Marriage Survey (polygamy)

Georgia Southern University
College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences
Department of Psychology

Attitudes About Religion and Marriage
Statement of Informed Consent

1. I am Dr. Michael Nielsen, a professor of psychology at Georgia
Southern University. I am conducting a series of studies examining
people=D5s attitudes about religion.

2. The purpose of this research is to improve our understanding of
the way that religious views shape attitudes about marriage and
relationships, in particular, how people view alternative forms of
marriage such as polygamy.

3. Participation in this research involves completion of a
questionnaire that asks a series of questions about religious beliefs,
attitudes about marriage & polygamy, and demographic characteristics.
The study is conducted entirely on-line.

4. Discomforts and Risks: There are no risks in participating in
this research beyond those experienced in everyday life. Some of the
questions are personal and might cause discomfort.

5. Benefits: The benefits you receive include the opportunity to
learn more about yourself and your views concerning religion and
marriage. You also have the opportunity to help us better understand
how religious attitudes and experience correlate with attitudes about
different forms of marriage. In some areas of the U.S. and other
countries, legislators and others are discussing the merits of
alternative forms of marriage. The data collected in this study may
help us improve our understanding of how people perceive marriage. You
will have the opportunity to request a summary of the research when
the data have been analyzed.

To read further about the survey, or to take it, click here:
http://class.georgiasouthern.edu/psychology/mn/consent.htm

Utah Historical Quarterly

Some issues of the Utah Historical Quarterly have been digitized.=20
Check them out at:

http://history.utah.gov/history_programs/utah_historic_quarterly/utahhistor=
icalquarterlyonline.htm

=?MACINTOSH?Q?Women=D5s_History_Initiative?=

http://smithinstitute.byu.edu/wh/WomenInitiative.asp

=09=09=09Women's History Initiative
=09

With the disbanding of the Joseph Fielding Smith Institute on
September 1, 2005, many have asked what would become of the Women's
History Initiative. We are happy to report that the Initiative still
exists in a somewhat scaled-down form. Team members Jill Mulvay Derr,
Connie Lamb, Cherry Silver, and Sheree Bench continue to meet to
strategize and coordinate research projects that focus on Mormon
women. Historian Carol Cornwall Madsen has moved to an advisory role
as she completes the second installment of her biography on Emmeline
B. Wells, which focuses on Wells's private life.
=09
The Mormon Women's History Initiative office is now located in 1835
Harold B. Lee Library. You will find Cherry Silver and Sheree Bench
there on most Mondays as they continue their work on the Emmeline
Wells diaries.

=09 =09
=09=09

The year 2004 was a remarkable year for the Women's History Initiative
of the Joseph =09=09=09Fielding Smith Institute for LDS History. The
Women's History Initiative team coordinated several =09=09=09events
focusing on Mormon women, including an exhibition, a lecture series, a
dramatic production, =09=09=09and a scholarly seminar. The year was capped
off with the inauguration of a Mormon women's history =09=09=09class at
BYU, which was team-taught by Jill Mulvay Derr and Sheree Maxwell
Bench.

Utah's 'Mollywood' a wholesome Hollywood?

Utah's 'Mollywood' a wholesome Hollywood?

DEBBIE HUMMEL

Associated Press

OREM, Utah - After almost five years of making movies for Mormons, the
group of filmmakers who were part of the genre's most prolific
production studio are branching out with projects that leave the
church jokes behind with the hopes of engaging a broader audience.

And they want to do it in their own backyard. Could Utah become a
"Mollywood" of sorts - a family focused, film-making Mecca that still
caters to Molly Mormons, the nickname given to those who embrace the
faith's clean-cut morality?

If filmmaker Richard Dutcher started it all with "God's Army," his
2000 film about missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints in Los Angeles, Dave Hunter and Kurt Hale perfected
it. The two formed Halestorm Entertainment in 2001 and went on to
release a string of movies over the last four years, mostly comedies,
aimed exclusively at a Mormon audience.

Members of the LDS church are discouraged from watching R-rated films.

Halestorm's films are made with small budgets that are easily
reclaimed by screening in states such as Utah, Arizona and Idaho,
where a significant number of the population belongs to the Mormon
church. DVD sales of the movies are where they make their money, they
said.

While Hale says the niche possibilities are endless - "there are three
or four great stories on my desk right now ... a Mormon horror comedy,
a Mormon musical" - Hunter and Hale are ready to develop a broader,
commercial base and maybe turn Utah into a wholesome Hollywood along
the way.

Their company has gotten the attention of motion picture industry
insiders by shooting films for $400,000 to $500,000 and making double
or triple that back. But that seems to be the ceiling.

The company also has been an incubator for other filmmakers, including
Jared Hess, who had a breakaway hit in "Napoleon Dynamite" last year.

"We're done engaging the Mormon audience," Hunter said. Added Hale:
"There's just not enough Mormons."

Early next year, Halestorm plans to move into a $5 million production
studio with 46,000 square feet of space that will house all of its
offices, production and distribution, as well as two large sound
stages.

"We'll be able to do a film from beginning to end in the studio," Hunter sa=
id.

They hope the studio, combined with Utah's unique geography, will draw
one big outside production each year. Within an hour of the studio, a
crew could be filming on desolate salt flats, sand dunes, mountains or
dense forests, and just a three-hour drive away is Utah's red rock
country.

While Halestorm will remain true to its family friendly ethic, it
won't monitor what other film producers want to do.

"To have a censor board to read scripts and approve productions that
would not only be damaging to us, it would be damaging to the state of
Utah," Hunter said.

Marketing to the Mormon niche has boomed recently, providing the
devout with ample entertainment focused on their faith, including "The
Work and the Glory" trilogy bankrolled in part by Utah Jazz owner
Larry Miller. Its second installment had a nationwide release last
weekend.

A sampling of plots from Halestorm movies include a romantic comedy
set in a singles' congregation of the church, the trials and
tribulations of a young man back from his two-year proselytizing
mission and a spoof about a fictional Mormon boy band.

Halestorm begins its foray into the mainstream with the upcoming
release "Church Ball," a farce about how viciously competitive Mormon
church basketball leagues can be. It has a more recognizable cast,
including Fred Willard and Gary Coleman, and the religious
denomination of the church players is obscured.

Halestorm deserves a lot of credit for finding and developing a niche
market, said Jason E. Squire, an instructor of cinema practice at the
University of Southern California's School of Cinema-Television.

He said such films as "Napoleon Dynamite and "My Big Fat Greek
Wedding" are examples of how to break out of that niche while trying
to maintain a certain ethic. "It doesn't matter what kind of movie it
is. What matters is capturing the audience's imagination," he said.

Other filmmakers who have ties to Halestorm, and like Hale and Hunter
were in the film program at church-owned Brigham Young University,
have gone on to their own successes outside of strictly Mormon plot
lines.

Ryan Little was a director of photography for many of the Halestorm
movies and struck out on his own to direct "Saints and Soldiers" in
2003. The film about a band of World War II soldiers during the Battle
of the Bulge had some critical success, including awards at some small
film festivals and being nominated for an Independent Spirit award.

Little is currently filming an adventure film called "The Outlaw
Trail." The movie follows a young boy who has inherited a belt buckle
that belonged to Butch Cassidy.

The director said his goals are to make movies families can enjoy
together and help build the film community in the state.

While Utah has lured filmmakers to its scenic vistas since the days of
the spaghetti western, it's never fully capitalized on its proximity
to Los Angeles, less than two hours away by plane.

Utah lawmakers are considering increasing incentives to entice more
production companies.

Mormon-genre films have made their mark on the Utah Film Commission's
revenues, bringing in $500,000 in 2001 and more than $2 million last
year, said commission director Aaron Syrett. But that's still a
fraction of the more than $60 million the commission sees annually
from filming in the state.

