Posted on 09/08/2001 2:46:19 PM PDT by Utah Girl
In its cover story "A Mormon Moment," Newsweek magazine says members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints "appear mysterious and clannish."
In other words, the same way the staff of Newsweek appears to many LDS members.
And over the next few months, those members and the national media will all be going through "mutual discovery." We'll be giving each other the once-over like Charlton Heston and the monkeys in "Planet of the Apes." You decide who's who.
One difference is already showing up, however. The media and the LDS faithful differ on what things matter most.
For Newsweek and many other national periodicals, the spiritual side of Mormonism has little appeal. What they find interesting are the social issues, political conflicts and gender debates.
Many home-grown Mormons, on the other hand, think the real news is the "good news" and what passes for modern journalism is often just gossip gussied up to look like news.
That division isn't new. It's a split that runs through world history.
I have this image of the national press corps in the Garden of Eden, pumping Adam and Eve about domestic problems and animal rights.
I picture Adam trying to oblige reporters while pointing out there were better stories afoot — an angel guarding a fruit tree with a flaming sword and conversations with the Creator, for instance.
I picture the reporters nodding and smiling in a dismissive sort of way, then pressing ahead with their questions.
In other words, doing pretty much what they do in Newsweek's article on Mormon Utah.
And that article would have pinned us down pretty good, if it hadn't missed the things that matter most to us.
Like most spiritual people, members of the LDS Church tend to speak and listen with their hearts.
When a child comes home from college, a Mormon mother listens with her heart for any new-found brittleness.
When a bishop interviews a member of his flock, he listens for sincerity, hoping to pick up on unspoken pain.
When you listen with your heart, whispered pride at the pulpit can sound like a shout.
And that, I suspect, is one reason "there's been some concern" about the Newsweek piece. True, the magazine botched a few facts and distorted some ideas. In deadline journalism, that's going to happen.
But my guess is, what concerns many Utahns is the cavalier tone.
"Heck, Utahns even have a sense of humor," winks one sidebar.
Thanks so much.
Despite the LDS emphasis on families, the magazine says, male leaders "rarely see their families because church work is so consuming."
Silly us.
And, " . . . the state's Mormon-dominated Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission is going to have to let down its neatly trimmed hair . . . "
How does one do that?
Still, I suspect many faithful are not so much concerned over reporters with tin ears as reporters with tin hearts. And speaking to the heart — not to social issues — is what religion is all about.
Yet if the Newsweek piece is any indication, heart-to-heart conversations may not be part of the agenda.
I think they miss it on purpose, and proudly so. : (
The last line of this article (not the Woodward one) sums it up nicely: it is a matter of heart-to-heart conversations. REAL conversations, not debates or argument, or propaganda meant to ridicule or demean another.
Newsweek should mind it's own business. What do they know about any religion?... or news, for that matter?! I haven't touched a Newsweek magazine in years. Not even the ones left in waiting rooms. I'd rather read the children's books.
The priesthood was given to all worthy males, regardless of race, in a revelation to President Spencer W Kimball in 1978. As to why black males weren't allowed to hold the priesthood prior to that (but were allowed membership in the Church), I don't know. There are many theories out there, and if you are really interested, I can direct you to some links.
As to the Word of Wisdom and the coffee, tea, Coke, and chocolate question. The Word of Wisdom said that hot drinks were not for the body of belly. Later, coffee and tea were identified as those hot drinks. As to Coca Cola and other caffeinated drinks, the church has never taken an official stance on them. I do know some bishops who strongly urge their members not to drink Coke, etc. but they do not deny them temple recommends. As for chocolate, I assume you are talking about the minute amount of caffeine in it. All I can say is at the end of the section in the Doctrine and Covenants where it talks about the Word of Wisdom, it says we should use moderation in eating all other foods. I'd included chocolate in that category.
Who's he calling monkeys?!?!!!
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