MORMON EXPERIENCE SCHOLARSHIP ISSUES & ART SEEING JOSEPH SUNSTONESUNSTONE SMITH: THE CHANGING IMAGE OF THE MORMON PROPHET by Robert A. Rees (p.18) TRACKING THE SINCERE BELIEVER Laurie F. Maffly- Kipp examines the obsession with Joseph Smith’s sincerity (p.28) JOSEPH SMITH REVISED AND ENLARGED by Hugo Olaiz (p.70) H. Parker Blount reflects on LDS environmental rhetoric and practices (p.42) A LEAF, A BOWL, AND A PIECE OF JADE, Brown fiction contest winner by Joy Robinson (p.48) UPDATE President Hinckley undergoes surgery; Utah’s “Origins of life” debate; film controversies; and more! (p.74) December 2005—$5.95 UPCOMING SUNSTONE SYMPOSIUMS MAKE PLANS TO ATTEND! MARCH APRIL 18 21-22 SUNSTONE SUNSTONE SOUTHWEST dallas WEST claremont, california 2006 SALT LAKE SUNSTONE SYMPOSIUM CALL FOR PAPERS FORMATS SUBMITTING PROPOSALS DEADLINE Sessions may be scholarly Those interested in being a part In order to receive first-round papers, panel discussions, of the program this year should consideration, PROPOSALS interviews, personal essays, submit a proposal which includes SHOULD BE RECEIVED BY sermons, dramatic performances, a session title, 100-word abstract, 1 MAY 2006. Sessions will be literary readings, debates, comic a separate summary of the topic’s accepted according to standards routines, short films, art displays, relevance and importance to of excellence in scholarship, or musical presentations. We Mormon studies, and the name thought, and expression. All encourage proposals on the and a brief vita for all proposed subjects, ideas, and persons to symposium theme, but as always, presenters. be discussed must be treated with we welcome reflections on any respect and intelligent discourse; topic that intersects with Mormon proposals with a sarcastic or experience. belittling tone will rejected. THIS YEAR’S THEME: ` MORMONISM and POPULAR CULTURE 9–12 AUGUST 2006 SALT LAKE SHERATON CITY CENTRE HOTEL FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THESE EVENTS, PLEASE VISIT WWW.SUNSTONEONLINE.COM MORMON EXPERIENCE, SCHOLARSHIP, ISSUES, & ART DECEMBER 2005 Issue 140 FEATURES 18 Robert A. Rees . SEEING JOSEPH SMITH: THE CHANGING IMAGE OF THE MORMON PROPHET 28 Laurie F. Maffly-Kipp. TRACKING THE SINCERE BELIEVER: “AUTHENTIC” RELIGION AND THE ENDURING LEGACY OF JOSEPH SMITH JR. 37 Mary Lythgoe Bradford . IT TAKES MANY VILLAGES 42 H. Parker Blount . THE GOD OF NATURE SUFFERS 48 Joy Robinson. A LEAF, A BOWL, AND A PIECE OF JADE 2002 Brookie & D. K. Brown Fiction Contest Moonstone Winner 54 Eric Samuelsen. PECULIARITIES: Tahoe SUNSTONE (ISSN 0363-1370) is published by The Sunstone Education Foundation, Inc., a non-profit corporation with no official ties to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. POETRY Articles represent the opinions of the writers only. 8 Edward Beatty. GLIMPSE SUNSTONE is indexed in the Index to Book Reviews in Religion 36 Marilyn Bushman-Carlton . PRIVATE AFFAIR and Religion Indexes: RIO/RIT/IBBR 1975–on CD-ROM. Submissions may be on IBM-PC compatible computer discs COLUMNS (MS Word or WordPerfect format), or by e-mail attachment. 6 . TOUCHSTONES: Grace Submissions should not exceed 8,000 words and must be accompanied by a signed letter giving permission for the 9 Dan Wotherspoon . FROM THE EDITOR: A Long Way Just to Sit manuscript to be filed in the Sunstone Collection at the University of Utah Marriott Library (all literary rights are retained 12 John Bernhard . TURNING THE TIME OVER TO . : by authors). Manuscripts will not be returned; authors will be You, Jack, and Peter notified concerning acceptance within ninety days. CORNUCOPIA SUNSTONE is interested in feature- and column-length articles 13 Kay Gaisford . RIGHTEOUS DOMINION: Walking Together relevant to Mormonism from a variety of perspectives, news stories about Mormons and the LDS Church, and short reflections Alison Takenaka . MARGIN NOTES: The Melting Pot Melt-Down and commentary. Poetry submissions should have one poem per page, with the poet’s name and address on each page; a self- 15 Todd Robert Petersen . IN THE BELLY OF THE WHALE: addressed, stamped envelope should accompany each I’m a Mormon, Mister submission. Short poems—haiku, limericks, couplets, and one- liners—are very welcome. Short stories are selected only through 17 Paul Allen . THE SUGAR BEET: Home Teacher’s Reproof the annual Brookie and D. K. Brown Memorial Fiction Contest Gratefully Received (next submission deadline: 30 June 2006; $5 fee per story). Letters for publication should be identified. SUNSTONE does 41 Michael Schoenfeld. SUNSTONE GALLERY: Mary Lythgoe Bradford not acknowledge receipt of letters to the editor. Letters addressed to specific authors will be forwarded, unopened, to them. 60 D. Jeff Burton. BRAVING THE BORDERLANDS. : Wormwood among the Mormons SUNSTONE will not provide subscriber addresses to mail list solicitors without permission. 