divining rods, and other "magical" (that is, according to Wilcox, those most the Book of Mormon is ancient history, it can practices. They are concerned that "magic" filled with the light of Christ which quickens be used to interpret ancient Near Eastern carries today too many negative connotations the intellect) Mormons today are the general history; that its description of God is not to be appropriately applied to early Mormon- authorities. Wilcox insists that he does not nineteenth-century "trinitarian," or "Calvin- ism. Ricks’s and Peterson’s second essay, "Is want to offend readers (205), but his defini- istic," but genuinely ancient; and that its Mormonism Christian? An Investigation of tion of Mormon intellectuals, quoted at the theology in no way reflects Joseph Smith’s Definitions," concludes that despite the beginning of this review, is expressed in own developing understanding of God. Al- passionate arguments of evangelical Chris- largely negative, pejorative terms. though Millet admits that "what the Prophet tians, Mormonism is a Christian religion be- Wilcox stresses that Mormons "do not understood as he left the Sacred Grove was cause of its emphasis on Jesus Christ, his believe in blind obedience in this Church," no doubt a small amount compared with atonement, crucifixion, and second coming. but, he hastens to add, "we believe in trust, a what he had come to know by the time of his Sandwiched between Ricks’s and trust that is born when one recognizes the death in 1844" (63-64), he insists that "to Peterson’s two articles is Daniel K. Judd’s intelligence of the ’noble and great ones’ "- place the Book of Mormon within the devel- provocative " ’Not As the World Giveth...’: the "Apostles and prophets" (214). He notes opmental process is to accentuate the man Mormonism and Popular Psychology." that "these men are not infallible; they have %loseph Smith) at the expense of the record Responding to largely anecdotal reports of never claimed to be; but a wise man will (the Book of Mormon)" (66). For "to ascribe the negative effects of Mormonism on mental recognize their advanced state of intelligence to Joseph Smith the theology of the Book of health, Judd counters with the results of his and think long and hard before choosing to Mormon," Millet feels, "is to give him more 1985 BYU master’s thesis that no reputable ignore or rebel against their counsel" (212). credit than is due, and likewise to call into study has ever linked Mormonism and men- But one wonders how Wilcox would deal question the historicity of the record and its tal illness (150). He then spends the next with Heber J. Grant’s comment to a young ancient contents" (66-67). "My position," nine pages describing very general ways in Marion G. Romney that "you always keep Millet stresses, "is that . . . the Book of which gospel teachings regarding mental your eye on the President of the Church, and Mormon theology was not a part of a line- health seem to be superior to contemporary if he ever tells you to do anything, and it is upon-line unfolding of doctrine in this popular psychology. wrong, and you do it, the Lord will bless you dispensation" but "rather the understanding The eleventh contribution is editor for it .... But you don’t need to worry. The had by the ancients" (67). Millet concludes Millet’s third essay, "Biblical Criticism and the Lord will never let his mouthpiece lead the his essay with his reasons for believing that Four Gospels: A Critical Look," and is his people astray" (Conference Reports, Oct. the Book of Mormon teaches that the Father most restrained. Millet briefly defines five 1960, 78). In fact, one wonders if Wilcox and the Son are separate beings, Book of different kinds of biblical criticism--histori- protests too much his and his colleagues’ Mormon statements that "the Father and the cal, textual, source, form, and redaction-- "freedom" to choose to follow the Brethren. Son are one" notwithstanding. and notes what he sees as their strengths and Political scientist Louis Midgley follows The sixth contribution, by Monte S. weaknesses. For Mormons, Millet writes, the with a topic that has become his bailiwick in Nyman and Charles D. Tare, Jr., suggests that crucial criterion in considering the value of recent years, "Faith and History." For Mid- since the three Mormon standard works-- these various approaches is identifying the gley, like many of the contributors, the ques- the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Cove- presuppositions of the authors they are read- tion of the historical authenticity of the Book nants, and Pearl of Great Price--all testify of ing (189). Thus authors whose pre- of Mormon is central to Church’s unique the Bible, they are as true as the Bible and can suppositions or personal beliefs vary from truthfulness. Although the issue may not be clarify obscure biblical passages. Joseph their readers’ can be ignored. For example, "in the end analysis the decisive one," Mid- Fielding McConkie continues in this vein in he continues, "Should we be surprised that gley concedes, still, it is a crucial one. For, his "Modern Revelation: A Window to the elements of [Jesus Christ’s eternal gospel Midgley insists, the "Restoration message is Past," claiming that "to fail to use the Book of which Mormons know has been preached true if---and only if---the Book of Mormon is Mormon prophets to understand the from the beginning] or semblances of the an authentic ancient history. And clearly teachings of Old World prophets is to ordinances or ritual (albeit in fragmentary these questions can be tested," he says, "if not misunderstand the eternal nature of God and and even apostate form) should be found in settled, by the methods of the historian" (224). This issue of the historicity of the the gospel. To fail to use the revelations of the cultures throughout the world?" (190). Mil- Doctrine and Covenants to interpret the let concludes, "Latter-day Saints would do Book of Mormon is fundamental for Midgley teachings of the Old and New Testaments is well to ensure that theirs is a ’critical’ look at because "we begin to become faithful Saints by receiving that book and embracing its to misunderstand the very nature of the biblical critical presuppositions, methodol- Restoration. Our doctrines and our cove- ogies, and conclusions; some things we sim- message" (224). Thus, according to Midgley, ply need not swallow. A firm belief in the Book of Mormon can only be properly nants were their doctrines and covenants" "embraced" as a wholly literal ancient history (126). prophecy, revelation, divine intervention, Stephen D. Ricks and Daniel C. Peterson, and absolute truths precludes an over- of the Near East and Mesoamerica. whelming and undiscriminating acceptance Unfortunately, he continues, "there are teachers of Hebrew and Semitic languages at now a few Latter-day Saints who insist that BYU, follow suit with two academically-ori- of many of the underlying principles of the science of biblical criticism" (200). the Book of Mormon is fiction--that is, who ented essays that seem out of place here. The deny that it is an authentic history--but who first, "Joseph Smith and ’Magic’: Metho- The next two essays are no-holds-barred attacks on "Mormon intellectuals." In "The also deny that they have thereby challenged dological Reflections on the Use of Term," the foundations of the faith" (224). Accord- seeks to convince readers that the terms "folk True Mormon Intellectual," S. Michael Wilcox tries to define "intellectual" in such a ing to Midgley, these unidentified "savants" religion" or "popular religion," not "magic," "argue that what Joseph Smith gave us--el- best describe the early Mormon use of seer way as to suggest that the most "intellectual"

