By Common Consent, a Mormon Blog

There is an idea in American culture–it pops up in all sorts of places–that extreme homophobia is often a sign of repressed homosexuality. The idea goes something like this: Certain men who have subscribed to cultural norms of hyper-masculinity discover, much to their chagrin, that they sometimes experience homoerotic feelings. This doesn’t fit into their carefully constructed self-image. It also conflicts with, say, their religious and societal upbringing, from which they learned that homosexuals are sissies or “not real men.”
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Logan asked me, in response to some offhand comments on T&S, to talk more about “laws not getting in the way of agency.” I responded (maybe a little too quickly) that “we can distinguish between the capacity to make choices (agency) and the extent to which laws punish our choices (liberty). I’d agree with you that laws can limit our liberty, but I probably wouldn’t say the same for agency.”

I wish I’d spoken a little more carefully, because the distinction here is important. Many LDS people speak of government intervention in various domains as “infringing on our free agency” or worse, as if it’s similar to what Satan’s plan would have been like. I wonder if this tendency could stem from an inability to distinguish between agency and liberty. Clearly, if we identify regulation or legislation with something that affects the subject matter of the War in Heaven, that would lead us to bristle at the thought of it. But God legislates and regulates our lives all the time — commandments and laws are all over the place, including divine taxation, and yet we say we have our agency. So anyway, I think it’s careless to interchange liberty and agency. Could the commingling of the concepts be a source of LDS predispositions for/against certain political parties?

Our first ever BCC: Poll. Cast your votes now!

[NOTE: This was a poll that related to why the Priesthood Session of Conference is not broadcast over TV/Radio/Internet.]

Steve, the photo’s a nice touch–don’t take it down because of what I’m about to say. But I have to say it took my breath away–as much as I know that the church is run by a male hierarchy, as much as my entire life has involved getting used to that reality, as much as I believe that these are good and kindly-intentioned men, it is still painful EVERY TIME to be confronted with visual proof of the total absence of women in decision-making in the church.

(I take it as a proof of God’s sense of humor that I was created both so uppity and so thoroughly Mormon.)

We who are LDS believe that the President of the Church is God’s official spokesman on the Earth. It is widely assumed that the Prophet may, at least on occasion, speak directly with God, face-to-face. There are, of course, 1001 arguments as to what the prophetic mantle really entails. We could spend countless hours debating de facto prophetic “infallibility” whether and in what ways the prophet could ever “lead us astray,” the parameters for prophets having their own “opinions,” in what contexts prophets are or are not “acting as such,” etc. etc. etc. We could discuss the Proclamation and debate its “doctrinal” status with respect to gender and marriage, or Pres. Hinckley’s apparent endorsement of the Iraq War, and debate whether he was speaking only for himself, or for God Almighty. But wherever you all come down on these specific issues, one thing seems undeniable: There is a presumption in Mormonism that, at least some of the time, the Prophet is giving us insight into how God Himself feels about certain pressing issues. And I see no reason to reject the presumption just because the issue being addressed is arguably “political.”
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Recently I’ve been reading and re-reading the piece of 2nd Nephi that people call Nephi’s Prayer or Nephi’s Psalm (2 Ne. 4:15-35). I began reading it as a part of regular scripture study, but I’ve been looking at it more closely as a personal narrative (Steve Cannon would appreciate it), and as a pattern to me of development and inner change. Nephi sorrows in his sins, then he remembers the Lord and his soul awakens, as he remembers “in whom [he has] trusted.” Nephi later says, “O Lord, I have trusted in thee, and I will trust in thee forever. I will not put my trust in the arm of flesh; for I know that cursed is he that putteth his trust in the arm of flesh. Yea, cursed is he that putteth his trust in man or maketh flesh his arm.”
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I was surfing on one of my favorite websites a couple of days ago, a snarky television commentary called www.televisionwithoutpity.com, and noticed a poll on the sidebar. Apparently filming of MTV’s reality show “Real World” has recently shut down in Philadelphia due to union issues, and they are contemplating moving to a different city. The folks at TWoP were polling their readers to see which city readers thought should host the next Real World. One of several choices was Salt Lake City. I naturally voted for Salt Lake, because hey, I’m from Salt Lake, and I have hometown loyalty. Once I voted, I could see the results, and Salt Lake was far and away the leader. Twenty-one per cent at that point. I thought it was funny and moved on. I just went back and saw that Salt Lake is still ahead with twenty per cent of the votes. My reaction? Amusement combined with a gnawing feeling of dread. I’ve made a decision to post a public service announcement.
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At a recent ward activity, I somehow got into a conversation with a member of my Elder’s Quorum, and his wife, about the alleged connection between “Dark Side of the Moon” and the “The Wizard of Oz.” For those of you unfamiliar with the juicy details, let me tantalize you:
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I know I’ll probably be disinvited to blog here shortly, given my propensity for beating this dead horse, but I want to advocate a change of blog name. More specifically, I want to cast my vote for “Zeezrom & Friends,” “Zeezrom & Co.,” or, best of all, the delicious little title that heads this post.

