Category Archives: Main

More “September Dawn” silliness

LDS History, Main, Media

[UPDATED 03/03/07 – 1625 MDT]

I was wrong on one prediction below — “September Dawn” managed to break the $1 million mark for total gross to date (vs. a production budget of $11 million). However, it did nosedive in number of theaters (415, down from 872 last weekend), total gross for the 3-day weekend ($129,000 vs. $608,157, nearly an 80% drop — horrific for a movie in its 2nd weekend of release), and per theater gross for the 3-day weekend ($310/theater vs. $702/theater last weekend). Clearly, there’s no groundswell for this film. Maybe the distributors will have better luck selling the DVD.

[ORIGINAL POST]

OK, people are welcome to have their various opinions about “September Dawn” even though most critics think it’s wretched and there appear to be some real historical howlers in it. For example, from what I’ve read, there’s a sequence in which one of the characters is forced(!) to go through the temple endowment ceremony down in southern Utah, even though there were no temples down there until 20 years after the Mountain Meadows attack, and the only ‘endowment house’ in operation was hundreds of miles north, in Salt Lake City. Also, at that point, in order to attend the temple, you had to have the explicit approval of the LDS Church President (this continued until the early 20th century).

But I’ve run across this article in which the author suggests that the flood of poor reviews for “September Dawn” is due to — wait for it — quiet sabotage on the part of the LDS Church:

While the Mormon hierarchy denies any effort to directly or indirectly sabotage the film, it seems possible much of the criticism dealing with the film is derived from some common blueprint. Perhaps the suggestion is wrong — indeed, I sincerely hope that it is — but, while not being prone to embrace conspiratorial theories, I can understand those who question coincidence in matters of this nature. However, any effort to suppress speech in such a manner would not be in keeping with the thinking of friends of mine in the Mormon community. No matter how upset they might be with what they considered to be an unfair criticism of their religion, they are Americans first and Mormons second. As a consequence, they respect our freedoms, particularly freedom of expression. They would grit their teeth and let the film rise or fall on its artistic merits, secure in the knowledge that it is merely a film and their religion is more than strong enough to withstand any criticism — accurate and profound or unfair and derivative. And, again, no such criticism of the present day LDS Church was ever intended. Moreover, it concerns me that members of a great religion, such as Mormonism, may feel the need to sabotage a film in order to preserve their version of history.

The author, Ken Eliasberg, seems to seriously think that the LDS Church has somehow managed to convince critics as diverse, well-known and/or visible as Michael Medved (USA Today), Roger Ebert (Chicago Sun-Times), Dessen Thompson (Washington Post), Steve Heyden (Onion AV Club), Matt Zoeler Seitz (New York Times), Owen Gleiberman (Entertainment Weekly) and J. Hoberman (Village Voice) to give “September Dawn” the rather poor reviews it has received. Once again, I simply point people to the list at Rotten Tomatoes (which is back down to 15% “fresh” — which means 85% “rotten”).

Eliasberg’s key evidence, apparently, is his claim that several reviewers have used the term “ham-fisted”, suggesting (as per the quote above) “some common blueprint”. Eliasberg does not apparently realize that “ham-fisted” is not that uncommon a term for, well, reviews of ham-fisted movies. A Google search for [movie “ham-fisted” review] yields nearly over 100,000 hits. And they’re not all “September Dawn”.

Meanwhile, the movie itself is nose-diving at the box office, will likely be out of theaters altogether within another week or two, and may not even break the $1 million box office mark (it’s currently grossed $836,000 through Thursday). Based on the reviews I’ve read, I would say that Mr. Eliasberg got his wish that the movie “rise or fall on its artistic merits.”

I don’t mean to sound snippy, but this is, in a word, asinine. And, just possibly, ham-fisted. ..bruce..

P.S. Having written this, I’ve discovered that Carol Schutter, the co-author of the screenplay for “September Dawn”, appears to be the one making the claims of LDS Church conspiracy behind the film’s bad reviews, going so far as to issue a press release.