JUNE 1991 PAGE 54 ther intentionally or more probably uninten- accepting what they have to say as the n48; cf. Joseph Smith--History 1: 3, 5). tionally-is best understood as a ’Mormon definitive responses to whatever questions Thus Mormons cannot assume that their myth’ in the sense of inspiring or ’inspired they choose to raise. As to those particular scriptures are inerrant in terms of history or fiction~’’ and that "the fabrication by Joseph essays discussing Mormon intellectualism that it is inappropriate to subject them to Smith of fictional accounts of the past is what and current trends in Mormon scholarly "critical" scrutiny in an attempt to better un- the Saints must now come to understand as studies, I have five specific objections. derstand them. divine ’revelation’ . . . " (225). These First, they do not identify those individ- Fourth, to view the Book of Mormon as "revisionists," he contends, "set their kind ual books, articles, essays, publications, fo- an ancient work only ignores the counsel of over against sentimental and incompetent rums, outlets, or Mormons they find so the Book of Mormon itself and discounts people whose work is merely traditional, destructive to Mormon faith or exactly how attempts to better understand the meaning of apologetic, and ’faith-promoting,’ and there- these destroy faith. As a reader, I grew frus- the book, as well as to respond to problems fore neither honest nor competent" (226). trated not knowing exactly what the contrib- with the text. Presumably, contributors, such Evidently alluding to the reactions to his own utors found objectionable or how prevalent as Robert Millett, opposed to discerning earlier public criticisms of this "cutting edge this kind of writing is, especially since I what nineteenth-century influences Joseph of the new views of Mormon history," Mid- know of no Mormon now writing whose Smith may have brought to his translation gley contends that "efforts to scrutinize works approach the kind of deliberate anti- (66-67, for example), would also condemn revisionist explanations and accounts are Mormonism the contributors criticize. Per- colleague Joseph Fielding McConkie’s sug- characterized as the work of anti-intellectual haps they feared the repercussions of direct gestion that some words in the Book of fundamentalists or of traditionalists bent on confrontation and the possibility of having to Mormon may be best understood in terms of causing some personal harm to the defend their assertions, since vague criti- their nineteenth-century English/American purveyors of revisionist ideology" (226). cisms are harder to address than specific ones definitions, and not those of ancient Hebraic Midgley concludes that these "Cultural and it is easier to rally support for an anony- or Egyptian (229). In fact, ranking Church Mormons" and "marginal members," who mous enemy than a real, identifiable one. leaders themselves allowed for nonhistorical, "can neither spit nor swallow when it comes Second, many of the essays focusing on nonlitera.listic approaches to scripture when to the gospel," "are clearly not sound guides" the question of the historicity of the Book of Charles W. Penrose, in behalf of the First (226). He speculates that they are merely Mormon tended to interpose current LDS Presidency, wrote of Jonah and the whale in "caught between different and, at times, interpretations into early nineteenth-century 1921 that "it is of little significance whether competing worlds"--the gospel and secular documents and events. For example, Millett Jonah was a real individual or one chosen by learning--and warns Mormons to be "pru- contended in his essay, ’~Joseph Smith, the the writer of the book to write what is set dent when confronted with revisionist Book of Mormon, and the Nature of God," forth therein" (in LDS archives). acounts of their past" and "leery of fashion- that "trinitarian ideas concerning God--that Finally, several essays presumed, either able new explanations of the Book of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are simply implicitly or explicitly, to dictate just what a Mormon" (226). three manifestations of one and the same "faithful" Mormon is--what he or she must The fourteenth and final essay, again by being--are unscriptural, foreign to the spirit study, read, write, and conclude from his or Joseph Fielding McConkie, is entitled "The or content of the New Testament, and doc- her researches. What could have been an Spirit of Truth." According to McConkie, the trinally untenable," and that "although the important contribution to the discussion of "truth" is the gospel of Jesus Christ, and the Book of Mormon prophets speak of the what one’s Mormon faith must consist of and gospel expressed "truthfully" is the gospel ’oneness’ of the members of the Godhead, how one as a "faithful Mormon" must view expressed honestly, directly, bluntly. Further- this does not imply trinitarianism" (70). Yet the Book of Mormon or Joseph Smith, be- more, a knowledge of the gospel--the one early Mormon defender, Stephen Post, came at the hands of these writers little more "truth"--is "obtainable only through saw no difficulty in interpreting the Book of than an exercise in arrogance. Such dogmatic obedience" and "purity," not through books Mormon differently from Millett, stating ex- approaches to the Book of Mormon, which or one’s intellect or compassionate acts (230, plicitly, "The Scriptures plainly declare that insist that the book is either wholly ancient 231). In fact, "Christ’s greatest deeds con- there is but one [God], and he a God that will and therefore true or wholly modern and sisted in obedient submission to the will of not give his glory to another . . . Were the therefore false, succeed only in setting up his Father, not per se in feeding the hungry Father and Son united in the same person? countless members to reject the Book of or healing the sick and afflicted" (231). Thus, They were" (in Gregory L. Kofford, "The First Mormon entirely if they should happen to one is ultimately saved by one’s obedience. Vision: Doctrinal Development and Analy- discern modern elements in it. To be learned is good, McConkie might con- sis," 20 [unpublished]). In many ways "To Be Learned Is Good clude, if one is obedient to Church authority. Third, several contributors seemed to ad- If..." is a landmark: it publicly raises im- vocate a kind of hands-off approach to the DESPITE some bright spots and useful portant issues for Mormons today. But it is critical study of scripture and canon. Yet we also a landmark in ways no book-especially advice, what emerges from "To Be Learned Is know that Mormon scripture, particularly one authored by LDS employees, published Good If..." is a short-sighted, occasionally modern canon, contains historical error. For by a Mormon press, and addressed to Mor- offensive, and unnecessary defense of the example, Alvin Smith died in 1823, not 1824 LDS church. The majority of contributors are mons generally--should ever be: it is, in its (see Joseph Smith 2:4, 56, but corrected in tone and intent, condescending and unchar- not interested in opening a dialogue on the Joseph Smith--History 1:4, 56), and even itable. The kind of Mormonism most of these specific "controversial issues" they address. contributor Milton Backman suggests that essays defend is a Mormonism I have never Rather, by their tone, the sources they cite or Joseph Smith erred in his canonized history known and one I would never want to know. do not cite, and the answers they give, they in stating that his family moved to Manches- are more interested in lecturing readers into ter four years after moving to Palmyra (39,