Mark DeCarlo, the host of the Travel Channel's "Taste of America"
program and the star of Halestorm's current release "Mobsters and
Mormons," said he enjoyed working in Utah and was charmed by the
"good, honest people" he met on the set. But to lure more productions,
local filmmakers need to have a more Hollywood-like professionalism,
he said.

"They use a lot of friends and favors," DeCarlo said. "In order for it
to really compete with Hollywood you need a professional class of
person both in front of and behind the scenes."

New Biography Casts Joseph Smith As `Tough CEO'

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SALT LAKE CITY In the opening lines of his new book, author and historian Richard Bushman says that 200 years should be enough time to gain perspective on the life and work of Joseph Smith, founder of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Almost as quickly he concedes that any consensus on Smith's character or achievements is unlikely. Like any religious leader, Smith is loved by believers seeking to protect his reputation and hated by doubters engaged in disproving his claims.

``Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling,'' written by Bushman and published in September by Alfred A. Knopf, is an attempt at fleshing out a portrait of Smith as man and prophet that shows his flaws and foibles as well as the genius and ingenuity that founded an American religious movement which became a worldwide church of more than 12 million.

The book, which some say is the most important biography of Smith in nearly 30 years, debuted to considerable buzz, said Curt Bench, owner of Benchmark Books.

``It doesn't read like a warts-and-all biography, yet you see Joseph Smith as a man, a flawed human being and one with limitations,'' said Bench, who sells books about Mormons, Utah and Western history. ``It's an important book and it was time for a new important biography of Smith.''

A lifelong, believing Mormon, Bushman acknowledges however that he remains sympathetic to his subject and was conscious of the Latter-day Saint audience in drafting the 561-page volume.

Mainstream Mormons have to be able to recognize the man they call prophet, Bushman said.

But, Bushman said, ``my most desired readers are the curious outsiders who want to know what was going on in the life of Joseph Smith.''

Mormons know Smith as a ``seer, revelator and prophet,'' who as a teenager received a vision in which God told him to restore the true church on Earth. The faithful believe the angel Moroni later led Smith to a set of buried gold plates said to be the record of ancient Americans visited by Jesus Christ. Smith's translation of that record became known as the Book of Mormon, on which Smith founded his church in Palmyra, N.Y., in 1830.

Smith was shot and killed in 1844 by an angry mob at the Carthage, Ill., jail, where he was being held on charges of riot and treason.

Historical records and diaries add to the story. Smith was a ``tough CEO who made it known he didn't like to be challenged,'' Bushman said.

Smith was also uncertain at times about himself and the role he believed God asked him to play. He could be demanding, was subject to melancholy and was at times noticeably absent or distant from others during the early formation of the church. Bushman also lays out some of the more controversial issues surrounding the early church, such as the practice of polygamy, which Smith initially denied and which later became a lightning rod for anti-Mormon sentiment.

``I think some ordinary Mormons will find a different Joseph Smith,'' Bushman said. ``I don't know whether or not it will shock some of them, but I think he's more interesting and attractive if he's a human being.''

Historians say the information is not really new, but the fact that it's all in one place _ Bushman culled information from thousands of pages of records and from some of the more than 18 other Smith biographies _ is unusual.

``There is nothing new there. So what you have is some Latter-day Saints who are ignorant of their own history and their own scriptures. So when he lays it out, there are going to be some who will be a bit shocked,'' said Stephen Harper, an assistant professor of church history at the Brigham Young University.

``Rough Stone Rolling'' also acknowledges contradictions between historical records and ``official'' records of the Mormon church.

``We should just admit we have a problem,'' Bushman said. ``And don't look for a quick fix solution.''

A Harvard-educated historian and the current Gouverneur Morris professor of history emeritus at Columbia University, Bushman has nine other titles to his credit, including the 1984 volume ``Joseph Smith and the Beginnings of Mormonism.''

Some contend those credentials allow Bushman to get away with something few Smith scribes can: Tell the truth without pricking sensitive church leadership.

``I don't know how I do that,'' said Bushman, who claims not to give much thought to the reaction of church leaders as he writes.

``I don't want them looking over my shoulder,'' he said. ``I just have to write what is.''

Officially the church has no comment on the book, although privately some insiders say Bushman is considered the preeminent Smith scholar.

Mark Scherer, church historian for the Community of Christ, which also claims Smith as its founder, says there are places in the book where Bushman shows his Mormon colors, pulling punches to help preserve Smith's image.

The Independence, Miss.-based church was founded after Smith's death by followers who split from those who emerged to lead the Saints.

Scherer thinks Bushman fails to clarify scriptural references from the Book of Mormon and downplays details, such as the keg and beer shop the Smiths once ran in Palmyra. Bushman calls it a refreshment stand, Scherer said.

``Most scholars see that as trying to smooth over the rough edges,'' Scherer said. ``He walks a tightrope. He understands the need for historical authenticity. On the other hand he's a faithful Mormon who has what I would assume are particular obligations that his faith imposes on him. You have to keep that in mind as you read the book.''

Scherer also said he was hoping for _ but didn't find _ many new insights into Smith's life, especially in the four chapters reworked from Bushman's earlier book.

Still, he says he'll recommend ``Rough Stone Rolling'' to those curious about Smith.

``It's like a kaleidoscope,'' Scherer said. ``Every time a new document emerges, that pattern changes.''

Polygamist Judge

7093

Court gets to rule on polygamy, judgeship

 

Up to high court: Utah justices have 90 days to decide if Hildale man with three wives should lose job

 

By Pamela Manson
The Salt Lake Tribune

Salt Lake Tribune PROVO - Judge Walter Steed says he's living in a way that will help him attain the highest degree of glory in the next life while dispensing justice in this one.
   Utah's judicial watchdog, though, says the Hildale Justice Court judge is bringing his office into disrepute with his practice of polygamy - a violation of law by an official sworn to uphold it.
   The question of whether Steed is lowering public esteem for the judiciary and should be removed from the bench is now in the hands of Utah Supreme Court justices, who heard arguments during a session Wednesday at the J. Reuben Clark School of Law at Brigham Young University.
   Steed says he should remain a judge.
   "As long as I do my job, why shouldn't I?" he asked a crowd of reporters after the arguments.
   Describing himself as a fundamentalist Mormon, Steed said he has taken three wives as a religious practice and that his lifestyle has no effect on his fairness as a judge. He contends that other jurists who are breaking the law are not being disciplined.
   "Which is worse, a monogamist who doesn't monog or a polygamist who really polygs?" Steed asked.
   However, he doesn't feel picked on.
   "I feel like there's an issue - the constitutionality of the bigamy statute - that needs to be decided," the judge said.
   One of his wives, Janet Jessop, described Steed as a wonderful husband and father and said that "everyone likes to live their religion and do what they think is right."
   Steed, a truck driver, was appointed in 1980 by the Hildale Town Council to the part-time judge position. He handles misdemeanor matters such as drunken-driving and marijuana cases.
   The judge is a member of The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS), which embraces plural marriage as a tenet of the faith. Thousands of FLDS members live in the twin cities of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz.; British Columbia; and Texas.
   Steed married Jessop in a legal 1965 ceremony and then later entered "spiritual marriages" with two of her sisters, Marilyn Jessop in 1975 and Viola Jessop in 1985. Steed and the three women were all adults when they married and he now has 32 children.
   In Utah, a person who has a legal spouse and cohabitates with someone else can be charged with bigamy.
   Tapestry Against Polygamy, a Salt Lake City-based group, filed a complaint against Steed in 2004 with the state Judicial Conduct Commission based on his plural marriage. The commission has recommended Steed's removal from the bench to the high court, which makes the final decision.
   At Wednesday's session, Salt Lake City lawyer Rodney Parker, who represents Steed, noted that the Utah Attorney General's Office and Washington County authorities have declined to prosecute the judge for bigamy and argued there should be no removal without criminal prosecution.
   He also said the description of what actions bring a judicial office into disrepute and what mental state amounts to "willful" conduct is vague. Parker said enforcement of the bigamy statute can be arbitrary and what is considered disreputable in one community might not be considered wrong in another community.
   Commission lawyer Colin Winchester acknowledged that bigamy prosecutions in Utah generally have targeted cases involving underage girls, abuse or tax fraud, not relationships of consenting adults. However, those serving in the judicial are in a special position, and the fact that many residents of Hildale support plural marriage makes no difference, he said.
   "Judges are expected to live to a different standard," Winchester said.
   The Supreme Court has 90 days to decide the case.
   In a separate case, the justices are considering a request to overturn the bigamy conviction of polygamist and former Hildale police officer Rodney Holm. Holm, who is represented by Parker, is asking the high court to lift the state's ban on plural marriage, arguing he has a right to practice his religious belief in polygamy.
   pmanson@sltrib.com
   
