Adventures in Mormonism

I wrote several posts a few months back about the opportunity that Barack Obama had to gain support among American Latter-day Saints, particularly in the western US. In brief, I felt that Mormons were so upset about the anti-Mormon slurs being used against Mitt Romney that I felt there was a real opportunity for Obama to pick up significant LDS support in the general election.

Well, I now believe that such an opportunity is dwindling away, due to three main developments.

First, Mike Huckabee now appears to have lost his influence in the GOP campaign. Since his campaign and he himself were the worst offenders in anti-LDS slurs, that will go a long ways towards letting the anger that many Mormons felt towards such appalling tactics die down.

Second, John McCain appears to have buried the hatchet with Mitt Romney — they’ve done fund-raising events together, something McCain desperately needs help with — and there is serious talk about Romney as VP. (Personally, I’d rather see Condi Rice as VP, but I think she may carry too much baggage from the Bush Administration to be seriously considered.) Anyway, the McCain-Romney reconciliation likewise goes a long ways towards smoothing over some of the anti-Mormon jabs that came out of the McCain campaign in the primaries. Note, however, that there are still “social conservatives” (read: Evangelicals) who are apoplectic at the thought of Romney as VP. If this is seen as having torpedoed Romney’s selection as VP, McCain support could dwindle again.

I love the government and the Constitution of this land, but I do not love the damned rascals that administer the government. — Brigham Young

Third, and the real kicker, the whole flap over various sermons by Rev. Jeremiah Wright — and Obama’s only half-hearted attempts to distance himself from Wright’s more inflammatory remarks — has likely diminished most of the support that Obama might have gained among Latter-day Saints. In particular, the clip of Rev. Wright saying, “G** d*** America!” — which was repeatedly shown on the various news channels — would likely be very offensive and disturbing to most Americans Mormons. In spite of our own history of religious persecution and having to flee the United States for what was then Mexico (and is now Utah — which gives me a great idea for a new Absolut Vodka ad showing the kingdom of Deseret), American Mormons are profoundly patriotic and believe very much in American exceptionalism, even as we decry some of the idiocies of the past and present. And while we still wince over comments made by a few past Church leaders, in most such cases said leaders have been dead for decades or over a century, rather than being alive and now building a $1.6 million home in a mostly-white, affluent neighborhood (which raises questions about many of Rev. Wright’s comments and sermons).

Things could change again. McCain could do something profoundly stupid, such as choosing Mike Huckabee as VP, though I consider that highly unlikely. On the other hand, Obama’s most recent comments — about small-town people in Pennsylvania being “bitter” and “clinging to guns or religion” — aren’t going to play very well with Mormons living in the intermountain West.

In short, I just don’t think any significant shift to Obama is going to happen. ..bruce..

[UPDATED 04/05/08 - 1455 MDT] Ooooooookay,  it looks as though this approach to one of our BBQs isn’t quite a popular as our regular approach. We had maybe 8 adults (including 3 missionaries) and 3 kids for the morning session. Several families showed up during the lunch break — we probably had 30 people here at the high point — and now we’re back down to 7 adults (plus me) and 3 or 4 kids for the afternoon session. Of course, this means I now have more food than I know what to do with, even though I only cooked up half of the hamburger and the hot dogs. Heck, I have three briskets that I haven’t even carved up yet (and most of the first two left as well). I definitely overshot. Sigh.

[UPDATED 04/05/08 - 0802 MDT] As my sweet wife Sandra is fond of telling me, the advantage of cleaning (and setting) up everything before you go to bed is that it’s all still cleaned (and set) up when you wake up in the morning. Woot! The coals in the smoker that I carefully banked last night were still hot, so it only took me a few minutes to get the firebox going. The three turkey breasts and the leg of lamb are all now being bathed in pecan smoke and actually cooking as well. The drinks (which I’ve divided into “Diet Soda/Water” and “The Good Stuff” in two different containers) are now all on ice, though they got pre-chilled last night with the overnight temperatures dropping into the 30s.

I have time to drive to the store for more ice before anyone shows up.

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Well, all is readiness, I think. All five briskets (total pre-cooked weight: 35 lbs) have been smoked and are now in the oven for another 18 hours of cooking. I plan to get up at 6 am, rebuild the fire in the smoker, and smoke 3 bone-in turkey breasts and a leg of lamb (all of which have been marinading since yesterday). I called our next-door neighbors (Omar & Rose Rabat) and invited them to come over either Saturday or Sunday.

I have all the hamburger and hot dog buns purchased, though two of our MinPins — Wingnut (Winni) and Moonbat (Marti) — got hold of one pack of hot dog buns, ripped the package off, and dragged the buns into their ‘fort’ — the space under our bed — where they took quite a few bites out of the buns themselves. I discovered this when I called the dogs (we have four) to dinner, and Winnie and Marti just weren’t interested in their food. I also have all the ground beef, hot dogs, sausages, and portobello mushrooms purchased, as well as the chicken breasts (cut in half and marinating). Those will all get grilled between sessions tomorrow.