JUNE 1991 PAGE 55 BOOKNOTES

THE OWL ON THE AERIAL Queen go by. . . . Yeats was right about cere- of teenage musings with a splash of 20/20 mony. The English make it a work of art"). hindsight. By Clarice Short They reveal a woman of compassion and sen- --DANNY MAY Edited by Barbara J. Duree sitivity whose intelligent interest in every Signature Books, 1990, $14.95, 174 pages experience is a lesson in how to draw deep satisfaction from life. EVOLUTION OF THE CLARICE SHORT DIED in 1977 as she Clarice Short was not famous, but she was MORMON TEMPLE was preparing her second volume of poems. extraordinary. CEREMONY.." 1920-1990 They are now available in The Owl on the --SUSAN HOWE Aerial, strikingly designed by Keith Monta- By Jerald and Sandra Tanner gue. The book has four sections. Emma Lou MY HARD BARGAIN Utah Lighthouse Ministry, 1990 Thayne, Short’s friend and literary executor, $5.00, 184 pages introduces the poems and the poet, a "leg- By Walter Kim endary" professor of English literature at the Alfred A. Knopf, 1990 THE LDS ENDOWMENT ritual is im- University of Utah from 1946 until retire- $18.95, 145 pages bued with intense religious meaning for its ment in 1975. Short was austere and de- participants; because of its sacred, personal manding and required excellence of her stu- IN THE INTRODUCTION of A Palpable nature, Church leaders have always admon- dents. God, Reynolds Price says that storytelling is ished restraint in talking about it. However, The second section is the poems as Short a basic human need. Walter Kirn’s M~v Hard shortly after major changes were made on 10 compiled them. The first group of poems is Bargain captures the essence of storytelling April 1990, Jerald and Sandra Tanner, former about birds and animals. Short was an avid on paper in this brief collection of thirteen Mormons, published the "complete text of sportswoman. The poems recreate such strong short stories. They all have one thing in com- the 1990 endowment ceremony and a study images as the "perfect parentheses" of a blue mon-they celebrate the ordinary and make of all the recent changes." For many Saints, heron’s wings and "the dove’s eggs.., secure it seem unique. Kirn deals with traditional the Tanners’ study addresses the unspeak- on five loose twigs." The second group records themes of family, adolescence, and religion in able; for others, it may enrich their under- her travels to the Mediterranean, combining such a wonderfully familiar manner that the standing of what is dear to them. her imagination and ancient literature. "Easter reader can’t help but relate to them. Kirn The Tanners base their examination of rec- on Crete," for example, considers Zeus and the weaves most of his tales through the experi- ent alterations on verbatim transcripts of the coming of "the other god," Christ, noting the ences of adolescent boys in heartland Amer- ceremony made by Church members in 1984 use of similar symbols in both Greek and ica. His ability to comically portray youth’s and 1990. The book contrasts word-for-word Christian religious observances--the olive, anxiety in everyday situations is masterful, the two recent versions of the temple ritual and wine, and the lamb. The final poems come best capturing the nuances of teenage frus- compares them with early accounts published from Short’s family heritage and her life in the tration in "Planetarium." in 1847, 1882, and 1931, giving a broad over- New Mexican desert. In "The Elusive" she "Planetarium" describes the efforts of a view of the evolution of the Mormon temple describes how time collapsed for her father in young men’s leader to help the boys of the rites, including Masonic parallels. The Tanners his old age, and he "unharnessed,/F ed, spoke local ward control their teenage urges. They appear to have been meticulous in their to, calling each by name,/H orses sixty years mark each of their transgressions on a sheet of reporting, but the secrecy of the temple makes dead." Other poems recall earlier inhabi- black paper with an invisible fluorescent yel- if difficult to verify their accuracy. They express tants-the "Jicarilla Apache," the "Picuris low pen. No one would be able to see the their consideration for Latter-day Saint Pueblo" dwellers, Spanish explorers, and an- marks until the group was brought together at sensibilities, yet the study at time sounds un- cient Indians on the "Road by the Rio Grande." the end of one month. The story captures not necessarily polemic. For example, they use the The poems are intelligent, spare, and observ- only ubiquitous teenage frustration, but the changes to impugn I.DS assurances that the ant, offering clear images of the natural world ridiculous ways they are dealt with by adults. rituals are unchanging and eternal. Short delighted in. Some traditional Mormon readers may be Their short probe reveals the need for fur- The third section is a fine critical response turned off by this first story, but to be so would ther examination of relevant historical rela- by Jim Elledge. The fourth gives the book its be tragic, and certainly unfair to Kirn’s superb tionships: the evolution of the Masonic ritual particular richness. Barbara Duree excerpts tales. itself; Joseph Smith’s involvement with Ma- Short’s diaries into brief portraits of this multi- Kirn’s at his best when telling Mormon and sonry (his reported plural marriage to Lucinda faceted woman, showing how far Short came near-Mormon experiences. "Devil of a Curve" Morgan, former wife of martyred Masonic dis- in her life, from her girlhood in the Ozark hills and "The New Timothy" are brilliant por- sident William Morgan, raises the interesting ("Took the ducks swimming and went trayals of common Mormon experiences told question of Smith’s familiarity with Masonry swimming myself for the first time this sea- with just a twinge of comic relief. "The Or- before 1842, when he became a Mason and son") to her teaching at the University of Utah phan" and "Toward The Radical Church" are also initiated the endowment); the orthodox ("Today when I concluded the class in the particularly good, non-LDS-centered stories, Jewish tradition, including ancient forms of Romantic Period, the class applauded. This but they don’t have the same effectiveness as prayer; and the religious events in 1842 has never happened") to her travels in Europe those that stick to Mormon experiences. Nauvoo. ("I stood by a sycamore tree and watched the M_y Hard Bargain is a wonderful collection --GEORGE D. SMITH, JR.

JUNE 1991 PAGE 56 NEWS ganization, led the offering, pass- sang together: "Lift every voice ing baskets for donations toward and sing, ’til earth and heaven Oakland’s drug program. I was so ring/Ring with the harmonies of OAKLAND STAKE HOSTS grateful for having been present liberty. /Let our voices resound at this amazing event that I gave loud as the rolling sea/Sing a KING INTERFAITH SERVICE fifty dollars as the basket came song full of the faith/That the around. dark past has brought us,/Facing By Carol Lynn Pearson The reverend then said, "After the rising sun of our new day the benediction, we will go to begun./Let us march on ’til vic- enjoy the refreshments prepared tory is won." OAKLAND, CA.--A most won- my program. "The Shiloh Baptist for us by the Latter-day Saint For more than two hours a derful and thrilling thing hap- Church Choir." sisters. At our Baptist church we smile of amazed delight had not pened here. Following is the We were early. By the time the always serve red punch. I hear left my face. And the same was entry from my diary that de- meeting started, there were close the Mormons always serve green. true for President Anderson. I scribes it. to four hundred people, most of Let us go see what color we got hugged him and his wife, Lynn, January 20, 1991, Sunday them black. tonight." afterwards and told them how And when I climbed out of As it came time to begin, we He then gave a prayer of ded- deeply I had appreciated the ex- bed this morning, still tired from all stood as, down the aisle to the ication, followed by a benedic- perience. having performed my play last music of the choir and organ and tion given by the pastor of the We can bring miracles. We night [Mother Wove the Morning], tambourine, walked the dignitar- Greek Orthodox Church of the absolutely can. g$ and began an ordinary Sunday, ies: several Catholic priests in Ascension. Then we all stood and would I have thought that when robes, a Jewish Rabbi, a female the day was over I would have Unitarian pastor, a Baptist minis- PECULIAR PEOPLE experienced one of the most ter, a Greek Orthodox father, and memorable, moving, thrilling my wonderful stake president, events of my entire life? GaryAnderson. I burst into tears, At Church I saw in my pro- and my tears did not stop for GENDER ROLE ATTITUDES OF MORMONS gram an insert that I could not minutes. I felt in the middle of a IT IS much better for everyone if the man earns the main living and believe: to be held at four em. miracle: all these magnificent the woman takes care of the home and family that afternoon at the Interstake people gathered together here on Center in Oakland, "An Ecumen- Mormon territory, in a building ical Celebration of the dream of my tithing had helped to erect. Percent who agree. Martin Luther King, Jr.," President Anderson rose and sponsored by the Interreligious greeted the group, welcoming Council of Oakland: Buddhist, them all. Then various dignitar- Hindu, Jewish, Mormon, Or- ies read scriptures and gave short thodox, Protestant, Roman Cath- talks on keeping alive the dream olic, Unitarian. of Dr. King for peace and equality Of course I went, and I took and progress; the choir sang Aaron and Katy with me. I made three electrifying numbers; a an effort to get others from the young black pastor gave the fa- ward to come, but I didn’t mous "I Have A Dream" speech; succeed. and the congregation felt the sad- As we approached the en- ness of the Gulf war. "All wars are trance, the temple was to my civil wars," we were reminded. right and there in front of me was The major address was given a beautiful bearded black Catho- by Father James Good, pastor of lic priest in colorful robes stand- St. Paul of The Shipwreck Cath- ing at the door, greeting us. I gave olic Church, the man who had him a hug and said, "I’m from a greeted us. He was passionate, Mormon ward in Walnut Creek, entertaining, and powerful. "If and do you know how happy I am we take what God has given us to see you here?" He hugged me and do something with it, then back and laughed and said, "And we have got a victory and we do you know how happy I am to have a cause to celebrate! We will be here?" rise from misery to majesty!" And We walked toward the main to my delight he spoke of God hall. Did I hear gospel music, real our Mother and God our Father. gospel music? Up behind the Reverend Jesse Davis, pastor podium was a black choir of of the Shiloh Baptist Church and LDS males U.S. males LDS females U.S. females maybe sixty voices. I looked at in charge of the evening’s or- Source: 1987 Survey of Families and Households

