Came across an interesting article today discussing the growing visibility of Mormonism in politics, media, and culture.
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (Reuters) – After more than a century on the fringe of America’s consciousness, Mormons are riding a wave of media attention and public scrutiny — and say they welcome the chance to set a few things straight.
From Mitt Romney’s bid to become the first Mormon in the White House to Public Broadcasting Service’s four-hour documentary on Mormonism in May and a Hollywood movie opening this month focusing on one of Mormon history’s darkest episodes, the once-isolated religion is moving into the open.
“We welcome it,” Elder D. Todd Christofferson, a member of the Presidency of the Seventy, a church leadership body, said of the sudden attention.
“To the extent that attention can be informative as opposed to pejorative and there’s a sincere interest and honest curiosity, I think that’s positive,” he said.
Of course, the line between “informative” and “pejorative” is drawn subjectively. In just two months, the release of September Dawn will, for the first time in US history, deal with the Mountain Meadows Massacre in a major media release. Upon the announcement of the movie, the LDS church went into full damage control mode by stating:
“From what we know of this movie, it is a fictional portrayal before, during, and after the tragic events at Mountain Meadows in 1857. This film is a serious distortion of history.
I think calling something a “serious distortion of history” qualifies as a perception that this film is pejorative. Who decides?
Polygamy, of course, was outlawed in 1890 in Utah, and stopped being practiced by the Salt Lake City LDS apostles and prophets a decade and a half later. In part due to media attention over the past two decades, however, polygamists still represent approximately 3% of all Utah residents, and their numbers are growing at a phenomenal rate, both due to birthrates and conversions. Polygamy is an issue that will have to be dealt with one way or another. That said, the current Attorney General of Utah has pledged to not oppose polygamy itself, and only investigate abuses of other laws which might be related to it.
Despite media portrayals to the contrary, this attitude is very common in Utah. In general, US Mormons recognize their polygamous past as something which — if the Lord were to command it — they would be required to follow again. Many have ambiguous feelings about the topic. Some few bitterly oppose it.
Most, however, simply ignore it, and wish it would go away.
Truth
From what I’ve heard from historians who’ve seen the film, it’s pretty distorted. Flancher party has regular church meetings, temples are suggested to exist in proximity to So. Utah, people call BY their God, etc. It sounds very over the top, which is too bad, because it will allow Mormons to easily dismiss the true tragedy. It creates a definite straw man for apologists.