Another Image of Faith and Devotion
BCC Zeitcast 56: Publicity, Advertising, & the New Mormon.org
September 2, 2010 By
In this episode of the BCC Zeitcast, Scott B. is joined by Kyle M, a frequent guest blogger at BCC and a professional from the world of advertising and marketing, for a conversation about the recently publicity campaign the LDS Church has undertaken through Mormon.org. Download this episode here or subscribe to the BCC Zeitcast in iTunes. (And don’t forget to leave a rating/review in iTunes!)
Links for your convenience:
[Read more...]
Thursday Afternoon Spiritual Artwork Poll
August 26, 2010 By
Feast your eyes upon the artwork below, and then tell us: Which one evokes the most powerful spiritual feelings.
-
- Come Unto Me
-
- Friends
-
- Jesus Wept
-
- Jesus
-
- The Senior Partner
-
- Lover of My Soul
[Read more...]
Religious Art: Judas’ Kiss
August 22, 2010 By
Real polygamist housewives
August 10, 2010 By
So last week when Judge Walker issued his decision overturning Prop. 8, one of my friends posted as her status update, “Is polygamy next?” I didn’t know if she was being silly or sincere, but if any of you all are wondering the same thing, let me reassure you: No. Polygamy is not next. That’s just something we conservatives make up to scare people. Ha ha, that was a joke (sort of). You know how I know polygamy isn’t next? Because unlike attitudes toward homosexuals, attitudes toward polygamists haven’t improved much in the last hundred years. Most people have at least one friend or someone in their family who is gay, but not many people know any polygamists. Also, when was the last time you saw a movie or TV show character with a sassy polygamist friend? Never, that’s when. And you’re not likely to start anytime soon. (Not until someone options my screenplay, that is.) [Read more...]
Movies, Mormonism, and Meaning
August 5, 2010 By
I’m going to start this off with a couple of Nike commercials that I watch on Youtube when I am trying to motivate myself. No endorsement of Nike (or YouTube) is implied. [Read more...]
The Top 10 LDS Musicians You’ve Never Heard Of, No. 10
August 3, 2010 By
Arthur Hatton is a connoisseur of music and the founder of Linescratchers, a site that highlights LDS musicians who play music other than LDS-themed music. BCC has been pleased to have him as our guest for this special series of posts.
In the last entry I talked about my “Low experience” with Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker, an experience that many Latter-day Saints in music share. This is the tenth and final installment of The Top 10 LDS Musicians You’ve Never Heard Of. Before I complete the list I just want to thank everyone at By Common Consent for allowing me to evangelize for my musicians. I feel quite honored by the opportunity, and I also feel quite overzealous and protective of our Latter-day Saint musical community sometimes. Some of the friendships I’ve made through Linescratchers will indeed last a lifetime, and I’m always incredibly happy to talk about our artists, promote their music, and help them through the unique challenges that members of our faith community experience in the world of music.
Now I know what most of you will think when you see this last installment: “What a cop out!” Let me explain myself. I selected the “Top 10″ based on my own personal preferences and a desire to see many different genres and diverse backgrounds represented. I’ve had to respect the wishes of certain musicians by not featuring them. Also, there are of course time and space constraints. The musicians I’ve featured are by no means the only LDS musicians in this world, and I would be remiss if I didn’t mention some more artists. Therefore, my last installment will be a few artists that didn’t make the full list, but that I think are still worth listening to. [Read more...]
Monday Night Lived Mormonism Poll: R-rated Movie Spirituality Edition
August 2, 2010 By
The Top 10 LDS Musicians You’ve Never Heard Of, No. 9
July 27, 2010 By
Arthur Hatton is a connoisseur of music and the founder of Linescratchers, a site that highlights LDS musicians who play music other than LDS-themed music. We’re pleased to have him as our guest for a special series of posts.
In my last installment I took us all on a trip down to the American South, to hear the dark yet soothing songs of Jeff Zentner. This time, I’ll be writing about a band that changed everything for me. Many of you were probably expecting this one, so it’s a little daunting to write it.
I realize that this series has been called “The Top 10 LDS Musicians You’ve NEVER Heard Of”, and I also realize that many if not most of you are aware of Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker, but this essay is for those of you who are still not familiar with them. As I said above, Low changed everything for me, but I was a latecomer to finding out about them.
[Read more...]
