Archive for the LDS Category
In December 2007, Elder M. Russell Ballard, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, gave a talk to students who were graduating from BYU-Hawaii. The talk is titled “Using New Media to Support the Work of the Church.”
I would suggest that LDS people (whether they blog or not) should read through the entire talk carefully. I can’t really do it justice or say things any better than he did.
In this talk, Elder Ballard discusses the history of technology and mass media and the tremendous power and influence these developments have had on individual freedom, knowledge of the scriptures, etc. He speaks about the invention of the printing press and what that meant for printing the Bible and making it available to the common man. He mentions radio, newspapers and television and then provides significant discussion of what he refers to as “new media” and its potential impact upon the world.
Here are some excerpts:
“How different your world is today. If you read newspapers, the chances are you read them on the Internet. Yours is the world of cyberspace, cell phones that capture video, video downloads and iTunes, social networks like Facebook, text messaging and blogs, hand-helds and podcasts … This is your world, the world of the future, with inventions undreamed of that will come in your lifetime as they have in mine. How will you use these marvelous inventions? More to the point, how will you use them to further the work of the Lord?”
“Today we have a modern equivalent of the printing press in the Internet and all that it means. The Internet allows everyone to be a publisher, to have their voice heard, and it is revolutionizing society. Before the Internet, there were great barriers to printing. It took money, power, or influence and a great amount of time to publish. But today, because of the emergence of what some call New Media, made possible by the Internet, many of those barriers have been removed. New Media consists of tools on the Internet that make it possible for nearly anyone to publish or broadcast to either a large or a niche audience. I have mentioned some of these tools already, and I know you are familiar with them. The emergence of New Media is facilitating a world-wide conversation on almost every subject including religion, and nearly everyone can participate. This modern equivalent of the printing press is not reserved only for the elite.”
There is perhaps no other time in its history when the Church has received more attention from the news media and on the Internet than right now. Obviously, that is being driven by the fact that one of our faith, Mitt Romney, is seeking the office of President of the United States. It’s as if a national conversation is going on about the Church. The Church, of course, is politically neutral. We do not get involved in politics. Still, because of this attention Public Affairs is making a concerted effort to define the message of the Restoration rather than letting others define our beliefs. That word conversation is important. There are conversations going on about the Church constantly. Those conversations will continue whether or not we choose to participate in them. But we cannot stand on the sidelines while others, including our critics, attempt to define what the Church teaches. While some conversations have audiences in the thousands or even millions, most are much, much smaller. But all conversations have an impact on those who participate in them. Perceptions of the Church are established one conversation at a time. The challenge is that there are too many people participating in conversation about the Church for our Church personnel to converse with and respond to individually. We cannot answer every question, satisfy every inquiry, and respond to every inaccuracy that exists … , may I ask that you join the conversation by participating on the Internet, particularly the New Media, to share the gospel and to explain in simple and clear terms the message of the Restoration. Most of you already know that if you have access to the Internet you can start a blog in minutes and begin sharing what you know to be true. You can download videos from Church and other appropriate sites, including Newsroom at LDS.org, and send them to your friends. You can write to media sites on the Internet that report on the Church, and voice your views as to the accuracy of the reports. This, of course, requires that you understand the basic principles of the gospel.”
Personally, on my own blog, I want to make more of an effort to bring the Church and its meaning into my posts. The LDS Church has played a wonderful and positive role in my life and I’ve always wanted to help answer questions people might have and encourage others to learn more about the Church.
Diane and I are now in Rome, Italy.
This evening we went to Galleria Borghese to see some Bernini statues and Caravaggio paintings. At this museum we were standing in line to check in our coats and a bag, and I yawned (feeling a bit tired from the all-night flight). A lady behind me said “You can’t yawn in Italy!” and then laughed. We started talking and after just a few sentences of conversation I started to wonder if this couple we were talking to were Mormons. I can’t even say for sure what was giving them away … it just seemed like a good possibility. Then the lady said she had been doing some work on some of her “family lines” while she was here in Italy. At that point I became about 99% sure and asked where they were from. “Utah” the husband responded. Sure enough, we were chatting it up with a couple of Mormons from Utah.
“Just because he’s religious doesn’t mean he won’t kick your ass.”