   The Case So Far
   
   * Tapestry Against Polygamy files a complaint in November 2004 with the state Judicial Conduct Commission against Hildale Justice Court Judge Walter Steed, calling for his removal from the bench for practicing polygamy.
   * Steed's attorney argues in January that the judge's plural marriages have not affected his performance or impartiality. In February, the panel recommends that Steed be removed because he is violating Utah law.
   * The Utah Supreme Court, which makes the final decision, hears arguments Wednesday and takes the case under consideration.

 

 

Fwd: Church on the Today Show

LDS Church Highlighted on Today Show

November 1st, 2005 @ 12:00pm

NOTE: The entire NBC Today Show segment is available for viewing. http://real.ksl.com/video/slc/0/38/3860.ram

(KSL / NBC News) -- This morning the TODAY Show began a week-long series on what the show is calling mysterious faiths. The first on the list: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

This morning, Matt Lauer sat down with the LDS President of the Manhattan Stake to try and find answers to some of the more commonly asked questions.

Brent Belnap/LDS Stake President, Manhattan: "I think that there are some misperceptions out there..but i think it's changing as the Church grows I think the misperceptions decrease"

Representing some 12 million members of the LDS faith, Manhattan Stake President Brent Belnap fielded several question not only posed by the Today Show's Matt Lauer, but questions posed by viewers as well.

Matt Lauer, Today Show Anchor: "This one comes from Maria in Willowick, Ohio and she wants to know if Mormons worship Jesus Christ or Joseph Smith:

Brent Belnap/LDS Stake President, Manhattan: 'That's a great question...I'm glad that one was raised...We worship God the Father through his Son Jesus Christ with Christ being the head of the Church. Christ restored his original church through Joseph Smith who we revere, but don't worship him...we look at Joseph as a prophet that existed in ancient times...Moses, Abraham, Isaih ...The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, it's about as central as it can be, it's in the name the Church"

Then there was the question about polygamy.

Matt Lauer, Today Show Anchor: "It has not been condoned since 1890. Was it a mistake in teaching?

Brent Belnap/LDS Stake President, Manhattan: No I don't believe so. It was actually a revelation from God and in Biblical times it was practiced and it was discontinued following a revelation from God in 1890."

One of the focal points for the Today Show: The church's growth. Currently, the LDS faith is the fastest growing religion in the United States with more than 5 of its 12 million members here in the U.S.

Matt Lauer, Today Show Anchor: "Are you saying it's the only path to God and Salvation or are you presenting it as an alternative?

Brent Belnap/LDS Stake President, Manhattan: I think it's more as an alternative. We give people the opportunity to choose just as every religion should have the ability to go out an share its message. We do say and believe that everybody will resurrect as a result of Jesus Christ. There are those who will also be exalted in the hereafter if they follow the teachings of Jesus Christ if they repent of their mistakes but that's a choice that every individual should make."

Tomorrow, the Today Show continues its week-long series called Mysterious Faiths with a look at the ancient teachings of Kabbalah

Fwd: NY Symposium

What: The Joseph Smith Conference.
When: Multimedia presentation at 7 p.m. Friday; lectures start at 9
a.m. Saturday and include Sheri Dew at 2 p.m., Larry Porter at 3 and
Richard Bushman at 5:15. Full schedule at www.hillcumorah.com.
Where: Palmyra Stake Center, 2801 Temple Road.
Admission: Free.
Registration: Available at www.hillcumorah.com .

Mormons to feature A-list speakers in Palmyra

Event to hail Joseph Smith, church growth

Marketta Gregory
Staff writer

(November 3, 2005) — PALMYRA — An all-star lineup of experts on Joseph
Smith and Mormonism will gather in Palmyra this weekend to talk about
the fast-growing faith's contributions to theology and culture.

Several symposiums have been planned around the country to commemorate
the 200th anniversary of Smith's birth, but none will have more
impressive speakers — thanks in part to this area's historical
significance.

Nearly 250,000 people visit the area every year to see Hill Cumorah,
where, according to the church, a young Smith spoke with God and
received the sacred writings of the Book of Mormon. Nearby are
historic places such as the Book of Mormon publication site and the
Peter Whitmer farm, where a handful of men formally organized The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

"With so many historical sites, a stake here and a temple, the
temptation was too much," said Elder Larry C. Porter, considered one
of the top historians on the New York era of the church and a
participant in the symposium.

Symposium organizers also were able to entice Richard Bushman, the
author of one of the most respected biographies of Smith, and a long
list of other heavy hitters, including Sheri L. Dew, who is president
and chief executive of Deseret Book Co., the Mormon church's
publishing arm, and a popular speaker.

"We're thrilled with the positive response we got," said David Cook,
who as president of the Palmyra stake holds a position similar to that
of a Roman Catholic bishop. Some speakers had to be turned away, Cook
said, but that's something he hopes will not happen to potential
audience members.

"We're expecting probably 1,000 people, and we'll have overflow
available," he said. In addition, the symposium will be broadcast to
all stakes in upstate New York, including Buffalo, Syracuse and
Ithaca.

All of the sessions will be open to the public, but organizers ask
that children attend only Friday night's multimedia presentation.
Saturday's lectures are intended for an adult audience.

Porter taught church history and doctrine at Brigham Young University
in Utah before being assigned to the Palmyra area historical sites as
a missionary. His dissertation 35 years ago dealt with the history of
the church in New York and Pennsylvania, something he has continued to
study and will talk about on Saturday.

Like the other speakers, he'll try to develop the historical Smith,
seeking to offer insight into the central figure behind one of the
fastest-growing religions on Earth.

"Joseph Smith rose from a modest background to found the largest
indigenous Christian church in U.S. history," Porter said, and it's a
church that now numbers 12 million throughout the world.

Book of Mormon Chess sets

http://www.lehi.com/chess.html

New York Doll

http://comingsoon.net/news/topnews.php?id=11756

Exclusive: Greg Whiteley on New York Doll

Source: Edward Douglas

October 28, 2005

The last few years have seen many great documentaries about punk and rock bands. There have also been a number of fine films made by members of the Church of Latter Day Saints, including the indie hit Napoleon Dynamite. When you think of the New York Dolls, the seminal punk band often better known for their drugs and debauchery than their music, could you ever imagine that a documentary about them might be made by a Mormon?

Then again, Greg Whiteley's New York Doll is not your typical rock doc. It's more about the former bass player of the band, Arthur "Killer" Kane, and his quest for redemption and a second chance at the rock 'n' roll dream. After the New York Dolls broke up in the '70s, Kane's life spiraled to rock bottom until he found God in the form of the Mormon Church, and as if by divine intervention, Kane was given another chance to play with the Dolls when the band reunited for a one-off show in London at the behest of Morissey.

It's such a fascinating story on so many levels that when Whiteley came to New York to premiere the film, ComingSoon.net sat down to talk with him about Arthur Kane and the movie about him.