The Top 10 LDS Musicians You’ve Never Heard Of, No. 8
July 20, 2010 By
Arthur Hatton is a connoisseur of music and the founder of Linescratchers, a site that highlights LDS musicians who play music other than LDS-themed music. We’re pleased to have him as our guest for a special series of posts.
Last time I told you all about the kicking classical composer Jennifer Thomas, who both plays and teaches violin and piano but also composes music for short films, television, and lullabies. This time, I’m moving you to the South that I love, where this next artist, to me, represents the best of the chilling and spiritual tradition of Southern Gothic music.
The American South is a beautiful and mystical place that is near to my heart. Readers who are familiar with the beginnings of the LDS Church might notice a strain of folk mysticism that Joseph Smith grew up with, and I believe that in many ways those traditions were carried over in the American South. It gives the whole South a spiritual feeling that can only be experienced here. Some of you might listen to the more “traditional” LDS musician Michael R. Hicks, who writes lots of faith-based music, but fewer of you might be aware of his brother-in-law, Jeff Zentner, who, after a time in Nashville playing with Creech Holler, has been living and writing music near the mountains of Asheville, North Carolina. [Read more...]
The Top 10 LDS Musicians You’ve Never Heard Of, No. 7
July 13, 2010 By
Arthur Hatton is a connoisseur of music and the founder of Linescratchers, a site that highlights LDS musicians who play music other than LDS-themed music. We’re pleased to have him as our guest for a special series of posts.
Last time, we traveled the world musically through the New Age music of Oscar Aguayo, better known by his songwriting alias Australis. This time, we’ll continue with our theme of instrumental music, but move to the classical side with Jennifer Thomas. [Read more...]
The Top 10 LDS Musicians You’ve Never Heard Of, No. 6
July 6, 2010 By
Arthur Hatton is a connoisseur of music and the founder of Linescratchers, a site that highlights LDS musicians who play music other than LDS-themed music. We’re pleased to have him as our guest for a special series of posts.
Last time, I detailed the musical career of Gregg Hale, who played guitar for Spiritualized and currently serves the Salt Lake Area (and Linescratchers) as a writer, reviewer, engineer, studio owner, and guitarist. Unfortunately, the next two artists I had lined up for #6 and #7 had to be changed. One of them doesn’t want people to know he’s Mormon, and the other feels that God called him to be a prophet, seer, and revelator, so he has left the Church to pursue his own prophetic mission. Too bad, because they’re both amazing musicians. [Read more...]
Religious Art: ‘Have Pity!’
July 4, 2010 By
Ernst Barlach (1870-1938), ‘Have Pity!’, 1919; private collection.
Ernst Barlach’s small wood-carving struck me deeply when I first saw a photo-print of the statue in Gombrich’s ‘The Story of Art’. The old, bony hands of this woman extended beneath a seemingly coarse and debasing covering intensely expresses the suffering and pain of the lives of too many people on this earth. [Read more...]
Q&A With Justin, the Mormon Wasp
July 1, 2010 By
“And some things that should not have been forgotten were lost. History became legend. Legend became myth.”
So it is with the Mormon Wasp, known only in the commenting rolls of the bloggernacle as the unassuming “Justin” these days. BCC is happy to present the following interview with Justin, the author and host of some of the best Mormon History blogging the ‘nacle has ever seen. As J. Stapley once told me, “When Justin speaks, the thinking is done.” [Read more...]
Arnold Friberg (December 21, 1913 – July 1, 2010)
July 1, 2010 By
American illustrator and beloved LDS painter Arnold Friberg passed away early this morning, July 1, 2010 in Salt Lake City. [Read more...]
The Top 10 LDS Musicians You’ve Never Heard Of, No. 5
June 29, 2010 By
Arthur Hatton is a connoisseur of music and the founder of Linescratchers, a site that highlights LDS musicians who play music other than LDS-themed music. We’re pleased to have him as our guest for a special series of posts.
Last time I talked about the spooky, yet technically proficient Halloween tunes of Kristen Lawrence. Now we move to a friend of mine through Linescratchers, who is just as well known for what he’s done with our music scene (he has played and is playing with several well-known bands) as he is for what he’s put into it. [Read more...]
The Top 10 LDS Musicians You’ve Never Heard Of, No. 4
June 22, 2010 By
Arthur Hatton is a connoisseur of music and the founder of Linescratchers, a site that highlights LDS musicians who play music other than LDS-themed music. We’re pleased to have him as our guest for a special series of posts.
