Mar 21 2009
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and Publicity
This is an official message from the Mormon church that I thought would be worth repeating here - simply to clear the air on some of the larger misconceptions about Mormons, being spiritual and the role of a church (in government or not).
Like other large faith groups, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints sometimes finds itself on the receiving end of attention from Hollywood or Broadway, television series or books, and the news media. Sometimes depictions of the Church and its people are quite accurate. Sometimes the images are false or play to stereotypes. Occasionally, they are in appallingly bad taste.
As Catholics, Jews and Muslims have known for centuries, such attention is inevitable once an institution or faith group reaches a size or prominence sufficient to attract notice. Yet Latter-day Saints – sometimes known as Mormons - still wonder whether and how they should respond when news or entertainment media insensitively trivialize or misrepresent sacred beliefs or practices.
Church members are about to face that question again. Before the first season of the HBO series Big Love aired more than two years ago, the show’s creators and HBO executives assured the Church that the series wouldn’t be about Mormons. However, Internet references to Big Love indicate that more and more Mormon themes are now being woven into the show and that the characters are often unsympathetic figures who come across as narrow and self-righteous. And according to TV Guide, it now seems the show’s writers are to depict what they understand to be sacred temple ceremonies.
Certainly Church members are offended when their most sacred practices are misrepresented or presented without context or understanding. Last week some Church members began e-mail chains calling for cancellations of subscriptions to AOL, which, like HBO, is owned by Time Warner. Certainly such a boycott by hundreds of thousands of computer-savvy Latter-day Saints could have an economic impact on the company. Individual Latter-day Saints have the right to take such actions if they choose.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as an institution does not call for boycotts. Such a step would simply generate the kind of controversy that the media loves and in the end would increase audiences for the series. As Elder M. Russell Ballard and Elder Robert D. Hales of the Council of the Twelve Apostles have both said recently, when expressing themselves in the public arena, Latter-day Saints should conduct themselves with dignity and thoughtfulness.
Not only is this the model that Jesus Christ taught and demonstrated in his own life, but it also reflects the reality of the strength and maturity of Church members today. As someone recently said, “This isn’t 1830, and there aren’t just six of us anymore.” In other words, with a global membership of thirteen and a half million there is no need to feel defensive when the Church is moving forward so rapidly. The Church’s strength is in its faithful members in 170-plus countries, and there is no evidence that extreme misrepresentations in the media that appeal only to a narrow audience have any long-term negative effect on the Church.
Examples:
- During the Mitt Romney election campaign for the presidency of the United States, commentator Lawrence O’Donnell hurled abuse at the Church in a television moment that became known among many Church members as “the O’Donnell rant.” Today, his statements are remembered only as a testament to intolerance and ignorance. They had no effect on the Church that can be measured.
- When the comedy writers for South Park produced a gross portrayal of Church history, individual Church members no doubt felt uncomfortable. But once again it inflicted no perceptible or lasting damage to a church that is growing by at least a quarter of a million new members every year.
- When an independent film company produced a grossly distorted version of the Mountain Meadows Massacre two years ago, the Church ignored it. Perhaps partly as a result of that refusal to engender the controversy that the producers hoped for, the movie flopped at the box office and lost millions.
- In recent months, some gay activists have barraged the media with accusations about “hateful” attitudes of Latter-day Saints in supporting Proposition 8 in California, which maintained the traditional definition of marriage. They even organized a protest march around the Salt Lake Temple. Again, the Church has refused to be goaded into a Mormons versus gays battle and has simply stated its position in tones that are reasonable and respectful. Meanwhile, missionary work and Church members in California remain as robust and vibrant as ever, and support for the Church has come from many unexpected quarters — including some former critics and other churches.
Now comes another series of Big Love, and despite earlier assurances from HBO it once again blurs the distinctions between The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the show’s fictional non-Mormon characters and their practices. Such things say much more about the insensitivities of writers, producers and TV executives than they say about Latter-day Saints.
If the Church allowed critics and opponents to choose the ground on which its battles are fought, it would risk being distracted from the focus and mission it has pursued successfully for nearly 180 years. Instead, the Church itself will determine its own course as it continues to preach the restored gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the world.
