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No Comments [ Add Comment ]Under the microscope
By Nancy Van ValkenburgDocumentary on Mormons airs Monday, Tuesday
Documentary filmmaker Helen Whitney spent three years interviewing more than 90 people and editing her material into an examination of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints more comprehensive than any shown before on the public airwaves.
On Monday and Tuesday nights, a nation of PBS viewers will watch "The Mormons," a four-hour series likely to leave the faithful feeling challenged, exposed, defensive and maybe a bit proud.
Brace yourself. It's going to be a bumpy ride.
"The spiritual landscape is my beat," Whitney told the Standard-Examiner. "I'm interested in radical religious commitment. My first film, about a Trappist monastery, set me on my journey. I do think of this religion as radical because it's not a Sunday-only commitment, and asks for 10 percent of its members' income and much of their discretionary time."
Part one, airing 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. Monday on KUED Channel 7 and KBYU Channel 11, covers roughly the first 150 years of church history, from founder Joseph Smith's reporting of his first vision to modern times.
Part two, airing in the same hours on Tuesday, examines the evolution and expansion of the church to its current state.
"I surely could have used more time," Whitney said. "I could easily have made a six-hour film."
Whitney's project uses interviews with historians, journalists, current and former members of the LDS Church, active dissenters, the avidly faithful and several representatives of the church, including president Gordon B. Hinckley.
Monday's episode
Part one is the more controversial episode, and some close to the film have called it sensational.
Its various segments deal with the revelations that helped establish the church; the persecution by non-Mormons and the exodus to what is now Utah; the Mountain Meadows Massacre, during which at least 120 innocents were slaughtered, reportedly by an organized group of LDS church members, possibly but not certainly with the knowledge of church president Brigham Young; and polygamy, a practice the church abandoned, but which many outsiders still associate with the faith.
"It's hard to present the career of either Brigham Young or Joseph Smith in an entirely positive light," said Will Bagley, a historian from Salt Lake City. Bagley, a former member of the LDS Church, was interviewed extensively for the project.
"The times were violent," he said. "The film takes an honest look at subjects that require dealing with, but they are subjects Mormons would just as soon forget about."
Some of those interviewed tell the story of the first vision, in which Smith said God and Jesus appeared to him to say no religion was true. Also examined is the story of Smith finding golden plates inscribed with an ancient text.
Hinckley relates the time journalist Mike Wallace asked if Hinckley actually believed the Smith story.
"I said, 'Yes sir, that's the miracle of it,' " Hinckley says in the film. "This is the way I feel about it: Our whole strength rests on the validity of that vision. It either occurred or it did not occur. If it did not, then this work is a fraud. If it did, then this is the most important and wonderful work under the heavens."
More questions
Basically, the first episode follows a specific model: It has sources relate various historical accounts, then talks to historians, authors or researchers who don't believe the claims, then turns to church members or representatives who do.
"It's very dangerous waters for a documentary production," said Ken Verdoia, a journalist and Utah documentary filmmaker who appears extensively in "The Mormons." Verdoia is not a member of the LDS Church.
"When you start doing projects that turn on religion, you are talking about faith. It's not the black-and-white world of investigative reporting. It's a documentary film on what people believe is true. At best, it's clear-eyed and balanced in its presentation, but even if it is clear-eyed and balanced, it will still disappoint half the viewers."
Verdoia has walked that road with his own documentaries on Utah history and historical characters.
"I still maintain in my office two letters about a biography I did on Brigham Young, an extraordinary figure," he said. "One letter tells me I am assigned to outer darkness for heresy and attacking this prophet. The other says I should be fired for telling fairy tales and for being a puppet of the LDS Church. I like to think those two letters might indicate my work was right down the middle."
Tuesday's episode
The second part of the documentary, dealing with the modern church, seems to offer fewer attacks on the basic faith. Among the issues raised are the former ban on black members holding the priesthood, and the church's rejection of homosexuality.
LDS Church spokesmen have elected not to comment on "The Mormons" since the church did not fund or produce the film, or control its content.
Episode two also shares numerous stories of members' satisfaction with and love for the church. The film tells stories of the LDS effort to help victims of Hurricane Katrina and the lasting gratitude of those given supplies and assistance.