CS: How did you originally meet Arthur and decide that he would make a good subject for a documentary?
Whiteley: I was a grad student in film school in Los Angeles, and I showed up for my first Sunday in this congregation. This guy, who I had met there that day and was sort of giving me the lay of the land leaned over and said "Oh, by the way, that guy right there used to be in the New York Dolls." I knew the name because I loved the Clash growing up, and I loved the Ramones. The guy was just very quiet and unassuming, and just over the time, we became friends, and as I got to know Arthur over the course of four years, we would meet roughly once a month, and he would just tell me this fascinating story almost chapter by chapter as to how he got where he was. As a graduate film student, I had no interest in making documentary films, but I thought I could make this guy's life into a screenplay. He came to me about four years later and said "Hey, you know my band is going to be reuniting next month," and that just seemed bizarre to me that this band, where two to three of its prominent members had died, were going to be reuniting. So I just grabbed a camera and started there.

CS: So you weren't familiar with the music of the New York Dolls beforehand?
Whiteley: No, I wasn't familiar at all. Over time, Arthur would feed me little bootleg clips. The interesting thing was that he didn't even have his own music on CD. He would have to go and buy bootleg versions of his own stuff in order to have it on CD, and he would share that with my wife and I. That was my introduction to the New York Dolls' music.

CS: When did you finally decide to make a film about Arthur and his life leading up to the band's reunion?
Whiteley: The Sunday after he told me his band was reuniting, he called and asked me if I could give him a ride to the pawnshop, because some members of the Church had loaned him some money. I just brought this camera I had bought, and I just started filming it. The whole time I'm filming, I was thinking that it was so hurried and I didn't have a tripod, but I'll just shoot this now so I can get an idea what it's going to be like to make a movie about this. I didn't know where it would go, but I thought at the very least, I'll have something nice that I can give him as a gift. Nobody at church knew of his rock star past, so maybe we could show them and they'd get a big kick out of it. It just grew and grew and grew from there. I tell you…everything we shot we used. I had all these great stories that he told me, but we hadn't shot any footage until that time.

CS: You were able to get a lot of great interviews with people who were around during the Dolls' heyday. Did you have to do a lot of traveling to get to them?
Whiteley: All these people traveled to where the Dolls were performing, so we went to London and we got half the interviews there. A guy named Ed Cunningham, who is a good friend of mine, we just put him in charge of rounding up famous looking people at the after-party of the Dolls show in London. We just lit a room, and Ed would grab people by the scruffs of their necks and plop them down, and we would fire questions at them until they figured out we were nobody. It was Mick Jones, Chrissie Hynde, Bob Geldoff, just name after name. We couldn't believe our luck.

CS: But didn't you have to get signed releases afterwards?
Whiteley: Yes, that was the pain. If I could go back and do anything over again, I would have them sign right there, because then it was just a chore to track down their agent. Once they found out who the project was for and what it was about, that it was about this guy Arthur Kane, not just a rockumentary about a band. They were all familiar with Arthur's story, and they just were extremely generous in helping us out. Especially Morrissey. That guy just doesn't do interviews. He loves the New York Dolls, and he had a special affection for Arthur. He just wanted to help us out.

CS: How about getting the interviews with the bishops at the Church? Was it hard getting them to talk?
Whiteley: They loved Arthur and they loved what had happened to him. They really thought this was amazing, and so, they were extremely supportive, and not just with their time, in terms of interviews, but just anything they could do to help.

CS: How did you go about finding all of that archival footage of the band?
Whiteley: There's two people: Nina Antonia, who wrote the book "Too Much, Too Soon," and Bob Gruen, who lives here in New York, who actually has a DVD coming out of some archival stuff that he had shot of the Dolls. We read [Nina's] book and when we were in London, we set up an interview with her. She had all kinds of people that she could put us in touch with that had archival footage of the Dolls., and then you can read about old television appearances and write the BBC or this German television show where they appeared.

CS: After the big concert, there aren't as many interviews with Arthur. I was wondering if Arthur talked to you at all about his future and how he was feeling after the big show?
Whiteley: You know what was funny? Two things. He had a very strange sense of entitlement. As humble and grateful as he was for all this happening, he really acted as if this was meant to be. Yeah, this is the way it should be. Now his expectations moving forward past the concert, I don't think he knew, but I think he really believed. Over the four years I knew him, he ached for the New York Dolls to get back together. He really believed that if they only could get back together and play a gig, that they would take over the world again, at least the world that they once claimed back in the '70s, so I believed that he had those same aspirations. I think he really thought that they would just continue to tour. He did express that he felt a little tired and wasn't sure if he could keep up with it. When we were heading over to London, he said, "Look, the whole thing is starting over again. There are going to be fans sleeping outside of our hotel rooms, groupies. We're going to be in limousines." Even as he's saying it, even after the reunion had been announced, I thought that they're probably going to put him in a Motel 6. There's not going to be groupies. It's going to be one show. But I was wrong, and he was right. They put him up in this fabulous suite, and they were in limousines, and they did have these girls fawning all over them again.

CS: Was he at all worried about going back to the Dolls' might affect his new lifestyle, considering the band's notoriety for drugs and debauchery?
Whiteley: Well, I think that's why he wanted to get back together. I think he wanted to do it right this time. I think he felt that the drugs especially killed the band, literally, and he really felt that if they ever got a chance to go back and do it again, they would do it right. I do think privately that he was concerned. He asked the Bishop for a blessing before he went back to London, and I happen to think that part of the reason why he wanted me along filming was just to be there for some support and help. That was a life that represented some tough times for him, and he did not want to repeat them.

CS: Did you film the whole concert and do you think we'll see more of that on the DVD?
Whiteley: Yeah. Sanctuary released a concert DVD, but they did a traditional concert video. We easily could with the footage we had, but there are no plans. We ended up flying two more cameramen, and we were doing the concert video, and we were backstage and we were onstage. There'll be some goodies on the DVD.

CS: One of the amazing things about the concert is when you're cutting back and forth from the concert to them playing the same song on television back in the '70s. How did you pull that off?
Whiteley: There's a guy I edited the film with named Seth Gordon. He's just gifted. Also, and not to take anything away from him, it was surprisingly easy. Thirty years later, they maintained the same spots on stage, they moved the same way, the tempos of the two songs were not too dissimilar, and they repeated a lot of the same gestures. There's a moment in "Jet Boy" where the band claps with the audience to the tempo, and Arthur is playing bass, stops, puts his guitar pick in his mouth and begins clapping. He did it that exact same way in '73 as he did it last year.

CS: Do you have any reaction to Village Voice music critic Robert Christgau's criticism of the film, saying that someone who wasn't a fan of the band shouldn't have made a documentary about them? [Note: Greg hadn't read the review yet, so I had to paraphrase it for him.]
Whiteley: I think if you are a Dolls aficionado, this film is not "Filth and the Fury" for the Ramones. This film is completely different. This is not a rockumentary. This film tells the story of one guy. I'm not showing you ancient archival footage of the Dolls that perhaps you've never seen. We show you some pretty rare stuff, but that wasn't our aim. I mean, something truly remarkable happened, and I documented it. Curiously enough, at Sundance, we had Dolls' fans coming up to us and saying that the film was amazing.

CS: But did you become a fan of their music from working on the movie?
Whiteley: Completely. We became absolute fanatics about the New York Dolls. I did not understand their place in rock history before we began the project, but in our research, there are people that were extremely helpful to me—Ed Cunningham, Seth Gordon and my wife Erin among them—who fanned out and pored over tons of old footage of them, old tracks that were not released. There's a cut of this film that we have that is essentially a rockumentary that tells Arthur's story in it, and it just blows. We thought that it really was a glorified VH-1 "Behind the Music," and we didn't want that. So we just went back and told the film that was strictly from Arthur's perspective and what happened to him, and included only as much New York Dolls as we could to help you appreciate why Arthur would want to reunite that band. What I think is interesting is if you put a camera on somebody who was once famous, who lives this normal life now, it becomes both funny and sad and poignant. In Arthur's case, he was the perfect documentary subject, because he seemed to lack that edit button in his head where he would check what he was saying. He was a complete open book without shame.