LDS welfare system

LDS Society, Main, Preparedness

Today’s Denver Post has a well-written article on the Church’s welfare system, including a focus on the cannery/bishop’s storehouse here in Denver. Excerpt:

The Mormon Church’s bounty and efficiency regularly spill over into global disaster relief.

Within two days of the 8.0-magnitude earthquake that struck Peru on Aug. 15, the church had dispatched a 747 cargo plane with emergency supplies from its headquarters in Salt Lake City.

When the 2004 tsunami hit Indonesia and surrounding areas, church leaders asked relief agencies what they needed most but couldn’t get.

The church then found a Chinese supplier that could deliver 50,000 body bags to the region within two days.

Between 1985 and 2006, the church donated cash of more than $201 million and goods of more than $705 million in disaster relief to 163 countries.

“The church doesn’t try to make a big splash,” said Lynn Southam, a member of the church’s lay clergy in Aurora and a stake president. “It just quietly gets things done.”

While a lot of people are aware that the Church uses its welfare system to care for its own, few people know of the Church’s extensive humanitarian services worldwide, almost all of which go to people who are not Mormons. ..bruce..

“September Dawn” flops

LDS History, Main, Media

[UPDATED 09/09/07 – 0752 MDT: Someone else has noticed possible parallels between the Utah War and the US invasion of Iraq. In the meantime, “September Dawn”has now vanished entirely from Denver theaters after just two weeks.]

[UPDATED 08/30/07 – 1742 CDT: The ‘Rotten Tomatoes’ score has rised to 16% (from 15%), and I’ve noted that change below. However, estimated daily grosses for Monday through Wednesday have been $64,000, $65,000, and $54,000 respectively, still for 857 theaters, which means that each theater is getting about 10 people/day to see it. I suspect this film will lose a lot of theaters this coming weekend.]

[UPDATED 08/28/07 – 2342 CDT: I’ve had to revise the box office figures down even more — all of the original weekend estimates (~$1 million, $635K, $615k) were too high.]

[UPDATED 08/27/07 – I’ve updated the box office figures [twice now] and made a few other edits.]

The film “September Dawn“, purporting to show the events of the horrific Mountain Meadows Massacre in 1857, appears to have crashed and burned, both with the public and with most movie critics. In limited release (857 theatres) and with heavy advertising (there was a full-page ad for it in Friday’s Rocky Mountain News), it still only managed an anemic $702/venue this past weekend, for an opening-weekend total of $601,857. Critics were not all that kind, either; the film has managed only a 16% ‘fresh’ rating at Rotten Tomatoes, while the (LDS Church-owned) Deseret News published a round-up of scathing comments by critics.

From what I can tell, the flop status is well-deserved. The director (and co-screenwriter), Christopher Cain, appears to have made the presentation so one-sided (evil Mormons!) as to induce incredulity even among film reviewers who have no reason to be sympathetic to Mormons. The polemics led Roger Ebert to state in the Chicago Sun-Times, “The Mormons are presented in no better light than Nazis and Japanese were in Hollywood’s World War II films. Wasn’t there a more thoughtful and insightful way to consider this historical event?”

Ebert’s last statement there points out the real missed opportunity. The Mountain Meadows Massacre happened and is an horrific blot on LDS history. Contrary to some claims by film critics (probably based on promotional materials from the film), the events have not been covered up until recently; the classic historical work on the subject, The Mountain Meadows Massacre, was written and published over half a century ago (1950) by Juanita Brooks, who was a BYU graduate and an active Latter-day Saint. Mormons have been wrestling with this event ever since.

In the hands of a skilled screenwriter and director, these events could have made for a very uncomfortable and thought-provoking film. Consider the historical events leading up to the massacre:

Continue reading “September Dawn” flops →

Nighttime stories

Humor, Main, Personal History

“xkcd” is one of my favorite web comics, and the strip today made me smile and wince at the same time:

True story: after my freshman year of college at BYU (1971-72), I served a full-time mission for the Church. Since I was going to Central America, I first had 8 weeks of intensive language training at what was then called the Language Training Mission (LTM), located mainly in buildings on the south part of the BYU campus. During those 8 weeks, I happen to notice this one sister missionary who is likewise in the LTM, learning Spanish in order to serve a mission down in South America. I never really get a chance to talk with her, but she’s kind of cute and (more importantly) looks intelligent. After the 8 weeks are up, I leave for Central America.