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A generous benefactor, who wishes to remain nameless, has contributed funds to our little community. As a result, our comment limit has TRIPLED to a whopping 3,000 characters. That may still not be enough space for some (cough*Aaron*cough), but it’s an unexpected surprise. The change should take place shortly.

Let me also just say how truly impressed I’ve been with the warmth and genuine insight from our bloggers and commenters. Kudos to all!

And now for all, a moment of zen: the 30-second version of The Exorcist, as performed by bunnies.

Mat’s suggestion of hanging the Manifesto on his wall instead of the Proclamation on the family reminded me of a favorite discussion topic of mine: obnoxious feminist sayings I would like to put in a counted cross-stitch sampler. Examples: “A clean house is a sign of a wasted life,” “Feminism is the radical notion that women are people,” or my favorite, from Franklin S. Richards on woman suffrage in Utah: “If the price of statehood is the disfranchisement of one half of the people…I am content to share with them the disabilities of territorial vassalage till the time shall come, as it will come in the providence of God, when all can stand side by side on the broad platform of human equality, of equal rights, and equal capacity.” The reason for cross-stitching them, of course, would be to see how many months it would take one’s visiting teacher to notice the horrific sentiments thus displayed.

There’s a serious point beneath the humor (there always is with me; can’t help it–I’m descended from a long line of depressive Swedish preachers), that we often form judgments of what is appropriately Mormon based on issues of style. One of the things I loved most about the summer seminar on women’s history at BYU last year was how Claudia Bushman would come to gatherings with her needlepoint in hand. From time to time she would look up, smile, say something jaw-droppingly radical like, “maybe someday they’ll have special wards just for single sisters,” or “Mormon feminism is dead,” and then go back to stitching. Half the time people, even quite conservative people, would just nod and go on with the discussion. When Aileen Clyde visited, we all noticed how she, every inch the picture of East Bench gentility could say things in her perfectly modulated church lady voice that NOBODY could possibly get away with saying. I could say things about why it’s good for women to work outside the home that nobody else could say, because I am (for now, and for as long as I can stand it) a dumpy stay-at-home mom with three cute blond children.

So here are my questions for you self-proclaimed liberals: how much do you self-censor or adapt yourself to the prevailing styles of expression in order to fit in with your congregations? (especially those outside of Cambridge or Manhattan) Is this bad, or is it a useful way to check your prejudices and knock the sharp edges off of your opinions? What happens if you don’t do it, or if you’re not good at it?

A word of advice to you with white scriptures: hang on to them! Mormon Ebayers may someday pay a fortune for them now that the Church doesn’t make them anymore. Now, when I was a young’un, I recall that with the temple, everything had to be white. I remember thinking that the food would be white, if they could’ve made it that way.

Is this a change in attitude towards the temple? A recent discussion over at The Other Board has made me think that the decision to not have white scriptures anymore is the result of temple culture being more widely disseminated, while temple blessings are more wide-spread. My theory is that people are realizing that white scriptures aren’t inherently more sacred than standard brown. I don’t mean to say that mormons are treating the temple less seriously — it’s still the most sacred place on earth. But we don’t have the same overall respect of sacred places we had a hundred years ago. We’re not approaching temple-related cultural trappings like when Manti was the latest thing. Attitudes towards, say, garments (not to mention their stylings), towards discussing temple blessings, and towards temple symbolism are all changing. No more white scriptures — is the temple so common now that its raw uniqueness is fading? How do we preserve the sacredness of the temple even while we discard some of the vestigial cultural elements?

Update: Some other random blog has noted that the issue of baptizing the Jewish dead has again resurfaced. I would add waning agressiveness towards baptism for the dead as another indicator of cultural temple shifts. We still baptize for the dead, of course, but we’re not nearly as concerned as we used to be, it seems, with baptizing celebrities, politicians, etc.

