Any Excuse to Learn: Even Political Excuses
I once had a student who started a discussion on Plato like a potential star. He had read the text carefully prior to the class and had good, defensible views on the meaning of the dialogue, but by the end of term he was a disappointment to me and to the rest of the group.
Why?
He learned nothing new. What he thought on the first day was what he thought on the last day and not because he had worked out challenges to his ideas with care. His thinking was impervious to change and so by the end of the discussion his ideas were less mature than most of the other students.
They had grown and he had not.
I am reminded of this student when I read press coverage of Mr. Romney’s Mormon beliefs.
The stories range from the bigoted to the banal, but are rarely illuminating. Why? They do not ask new questions and it is rare to see intellectual growth coming from the repetition of common knowledge:
Mormons used to practice polygamy, but do not now.
Mormons live in Utah.
Mormons are criticized by “mainstream Christians.”
Any group with millions of members probably can teach something and my experience is that Mormonism is no exception. Instead of hiding from a serious discussion of Mormonism by repeating facts or avoiding interaction with thoughtful Mormons by focusing on folk-Mormonism, this campaign is a good excuse for learning.
Anything is a good excuse for learning. Mitt Romney’s religion should not be a test for his fitness for office, but Mitt Romney’s Mormonism is worth considering.
Mormons have a great literature. Mark Twain’s dismissive views of the Book of Mormon should not be final anymore than his sniffing at San Francisco summers should keep tourists from visiting that fabulous city.
Reading the Book of Mormon with care and following standard hermeneutical rules reveals a series of complex books with varied literary merit, but with an outstanding story to tell. If Joseph Smith wrote it, then he was a first rate literary figure, a Tolkien of the United States.
This would be a good chance for secular sources to discover why millions of thoughtful Americans are transformed by the Book of Mormon: the number one best selling, most translated book to come from this nation.
I would also love more stories on how the Saints created Utah, one of the best places to live in the world. The Mormon majority has sustained republican rule while maintaining a firm commitment to religious values. What can the rest of us learn from the mistakes and virtues of the experiment?
Finally, there is the complex story of Joseph Smith himself. Any fair biography shows a man with deep flaws and genius. He was inspired, but also tormented and finally killed for his beliefs by a mob. He was a “rough stone” and has too often been dismissed by non-members based on his shortcomings.
Reading the Book of Mormon, studying Mormon history, and learning about Joseph Smith has not made me a Latter Day Saint, but it did stretch me mentally, grow me spiritually, and finally confirm me in my own beliefs.
That is more than can be said from endless bigoted blathering about “magic underwear,” repetition of facts, or hasty dismissal of the claims of Mormonism. The unexamined faith cannot be rejected!
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coltakashi on 07 Jul 2012 at 6:58 am #
Thank you, John Mark, for zeroing in on the fundamental problem with most of the people who publish their opinions about Mormons and Mormonism and the effect it may have on Mitt Romney’s performance as president. There is almost no evidence that any of them has ever sat in on Sunday meetings with Mormons, or spoken to an actual Mormon to check the accuracy of the more outrageous accusations. They have not visited the web pages at mormon.org where they could see information about actual Mormons and answers to just about every question ever asked. They have not bothered to check lds.org, where Mormons go for the books and lesson guides they use to teach each other, and the magazines issued each month for children, teens and adults. That web site offers hundreds of hoyrs of video of sermons by senior church leaders at the General Conferences held in Salt Lake every six months, but I have only seen a single writer referring to listening to one of those sermons. And there is no evidence that more than one or two has ever read a full chapter of the Book of Mormon all the way through.
I can understand that some people in some denominations have been told that reading or listening to Mormon materials will expose them to the influence of Satan, so they must rely on the interpretation given by their pastors, who have undertaken such examination at the risk of their own souls in order to save their congregations the trouble. However, Christians in more open minded denominations, and secular critics, have no such excuse for avoiding dealing first hand with real information about Mormonism. Writing a column is a labor that often consumes an hour or two, but there is usually a prior period of research to collect accurate information first. But when it comes to Mormonism, no one seems to feel a professional obligation to do original research when there are so many vials of second hand venom already available. And they seem to lack insight into the fact that if they were indulging in such hate speech about Jews they would be roundly condemned by most of their peers.
lstokes on 08 Jul 2012 at 11:41 pm #
As a Latter-day Saint, I sometimes may disagree with a few things, Dr. Reynolds says. However, the article above is not one of them. Even when I do disagree, he is always thought-provoking, thoughtful, and tries to remain respectful of my beliefs. Despite often deep differences, there is wide common doctrinal and political ground where Christians of all persuasions can unite and agree. After all, we all believe in the sanctity of life. We also believe in the gift and hope of the empty tomb. We’ve all stood at a graveside and found hope amidst our sorrow because we have been invited to eavesdrop so to speak on that very private moment when a weeping Mary’s despair changes to joy so great she is impelled to embrace a man she loved and thought dead. This is what the news media will never understand.
JLF9999 on 12 Jul 2012 at 2:31 pm #
John
What can Mormons teach those who are willing? The expected response, some would say, is we can teach people a different view of Christian theology. Maybe but I think there is more. The profoundly simple idea Mormons offer is that every person alive can be privileged to hear from God directly and one’s particular religious preference has nothing to do with it. The news is God speaks to those who genuinely seek Him. There is nothing “Mormon” about that some might say. But, in answering John, what Mormons bring tot he discussion is that God speaks in very discernible ways to those who are sincere and that God’s secrets are available for the asking. All you need to do is to ask and be willing to receive. It is the willingness to receive part that seems to get in most people’s way. It is all those preconditions people set that interfere with the connection.