Several tell personal stories of the comfort afforded by the promise of everlasting life, and the belief they will see deceased family members again.
Bagley was impressed with one story of a large family remaining upbeat while dealing with a daughter's terminal illness.
"My sense was this is a tremendously powerful example of how this religion works," Bagley said. "Certainly, no religion works for everybody, but people living in Utah understand the LDS faith has a tremendous impact on people. Showing that level of compassion and sympathy is what will make this story extraordinary."
End result
Verdoia said those who watch both episodes should get a good sense of what the LDS Church believes and how it fits into today's world.
"Any one aspect of this film broken out may be unsatisfying," Verdoia said. "The value is in the totality of this project. I would urge people to view this project in its totality. Program one will lead you to one set of conclusions, and program two another set. But it's my sense that overall, this will be of great service to people around the nation."
Bagley, basing his opinion on a late but not final version of the film, praised it highly.
"I'm proud of my role in this film," he said. "I think it will be a tremendous net win for the church. I think it will have a tremendously positive impact on the church's image."
Whitney said she hopes "The Mormons" will help clear public confusion about the church.
"There is so much misinformation out there about this religion, I am stunned by it," she said. "In some ways, it's thrilling, as a filmmaker, because it's uncharted territory. People know so little. It's exciting to say, 'No, so much of what you have heard is wrong.'
"It's a fascinating religion with a shadow side, as all religions have. I want to say, 'Why don't you set aside your preconceptions and walk inside with me? Let go of your stereotypes, and walk out, and see what you feel then.' "
SOME OF THE ISSUES
The Standard-Examiner contacted FAIR, a nonprofit Web organization that studies and responds to criticism of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and asked for responses to some quotes from transcripts of "The Mormons."
Here is a sampling of quotes from the documentary and FAIR responses:
On Joseph Smith's early work:
Michael Coe, archaeologist, author: "I really think that Joseph Smith, like shamans everywhere, started out faking it, I have to believe it, that he didn't believe this at all, that he was out to impress, but he got caught up in the mythology that he created. This is what happens to shamans. They begin to believe that they can do these things and then they, then it becomes a revelation. They're speaking to God. Joseph Smith had a sense of destiny, and most fakers don't have this, and this is how he transformed something that was clearly made up into something that was absolutely convincing."
John Sorensen, Brigham Young University professor emeritus: "Mike Coe is an archaeologist. He is not an anthropological expert for shamanism. His comparing Joseph Smith with a shaman is without merit. The characteristics that anthropologists use to define a 'shaman' do not apply to Joseph Smith."
On Joseph Smith and polygamy:
Kent Clark, author, former LDS Church member: "In his own mind he believed that Abraham and the other prophets in the Old Testament were directed by God to practice polygamy, so I think he used that, and I think in his own mind he became convinced that if God had allowed them to do it, God would permit Joseph Smith to do it. But for me, as I studied the issue, I came to the conclusion that his sexual desires drove the practice and that he found a way to sanctify it, to make it respectable, and to couch it in scriptural terms with revelations of convenience."
Scott Gordon, FAIR president: "I find it fascinating how critics of the church, as well as current pop culture and television, like to obsess on the sexual aspects of plural marriage when, in fact, responsible historians look at a host of other issues. Those who emphasize sexuality seem to leave out incidents of marrying much older, widowed sisters and the public excommunication of a member who exploited the practice."
On the LDS belief that ancient Israelites came to the Americas:
Richard N. Ostling, author: "Mormonism teaches that ancient Israelites came to the New World and created scriptures, which we have today as the Book of Mormon; thus Israelites are ancestors of native Americans. There's a whole story, a very elaborate story of great cities being built. Mormons believe these matters. But also it's fair to say that non-Mormons and Mormon skeptics who have studied these matters do not see evidence. They don't see the DNA that would support the Israelite theory."
Gordon: "The DNA issue has been debated almost to death in recent years. The scholars agree on the basic genetic facts, but completely disagree on the underlying assumptions on how that might apply to the Book of Mormon and on what constitutes prophetic proclamation. Those who do primary research in human population genetics are critical of the claim that DNA evidence discounts anything about the Book of Mormon. This really isn't a scientific discussion at all, but one of religious definitions."
-- Nancy Van Valkenburg
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