Last time I talked about the fun garage antics of Fossil Fools and the 5th Friday Open Mic in Portland. This time, we move to a spookier kind of music. Her tale might seem out of place this time of year, until you get to know Kristen Lawrence. For her, Halloween is all year round. [Read more...]
Zane Grey, Arthur Conan Doyle, the Associated Press, and the Resuscitation of the Avenging Angels
June 21, 2010 By
This is another post from the Dialogue editorial board. Many of you know Matthew Bowman from Juvenile Instructor. He is a graduate student in History at Georgetown, and is the Associate Editor of Dialogue.
Related article at Dialogue
If there’s anything that, in comparison, might normalize polygamy to that vast majority of Americans for whom Mormons are but cultural curiosities, it’s probably blood atonement. I’ve earlier written in this space about the ways in which representations of Mormonism in HBO’s Big Love reflect a certain religious ethos on the part of the producers; the show is in a lot of ways a leap forward in the cultural normalization of Mormonism precisely because it is capable of imagining its Mormon (and by ‘Mormon’ I mean followers of Joseph Smith; this strikes me as a more useful definition of the term than any other) characters as basically normal people, who take their SUVs to the hardware store and have kids with part time jobs. And indeed, this normalization of people in previously exotic marriage relationships is in all likelihood the producers’ agenda. If their ratings are any indication, they may be succeeding; indeed, it appears that members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, can come into the very heart of their adversary, to the shadows of the Church Office Building in Salt Lake City, and garner sympathy.[1] Religious freedom and all that. [Read more...]
Book of Mormon / Epic Beefcake Movie
June 18, 2010 By
George Chakiris “King Balam” and Yul Brynner “Chief Black Eagle” in Kings of the Sun.
For a kid in the 1970s, Mormon-themed media was pretty scarce. So I was nothing less than astounded one Saturday afternoon to turn on the TV and discover a movie about the Nephites and Lamanites!
Of course, they weren’t called by those names, but they fit the images perfectly. There was a group of “whiter,” more civilized Indians — new settlers in the land — who were building a city centered on a temple/pyramid (the Nephites). Outside their walls lurked a group of traditional Hollywood Indians, loincloth-clad and living in teepees (the Lamanites).
Even better, the Lamanite chief was none other than Yul Brynner. In my family, Brynner held an essentially canonical role in Cecil B. DeMille’s scriptural epic The Ten Commandments. [Read more...]
The Illuminated Matsby, Special World Cup Edition
June 15, 2010 By
Another Image of Faith and Devotion
The Top 10 LDS Musicians You’ve Never Heard Of, No. 3
June 15, 2010 By
Arthur Hatton is a connoisseur of music and the founder of Linescratchers, a site that highlights LDS musicians who play music other than LDS-themed music. We’re pleased to have him as our guest for a special series of posts.
Last time, I highlighted the amazing story of rapper Young Sim and his family’s escape from war-torn Liberia. This installment takes us out to the relatively peaceful and characteristically damp Portland, Oregon. Last year, my family travelled out to Portland to see my sister get married in the Portland Temple. There in the Celestial room, I was introduced to someone who plays in a garage band there and also is in charge of the 5th Friday Open Mic, an open mic at the Beaverton, Oregon stake center featuring LDS musicians.
Intrigued, but also realizing that the temple isn’t always the best place to discuss Rock ‘n Roll, I later found Mark Simnitt and his band Fossil Fools online and interviewed him for Linescratchers. This band is awesome, and Mark is a funny, talented, and nice guy. Such are the blessings of attending the temple. [Read more...]
Religious Art: ‘The Ascent’
June 13, 2010 By
David Linn, ‘The Ascent’, 1993, oil on canvas; Museum of Church History and Art.
Another installment in the series, in which David Linn’s award-winning painting ‘The Ascent’ is considered. [Read more...]
Query: sexuality in 19th-century polygamy
June 9, 2010 By
My wife and I recently agreed to write an essay on “embodiment and sexuality” in Mormonism and as I have often confessed to many of you I know very little about the Utah period of Mormonism. I suspect that, other than being a little tired of the constant fights about the status of Joseph Smith’s dual wives in Nauvoo, many others are curious about how participants in polygamy might have talked about or understood sexuality, how the Mormon family system might have resisted or intersected with trends in the broader American society. Any of you out there have any primary or secondary sources that you strongly recommend for someone interested in understanding more about sexuality in 19th-century Mormon polygamy? I think it’s fair to say that the Victorian polygamy romance novels are not at the top of my interest list, though if there was one you thought was absolutely exemplary it might be interesting.