I can empathize with your position and am against any stereotypical reference made to any religion-I consider it to be in very poor taste. However, for someone who is opposed to these practices you are doing a fair amount of preaching and promoting which only invites attention. This is not the forum for you to tell me of the growth and foundation of your religion. I have never walked in your shoes so I can’t comment on how you feel but I will say this; If you feel offended by the likes of South Park; perhaps you are a bit too sensitive. I will say that your religion’s very public condemnation of gay marriage invited a response from the gay community. As you are entitled to your religous views; they are entitled to pursue what they feel is their right to a lawfully recognized marriage. All that being said; I assure you that I will not be a fan of any show that demeans any religion. No offense is intended but you would be wise to remember that you can’t have it both ways. If you want to be left alone; you might consider leaving the gay community alone as well.
Whaaaaaaaa! My church with a history of being persecuted for our unconventional marriage practices just engaged in a campaign against civil rights in California for those with unconventional marriage practices and now we don’t want to be scrutinized. Whaaaaaaaa! We don’t want people knowing about how we massacred those settlers or had a whole bunch of wives or preached against non-white races, or stole our secret ceremonies from the Masons.
http://obamacomics.today.com
@Jason-LOL. You obviously took a more direct approach than I did and I think your message is more clear. The hypocrisy of a Mormon questioning the sanctity of marriage is blatant.
@tailback - That’s just the icing on the cake of Mormon hypocrisy. This is a church founded by a convicted huckster with the majority of their rituals lifted from other religions and secret societies. Joseph Smith gets horny and he all of a sudden has an awfully convenient revelation that god wants him to have multiple wives. Then later the polygamy thing is starting to bring down the federal heat and their new “prophet” has another convenient revelation that they’re supposed to give up the extra wives. And while the church itself distances itself from polygamists who consider themselves to be the real Mormons since they’re practicing it the way the founder of the church intended (because he was horny, mind you), I couldn’t believe the outpouring of support for the FLDS compound that was raided because underage girls were being given to old men to “marry.” Yes, the same people who took away the gays’ civil rights to marry in California were calling the feds a bunch of fascists for meddling in the affairs of an organization that promotes child rape.
You guys need to get your facts straight. The multiple marriages that occured were spiritual in nature. There has been no documentation that they were ever consumated. In that time period, a lot of women and widows were joining the church and they needed to be provided for. The way that God told Joseph Smith to do this was to have men provide for them - by marrying them - but not engaging in sexual acts with them. Remember, women couldn’t do anything back then but get married.
Also - the Mormon church doesn’t say that homosexuals shouldn’t have the rights of a married couple. They object to the word marriage being used to describe the union. In fact, many people do. The majority of the voting public in California. And before you decry that it was Mormons, keep in mind that the African-Americans were th largest block voting for Prop. 8. There are not enough Mormons in California to pass that vote.
The LDS church didn’t support the FLDS. In fact, they supported the children of the FLDS church when they were outside the compound, not the FLDS members inside the compound.
I am doing some stereotyping on this website. Most of it is related to politics. However, in politics the stereotypes have been proven true - again and again. In fact, there is any amount of research that shows how the various political groups fit into their niches - and why theyre were created to do just that.
When we vote in this country you get two viable candidates - a Republican and a Democrat. It is sad, but that is the way it is. I am against a Democratic candidate for their fiscal and most of their social programs. Therefore, I encourage people to find out more about the Republicans, and try to sway people to that side.
It is simply my job to point things out. You don’t have to like it. And i prefer if most comments on this site help flesh out the arguments for and against things. I think discourse is great because - more than anything else - the discourse means you are involved.
It’s awfully convenient to be able to say you got a revelation from god to do whatever you want to do. I want to have sex with lots of women so god told me that I need celestial marriage. The feds won’t give us Utah because of our marriage practices. Oh look, god told us to get rid of it. That’s a pretty steep line of BS if you ask me.
And like I said, while the church officially condemned FLDS, the Mormon bloggers are a whole other story.
http://obamacomics.today.com
Jesus?… where have I heard that name? Does he play for the Rams?
I love the fucking Mormons….
Hey - there is no need to swear. People don’t need to use that kind of language to make a point.
And you cannot group all Mormons as a class. That is like saying you hate all Muslims or Hindus. Do you know any? Are they bad people? Have they done something to hurt you, all of them?
Think about why you hate a group of people as a class…..it is ridiculous. You can think the Mormons are out of their gourds with the religion they practice, but you also have to know Mormons personally before you can make a judgement.
And any judgement about individuals cannot be applied to a whole - that’s not a good way of thinking - for anyone.