Karen’s post addresses the de facto gender discrimination that occurs in the church. Let me ask a question about Karen’s underlying assumptions: What is she expecting? Karen provides anecdotal evidence of women’s viewpoints being marginalized in church settings. Many or all of us have seen the same thing happen.

But, the fact is that we live in a society where women’s viewpoints are routinely marginalized. We have had no female presidents of the United States. Female representation in Congress is minimal. Women earn a quarter less than men do for equal work. Women have yet to become equal with men in business, politics, science, literature, and most other areas. And yes, they are typically not on equal footing in religion, either.

My question is whether the church’s subtle discrimination is merely part and parcel of women’s inferior status in society today. Perhaps we can argue that the church should be being progressive, and breaking down barriers. But if it is not being progressive, an important query is whether it is being reactionary, or simply passively reflecting societal discrimination. Based on the evidence Karen has shown, the answer may be that it is simply reflecting societal discrimination. And if that is the case, then perhaps the response should be to try to change society, not to try to change the church. (Do we want a church that tries to be progressive? Or do we want a church that reflects societal attitudes, warts and all?)

Let me start this post by acknowledging that my assertions are anecdotal, but also note that I know a lot of women in the church. I talk to a lot of women. I’ve lived in several wards of differing personality, and one commonality I’ve found is that most women do not consider themselves discriminated against by the church. They’re at peace with the Priesthood issues, and are too busy worrying about their own spiritual progress to get caught up in gender angst. Like most of my friends, I’m bemused by outsiders who bemoan the role of women in the church. We choose to be members, and understand our decision. So, I’m not making an argument of any official gender discrimination, I personally don’t think that is the relevant inquiry.
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I just noticed that Orson’s Telescope is basically the same as our blog, except even more snarky and random, but less politically-minded. I have never seen anyone as like-minded as Jeremy, who runs the show over there. Congrats! Once we have trained them sufficiently we shall make our blogs do battle! Jeremy– Howard Jones is mormon, right? I mean, he wrote Everlasting Love.

A side note: why can’t anyone cool ever turn out to be mormon (Neil LaBute excepted)? I mean, we’re overdue for a Gordon Jump replacement about now, aren’t we? Even more interesting in my mind is how oft-recurring this topic is in the mormon blogosphere. Why the effort to point out mormon celebrities? Are we trying to have Shakespeares of our own, or is this an apologist’s tool, showing that our church can’t be all bad if we have all these celebrities. Heaven knows it’s worked for the Scientologists.

OK, this post is to solicit votes on a permanent blog name. Suggestions thus far include:
The Rameumptom (or some related variations)
Zeezrom, Esq. (though that limits our followers to lawyers)
Cureloms & Cumoms (who knows what those are)
Navajo Taco
Wagonloads of Plates
By the Regular Sign

any other culturally pregnant and semi-irreverent suggestions? Winner receives a gift certificate to Chuck-A-Rama*.

I guess if I had to throw in a Church topic, it’s also to discuss the most uneasy and uncomfortable blessing in the Church, that of baby blessings. How are you supposed to do it, anyways — are you talking to God or to the baby? How are you supposed to segue from the naming to the blessing part? It’s such an awkward scene, too, because I think it’s the only blessing in the Church that’s public, except for confirmations. Does anyone know where the tradition came from for blessing infants? Is it something from the early days of the church, or more recent?

*winner may not actually receive anything.

I guess if we’re going to be elitist and pride ourselves on being liberals, it might be helpful to set some parameters or definitions of some kind. Note that I won’t impose any definitions, of course, because I’m not some kind of dictator.

I found The Political Compass to be a reasonably reliable indicator of political/social leanings; I have a feeling that Mormons are going to be a tighter grouping on the grid of politics than Times & Seasons would indicate. In other words, we’re all pretty conservative – some of us just a little more so than others. Or perhaps the liberal/conservative distinction applies in terms of social politics but not in terms of economics? Anyways, I found the test to be interesting (I’ll post my own results later), and thought it might be interesting to y’all.

Steve

Hi, everyone. Is this thing on?
(Taps microphone)
(Tap . . tap . . Loud feedback)

So this is an auspicious beginning: a liberal mormon blog that harshly rejects conservative viewpoints. Are we hypocrites for making such a blog? Probably. So be it.