Continue reading Nighttime stories →

Succession in LDS Leadership

LDS History, LDS Organization, Main, Succession,

[UPDATED 01/27/08 2125 MST]

This entry is suddenly getting a lot of hits, due undoubtedly to the death earlier today of Pres. Gordon B. Hinckley. With the death of Pres. Hinckley, the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been dissolved; Pres. Thomas S. Monson and Pres. Henry B. Eyring return to the Council of the Twelve Apostles (which now actually has 14 apostles in it); and Pres. Monson resumes his role as President of the Quorum of the Twelve, taking over from Pres. Boyd K. Packer, who has been serving as Acting President of the Twelve.

The Quorum of the Twelve, under the leadership of Pres. Monson, now leads the LDS Church. At some point, most likely within the next week or two, the Quorum of the Twelve will move to reorganize the First Presidency, with Pres. Thomas S. Monson as President of the Church, along with two counselors of his choosing. There’s a good chance (based on tradition) that Pres. Monson will retain Elder Eyring as one of his counselors, but that’s Pres. Monson’s choice, not a requirement.

Also note that this means that a new member of the Quorum of the Twelve will be called, though possibly not until the LDS General Conference in April.

[UPDATED 10/06/07 1034 MDT – Elder Henry B. Eyring has been called and sustained as 2nd Counselor in the First Presidency, while Elder Quentin L. Cook has been called to the Quorum of the Twelve. See here.]

==================== [ORIGINAL POST] ==============================

Peggy Fletcher Stack over in the Salt Lake Tribune writes about the “wild speculation” (her phrase, not mine) regarding whom Pres. Hinckley will call to replace Pres. Faust as 2nd Counselor in the First Presidency. First, in my own experience, the speculation tends to be tame rather than wild, though (in fairness) it’s probably a bit more of a topic of discussion within Utah than outside of it. Second, Stack gives no substantive basis for the specific candidates she mentions; one could as easily list all of the members of the Quorum of the Twelve instead of the few she picks out. Stack does correctly note that counselors have on occasion been chosen from outside of the Quorum of the Twelve, though it’s been roughly half a century since that happened. However, she incorrectly states that the calling as a counselor in the First Presidency is a “lifetime calling”; when the President of the Church dies, his counselors are automatically released and revert back to their positions in (or outside of) the Quorum of the Twelve, and the new President of the Church is free to select whomever he wants as counselors. (I sent Peggy a note on this, and she replied that she inadvertently left out a conditional phrase; easy enough to do with deadlines.)

Those minor quibbles aside, Stack’s article clearly lays out the principles underlying succession at the highest level of the LDS Church. Once you are called to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, you are on a very slow-moving track toward being President of the Church — but only if you live long enough (i.e., longer than those called before you). This has always struck me as a very elegant and corruption-free process. There is no voting, no jockeying for position, no way to leapfrog ahead of those called to the Quorum before you. It is, quite literally, in God’s hands.

Continue reading Succession in LDS Leadership →

Pres. James E. Faust (1920-2007)

LDS History, LDS Organization, Main

One of my most distinct LDS General Conference memories over the past 40 years surrounds Pres. Faust being called as a General Authority of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. After having been sustained as an Assistant to the Quorum of the Twelve earlier in the conference, he got up to speak briefly. He opened his first-ever talk in General Conference by saying, “For 22 years, until last Thursday morning, I have been a lawyer. And since then I have been trying to repent.” Laughter rumbled through the Tabernacle.

Copyright (c) 2006 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc.

That was in October 1972,  just five years after I had joined the Church and while I was in the Language Training Mission, learning Spanish for my two years down in Central America. For the last 35 years, I have always enjoyed, listened carefully to, and learned from Pres. Faust’s remarks in General Conference and elsewhere. As a former Democratic state legislator and a former member of Pres. Kennedy’s Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights under Law, he has served as a role model for those of us in the Church who believe that there are — or at least were — core principles within the Democratic Party worth defending and promoting.