JUNE 1991 PAGE 57 SUNSTONE !CALENDAR

THE ASSOCIATION FOR MORMON LETTERS 1992 annual Martin Luther King, will be the keynote speaker; Mormon scholars symposium will be held at Westminster College in Salt Lake City on will include Levi Peterson, Ross Peterson, Leonard Arrington, 25 January. Proposals for sessions are desired which will combine the Thomas Alexander, and James Allen. Registration is $140 for 2 presention of creative works with critical analysis. Possible topics credit hours, slightly less for non-credit attenders. Contact: Mountain include Mormon domestic life, gender, missions, portraits of the West Center for Regional Studies, Utah State University, Logan, UT Mormon as artist, the fictionalizing of true experiences, realistic 84322 (801/750-3639). portrayals of spiritual experiences, Mormon pop romance, and STAFF NOTES is an independent bi-monthly newsletter for LDS millennial!apocalyptic fantasy. Contact: program chair Richard church musicians and choristers which features suggestions for Cracroft, English Department, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT congregational and choir singing, tips for organists, new hymns, an 84602 (801/378-3082). idea exchange, and historical tidbits. Published by LaVonne At the 1991 annual symposium the following individuals were VanOrden, Staff Notes is offered without charge (although donations elected AML officers and board members: Ann Edwards Cannon, are probably accepted) and back issues are available for a modest president-elect and vice president;John Bennion, Patricia T. Aikins cost. International subscriptions are also free but require $5 (U.S.) and Robert M. Hogge, new board members. Continuing officers for postage. Contact: Staff Notes, P.O. Box 3281, Salt Lake City, UT include: Richard H. Cracroft, president; Bruce W. Jorgensen, past 84110-3281. president; Steven P. Sondrup, secretary and treasurer; Linda SUNSTONE LECTURES AND SYMPOSIA Brummett, Susan Howe, and Dennis Clark, board members. AML will again sponsor a section at the annual conference of the 1991 NEW TESTAMENT LECTURE SERIES, co-sponsored by Rocky Mountain Modern Language Association on 17-19 October the Student Religious Forum, features a monthly lecture on the 1991 at Arizona State University in Tempe. Original works by second Tuesday of each month. On 11 June Blake Ostler will speak Mormon poets and papers on contemporary Mormon poetry are on "What Does it Mean to be ’Translated Correctly’?" On 9 July Todd solicited. Papers dealing with poets outside the U.S. or poems in Compton will speak on "Mary Magdalene and the Recognition of languages other than English are especially welcome. A solid review Christ." of the recently published anthology Harvest is also sought. Contact: Lectures are held in room 101 of the James Fletcher Physics Elouise Bell, 350 MSRB, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602 Building at the University of Utah; $2 donation. To receive a monthly (work: 801/378-3261; home: 801/225-2151). notice of the upcoming 1991 lectures, send your name and $3 to KNOW THE BOOK OF MORMON SEMINAR sponsored by Sunstone, 331 Rio Grande Street, Suite 30, Salt Lake City, UT BYU Conferences and Workshops will be held on 1 June 1991 at the 84101-1136 (801/355-5926). BYU conference center and will focus on great prophets of the Book 1991 SUNSTONE NORTHWEST SYMPOSIUM will be held on of Mormon: Robert E. Parsons on "Teachings of the Lord Jesus 8-9 November at the Mountaineers Building in Seattle, WA. Pro- Christ in America"; Robert L. Millett on "The Message of Jacob"; posals for papers and panel discussions are now being accepted. Robert J. Matthews on "The Words of Abinadi"; and Monte S. Volunteers interested in helping organize the conference are needed. Nyman on "The Teachings of Amulek." Registration is $5 in advance, Contact: Molly Bennion, 1150 22nd Avenue East, Seattle, WA 98112 $6 at door. Contact: BYU Conferences and Workshops, 136 Harman (206/325-6868). Building, Provo, UT 84602 (801/378-3559). SUNSTONE SYMPOSIUM XIII will be held earlier than usual, THE MORMON WOMEN’S FORUM will sponsor a lecture by on 7-10 August at the University Park Hotel in Salt Lake City. Ed Firmage on 12 June at the University of Utah’s Fine Arts Audito’ Last-minute proposals for papers and panel discussion should be rium at 7:00 P.M. sent in immediately. Individuals beyond Utah’s Wasatch Front who The Forum now has chapters in five locations, in addition to the want to receive a copy of the preliminary program should notify Salt Lake Chapter. For more information, contact each chapter di- Sunstone. Contact: symposium chair Cindy Dahle, Sunstone Foun- rectly: Alberta, Canada, Chapter, 212 Woodstock Place S.W, Cal- dation, 331 Rio Grande Street, Suite 30, Salt Lake City, UT 84101- gary, AB T2W 5W5, CANADA; Northern California Chapter, 755 1136 (801/355-5926). Page Mill Road. #B-9, Palo Alto, CA 94304; Southern California NOW BACK IN PRINT Chapter, 1685 West Haven Road, San Marino, CA 91108; Seattle, Washington, Chapter, 1021 142nd Avenue S.E., Bellevue, WA JOURNAL OF DISCO URSES 98007; Houston, Texas, Chapter, 11909 Barry Knoll, Houston, TX Twenty Six Volumes - Plus Index 77024. To receive the Forum’s seasonal newsletter, send $8 to Mormon Women’s Forum, EO. Box 58281, Salt Lake City, UT 84158. THE MOUNTAIN WEST CENTER FOR REGIONAL STUD- o, -$275.00 IES is sponsoring a week-long workshop entitled "Biography As (CA. Resident~ Add 6% Salea Tax) High Adventure" on 24-28June 1991. The workshop is designed to provide budding writers with the skills they need to write a creditable Make Checks Payable to: biography. Each day will focus on a theme (biography, sources, family DAVID WERDEN history, writing and organization, or publication), and participants may choose from the various sessions. Writers with manuscripts can (9 0) 720-7503 have them critiqued by professionals, and a $1,000 prize will be 6871 Olive Tree Way ¯ Citrus Heights, CA ¯ 95610 given for the best biographical manuscript reviewed. Stephen Oates, (Allow 4-6 Weeks For Shipping) author of Biography As High Adventure and biographer of Lincoln and