I got the satellite box and projector set up downstairs, then cannibalized one of my PCs to get a subwoofer and a pair of speakers for the audio; it works great. Moved furniture downstairs and set up folding chairs (we have about 20 folding chairs because Sandra is the ward music/choir director, and we hold choir practice at our house). Dragged chairs and counter stools around on the main floor as well.

Printed up 8″x5″ cards labeling bathrooms and nursing rooms and taped them to the appropriate doors. Typed up a half-sheet flyer for those attending (so I don’t have to keep explaining the same things over and over as people arrive) and put them — along with blank name tags — by the front door.

Moved all of the bottle water and diet soda out onto the deck, as well as half of the non-diet soda, so the night air can start the chilling process.

Cleaned the house so it’s spic and span.¹

I guess that’s it. “To bed, to bed! Said Sleepyhead…” (one of our kids favorite bedtime rhymes). [Scroll back up and click on the "Night Theme" button at the top of the right sidebar to get the proper effect.] ..bruce..

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¹ I added this in case my wife — who’s out of town — happens to get ‘net connection and read this post.

[Futher updates moved to the next post]

UPDATE (04/04/08; 1602 MDT): Three briskets down, two to go. I smoked the first three for about seven hours, wrapped them in foil, and put them in the oven; the other two just went into the smoker. The weather is gorgeous — sunny, mostly clear, and a bit cool. It’s supposed to be that way for the next few days, which will be just about perfect. I’m going to run out to buy some more soda — I’ve got a lot already, but then again, we’re going to have people here all day for two days.

UPDATE (04/04/08; 0910 MDT): The Conference cooking has commenced. I went out at about 7:30 am this morning, took the cover off of the smoker, dragged it into position on the deck, and started the coals a-burnin’. I’ve been marinating five (5) briskets — about 7 lbs each — since Wednesday, and I now have three of them in the smoker (all that I can fit). I will smoke them for several hours, then (as per this post) take them out, double-wrap them in heavy foil, and stick them in the oven at 180 deg F until tomorrow. In the meantime, I’ll stick the other two in the smoker and, once they’re smoked, I’ll do the same for them (but probably won’t serve them until Sunday).

I also have three bone-in turkey breasts marinating, as well as one leg of lamb. I’ll get up early tomorrow morning to start smoking them, with the goal of having them done around noon tomorrow. I’ve also got a number of boneless, skinless chicken breasts (cut in half lengthwise) marinating in Smoked Chipotle Tabasco Sauce; I’ll grill those tomorrow during lunch, along with hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken sausages, and portobello mushrooms.

Sure hope we have a large turnout, because we’ll have a ton of food. On the other hand, the last few times we’ve done this, we’ve had 70+ people show up. Should be fun. Now I’ve got to go hook up the video projector downstairs….

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Men like to barbecue. Men will cook if danger is involved.– Rita Rudner

I periodically do what my good friend Bruce Henderson refers to as VLSBs: Very Large Scale Barbecues. My wife and I started this tradition while living in Washington DC and have continued it here in Colorado. Here’s a photoblogging record of one from a few years ago. We typically get turnouts of 50-80 people at these events, and we eat food like this (note that these photos are from two years ago; see the link in the previous sentence):

Well, I’m doing one this weekend in connection with General Conference, and y’all are invited. I will probably smoke 30 lbs of beef brisket, as well as 2-3 turkey breasts, and at least one leg of lamb, as well as grilling several dozen hamburgers and hotdogs. And we’ll provide lots and lots of bottled soda:

We run this as a pot-luck, so feel free to bring appetizers, side dishes, salads, or desserts.

We’ll have Conference on both in the living room (large screen TV) and down in the rec room (projector against one wall). Kids are welcome (Sandra has a permanent play area set up for our grandkids in one corner of the downstairs area). The schedule is pretty much GC schedule (9:30 am to 4:30 pm, both Saturday and Sunday); you can come for just one session, for all sessions, or even just for the break between sessions (12:00 noon to 2:00 pm each day).

Anyway, we’re at 9805 E Tom Tom Drive, Parker, Colorado — about 25 miles SSW of downtown Denver. Phone is 303.840.1511. Really ambitious (or crazy) Bloggernacklites from nearby states (Kansas, Wyoming, Utah, etc.) are also invited. ..bruce..

For none of these iniquities come of the Lord; for he doeth that which is good among the children of men; and he doeth nothing save it be plain unto the children of men; and he inviteth them all to come unto him and partake of his goodness; and he denieth none that come unto him, black and white, bond and free, male and female; and he remembereth the heathen; and all are alike unto God, both Jew and Gentile. (2 Nephi 26:33)

Many, many years ago, on a visit to Utah, I attended church with an acquaintance of mine. This man was a professor at BYU and had a PhD from Harvard, of which he was quite proud. After the high priest group meeting was over, he turned to me and said, “You know, during the lesson I was looking around the room with interest. On the one hand, here were men with advanced degrees and significant accomplishments: scholars, professors, successful businessmen. On the other hand, you have men who are third- and fourth-generation farmers. I marvel that the same Gospel can encompass us all.” My response was simply, “Well, maybe from where the Lord sits, there isn’t any real difference.”