Forgetting McConkie
June 4, 2010 By
The recent and perennially anticipated announcement that Deseret Book would finally let Bruce R. McConkie’s Mormon Doctrine go out of print was warmly received by many. After being stripped from the references in Church curricula, it was perhaps no surprise that the day had finally come (to the likely consternation of many in Seminary and Institutes). As much as I find sections of MoDoc deeply problematic and unhealthy for the Church, I also think it is important to remember that it is and always will be important.
A Sort of Homecoming: Segullah Turns Five
June 2, 2010 By
Summer, 2003: I was a wreck. My sixth child was six months old, and I wasn’t even close to recovering from his birth and the trauma that followed: For him, lung failure and three weeks in the NICU. For me, a profound emotional and spiritual crisis. The combination of outward and inward events shook me hard. My testimony was intact, but I felt disconnected from it. Unmoored. All my usual connection points failed me: church meetings, scripture reading, even prayer. [Read more...]
Living and Dying in 3/4 Time
May 31, 2010 By
But mostly dying. Also in 4/4, 2/4, and 6/8.
I’ve been a church-goer for decades now, and thought I’d seen everything. But yesterday I attended church (no, it wasn’t my home ward and I won’t tell you where) and saw something I have never seen before. [Read more...]
A groovier Sabbath
May 28, 2010 By
I home teach some young single guys, and for Christmas I put together a CD of interesting covers of the Christmas songs from our hymnbook. Last month, they said it would be great to have a rockin’ Sabbath album for the rest of the year. As I thought about it, it seemed to me there were a fair number of songs on my iPod with religious themes. Despite stories about Mick Jagger on an airplane or witnessing demonic possessions at concerts, rock and R&B musicians have explored Christian and more generally religious themes in a way that is inspiring and thoughtful. I decided to put together a playlist from my own collection, and I set up some rules:
- the artist must be known for secular music generally, so no Christian rock or gospel choirs, as groovy as they might be.
- the song had to be devotional, however vaguely, and with a minimum of irony. ‘Say a Little Prayer’ doesn’t qualify, nor does ‘Jesus, Etc.’ or ‘Dear God.’
Here’s what I came up with: [Read more...]
Angela Hallstrom’s Dispensation: the Fulness of Mormon Fiction
May 26, 2010 By
Angela Hallstrom
A confession: before 2008, I didn’t care much about LDS fiction. To me, that genre meant overtly inspirational stories of mediocre literary quality that barely skim the surface of what it means to be Mormon, not to mention what it means to be human. Friends recommended a few better-than-average titles, but saying a book is “very good for Mormon lit” is a half-baked compliment at best (like the time someone told me I was “in great shape for someone with seven kids”). Angela Hallstrom’s novel-in-stories, Bound on Earth, was my first encounter with unconditionally excellent fiction written by and for Latter-day Saints. So when I picked up Dispensation, the short story anthology she edited for Zarahemla Books, my hopes were high. And I’m pleased to report that when I finished the volume, I was thoroughly satisfied. The quality of writing in this collection exceeded my already-high expectations. Its stories engaged me so completely that I felt fully gratified as a reader—even blessed. And taken as a whole, its artistic and spiritual potency leaves me deeply impressed by the talent of our very own fiction writers, not to mention excited for the future of this genre. Today, BCC welcomes Angela Hallstrom for a conversation about Dispensation and its significance in the realm of LDS fiction. (I was gonna post a photo of the cool book cover, but Steve already did. Besides, Angela is even better looking.)
Book Review: Dispensation
May 25, 2010 By
Angela Hallstrom’s recent compilation of LDS fiction is an impressive undertaking, bringing together 28 stories from the greatest contemporary authors our faith has to offer. And while some might quibble with a few of the authorial choices, and others might find some of the themes or language too much for their taste, there’s no question that Dispensation represents an immensely valuable compilation. While it cannot help but live in the shadow of Eugene England’s landmark anthology, Bright Angels and Familiars, Hallstrom’s work deserves its own recognition and belongs in the library of anyone with an interest in our culture. [Read more...]
Recent Comments