63 David Barber . OF GOOD REPORT: Mormonism Send all correspondence and manuscripts to: and America’s Jesus Obsession SUNSTONE 68 Steven Fales . INTERVIEW: Mormon Boy Arrives Off-Broadway 343 N. Third West Salt Lake City, UT 84103-1215 70 Hugo Olaiz . NEWS AND COMMENTARY: Joseph Smith, (801) 355-5926 Revised and Enlarged: The Prophet Has New fax: (801) 355-4043 email: [email protected] Clothes, but Do the Seams Show? website: www.sunstoneonline.com 73 Seth Perry . COMMENTARY: Why Is It So Hard to Talk United States subscriptions to SUNSTONE are $36 for 6 issues, about the Mormons? $65 for 12 issues, and $90 for 18 issues. International 80 Brigham Young. AN OLIVE LEAF: “If He Is All Right subscriptions are $48 for 6 issues; $89 for 12 issues; $126 for 18 issues. All payments must be in U.S. funds drawn on a U.S. bank. on the Main Lines” All international subscriptions will be sent via surface mail. Bona fide student and missionary subscriptions are $10 less than the above rates. A $10 service charge will be deducted from UPDATE refund amount on cancelations. 74 . President Hinckley undergoes cancer surgery; Printed by Latter-day Saints find creative ways to complete Book of Mormon reading challenge; “Origins of life” Copyright © 2005, The Sunstone Education Foundation. debated in Utah; Brokeback Mountain decision All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. brings new attention to LDS conservatism; more! Front Cover Art by J. Mark Inman; Back Cover Art by Brian Kubarycz SUNSTONE YEA, YEA NAY, NAY Founded in 1974 SCOTT KENNEY 1974–1978 ANY subscribers contacted us at the office about ALLEN D. ROBERTS 1978–1980 PEGGY FLETCHER 1978–1986 M their receiving a second copy of the November DANIEL H. RECTOR 1986–1991 LINDA JEAN STEPHENSON 1991–1992 2005 issue several weeks after the first one. For those ELBERT EUGENE PECK 1986–2001 who wondered but didn’t call, the second issue, as stated Editor DAN WOTHERSPOON on the table of contents page of that second copy, is a Publisher replacement for the first, which had several printing WILLIAM STANFORD Associate Editor defects that we at SUNSTONE deemed unacceptable. CAROL B. QUIST Managing Editor The second edition represents the way the magazine ALLEN HILL was designed to look. Section Editors PHYLLIS BAKER, Fiction Contest Again, we express our thanks to the press represen- SCOT DENHALTER, Cybersaints tatives we worked with in Salt Lake City as well as at ALAN AND VICKIE EASTMAN, Righteous Dominion ALLEN HILL, Touchstones the Las Vegas printing facility who responded to our HUGO OLAIZ, News/Update DIXIE PARTRIDGE, Poetry concerns in a very forthright and professional way. BOYD PETERSEN, Mormonism and politics MARY ELLEN ROBERTSON, Women’s studies MICHAEL SCHOENFELD, Sunstone Gallery DARRON SMITH, The Long-Promised Day? ALISON TAKENAKA, Margin Notes UNFETTERED ACCESS relevance to traditional LDS claims about the BRAD AND CHERIE WOODWORTH, Book reviews Book of Mormon. I encourage SUNSTONE to Editorial Assistants JOHN-CHARLES DUFFY, HUGO OLAIZ LAKE OSTLER REMINDS ME OF THE carefully consider its responsibility to readers Recording/Digitizing Engineers Bloveable, well-meaning brother who sits and not allow its pages to be a venue for irre- BRIAN MULVEY, MATT WRIGHT Contributing Columnists in the back of my Sunday School class and sponsible, mean-spirited personal attacks or MICHAEL AUSTIN, D. JEFF BURTON tells us the latest word from scientists about a place where the non-specialist is given the MICHAEL NIELSEN, JANA RIESS life, the universe, and everything—and all of last word, as entertaining as Ostler may be. I Photographer and Recording Engineer STEVE MAYFIELD it based on what he’s read in the newspaper. look forward to a reasoned response to Cartoonists Sunstone is the indulgent teacher who lets Southerton’s conclusions but have yet to find JEANETTE ATWOOD, GWEN DUTCHER JONNY HAWKINS, MACADE, RYAN WAYMENT him hold forth. it in SUNSTONE. Much-Appreciated Volunteers For the past several issues, we’ve seen TOM KIMBALL ADRIANE ANDERSEN, SUSAN ANDERSEN DEVERY ANDERSON, PHYLLIS BAKER, DON GUSTAVSON Ostler’s speculations achieve seemingly un- American Fork, Utah BARBARA HAUGSOEN, LEANN HILLAM, BEVERLY HOPPE UNSTONE ERIC JONES, STEVE MAYFIELD, KATHY WILSON fettered access to S ’s pages. In the most recent issue, Ostler’s letter, “Simon Editor’s Note: As announced in the November Says, But That Doesn’t Make It So” 2005 SUNSTONE, discussions about specific issues related to Book of Mormon historicity, in- THE SUNSTONE EDUCATION (SUNSTONE, November 2005, 4), misrepre- sents the character, intent, and writing of the cluding the relevance of DNA findings, have been FOUNDATION moved to www.SunstoneBlog.com. We welcome The mission of The Sunstone Education Foundation is to only molecular geneticist to write a book- sponsor open forums of Mormon thought and experience. all interested persons to continue the discussion Under the motto, “Faith Seeking Understanding,” we ex- length study of DNA and its relevance to the amine and express the rich spiritual, intellectual, social, UNSTONE of these issues there. and artistic qualities of Mormon history and contempo- LDS Church.