JUNE 1991 PAGE 58 SPEECHES & CONFERENCES

BYU WOMEN’S CONFERENCE chastity, a greater commitment to marriage, and are more chauvinis- tic. BYU Women’s Research Institute Director Marie Cornwall fore- TURNS ANOTHER CORNER casted organizational tensions between the goals of First and Third World women in the Church, as well as among U.S. Sisters. THE ANNUAL BYU Women’s Conference has an interesting history. The conference also hosted professional counselors, including It began as a conference sponsored by the Women’s Office of the three sessions on Mormon men’s issues and an excellent presentation student association; next it was planned by the Women’s Research by BYU counselor Sally Barlow on the male biases men and women Institute in the College of Family and Social Sciences; later it was have in diagnosing women’s mental health. Tapes of all sessions are organized by a university faculty committee through the division of available from AMCAP ($6 each, $45 for all 15 sessions): 2500 East speeches and conferences. Although it has always been a university 1700 South, Salt Lake City, UT 84108. function, most of its thousands of attenders have been LDS Sisters from along Utah’s Wasatch Front and beyond. This mixing of the academic and the popular has occasionally caused skepticism among PARTICIPANTS WRESTLE WITH non-participating BYU faculty and tension between the organizers GENDER, FAMILY ISSUES and attenders. Several years ago many Sisters complained that only women with Ph.D.s were speaking; were the planners implying that THE MOVIES have moved away from the Rambo-like warrior and only degreed Sisters were worthy role models? Last year, conservative have begun to project men like Steve Martin’s character in Parenthood, Sisters strongly protested the composition of a panel discussion on men who "can keep their sexual, romantic side, but they can nurture day care. too, and in this way they offer a redefinition of what makes a family," Perhaps in an attempt to address that duality, this year’s mid-April said Sharon Swenson at the International Conference on Gender and women’s conference was co-sponsored by BYU and the General Relief the Family held at BYU on 6-8 February 1991, and sponsored by Society presidency and, as a result, had the largest attendance ever at BYU’S Women’s Research Institute, the BYU Center for Studies of the the women’s conference. Some faculty familiar with past conferences Family, and the Utah Governor’s Commission for Women and felt the Relief Society was overly cautious in trying not to offend the Families. general authorities or the average LDS woman who would attend. The aim of the three-day conference was to bring together re- Still, the opening session featured a dramatization of the strongsearch over the .past two decades regarding "what is known about the differences between Emma Smith and Eliza R. Snow, the first two family with what is known about gender." The conference attracted general presidents, and there were sessions dealing with social con- over 200 scholars nationally and internationally--two participants cerns, such as spouse abuse, but they weren’t evident in the session came from the Soviet Union and one from New Zealand--and titles, and other topics were addressed openly and honestly. Indeed, included as one of its plenary speakers pulitzer-prize winning New both old and new planners commented on the amount of pain and England historian Laurel Thatcher Ulrich. frustration expressed by the attenders in Q&A sessions, discounting Highlights from the conference follow (presenters are in the complaint that this was just another saccharine Education Week, parentheses). but in the spring. Apparently, the conference was successful enough In a study examining marriages of thirty to thirty-five years, that it will be co-sponsored next year, and with perhaps a little more "women become more openly assertive in later life, and are less daring. compliant and less willing to trade compliance for security." As women become more assertive, both partners experience a height- LDS COUNSELORS MEET IN SALT LAKE ened degree of marital stress. Both are most distressed when the husband thinks he is giving in to a domineering wife or when the "FOR ME to show you a part of myself is one thing, but for you to wife is unambivalently assertive. Satisfaction is also low when either invade my privacy is another," explained BYU Professor Elouise Bell partner perceives a struggle for control. After thirty-five years of to the semi-annual pre-general conference gathering of the Associa- marriage, however, both partners seem to move into a period of tion of Counselors and Psychotherapists (AMCAP) at the University "relative harmony. .... Thus, while there are strains in long-term of Utah LDS Institute. Bell’s topic, "When Humor Heals, When marriages, they may reflect normal transitions which can evolve into Humor Hurts," helped set the tone for the conference which was another form of gratifying relationship." (Margaret Hellie Huyck, dedicated to "Women and Therapy: A Spiritual and Clinical Update." psychology, Illinois Institute of Technology) Indeed, the conference welcomed the advice of those outside the Contrary to popular belief, fathers in contemporary society are counseling profession. BYU English professor Eugene England ex- becoming less--not more--involved in the "center of family life." plored how in the works of Shakespeare women are healers. Vocalist After the shift to a more industrialized society, "the paternal role, Lisa Arrington discussed music as therapy. Stake president/physician while still central to the economic function of the family, was increas- George Durham explored ways priesthood roles can sustain women ingly peripheral to the emotional dimension of the family realm." by taking them seriously. Mormon essayist Donlu Thayer discussed Most studies suggest that fathers’ participation in housework and ways competition mitigates spirituality and concluded that we child care in the twentieth century has not increased substantially should wrestle with contraries in obtaining balance and harmony over the past twenty years. In fact, "fathers are increasingly absent instead of trying to overcome necessary oppositions. BYU sociologist from the homes in which their children reside," usually because of Tim Heaton reported that average Mormon couples are like the divorce. Some researchers think that husbands will participate more average American couple, except in familial areas, where they are in domestic life, especially in families where the wife is gone from the higher than the norm: they have more children, a higher level of family for a significant part of each day. Their participation will

JUNE 1991 PAGE 59 translate to "deeper father-child relationships." (Alan J. Hawkins, UPDATE family sciences, Brigham Young University) In a study done in Utah County of 200 victims of robbery or rape, women reported more traumatization immediately after the crime, while men experienced more dissatisfaction six months after the UTAH ACLU SET TO DEFEND occurrence, during the criminal investigation. Several explanations PLURAL MARRIAGE were proposed: (1) Women were much more likely to be victims of assault; therefore, "it would seem mason’able to assume that assault "WHILE THE ACLU does not advocate the practice of plural [would] be more traumatic than burglary or theft." (2) Men may be marriage, . . . the ACLU believes the practice.., among informed less willing to admit "physical or emotional reactions to victimiza-consenting adults is protected by the Constitutution," states a recent tion." (3) Men tend to "expect to have an active role in all aspects of Utah ACLU chapter petition to its national organization. The Utah their lives," and, when they are left out of the investigation or judicial chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) plans to process, they tend to experience more dissatisfaction than women protect the rights of adults who practice plural marriage as a part of who are inclined to "expect to have a more passive role." (Wanda M. their religion. Before it can do that, however, the national ACLU will Spaid, social work, Brigham Young University) have to support the petition. In a different study, Mormon women view having a baby as a The change is prompted by a recent Utah Supreme Court decision "developmental task endowed with significant meaning" as con- that states a Utah polygamous family cannot be denied the privilege trasted to other first-time mothers who see the experience more as an of adopting children solely on the grounds that they practice plural important "event in their life." Mormon women are more apt to marriage. "We can’t just protect the religions we like, the ones we "relate childbirth and motherhood to one’s ultimate destiny or reasonagree with and get along with," says Michelle Parish, Utah ACLU for being" than are non-Mormon women. They also equate "child- director. The Utah petition further states that the First Amendment birth with a profound spiritual dimension, and [draw] an innerprotects the rights of fundamentalists who practice plural marriage strength from their religious beliefs." as a part of their beliefs and says the state of Utah also threatens the Other comparisons between Mormon and non-Mormon women fundamentalists’ right to privacy and equal protection by continuing show that Mormon women are just as likely to use birth control as to recognize plural marriage as a third-degree felony even though are non-Mormons, and, in contrast to national norms, "Mormons there has been no prosecution of the offense for forty years. with higher family income and a higher level of maternal education are likely to have more children." (Lynn Clark Callister, nursing, Brigham Young University) EX-LDS AUTHORITY CONTEMPLATES Women seek help for psycho-social disorders more often than do LEADING NAVAJO5 men. Why? Rather than being mentally ill or socially dysfunctional, women seek help from psycho-social quarters because they are GEORGE P. LEE, a former member of the First Quorum of the "socialized to seek help while men are socialized not to seek help." Seventy who was excommunicated from the Church 18 months ago, In fact, "females utilize one of the most effective coping strategies says he is waiting for the "green light" from God to pursue the available and that is the use of support systems." In the future, "some presidency of the Navajo Nation. Lee staged a write-in campaign for mental illness syndromes such as personality disorders will be the presidency last year when Peter McDonald, who was running for redefined with gender factored in" to reflect the different genders’ the presidency, was convicted of ethics, bribery, and conspiracy coping strategies. (Barbara R. Wheeler, social work, Brigham Young charges a month before the election. University) On election day, Lee garnered a surprising 22 percent of the votes, In a plenary session, speaking on women and the law, Utah and according to some observers, established himself as a force to be Supreme Court Justice Christine M. Durham concluded, "The truth reckoned with in tribal politics. is that the lives of an overwhelming number of women and child- Lee has until June to decide whether he will run for the presid- ren.., are impoverished, sometimes violent, and mostly marginalency At that time, he must move to the reservation from his suburban in terms of participation, power, and self-determination .... The Salt Lake home to establish the required three-year residency before poor are disproportionately women and children .... We must con- the 1994 election. ’Tm not worried about that," Lee said. "I leave stantly reexamine the instruments of change to ensure that they are everything in the hands of God. If the sign comes again before June, capable of helping us build new places for women to live." I’ll do something about the law. It’s in his hands."