I will miss his warm voice and unmistakable cadence, which I have listened to for nearly two-thirds of my entire life. My prayers are with his family and friends.  ..bruce..

Ah, those troublesome Buddhas

Humor, Main, World Religions

It’s hard at times to distinguish between real news and The Onion:

Tibet’s living Buddhas have been banned from reincarnation without permission from China’s atheist leaders. The ban is included in new rules intended to assert Beijing’s authority over Tibet’s restive and deeply Buddhist people.

“The so-called reincarnated living Buddha without government approval is illegal and invalid,” according to the order, which comes into effect on September 1.

Talking about King Canute commanding the tides…I can hardly wait to see what the ChiComs decree regarding Catholic sacramental services. Hat tip to the Drudge Report.

Speaking of The Onion, I thought this was a delightful article:

NEW YORK—An emergency coalition of deities from several major world religions is still sorting through the wreckage of a tragic bus accident that claimed 67 lives Friday in the culturally diverse Jackson Heights neighborhood of Queens….

More than half a dozen gods reportedly responded to the scene within moments of the crash. Because the victims hailed from 14 countries and professed an as-yet-undetermined number of religious faiths, however, the soul-placement process has been laborious, and fewer than a third of the deceased have so far been escorted to their appropriate afterlives.

“What a mess this is,” said Ganesha, the Hindu lord of success and obstacles. “Assuming we ever manage to figure out who worships our particular pantheon, there’s still the problem of divvying up the Buddhists, Jains, and other non-Hindus who worship me, Lakshmi, Vishnu, and about 1,000 other gods.”…

One god, who asked that His name not be spoken aloud, said the theological muddle was a rarity, and that He and the other deities usually have no trouble operating without an official post-disaster protocol.

“We don’t normally have to deal with these kinds of details,” the god said. “If there’s a rocket attack in the Middle East, it’s pretty easy to figure out who goes in to mop up.”

Further complicating matters is the presence of the devil, Beelzebub, who has demanded that the coalition relinquish all souls to him.

“These are all vile, vile sinners, and I’m not leaving until I get them,” the dark lord said, though other gods appeared unreceptive. “Look, my numbers have been way down this month. I’m sure everyone here did something damning at some point, right? Come on.”…

The only thing that would have made the article better would have been for them to refer to Mormons instead of Catholics at the very end, but given the on-going controversy around Mitt Romney, they probably thought it was too obvious a move. ..bruce..

Mormons and Hell

LDS Doctrine, Main

This touching (and well-written) article — from Jennifer Pemberton, a woman who is not LDS but who has LDS relatives — got me thinking about Hell, something else that divides us from most conservative Christians. She talks about the conflicts between her grandmother (not LDS) and her great aunt (LDS) over religion, and her great-aunt’s final health decline and death:

Aunt Ruth died a week later. My grandmother was inconsolable — a complete surprise. “There’s no relief,” she said over the phone. “We can’t say, ‘She’s with the Lord now.’ I can’t help but think of her burning in hell, and there’s nothing we can do about it now.” How could I console her? “We don’t know that,” I said. “More likely she’s with Wendell and Richard and Grandpa. It’s one big family reunion up there for the Mormons.” I shouldn’t have included my grandfather in the mix, but she let it slide.

“I hope you’re right,” she said, with a laugh.

“At least if the Mormons are right, we’ll all be safe,” I said.

We were joking again, irreverent at the most inappropriate times — the only way we knew how to make sense of things.

“It wouldn’t hurt to invest in a pair of that holy underwear,” I added. “Just in case.”

Just about the same time I ran across this article, I also ran across this video mashup of Jack Chick’s ‘Titanic‘ tract using footage from James Cameron’s movie by the same name. Between the two, I was struck anew at how stark much of conservative Christian theology is regarding the concept of Hell and the significant (and often radical) differences in the LDS concept of Hell. (More after the jump.)

Continue reading Mormons and Hell →