CS: Christgau's comments got me thinking a bit. I wondered how you felt about how Mormons were perceived by those who don't know much about the faith?
Whiteley: I can't escape the fact that if I'm telling Arthur's story, he is in fact a Mormon. That is how I met him and how it began. I'm not attempting to persuade anybody to be or not be a Mormon in the film. I do think that there is a Mormon stereotype that Mormons bristle at a little bit, almost as if we're Amish, not to slight Amish people by putting it that way. I think it would stand us as a culture to embrace that a little bit and have fun with it. I think Jews and Catholics do it well. I just don't think we've been around long enough to get comfortable enough in our own skin to poke fun of the things that are worthy of poking fun in our culture.

CS: Do you think this movie is something that can be appreciated by those who follow the faith as well as rock and Dolls' fans?
Whiteley: I'm not quite sure how they're promoting it. Spin and Rolling Stone are obviously interested in the film because of the New York Dolls factor. The caveat to that is that it's not a rockumentary. It's a story about this guy, who happened to be a punk rock star. The problem is that it's an independent documentary, so major publications like Time and Newsweek need to wait until the film gets bigger first. The distributors have a hunch that people that are not necessarily rock fans would be very interested in this film, and we found that to be the case in our screenings. How do you rollout a film that has a sexy element like the New York Dolls? I think people who know the New York Dolls will like the movie, but how do you get the other people who would also enjoy seeing this film but are not necessarily rock genre fans and wouldn't go see a rockumentary?

That's a good question and one that might be answered when New York Doll opens today in Los Angeles and in New York at the Angelika Film Center. If you're able to make it to the latter, you can meet Greg for yourself, as he'll be doing a Q&A at the 5:30 and 8pm screenings tonight.

Fwd: Opera aims for an honest portrait of Joseph Smith

Article Last Updated: 10/29/2005 04:37 PM
Opera aims for an honest portrait of Joseph Smith
By Jennifer Barrett
The Salt Lake Tribune
Salt Lake Tribune
Glen Nelson and Murray Boren wanted to write an opera about Joseph
Smith, but they weren't interested in presenting a portrait of the LDS
Church founder as polished and perfect and larger than life. They
wanted to show him as an ordinary man to whom extraordinary things
happen.
Boren hopes they have succeeded, even to the extent that "The Book
of Gold" would appeal to people who don't belong to The Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
"We're just telling a story, not making it a Mormon story any more
than Joan of Arc is a Catholic story. You don't have to believe in her
visions to enjoy it," said Boren, who composed the music for the
opera.
"The Book of Gold" will make its world premiere this week at
Brigham Young University. It is part of a series of events marking the
200th anniversary of Smith's birth.
Nelson said the creators had to skirt common pitfalls in creating the op=
era.
It's difficult to write about a historical figure, said Nelson, who
wrote the libretto. "To humanize the main character, you either
contemporize him . . . or you show all his failings, sort of bring him
down to size," he said. "Those are both big mistakes. You pull the rug
out from under the audience."
The other danger is turning the character into some kind of cartoon
hero, a complaint Nelson has with many works of Mormon art.
Instead of venerating Smith as the man LDS faithful call a prophet,
seer and revelator, Nelson and Boren focused on Smith during the years
1827-30 when he was a young newlywed who made his living as a laborer,
had trouble with his in-laws, lived with his parents and lost a child.
"There aren't any angels in this production," said Nelson, even
though the story covers the period of time just after Smith said he
was visited by an angel and given the golden plates that, when
translated, would become The Book of Mormon.
Nelson, a New York-based author of three operas who grew up on a
farm outside Cedar City, says he found ways to relate to Joseph Smith
while doing research.
At about the same time, Nelson's 7-year-old daughter underwent
surgery for a brain tumor. The surgery went well, but she later
developed complications. She's fine now, but the experience gave him
an idea of the pain Smith must have felt at losing a son.
In the span of just a few days, "everything is taken from him,"
said Nelson. His son dies just after birth, his wife, Emma, is at
death's door, and several pages from his translation have been lost.
In one aria, Smith destroys the cradle he had built for his now-dead
son and turns it into a metaphorical box for his grief.
If the characters are honest and can touch people, said Nelson, the
work doesn't need to be sentimental or sanitized or "faith-promoting."
Boren said his goal in writing the music was to have the audience
come away "vibrating," unable to shake some feeling or impression
about the opera. "I would love people not to be able to ignore it," he
said.
He describes the music as beautiful, not necessarily pretty. "I
think beautiful is a stronger thing that pretty, actually," said
Boren, composer in residence at BYU who has completed nine operas,
dozens of songs and choral works, and nearly 100 chamber compositions.
"There are moments of great beauty in this, but an austere beauty."
Nelson praised Boren for his ability to set language to music in a
natural way. "It's like glorious, extended speech."
"The Book of Gold" will be performed by a cast including veterans
of the Metropolitan Opera in New York. Mezzo-soprano Ariel Bybee plays
Smith's mother, Lucy Mack Smith. Bybee sang more than 450 performances
at the Met and is now artist-in-residence at the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln. Soprano Jennifer Welch-Babidge, who plays Smith's
wife, Emma, has drawn praise for her singing and acting at the Met,
Houston Grand Opera, Carnegie Hall and Utah Festival Opera. Her
husband, baritone Darrell Babidge, plays Joseph Smith. Babidge has
appeared at Carnegie Hall, with the Utah Festival Opera and the London
Philharmonic Orchestra.
The opera is directed by Rodger Sorenson.
---
Contact Jennifer Barrett at jbarrett@sltrib.com or 801-257-8611.
Send comments about this story to livingeditor@sltrib .com.

Golden plates
"The Book of Gold" will be presented Friday and Saturday, as well
as Nov. 9-12, at 7:30 p.m. at the de Jong Concert Hall, Harris Fine
Arts Center, on the BYU campus in Provo. Ariel Bybee, Jennifer
Welch-Babidge and Darrell Babidge perform on Friday and Nov. 10 and
12, alternating with a student cast on other nights. A free lecture
will be Thursday at 11 a.m. in Madsen Recital Hall.

Tickets are $14, $10 with student ID, or $5 for balcony seats, and
are available by calling 801-422-4322.

Counterpoint conference

Mormon women to push for priesthood power at Counterpoint Conference
By Peggy Fletcher Stack
The Salt Lake Tribune