JUNE 1991 PAGE 60 MORMON MEDIA IMAGE

guerrillas in his country "have the idea that our church represents North American interests because our headquarters are in Utah. That is why they attack us." Referring to recent attacks on missionaries in Peru and the frequent bombings on Church buildings in Colombia, David C. Knowlton, assistant professor of anthropology at BYU, explained at a BYU Kennedy Center forum on 21 March, "Two percent of the people in Chile are Mormon as opposed to 1.7 percent of the people that are Mormon in America." The difference is that the growth of Mormon- ism in American society has occurred over a period of 160 years, while the growth of the Church in Latin America has occurred essentially during the last twenty years. Church membership in South America grew from 317,000 in 1980 to 1,189,000 members in 1989, according to official figures. "The Church tries to remain outside political involvement, but its very presence in Latin America is political," Knowlton said. "The Church’s silence, while rapidly growing, is a political act." That growth is threatening to a culture that is strongly dominated by the Roman Catholic Church. Knowlton said culture ider~tification in Latin America is more important to the people than it is to Americans, and the LDS church is viewed as an American institution that poses a threat to their identity Apparently several practices that the Church perpetuates under- score the perceived threat. According to the UPI article, one spokesman in Peru said the hundreds of white-shirred, clean-cut young UTAH ABORTION BILL ENRAGES American missionaries in the region tend to strengthen the public PRO-CHOICE ADVOCATES image that the Church is U.S.-based. LAST JANUARY, when Utah’s legislature passed the most restrictive Another spokesman in Argentina said that because the Church abortion law in the United States it was in such a hurry that the uses many computers to store its genealogical data, many left-wing lawmakers unintentionally allowed the prosecution of women hav- rebels believe the organization is connected with the U.S. Central ing an abortion to be tried for a capital offense. Pro-choice advocates Intelligence Agency A leftist leader in Argentina said another possible quickly seized the opportunity: representatives of the National Or- strike against the Church is its extremely conservative image. Leftist ganization of Women belittled the state in the media and the Ameri- guerrillas in Chile and Peru urge armed revolution for the masses, can Civil Liberties Union took out a full-page ad in the New York and they see the Church’s twelfth Article of Faith, which urges Times and other national publications. In response, Utah’s legislative members to be subject to "kings, presidents, rulers and magistrates" leaders acknowledged their mistake, and in a special session of the as anathema to their purposes. The Catholic church, on the other legislature corrected the law. In any event, the state has agreed not to hand, has many priests who openly support revolutions. enforce the law until its legality has been resolved in the courts. Another likely problem between the rebels and Church is that both are often trying to recruit followers from the same group--the region’s poorest. The left may lose ground where the Mormon church LDS IMAGE ENCOURAGES gains. SOUTH AMERICAN ATTACKS Knowlton said he thinks terrorist attacks on the Church could be BECAUSE MANY South Americans perceive the LDS church as a U.S. reduced in South America if the Church became more international entity competing with the region’s dominant Roman Catholic and less of an American institution. If we are to really preach the Church, the Mormon church of all the religious groups in South gospel to every "nation, kindred and tongue," then we have to America has born the brunt of terrorist attacks by left-wing guerrillas, de-Americanize the Church and respect other cultures, Knowlton especially after war broke out in the Persian Gulf, said Anne H. concluded. Harrison in a UPI story. On Valentine’s Day 1991, suspected left-wing guerrillas bombed four LDS churches in Huancayo, Peru. That attack came six months FINNS RATE MORMONISM NEGATIVELY after two Peruvian missionaries were killed by a pair of alleged rebels A POLL by the research center of the Evangelical-Lutheran Church in the city’s Beanvacu district. Mormon chapels have been the target in Finland (SELK) suggests that Mormonism, Islam, and Jehovah’s of rebels in other Peruvian cities as well as the target of at least twenty Witnesses are viewed especially negatively ..by Finns in general. bombings in Chile since August. In Brazil, where guerrilla activity is Two-thirds of those polled expressed a negative view of Islam. nearly non-existent, rebels have attacked an LDS church in the Attitudes toward Mormonism were almost as negative, and Jehovah’s central state of Goias. Similar attacks have also occurred in Bolivia Witnesses got a negative rating of 82 percent. About seven Finns in and Colombia. eight belong to SELK, which was viewed favorably by about Peruvian LDS church spokes,man Juan Prieto Zapata said that two-thirds of those surveyed. (Ecumenical Press Service)

JUNE 1991 PAGE 61 AWARDS

THE ASSOCIATION FOR MORMON LETTERS 1990 AWARDS Given at the Annual Symposium, Salt Lake City, Utah, 26 January 1991

AN AWARD IN CRITICISM Sacrament (and other meetings). There is the clever update of sexual sins marked out on his bishop’s chart shine radiantly like the William A. Wilson one-upmanship in "Power Ploys" lingering like a message on an stars in a planetarium (they resist the object of the object lesson); for his essay answering machine, to remind us each time we take it up how phony they are stories about conversion, where the violence of domestic "In Praise of Ourselves: Stories to Tell" are our pretensions. (And a reminder in "Three for the Holidays" of life is suddenly mellowed by the gospel beyond all the gospel Brigham Young University Studies, 30:1, how empty our post-tensions are.) cliches; and they are stories about the healing maternal touch of (Winter, 1990) In all these essays--wry, funny, sly, outrageous, clever, witty, Vicks VapoRub. Bert Wilson has stories to tell¯ He tells stories well¯ And they are our dry-eyed, inmemoriam--Elouise Bell releases the tensions that we Neither moralizing or "ale"moralizing, each story transcends stories (even, and perhaps most especially, when they are his all feel, sometimes with gales of raucous laughter, sometimes with conventional expectation because K]m carefully fashions detail, but own).1 Missionary stories. Stories of Relief Society presidents and punctures to our pride, sometimes with a clean surgical swipe. The always relinquishes authorship to the reader at just the right mo- bishops. Three-Nephite stories, Trickster tales. Serious stories of tickling we feel in the aftermath is the itch of healing, the healing of ment. Indeed, it is the story that matters, not Kirn’s long-standing humor. Farming stories. Outlaw stories. Theological stories, perso- the wound made by that large spear. personal view, pet peeves, or convictions¯ He gives himself up to nal narratives. His mother’s stories of Riddyville, a town that now whim, the moment of the story, the telling. One time he is a bankrupt exists only in stories. AN AWARD IN POETRY farmer, preparing his bankrupt farmer speech. At another he is the His-our--stories are celebratory, healing, human stories. Loretta Randall Sharp keeper of deadman’s curve, waiting for wrecks so that he can make Stories that help us build a sense of community and then deal with "Doing It", SUNSTONE, 14:2 (issue 76), April 1990 his living on the salvaging of used parts. Walter Kirn’s stories are the pressures that community imposes. Stories without which we "The Table", SUNSTONE, 14:3 (issue 77), June 1990 about being alive in a world where "being human" is neither an have no selves. Stories that shape our lives as we shape them¯ He "Blood Poem", SUNSTONE, 14:4 (issue 78), August excuse nor a revelation, but a wonderful fact. He is a master of the doesn’t teach us to tell stories (for he seems to think of us as natural 1990 modern short story where fiction is multi-textured, variegated, and geniuses), but he does help us to value them, to study them, to "The Slow Way Home", Dialogue 23:3, Fall 1990 hard to pin down. He is someone the rest of us will have to deal with, recognize our humanity in them, to feel again the power of our own "In Late September’’1 Literature and Belief, 1990 Iiteradly speaking, for some time¯ good fictions, the joy of our divine capacity to create. In an impressive year for published verse by Mormons--a great AN AWARD IN THE NOVEL 1. He tells the stories referred to here in the following articles, among others: deal of it, all of it at least competent, much of it more than that-- Franklin Fisher "The Study of Mormon Folklore: An Uncertain Mirror for Truth," Loretta Randall Sharp is a very impressive winner of this award. Her Dia/ogae22:4 (Winter 1989). Bones voice is clear, individual and very direct; the confidence with which "Freeways, Parking Lots and Ice Cream Stands: The Three Nephites in Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1990. Contemporary Mormon Culture." Dia/o~jue 21:3 (Fall 1988). she controls it is the confidence of having something needful, "The Seriousness of Mormon Humor," SUNSTONE 10:1 (January 1985). something both timeless and contemporary, to say. It is a woman’s Bones skillfully weaves numerous colorful narrative strands into an "Mormon Folklore," In Handbook of American Folklore, ed. Richard M. voice addressing women’s concerns so that we are all involved, Dorson. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1983. intriguing whole¯ In Lodn Hood, Franklin Fisher has created a "Trickster Tales and the Location of Cultural Boundaries: A Mormon men and women. She lives entirely in the contemporary world and complicated protagonist with a rich mystical, sensual, and artistic Example," Jouma/ of Folklore Research 20 (1983). her language and her landscape are those of our time¯ Yet--in "The spirituality that meshes only uneasily with traditional Mormonism. "On Being Human: The Folklore of Mormon Missionaries." Utah State Slow Way Home" for example--she is completely at ease in the old, His character develops sympathetically and deeply as he moves University Faculty Honor Lecture, Logan: Utah State University Press, 1981¯ unhurried world of India, her compassion and understanding wide "The Curse of Cain, and Other Stories: Blacks in Mo~non Folklore," from adolescent doubt through phases of faith and self-discovery. enough to acknowledge the andent customs of that land, aware of SUNSTONE 5:6 (Nov-Dec 1980). This complexity is illustrated in descriptions of Lorin’s painting, such "Folklore of Utah’s Little Scandinavia," Utah Historica/Oaaftef~y47 the presence of the old and necessary gods. And "Going Home," as this one of a crowded pod of peas: "The peas themselves were (1979). which I think the finest of this group of striking poems, exhibits a of various densities¯ Some were solid and rough, with irregular "The Study of Mormon Folklore," Utah HistoricalOuaf~er~’44 (1978}. daughter’s love and understanding for a sick father, with a lack of bumps and knobs like asteroids, others were hard and smooth like ¯.. and others. sentimentality at once healing and refreshing. It allows the poet to pool balls, still others were shimmery and indistinct, and occupied AN AWARD IN THE ESSAY create a poem which shows we can all be "caught / by fear palpable the same spaces with the solid ones, overlapping like a double Elouise Bell as salt bring, each / yielding to the inexorable season of love." exposure. It had been an experiment in mixing modes of reality-- Only When I Laugh Perhaps the greatest of her gifts is the sense of balance how many peas from how many planes of existence could cohabit Salt Lake City: Signature, 1990 achieved by this poet. Hers is at artful and sufficient eloquence, her in the same canvas, much less the same pod?--and he had made music is there to accompany her narratives, if they are narratives. As Elouise Bell explains it: "The title of this collection.., comes.. it an experiment in simultaneous perspectives as well" (243). The Certainly there is a narrative line in every piece under consideration ¯ from the old story about a man who had been run through with a narrative starkly contrasts passages of straightforward description here. Her skill is to seem to have so natural a voice that we are of common objects and events with dreams and visions that render large spear. When asked if it hurt terribly, he replied, ’Only when I startled after reading poem by its quiet aptness. It is a memorable all experiences uncommon. Fisher also succeeds in juxtaposing laugh¯’ Sometimes it hurts whether we laugh or not." Reading these accomplishment and one which deserves wide recognition. different emotional and intellectual approaches to Mormonism and essays, I wept, I wailed, I gnashed my teeth. But mostly I laughed. in creating characters with varying levels of maturity in encounters For many years, Elouise Bell has explored the range of the 1. Also published, with differences, as "Going Home," Dia/wae23:4, Winter 1990. with issues of universal spiritual significance. The novel is splashed personal essay, trying it on like a body-s~it, finding where it bends, with evocations of Mormon culture and folklore that are both frankly where it stretches, where it fits best, where it’s a bit loose and AN AWARD IN THE SHORT STORY FOR 1990 comic and insightful, as when Lodn sees himself as a thirteen-year- wrinkled. Most of these trials have been undertaken for Network Walter Kirn old Joseph Smith: "... he watched himself creep down the wooden magazine. To it, for its deadlines, we owe an immense debt of My Hard Bargain steps with their curls of green paint, cross the yard and push open gratitude; without them, the tongue of this Bell might never have New York: Knopf, 1990 the wagon-wheel gate and follow the dirt path up past the stock- rung so many changes on the form. dam, and then he joined himself. He was looking for a quiet place And such changes! There is the voice of "When Nice Ain’t so In Walter K]m’s debut collection, My Hard Bargain, his stories come of age in ways that are unique in Mormon literature-they simply to pray for a revelation" (218). Lorin Hood’s rites of passage as an Nice" warning us of the danger to our society of suppressing our artist, a Mormon, a sensualist, and a mystic are fasdnating, contro- feelings, especially anger. There is the backward unmasking of our sail boldly toward the edge of the known world and refuse to drop versial, disturbing and rewarding. Sunday rituals in "The Meeting," loosing a friction of nervous laugh- off. Because of this daring, they cannot be ignored¯ They are stories ter that scrubs away the local anesthetic which lets us sleep through about falling away and falling toward--about the adolescent whose

