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Mormon scholar: Romney candidacy brought home unpleasant truths
By DOUG GIBSON"We were a good people, but not a sensible people."
That quote from Mormon scholar Richard Bushman describes what he says was part of an evolution of how others regarded members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the 20th century.
Bushman, in a speech last week at Weber State University, said the gradual increase in tolerance for Latter-day Saints during the past 100 years created a false confidence for many church members. Bushman, author of the biography, "Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling," said Mormons are apt to confuse this admiration with respect.
Bushman said the failed presidential candidacy of Mitt Romney cracked that illusion. "These last two years have shown that we were wrong," he said.
According to Bushman, the Romney candidacy sparked hostility primarily from two groups: evangelicals and mostly liberal intellectuals. The former deserted Romney for evangelical candidate Mike Huckabee. Examples of liberal distaste for Mormonism were articles in publications such as Slate and The New Republic. One magazine piece on Mormonism was described by Bushman as "a piece of bigotry."
Both groups are disdainful of LDS beliefs. Secular opponents are more likely to scoff at the LDS founder Joseph Smith. (Anyone who wants to see an example of progressive anti-Mormonism, go to youtube.com, and search "Lawrence O'Donnell & Mormonism." You will see a rant against Joseph Smith by the actor/writer on the political spin show "The McLaughlin Group." It's pretty ugly.)
Evangelicals are offended by core Mormon doctrines, which differ from traditional Christianity. Bushman pointed out in his lecture that LDS doctrines of three distinct members of the Godhead, man's potential to become a God and modern-day revelation are regarded as "satanic" by some evangelicals.
To those of us secure in our LDS enclaves, Bushman added, the Romney candidacy was an unpleasant wake-up call. It was reinforced to Mormons that our doctrines are still regarded as "sinister" and even "dangerous." Another prejudice against Mormons are charges of fanaticism, secrecy and violence. This is "particularly a part of the liberal mind," said Bushman. He cited a recent Los Angeles Times piece that casually said -- without evidence -- that early Mormons raped women.
So what can be done to change these perceptions? In what may surprise, Bushman says one answer is just more time. "What is needed for Mormonism to be more respectable is simply to age," he said. Mormonism is still too young. Its beliefs in revelations, appearances of deity and miracles are not unique to anyone familiar with the Bible.
An important insight he stressed is that Latter-day Saints have to find a way to show how Mormonism fits into human life.
Bushman said that Helen Whitney, who directed the PBS documentary "The Mormons," failed -- despite many interviews -- to find human meaning to Mormonism. Answering that question, he says, is the governing question for future Mormon scholars. Mormons, and he included himself, were unable to provide Whitney an answer.
In his lecture, he used Joseph Smith's First Vision as an example to provide that elusive meaning. Its traditional lesson, that God told the young prophet that all churches were not true, is not as inspiring to the rest of the world, said Bushman. However, if the First Vision is crafted as a story of the invisible God becoming "visible" to man, it has meaning for all, he maintained.
To Bushman, this requires that Mormon study embed itself with philosophy and comparative literature. He cited New York Times columnist David Brooks, who argues that people will die for ideas and principles that offer meaning to them.
Bushman is on to something. An article in Reason magazine cited The National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago, which reports that in 2006, 17 percent of Americans are not religiously affiliated. In the 1970s, the number was between 5 and 7 percent. Among younger Americans, the nonaffiliation stretches as high as 23 percent.
Another study from the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life finds a trend toward individual worship. We're leaving churches and looking inward to find our relationship with God.
It's obvious many who shun church can't find the meaning they are seeking there. It is reasonable to wonder if the U.S. is heading toward a significant decrease in religious affiliation if a theology with meaning is neglected.
Can the Mormon Church, and other religions, meet that challenge?
Gibson is the Standard-Examiner's assistant editorial page editor. He can be reached at dgibson@standard.net.
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I was intrigued by the apparent weight given to the problem of liberal intellectuals. Mormon-hating liberal intellectuals and their followers likely did not vote in droves in the Republican primaries. Essentially, Romney was cast out by Republicans. I think it's a stretch to assign equivalent blame to those dratted liberal big brains, at least in this case.
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