Salt Lake Tribune
Lorie Winder Stromberg is unabashedly power hungry. And she thinks
every Mormon woman should be.
By having an all-male priesthood, the LDS Church has cut women out
of its power structure, Stromberg believes, and that has pushed
feminists to keep agitating for equality.
"If by power hungry you mean I desire the ability not only to
accept responsibilities in the institutional church but to be part of
defining what those responsibilities are, then, yes, I'm power
hungry," Stromberg wrote in a 2004 essay in Sunstone magazine.
"Responsibility devoid of rights is servitude."
Stromberg, a Los-Angeles-based activist, went on to outline other
reasons why she seeks more power in The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints: to give women a voice in the church, to make them
an integral part of the decision-making, and provide them a heightened
ability to bless the lives of others with healing powers.
"I want the ability to participate in a model of power based on
partnership rather than patriarchy, based on empowerment rather than
domination," Stromberg wrote in the essay, reprinted this summer on
the weblog Feminist Mormon Housewives.
Next week the Mormon Women's Forum is exploring the problems and
paradoxes of power at its annual Counterpoint Conference.
The conference was launched in 1993 by a group of Mormon feminists
who wanted to tackle topics ignored by the more traditional LDS
Women's Conference at Brigham Young University. Counterpoint looked at
abortion rights, polygamy, the Equal Rights Amendment and the idea of
Mother in Heaven.
In the past decade, the annual event has taken up questions of
spiritual gifts, women's history, body image, gender identity,
lesbianism and sexual abuse. It has expanded from strictly LDS issues
to explore the broader questions facing contemporary women.
The all-day meeting will be held Nov. 5 at the Olpin Student Union
Building on the University of Utah campus from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Speakers will address such topics as: why women are ambivalent about
power, claiming a place in institutional and community power
structures, and overcoming obstacles to empowerment - poverty,
priesthood and patriarchy.
Participants include many well-known LDS speakers such as family
therapist Marybeth Raynes, writers Margaret and Paul Toscano, Janice
Allred and Phyllis Barber.
Stromberg, one of the founders of Mormon Women's Forum, will give
the keynote address: "The Angel and the Bitch: Examining Our
Expectations of Mothering and Mother- hood."
She is also this year's recipient of the 2005 Eve Award, which
honors a woman who has been most helpful and supportive of women's
issues, particularly Mormon ones.
For more information about the conference, call 801-581-4768.

Fwd: Fascinating Data on Unwed Mothers

Births to unmarried women hit record
By Sharon Jayson, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON - A record number of babies - nearly 1.5 million - were born to
unmarried women in the U.S. last year. And those moms were more likely to b=
e
20-somethings than teenagers, according to new federal data released Friday=
.
"This is not a teenage issue," says Stephanie Ventura,. a demographer with =
the
National Center for Health Statistics. "Women in their 20s are accounting f=
or
a huge percentage of these births."

The data show that 35.7% of all births were to unmarried women. Births last
year to both married and unwed mothers totalled more than 4 million.

By age group, almost 55% of the births for mothers ages 20-24 were to
unmarried women. For those between 25-29, almost 28% of the births were to
single women.

Teenagers, who accounted for 50% of unwed births in 1970, accounted for 24%=
of
unwed births in 2004.

Sarah Brown, director of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, s=
ays
she's thrilled about the decline in teenage mothers, but she worries about =
the
trend for those ages 20 and above.

"It's not going in the right direction," she says. "The right direction wou=
ld
be non-marital childbearing in all groups to be going down."

Instead, the numbers of unwed births has increased slightly each year since
1990. But Ventura says "a steep increase in a short period" - the last two
years - "caught our attention."

Between 2002 and 2004, births among unmarried women ages 25-29 jumped more
than 14%. It rose about 7% among the 20-24 age group over the same period.

"There's been a sea change in terms of expectations around marriage and
babies," says Dorian Solot, co-founder of the Alternatives to Marriage
Project, an advocacy organization for the unmarried.

Solot says unmarried mothers present very different scenarios for their
children, depending upon whether they are the single, professional
parent-by-choice, a cohabiting couple, or a poor woman living alone.

Sara S. McLanahan, a sociology professor at Princeton University and direct=
or
of the Center for Research on Child Well-Being, says most often unwed mothe=
rs
are disadvantaged with a high school degree or less education. She worries
about the children in such relationships, which tend to be less stable and
create more complex families.

"These are relatively unstable relationships, even among older mothers," sh=
e
says.

"It's really unfair to children," says David Poponoe, a sociology professor=
at
Rutgers University who has studied the effects of marriage and cohabitation=
on
children. He co-directs the National Marriage Project at Rutgers.

"One thing you don't know from these data is whether the births are to lone
women or to a cohabiting women," he says.

Studies have shown cohabitating relationships are less stable and about hal=
f
break up within five years. But cohabiting couples are more likely to provi=
de
a healthier environment for children than a single woman alone, the experts
say.

The data also showed:

. Childbearing by women their early 20s showed a decline.

. Births to older women continue to increase.

=?MACINTOSH?Q?Faith_and_doubt_=D1_Changes_or_differences_in_spou?= =?MACINTOSH?Q?ses'_beliefs_put_heavy_strain_on_marriage?=

Deseret Morning News, Saturday, September 30, 2006

Faith and doubt — Changes or differences in spouses' beliefs put heavy strain on marriage

By Elaine Jarvik
Deseret Morning News

Tom Kimball's long and winding path from faith to doubt began shortly before he got married. But he was young then, and he assumed that what he now calls his "low-level" doubts would just go away. Meanwhile, Page Kimball assumed she was marrying not only an Eagle Scout and a returned missionary but a man whose faith was unshakable.

It's not like a person wakes up one morning and decides, "Today I'll start doubting," Tom says. But there it was: Things just didn't make sense anymore. And once he started questioning one thing it seemed like it opened the door to yet another uncertainty.

What he wanted to do was talk about his doubts with Page. But those questions at first annoyed her, then angered her, and then frightened her. She didn't understand, she explains now, "why he didn't love me enough to just believe."

If a couple marries, knowing that one person is a believer and one isn't, that's one thing, says Salt Lake therapist Marybeth Raynes. At least there's forewarning, even if deep down the believer hopes that the non-believer will change. But when the spiritual ground starts to shift in a marriage right under a couple's feet, that's a lot more wrenching, she says.

Sometimes one spouse will become less religious. Or more religious. Sometimes there will be differences about specific dogma, or sometime one spouse will begin to doubt the existence of God. The most lethal mix, says Raynes, is when one spouse is still a believer and the other becomes bitter about religion. Sometimes the sense of betrayal, the sense that a religion isn't true after all, becomes the lens through which the person views everything else in life, "the focal point of other disappointments," Raynes says.

Often, says Grace Baptist Church's Rev. Pat Edwards, it's a "crisis scenario" that causes one spouse (or sometimes both) to falter in faith. "Oftentimes it's the loss of a child or a sibling. People say, if there was really a God, he wouldn't allow this suffering to take place." In a crisis like that, the Rev. Edwards says, "what happens is that very few people stay where they're at. They either go closer to God or question God or deny God."

When one spouse begins to doubt, "the other spouse feels a tremendous loss," he says. "Suddenly not only has there been this crisis, but now there's no longer this shared resource they can go to."

But it's not always a crisis that pushes someone toward doubt or inactivity. One of the Rev. Edwards' parishioners recalls a time a decade ago when she began "veering" — started putting God on hold, she says. "It wasn't so much a mental process of 'does God exist?' but a compartmentalizing. ... There was a Sunday me and a Monday me."

Her husband stuck with her, she says. "He prayed fervently for me. He just hung in there. And I think his faith was strengthened during that experience. He had to hang on more to God order to survive it."

The collision of faith and doubt in a marriage is prevalent enough to have spawned a collection of self-help books with titles like "When He Doesn't Believe: Help and Encouragement for Women Who Feel Alone in Their Faith," "Beloved Unbeliever" and "Spiritually Single: Living with an Unbelieving Husband."

Some religions discourage couples from marrying if they don't share the same beliefs. "The word of God says that two should not be 'unequally yoked together,"' says Pastor Jim Ayers of Valley Assembly of God, quoting Second Corinthians. "With all the problems in life, to add a faith issue, where one maybe doesn't even believe in God or is indifferent at best" just adds another burden, says the Rev. Ayers.

But if a couple is already married and one spouse "steps away" from religion, he says, "the believer is to remain with the unbeliever." He cites First Corinthians: "For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband."

Sometimes a marriage is knocked off-kilter when one spouse becomes more religious. One Layton woman says that now that she has started attending church "there's a part where we just don't relate and at times it's really hard." On Sundays, she and the children go to worship and her husband goes to Barnes & Noble.

Her husband has told her, "Don't have any expectations" that he will become involved with the family's religious life. Sometimes he'll stay after church for the congregational pancake breakfast — "If that's a step, it's a step," the wife says. "If that's as far as he wants to go, I have to be OK with it."