JUNE 1991 PAGE 62 ONE FOLD

GALLUP TALKS OF SPIRITUAL NEEDS Fifth, Gallup said Americans have a need to feel that they are growing in faith. Seven Americans in ten say they have experienced OF "COMPOSITE" AMERICAN a change in faith during their lifetimes. He said churches need to pay IN A talk given at Princeton Theological Seminary in December close attention to the passages people experience in their faith lives 1990, George Gallup, Jr., who, for fifty-five years has surveyed and to religious experiences which often change the course of one’s Americans on a wide range of topics, stressed that Americans are life. more easily characterized by their religious life than by any other Sixth, Americans need practical help in developing a mature faith. criteria. "We read the Bible, but we are a nation of biblical illiterates," Gallup Gallup said, "Over the last half-century we have learned a great said. "We pray and believe in the power of prayer, but do not give deal about the breadth of religion, but relatively little about theour prayer life the attention it deserves. We believe the Ten Com- depth, about the inner life of humankind. The fact is that most social mandments to be valid rules of life, but we are unable to name many scientists have tended to turn their backs on explorations of the inner of them. We would be hard pressed to defend our faith because we life, dismissing it as a subjective realm and therefore not worthy of are uncertain about what we believe, let alone why we believe." study. Yet if one were to select the most important dynamic in the life Gallup said churches need to work toward closing the gap between of Americans that explains our uniqueness and character, it would belief and practice--to turn professed faith into live-out faith. be, not politics, not educational level, not region of the country, but After expostulating the spiritual needs of Americans, Gallup said the religious dynamic." he saw the challenges of religious communities being two-fold: "To After recognizing the limitations of surveys attempting to define reach as many people as possible, and to reach them as deeply as the inner life, Gallup nevertheless outlined six basic spiritual needspossible, to broaden the church itself and deepen it." (Emerging of Americans and explored whether churches are relating to those Trends) needs. Gallup’s first spiritual need: 70 percent of Americans believe it is CATHOLICS, PROTESTANTS ABANDON very important that life is meaningful and has a purpose. Two-thirds "JUST WAR" TRADITION of people interviewed believe that "most churches and synagogues today are not effective in helping people find meaning in life." IN RESPONSE to the recent Persian Gulf War, mainline Protestants Second, Americans feel a need for a sense of community and are changing their positions regarding their support of fighting just deeper relationships. Society has become highly mobile, experiences wars, according to the evangelical magazine World. Neoconservative high divorce rates, and fosters megacities, multinational corpora- critic George Weigel says that much of the formal mainline religious tions, and bureaucracies. As a result "radical individualism" has taken leadership in the U.S. has eschewed its traditional just-war teaching hold in the religious lives of Americans, and the large majority of and become "functionally pacifist" in its condemnation of the use of Americans now believe that one can be a good Christian or Jew if one American military force in foreign conflicts. He argues that the does not attend church or synagogue. Gallup noted that a conse- mainline religious leaders’ pacifism is not what he calls "principled quence of this individualism is loneliness. He said one-third ofpacifism," but rather it is restricted to the opposition of American use persons surveyed say they have been lonely "for a long period of of force. time" in their lives, with half of these people saying this experience In Catholic quarters, the Vatican Jesuit journal, La Civilta has affected their thoughts "a great deal." Gallup suggested that faith Cattolica, stated in a recent issue: "In reality, war today--except in the communities can combat individual loneliness by encouraging cor- case of defending oneself from a grave aggression underway---is porate worship as well as participation in small groups. He thinks morally unacceptable, whatever the reasons given for its justifica- that small groups, rooted in prayer and Bible stud> may be the best tion." The journal doubts whether a war can be "limited"--which is hope for a renewed church in the 1990s. one of the just-war qualifications--since modern warfare and weap- Third, Americans feel the need to be appreciated and respected. onry escalates conflict to affect the rest of the world and the environ- As many as one-third of the American people have a low sense of ment. (Ecumenical Press Service) self-worth or self-esteem. Significantly, he said, "we have discovered that the closer people feel to God, the better they feel about themselves. They are also more satisfied with their lives than are others, U.S. POPULACE PRAYS FOR PEACE more altruistic, enjoy better health, and have a happier outlook." OVER HALF of the U.S. populace (58 percent) reported they prayed Fourth, Americans want to be listened to. Americans over- more than usual after the beginning of the Persian Gulf War. A similar whelmingly think the future of the church will be shaped to a greater percentage (59 percent) believe their prayers can be very effective in extent by the laity than by the clergy. Not only do they think it will a situation like the one faced in the Persian Gulf. An additional 22 happen, they believe that it should happen. Gallup defined lay in-percent say they think praying can be fairly effective. volvement as mostly administrative which frees the clergy to listen to While tending to pray more, Americans did not attend church people’s religious needs and to provide spiritual counseling andmore regularly after the tensions increased in the Mid-East. The inspiration. In one survey, when the unchurched were asked what percentage attending church in a typical week remained at the would most likely draw them back into the community of active highest level recorded in nearly three decades, but that level is a worshippers, the lead reason was, ’~if I could find a pastor, priest, modest upward trend that has been building over the past four years. or rabbi with whom I could share my religious needs and doubts." (Emerging Trends)