My acquaintance was not amused. As I said, he was quite proud of his Ivy League degree and did not care to be lumped in with farmers.

I have reflected on that exchange many times in the quarter-century since it happened. I think we all succumb to my acquaintance’s temptation from time to time and in different ways. The condescension of men is something quite different from the condescension of God; ours is made in self-justification, self-praise and self-satisfaction. Whether it is our intellect, our education, our orthodoxy (or heterodoxy), our skepticism (or our faithfulness), or even our sacrifice and suffering, we find reasons why we’re somehow better, wiser, more thoughtful or more authentic than those around us (or, at least, those of whom we don’t approve). And we are all of us wrong. From where God sits, there is no real difference between us; the gap between His attributes and ours, between His perfection and our sinfulness, is so vast so as to render our differences insignificant in the face of our need to simply repent and rely utterly upon Him.

And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:

Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.

And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.

I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. (Luke 18:9-14)

I believe we are not only guilty of chauvinism regarding our personal characteristics, our accomplishments, or our self-selected social/intellectual group, we are guilty of temporal and cultural chauvinism as well. We often assume, consciously or not, that God is more, well, nuanced with us in these ‘latter days’ than with, say, the Israelites in 7th century BC Judah because we are more sophisticated and educated. In fact, we often limit what we believe God could have told such people simply because of the historical setting; for example, God could not have really told Nephi details about the birth and life of Jesus Christ and so it must be a late addition to the Book of Mormon. (Unspoken but lurking beneath such assertions is the assumption, “Well, God hasn’t told me anything in such detail, so how could He have done so with Nephi or anyone else for that matter?”) Again, from where God sits, there is no measurable difference in our cultures, philosophies, and levels of education — the fact that we have iPhones, the internet, The Ensign and Dialogue, and that the Israelites did not, is meaningless in the context of the infinite gap between us and God.

Mormons – People who believe: … 3. That the only difference between them and God is a few years of training.
— Orson Scott Card, Saintspeak (1984).

God knows personally and watches over all His children on the “worlds without number” that He has created and continues to create; He perceives this entire universe in real time. We, on the other hand, struggle to balance our checkbooks and remember our own kids’ names or what we were doing 3 months ago. And yet we presume to judge and criticize one another, and to justify ourselves, over what are in an eternal and Godly perspective trivial differences. We are like toddlers arguing over who has more or larger freckles while a global war rages around us and threatens us all.

This day, Easter, we celebrate the true condescension of God, that infinite and eternal atonement that bridges that infinite gap, resurrects us from the dead, and brings us back into the presence of God. It is a gift beyond all comprehension and deserving, and our reaction to it should be less like the Pharisee and more like the publican. We are all sinners and unprofitable servants — we are all truly “alike unto God” — and yet Christ atoned for us anyway. Today, of all days, we should remember and ponder upon that. ..bruce..

I wrote nearly a year ago about how US-based Latter-day Saints — unlike members of other major religious groups — tend to be more devout the higher their level of education. In other words, US Mormons with a college degree tend to be more active than those with just a high school degree, who in turn tend to be more active than those with no high school degree.

Now comes another interesting study out of BYU that says that US-based LDS women attending college tend to be more satisfied with their body image and less prone to eating disorders than non-LDS women attending college:

An associate professor of psychology at Brigham Young University, Spangler has spent a lot of time considering the relationship between religious doctrine and the body. In her talk last week at a University of Utah symposium on body image, she reported on research showing that Mormon college students have significantly better “body satisfaction” than students from other religions or from no religion.

Her thesis: Mormon theological doctrine about the body in general is what leads those LDS students to be happy with their own bodies in particular.

That’s not to say that most men and women who are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints like everything about their bodies. Spangler herself does research on eating disorders, and some of the women in treatment are from BYU. Like most Americans — 80 percent of women and 60 percent of men, according to one national study — many LDS women look in the mirror and are at least mildly unhappy. Still, Mormons are more satisfied than most, she says. . . .

Two of the studies, conducted by Jody Oomen-Early at Texas Women’s University, surveyed women age 18 to 30 about a related issue — eating disorders. Oomen-Early, who did her graduate work in health sciences at BYU, wondered if religious devoutness was correlated with increased eating disorder behaviors, a question that first occurred to her when an anorexic student at TWU told her that she felt she was “good” when she denied herself, and sinful when she ate.

Oomen-Early’s research found that the more devout a Baptist or Methodist woman, the more likely she was to have eating disorder behaviors. But — and this surprised her — more devout LDS women were less prone to eating disorder symptoms. “Religious devoutness seemed to be a protective factor in LDS women,” says Oomen-Early.

As one of the researches notes, correlation is not causation. Still, one could reasonably conclude that, for US-based Latter-day Saint women, the more educated you are, the happier you’ll be. Food (ahem) for thought; read the whole thing. ..bruce..