As her pastor says: "It's not up to you to bring that person back into the fold, it's up to God. Just pray and be a good person."

In Troy Bowles' marriage, his wife became more active in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints after their children were born. Bowles himself is an agnostic who grew up in a polygamous household. Now a philosophy major at the University of Utah and getting a divorce, Bowles says that as his wife got more religious he started to feel "more isolated and lonely."

Even if couples share a faith but differ on specific dogma — "Should we tithe on gross or net? What's legitimate to do on Sunday?"— that can cause huge rifts, too, says therapist Raynes. Couples who have trouble communicating, whose first impulse is to fight, will do it around any issue, she says.

What works best for a marriage, she says, is "if each spouse can really see the other's position and respect it, and not go into a regressed state of blame and threats." In a case where one spouse's position about faith changes, she says, both spouses can be in "deep anguish."

What helps is for each spouse to "return to why do you love each other," Raynes says, "to notice all the good things in the relationship."

When one Salt Lake wife faced her husband's drifting faith — he started drinking coffee and no longer believed the literalness of his church's theology — a friend suggested she get a divorce. "And I said, 'for that?"' She worries how far her husband's doubts will take him, "but I'm so in love with him, what can I do?" she says.

In the end, Page Kimball also decided that her marriage came first, as she explained recently at a Sunstone Symposium panel called "For Better, For Worse, For Apostasy?"

Tom Kimball thinks of himself as a Stage Four in the hierarchy of faith development delineated by Emory University professor James Fowler. As Kimball explains it, Stage 4 is when "you find loose ends (in your religion) and as you try to put them back together you find more, and you feel betrayed."

When Tom first started questioning his Mormon religion and his faith in God, he and Page spent quite a few years not talking about it. It was just too painful, Page says. "I felt so threatened." Because her religion believes in eternal marriage, the stakes were especially high. And praying together about Tom's doubts was out of the question.

In the end, Page says, "I stopped looking at him through the church's eyes. I stopped trying to make him what I thought he should be, that vision of what a husband and priesthood holder should be. I just had to let that go and look at him for the wonderful person he is."

Her decision to love and accept Tom improved their marriage, she says, but "his doubts opened a door for mine." For a while, she began looking at other religions. For his part, Tom has decided to stay connected to his culture and his church. He remains "70 percent active," and attends Elders Quorum each Sunday, where he finds that the other men have gone out of their way to make him feel wanted, even though they know he has reservations about Mormon history and theology. Now Page is back at the ward, too.

Their relationship with religion, and their ability to find a spirituality they can share, is a work in progress. Meanwhile, Tom has a certainty about doubt: it's "how you become a mature person and build a mature faith."

---

E-mail: jarvik@desnews.com

 

Church has put a stop to missions in Venezuela

Mormon Church Cancels Missions To Venezuela

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SALT LAKE CITY The LDS Church has put a stop to missions in Venezuela.

Spokesman Dale Bills says difficulties concerning visas for
missionaries has led The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
to remove its missionaries from Venezuela.

Bills says the problem involves renewing visas and obtaining new visas
for missionaries serving in that country. He says the church will
reassign missionaries serving in Venezuela to other Spanish-speaking
missions in Latin America, the United States and Canada.

Here's the officical statement from the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter Day Saints:

"The Church has experienced difficulty over the past few months in
renewing visas for missionaries, and in obtaining new visas, in
Venezuela. Consequently, it has decided to reassign U.S. missionaries
serving in Venezuela to other Spanish-speaking missions in Latin
America, the U.S. and Canada where such missionaries are needed.
Parents have been advised accordingly. The Church will keep the matter
under review."

The Work and the Glory: American Zion (2 stars out of 5)

The Work and the Glory: American Zion (2 stars out of 5)
Passionless Mormon story falls flat

American Zion is the second film in the Latter Day cinema series, The
Work and the Glory, about the early history of the Mormon Church. It
details the fictional rifts in the Steed family, New York farmers torn
apart by some members' embracing of neighbor Joseph Smith's claims
that he's a prophet of a new faith.

American Zion follows the Steeds -- patriarch and
reluctant-to-turn-Mormon Ben (Sam Hennings); his Mormon son Nathan
(Alexander Carroll) and his prodigal son, the faithless gambler Joshua
(Eric Johnson); and the Smiths -- Jonathan Scarfe plays Joseph -- as
they search for the Promised Land in the 1830s.

Zion, Smith tells his followers, is the city the Lord will build
(through Mormons) in North America, where "we will all be of one heart
and one mind." He just can't seem to find it on the map.

Hounded out of New York state, tarred and feathered in what was
supposed to be Zion -- Kirtland, Ohio -- and further hassled in
Missouri, Smith fast-tracks his branch of nascent Christianity 1,200
years straight past pacifism and turning the other cheek to the
Crusades. He raises a private army to go and get Mormon land back.

Fascinating material on many levels. But what could have been an
involving and tortured journey of a flexible faith and the troubling
history of Smith, his church and rural America's reaction to it, is a
flat and unemotional affair that deflates just when it should grow
more tense and exciting.

Sterling Van Wagenen, a producer (The Trip to Bountiful) and director
who used to run the film program at the University of Central Florida,
returns to directing with this, a movie with a nice sense of its era,
but dully acted by blank-faced players playing blase characters. It's
a movie totally without pace or a sense of drama.

The film never quite proselytizes, as it sets up the new church as a
true faith, glossing over the fuzzy founding story detailed in the
first Work and the Glory film. Here, Mormons are the devout chosen,
upright, hard-working (white) men, women smiling beatifically at their
swelling bellies, a church of abolitionists set upon by racists,
slaveholders and book burners. History backs up much of that.

But martyrs or not, there is no emotional heat to the many times Ben
flatly drones, "They're tearing this family apart." Even the uplifting
hymns or cruel hardships of their persecution fail to move.

Scarfe is emblematic of the movie's problems. He can't play his
neo-crucifixion, Smith's tar-and-feathering, with conviction. He wanly
fake-struggles through what had to be a wrenching experience.

There's another movie in this series on the way, A House Divided. But
unless the filmmakers can heighten the drama (this was filmed and
rushed through editing) and ratchet up the emotion, these movies
should go straight to video, or a Mormon church near you. They aren't
effective outreach, or entertaining drama.

Rmoore@Orlandosentinel.Com

Lectures to focus on 200 year anniversary of Mormon founder

By Diane Haag
dhaag@gannett.com

In the 26 years Brent Merrill has lived in Shreveport, he's heard a
range of reactions to his membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints from curious to condemning to "how many wives do you
have?"

(Answer: one, and more would get him excommunicated.)

Next week Merrill, the president of the Shreveport Stake or region,
hopes many of the old myths and stereotypes can be corrected through a
lecture/film series at Centenary College.

The event, marking the 200th anniversary of the birth of the founder
of the church, Joseph Smith, is sponsored by the church and the
religious studies department at the college. It will bring in some of
the premier scholars of the Latter-day Saints.

"We're thrilled," Merrill said. "We don't have as strong of a foothold
in the South. We're hoping to help understanding of him and his
influence in religious culture."

Peter Huff, chair of the religious studies department, organized the
event and invited the scholars. They include Jan Shipps, a Methodist
and the "foremost non-Mormon, Mormon scholar"; Richard Bushman, a
Latter-day Saint and biographer of Smith; and a dialogue between a
Baptist minister and a professor at Brigham Young University, which is
supported by the church.

"It's extraordinary -- we were able to organize things our way and the
church not only funded it, but opened itself up for public scrutiny,"
Huff said.

Music professor Ross Smith, who is a member of the church and helped
with the event, said the Mormon community is thrilled at the prospects
of the event.

"These are really top scholars in the field," he said. "This is the
first event of its kind in Shreveport."

Merrill hopes church members attending the event become more
comfortable with their religious identity.