JUNE 1991 PAGE 63 seoss OXYMORMONS

THAT’S THE TICKET MOST WESTERNERS are annoyed by having to pay parking tickets, but in Toronto, Canada, Chaintanya Kalevar’s tickets frustrate him for a different reason. A devout Hindu, Kalevar neglects his tickets precisely in order to go to trial, having made it his mission to replace the Canadian law that offers only the Christian Bible for swearing in witnesses with a practice of asking what holy book the witness prefers (for Kalevar it’s the Bhagavad Gita). But the Canadian courts, reluc- tant to tackle this sensitive subject, have three times thrown out Kalevar’s case before it came to trial, claiming they "lost" the tickets. Even if his crusade is unsuccessful, Kalevar at least gets choice parking spots. (The Secular Humanist Bulletin). LIFE IN THE FAST A MARVELOUS LANE WORK, SALT LAKE has been ranked as THE Elvis Up Close Museum having the fourth fastest lifestyle across the street from Elvis in the United States. Only Presley’s Tennessee mansion, residents of Boston, Buffalo, and Graceland, features, among other New York City outpace Salt Lak- things, a selections of books he ers. Robert V. Levine, a psycho- read; well, he owned. Tomes in- logy professor at California State clude the Collected Wortzs of Kahlil University, Fresno, ranked a Gibran, one on the assassination number of cities using four cri- of John Kennedy, one about Chi- teria: the speed at which bank nese karate movie star Bruce Lee, tellers fulfilled a request for and, interestingly, the LDS semi- change, the walking speed of nary text, The Restored Church. If downtown pedestrians, the talk- Elvis hasn’t yet done his own ing speed of postal clerks, and temple work, and if, perhaps, he the proportion of people wearing read the book, he will be more wristwatches. The "north-eastern receptive to the missionaries’ United States is fast-paced," said message on the other side, as- Levine, "whereas the West Coast suming he really is dead. is a little more relaxed." Califor- nians were the most laid-back, EVANGELIST FIRMS boasting six of the ten slowest- UP FLABBY paced cities. Levine had no explanation for FOLLOWERS Salt Lake’s hurry when compared THE Rev. Joe Florence is trying to to other western cities. He did entice throngs of walkers, bikers, note that Salt Lakers don’t suffer and joggers to join him for wor- from coronary heart disease in ship services on Sunday morn- the same proportion that ing; he then joins them for exer- residents of other fast-paced cit- cises afterward, according to a ies experience. He attributed recent Associated Press story. their health to the low propor- "Active Worship for Active tion of smokers. He also noted People" is what Florence calls his that Salt Lake residents don’t new service at White Rock demonstrate what many United Methodist Church in Dal- researchers consider the most las, Texas. Meeting in a church important characteristic of stress- gym and using bleachers as ful behavior: hostility. Besides pews, worshippers attend in not harming their health, their sweat pants and work out Timothy Smith, a psychology together after the sermon. professor at the University of "Our goal is to get to the baby Utah, notes Utahns "get a lot boomers," said Florence. "They done." don’t like to dress up."

JUNE 1991 PAU, F 64 1991 WASHINGTON D.C. SYMPOSIUM

ORDER SIX TAPES AND RECEIVE A CASSETTE ALBUM AND A 7TH TAPE FREE

2. GOING TO CHURCH __17. JOSEPH SMITH’S FIRST VISION: AN EXAMPLE OF THE PROCESS OF MODERN REVELATION 3. THE MORMON FEMALE EXPERIENCE 19. BREAKING THE MOLD: A LOOK AT TWO MORMON FOLK HEROES __4. 95 WAYS TO BUILD COMMUNITY IN THE CHURCH 20. RECOVERY FROM CODEPENDENCY--THE SEARCH FOR __5. NATIONS--THE WORLD’S FORGOTTEN INHABITANT5 NORMALCY

__6. SCIENCE, COSMOLOGICAL ARGUMENT, PROCESS 21. COMING OF AGE: THE REORGANIZED CHURCH AND THEOLOGY, AND MORMONISM THE 1960’5

__ 7. THE REORGANIZED CHURCH AND THE INDEPENDENCE 22. SMALL GROUP DYNAMICS IN CHURCH LEADERSHIP TEMPLE: CONFESSIONS OF A SKEPTIC GROUPS: A PRELIMINARY EXPLORATION OF GENDER FACTORS 8. PILLARS OF MY FAITH 23. HANS KONG AND THE DIALOGUE WITH WORLD RELIGIONS: CHRISTIANITY, ISLAM, HINDUISM, BUDDISM, AND WOULD YOU BELIEVE... ? WHERE HAVE THE OLIVE BRANCHES GONE? ¯ __24. IS ETERNAL PROGRESSION A FUNDAMENTAL TRUTH ABOUT REALITY OR A PRODUCT OF 19TH CENTURY 10. RAISING CONSCIOUSNESS, NOT CAIN: SUPPORTING AMERICAN OPTIMISM? WOMEN ON THE STAKE AND WARD LEVEL __.25. ARE WE REALLY A FAMILY-ORIENTED CHURCH?

__ 11. ESTABLISHING THE UNITED ORDER IN THE MODERN __27. BABYLON THE WHORE OF THE EARTH: CATHOLICS, WORLD ECONOMY COMMUNISTS, OR BA_~THISTS?

__ 13. MORMON META-ECONOMICS: TOWARD A THEORY __28. WOMEN A5 VICTIMS - WOMEN AS HEALERS: THE OF EMPOWERMENT AND EQUALITY PRESENCE OF VIOLENCE IN OUR SOCIETY , 14. LATTER-DAY MYTHS ABOUT COUNSELLING AND 29. ’BETWEEN THE WOMEN’: A FEMINIST RE-READING OF PSYCHOTHERAPY MAURINE WHIPPLE’S "THE GIANT JOSHU/V , , __ 15. ONE FACE OF THE HERO: IN SEARCH OF THE 30. PRIESTHOOD AND THE FATHERING EXPERIENCE MYTHOLOGICAL JOSEPH SMITH __.32. CORRELATING AN EXPANDING MORMON UNIVERSE __ 16. EZRA TAFT BENSON’S 1987 DECONSTRUCTION OF WOMAN: CAN THE GUILTY SEX REDEEM ITSELF 33. OH, SUNSTONE! IV FEATURING THE WORLD PREMIERE WITHIN MORMON CULTURE? OF SAMUEL BECKETT’S ONLY ROADSHOW SCRIPT

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