Thus Dr. Cameron expresses her belief that the Mormon character on the show (Dr. Cole) will eventually respond loudly and/or violently, if Dr. House keeps goading him. This leads to Dr. House betting a $100 bill that Dr. Cole will not be provoked.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVIfjyJPGxk&NR=1[/youtube]
Despite all the nasty remarks, Dr. Cole is keeping his cool, at least for awhile. Being the fair and square guy that he is, House isn’t going to coast to a victory, so he escalates his offensive remarks. Then comes the following scene …
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQul_eG0N6I[/youtube]
All in all, it was a fun episode. Dr. Cole is a very interesting and atypical Mormon character. But I like that about him …
[Note: I posted previously about this new Mormon character on the show]
LDS Public Affairs now has a special YouTube page with seven videos. Each video is one or two minutes long in duration. In each video, Elder M. Russell Ballard answers a specific question about the Mormon Church. I’ve posted all seven videos below. A written transcript of the interview is also available.
Are Mormons Christians?
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TpA_wt-ul0[/youtube]
Do Mormons Worship Jesus Christ in their Church Services?
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUs407sadoY[/youtube]
How Are Mormon Beliefs Similar to Other Christians?
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNTPHK3ydIE[/youtube]
How Do Mormon Beliefs Differ from Other Christians?
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZGY_uSuH_g[/youtube]
Is There Scientific Proof Authenticating the Book of Mormon?
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AQTr9oB8lw[/youtube]
Why Do People Say Mormonism Is A Cult?
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EValAeeZuFE[/youtube]
Does the Mormon Church Support Political Candidates?
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nEQBDyYjXw[/youtube]
I’m very excited about the Church making these videos available online and that they are available in a format that allows members of the Church to embed these videos in their websites or blogs. I am also very much looking forward to seeing what videos the Church might make available in the future.
Thanks to the More Good Foundation blog for letting people know about this.
[hat tip to my uncle Tracy for providing a link to this article in an email]
In the United States, there are already a number of Mormons who have served and are currently serving in positions of political leadership. There is a general perspective that politicans, in general, cannot be trusted. But no one that I know of seems to be actively arguing that the Mormon politicians currently serving are less trustworthy because they are Mormon. Generally, they seem to be esteemed and respected as much as their non-Mormon political peers. If someone were to try to raise the question of whether a Mormon should be allowed to serve in the Senate or the House of Representatives, we could always point to the history books. This specific question was directly addressed (back in 1904) and largely settled by the Reed Smoot hearings. Consequently, Reed Smoot, also a Mormon apostle at the time, served as a U.S. Senator for about thirty years.
However, due to Mitt Romney’s presidential candidacy, some people are essentially revisiting this question by asking whether a Mormon can be trusted to serve in the nation’s most prominent political office.
Laura F. Miffly-Kipp’s article “A Mormon President?: The LDS Difference” is one of the most balanced and well-written pieces on the subject that I’ve seen so far.
The article does a good job of explaining how the LDS Church’s doctrinal teachings allow for it’s membership to possess a very diverse set of political views and points out: “One need only recall the vast territory separating Harry Reid and Orrin Hatch to glimpse the divergent ways that political life can be interpreted and expressed among coreligionists.”
She observes that George Romney (Mitt Romney’s father) was able to hold to his progressive views on civil rights and maintain his membership in the Church - even when a prominent LDS leader questioned and challenged his views.
In 1964 the elder Romney came under fire from the right wing of the Republican Party for his progressive views on race. He also bumped up against LDS Church officials: LDS apostle Delbert Stapley warned Romney that a civil rights bill he favored was “vicious legislation” that contradicted God’s “curse upon the negro.” Romney did not back down from his support of equal rights, despite obvious political and ecclesiastical pressure. The stance he took did not compromise his standing as a faithful Mormon. In keeping with Mormon commitment to individual discernment, Stapley included in his letter to Romney the acknowledgment that “I cannot deny you the right of your position if it represents your true belief and feelings.”
Miffly-Kipp also explains well how our Mormon history influences us to be loyal citizens while simultaneously maintaining serious reservations about the potential abuses of government power. She writes, I think accurately, that Mormons believe: “the nation is good and necessary, even worth fighting for, but it should never be confused with Zion or with the religious community.”
The article covers a lot of ground and I don’t want to quote the whole thing when a reader can simply click on the link and read it for himself/herself. In short, I think this article provides significant points that decisively demonstrate how it should be more than possible for evangelicals and others to trust (and even enthusiastically support) a Mormon political candidate.