"I hope they recognize we have something very precious," he said.

Joseph Smith's story begins in Vermont, where he was born to a poor
farmer. He grew up in upstate New York under the influence of great
religious fervor sweeping the Northeast.

All of the revivals, fiery preaching and new worship styles only
confused the teenage Smith. So he asked God which church to join.

According to Mormon tradition, God appeared to him with an answer: none.

That was the first of several visions which eventually led to his
writing the Book of Mormon (where the nickname for the church comes
from) and founding the church, now headquartered in Salt Lake City.

Nearly 200 years later, Smith is celebrated as prophet by some and
derided as cult leader by others. And academics like Huff are
fascinated.

"He produces a book I can't explain," he said. "I don't accept it as
revelation but it's not plagiarism. For me, he's one of the creative
geniuses that America has produced."

Meanwhile the church is one of the fastest growing in the world and
also gaining more acceptance in the religious community, including a
recent Newsweek cover story.

The local stake includes 3,200 believers in northwest Louisiana,
southern Arkansas and some of east Texas.

Nationally, the religion has grown by more than 400,000 people -- or 7
percent -- from 1999 to 2004. The religion has more than 12 million
members worldwide.

"We're growing and being recognized as part of the mainstream,"
Merrill said. "People are finding out we are just like everyone else.
We pray, study scripture and do all those things Baptists and
Methodists and others do."

Over the years, there has been much debate about whether or not the
church is Christian. They say they are Christian, having a belief in
Jesus as the son of God, but they are a "restoration" of the original
church -- so they are not part of either the Catholic or Protestant
traditions.

One of the scholars, Shipps, will put them in context Tuesday night.
Huff said part of the confusion about classifying LDS comes from
within the church.

"Some see it as a new religion," he said. "Others see it as a restored
Christianity. Latter-day Saints in the second category are interested
in mainstreaming their faith in American culture, developing positive
relations with traditional Christians, especially Evangelicals."(Smith
was) not starting a new denomination," Huff said. "He's not a Baptist
moving away from Calvin. He's claiming direct contact with God."

On social and moral issues, Latter-day Saints resemble other
conservative Christian churches, strongly supporting the family, and
opposing alcohol, pre-marital sex and gambling.

The biggest points of contention between them and other Christians are
the Mormon beliefs in a prophet and in scripture that came after Jesus
and the New Testament.

"We believe (God) leads the church through prophets just like he did
in ancient times," Merrill said.

Merrill and Huff both credit the current growth of the church not to
Smith himself, but to the idea of ongoing revelation and to the fact
that it is a religion that places much demand on followers.

"It's not for the faint of heart. It requires pain and sacrifice,"
Merrill said. "This is not a church where you can just sit back and
ride. We expect everyone to pull."

Courtney Lacy, a religious studies major who attended Centenary's
Mormon study tour this summer, said the believers themselves make the
church attractive.

"They're just really dedicated to what they believe and really
compassionate, generous people," she said. "You know there's something
behind all this."

Fwd: Falwell's "Whipping" Remarks

During his September 25th sermon to his Thomas Road Baptist Church
congregation, the Rev. Jerry Falwell examined the freedoms enjoyed by
Americans and turned to the issue of what should happen to so-called
"un-patriotic" Americans: "You know when I see somebody burning the flag, I=
'm
a Baptist preacher I'm not a Mennonite, I feel it's my obligation to whip h=
im.
In the name of the Lord of course. I feel it's my obligation to whip him, a=
nd
if I can't do it then I look up some of my athletes to help me.

But, as long as at 72 I can handle most of the jobs I do it myself, and I d=
on't
think it's un-spiritual. When I, when I, when I hear somebody talking about
our military and ridiculing and saying terrible things about our President,=
I'm
thinking you know just a little bit of that and I believe the Lord would
forgive me if I popped him."

Bush is most popular in Utah

Article Last Updated: 10/19/2005 08:08 AM
Bush is most popular in Utah

Poll: More than 60 percent of the Beehive state approves of the
president, but most other Americans do not

By Matt Canham
The Salt Lake Tribune
Salt Lake Tribune

Americans at large are not pleased with their president. But Utahns
still love him more than any other state.
The Iraq war, the unstable economy, the much-criticized federal
response to Hurricane Katrina and the ongoing probe into White House
leaks that may have unmasked a CIA agent all have contributed to
President Bush's image problems.
Only 38 percent of Americans give Bush the thumbs up, the lowest
approval ratings of his presidency, according to a SurveyUSA report
released Tuesday
Utah is the only state to provide Bush with an approval rating
above 60 percent. While 18 states give Bush a disapproval rating of at
least 60 percent.
"The people of Utah have a long-term vision of what this president
stands for," said Ron Fox, who was the vice chairman of Bush's 2004
campaign effort in Utah. "The people of Utah understand the
president's agenda and his focus, the necessity of a war on terror."
But Democratic state Rep. Pat Jones, of Holladay, said a lengthy
examination of Bush's agenda should result in negative opinion polls.
"In looking at the long-term, I can say that most people's lives
are not better today than they were before his administration."
She attributed Utah's high marks for Bush to the state's heavy
Republican tilt and the relatively low number of minority residents.
"But to be very honest, I'm stunned," she said. "I can't explain,
after all of the things that have gone on in the White House, some of
the policies of the current administration. I'm stunned to see him
receive this kind of support.
"The people of Utah may not understand the harmful effects that
deficit spending will have on our future and our children."
During the past five months, Utah's approval rating for the
president hit its low in mid-August when it dipped down to 57 percent.
A little more than a week later, Bush briefly visited Utah for only
the second time as president.
He spoke at a Veterans of Foreign Wars convention to rally support
for the Iraq war after anti-war protesters camped outside his Texas
ranch, where he had been vacationing.
The next poll showed his Utah approval rating back up to 63 percent.
The SurveyUSA poll questioned 600 adults in each state. Conducted
Friday through Sunday, it has a margin of error in Utah of plus or
minus 4 percent.
mcanham@sltrib.com

Dialogue, Fall 2005

Dialogue
A Journal of Mormon Thought
Fall 2005 (Vol. 38, No. 3)
Levi S. Peterson, EDITOR
Paperback. 208 Pages / 002-2157 / $15.00

----------------

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Haitian Mormons, Gary Huxford

Folklore Rebutted, Larry Morris

ARTICLES AND ESSAYS

Identifying the Earliest Mormon Polygamist, 1841 - 1844,
Gary James Bergera

The Remnant Church: An RLDS Schimatic Group finds a Prophet of
Joseph's Seed, William D. Russell

The Weight of Priesthood, Stephen Carter

PERSONAL VOICES

GETTING OUT/STAYING IN:
ONE MORMON STRAIGHT/GAY MARRIAGE

Getting Out, Ben Christensen

Homosexual Attraction and LDS Mriage Decisions, Ron Schow

Thoughts of a Therapist, Marybeth Raynes

Staying In, Ben Christensen

FICTION

Carterville, Douglas Thayer
Garden Tomb, Spencer Ellsworth

POETRY

The Peach, Patricia Gunter Karamesines
The Good Shepherd, Craig Watts
Salad for Two, Henry L. Miles

REVIEWS

Walking in the Sand: A History of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints in Ghana, Emmanuel Abu Kissi,
Reviewed by Mark T. Decker

Joseph Smith: The Making of a Prophet, Dan Vogel,
Reviewed by William D. Russell

Beliving History: Latter-day Saint Essays,
Richard Lyman Bushman,
Reviewed by Byron C. Smith

Conflict in the Quorum: Orson Pratt, Brigham Young, Joseph Smith, Gary
James Bergera,
Reviewed by Michael W. Homer

Discoveries: Two Centuries of Poems by Mormon Women, Sheree Maxwell
Bench and Susan Eliabeth Howe, eds.,
Reviewed by Danielle Dubrasky