I've been on a bit of a hiatus due to health problems, but I now hope to be back on a regular basis. Anyway, I had something on my mind about the recent documentary aired by BBC where John Sweeney investigates the Mormon Church and Mitt Romney. I know its been a while since it aired but I just saw it tonight on Youtube. However, I would like to give my opinion on it.
I would mainly like to comment on the way Elder Holland answered the questions and held his ground in the midst of the controversial topics. I thought he did a very good job under the circumstances. Rather than break the documentary down step-by-step or accuse someone of not doing a good job, I think I will just stick to the issues at hand and give my opinion of some of the subjects covered:
1. Polygamy: I think it should have been emphasized that polygamy was phased out gradually following the 1890 revelation, and completely banned in 1910 with the exception of existing marriages. Also, more effort should have been taken to show that the FLDS is separate from the urban polygamist groups as well as the mainstream LDS church.
2. Book of Abraham: The issue was way too over-simplified by saying that Egyptologists translated the real document and it doesn't match up, and that the pictures were changed. I think maybe Elder Holland could have pointed the way to Hugh Nibley's research, including the research on the hypocephalus that just came out recently in "One Eternal Round." Theologians in LDS and secular circles alike have argued for a Semitic connection to the Egyptian funeral documents and the work of the scholars should have at least been mentioned.
3. Temple Penalties: I think an explanation about how many traditions mention you should be willing to die for your faith, and if that includes not revealing secrets given to you by God, you should be willing to make any sacrifice. I don't think its fair to say that someone can't be loyal to the government because they are willing to keep sacred covenants with God and not subject those sacred covenants to mockery.
4. Strengthening the Members Committee: Most big corporations have an internal affairs department, this is nothing new or sinister. Most churches also keep files on members and try to get members back if they leave. I was with several churches prior to being LDS and this would not have been strange or unusual in any of them. Investigating to make sure standard doctrine is taught and that members who have strayed know they are welcomed back does not seem like a bad thing.
5. 1826 Glasslooking Trial: This was incorrectly said "con-man" which isn't true. When Joseph Smith was on-trial for glasslooking it was because he was trying to make a living by helping people to find buried treasure on their property by gazing into his seer stone. These people believed in his prophetic abilities and did not feel like they had been taken. However, this was an illegal activity in the state of New York. Most believing LDS would not have a problem knowing that Joseph Smith attempted to use his prophetic abilities to get by in frontier America.
After considering these things, I think more and more that the church should explain more controversial materials in their publications. They have been doing this lately, such as in the "Joseph Smith Papers" books and the Book of Mormon issue of the Ensign. I believe that the more these controversial issues are out on the table, they will actually be less controversial because people will know their true explanation. I think it would serve to make the church stronger in the long run.
Showing posts with label Entertainment and Arts (Critique of). Show all posts
Showing posts with label Entertainment and Arts (Critique of). Show all posts
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Monday, November 14, 2011
A Pirates Initiation For Me!
Most modern pop-culture descends from something much older, sometimes going back even to ancient times. In the book “One Eternal Round” Hugh Nibley calls some rituals the world’s “oldest plays” and insinuates that the idea of plays originally came from the ancient mystery plays as part of being initiated into an ancient “mystery school.” These rituals gave birth to plays, which in our day gave birth to movies, and movies gave birth to even more immersive experiences like 3-D movies and theme park rides. With a theme park ride the storytelling entertainer has the ultimate opportunity to put the audience right in the middle of the story. Thus, the audience goes through the story much like the candidate did in ancient times when he would go from compartment to compartment advancing through the story, thus becoming initiated.
The theme park attraction that espouses the concept of initiation the most in my opinion is Pirates of the Caribbean at Disneyland Park in Anaheim, California. If you think this concept is far-fetched, just hear me out: (Note: this essay is written from the standpoint of the original ride, not the current overlay with Johnny Depp to make the ride more like the movie.)
When the ride starts out we board a small boat and are given preliminary instructions to remain seated the whole time. This is reminiscent of the Druid initiation ceremonies where the candidate would board a small boat and had to survive a voyage to be considered initiated. Next, we cruise through a swamp and the first scene we come to is an old man rocking back and forth in a chair. He is engaged in deep thought and is looking fondly at the Blue Bayou restaurant across the river, remembering fondly his life and the times he enjoyed like the people he is watching. This is a reminder to us that we will all end up like this someday, and that we should live our life in a way that we can look back on it with fond memories, nothing we would be ashamed of. This brings to mind the Fifth Degree of the Scottish Rite where we are told to emulate Hiram Abiff in a way that when we die we can look back on a life well-lived full of good deeds.
Our next scene we come to a pitch-black room with nothing visible but a skull and crossbones, an emblem of death. This is a reminder of the Chamber of Reflection in the York Rite Knights Templar degree where the candidate is left for a time in a dark room with the skull and crossbones to reflect on the life he has lived up to that point and his own mortality. The skull and crossbones in the ride talks to us and gives us advice, to keep both hands inside the boat as being the best way to repel boarders. Here the dead is giving us advice that we are about to undergo a trial, and that to become initiated we should remember the advice the dead would give us if they could talk.
Next we come to the trial we were warned about, we fall down a waterfall, and after falling down the first waterfall we hear the famous “Yo-ho” pirate’s song, with pirates rejoicing about the loot they managed to accumulate, and then after our boat falls down another waterfall, we are in a cave with skeletons clutching treasure. Following our death trial we are given a reminder that crime doesn’t pay, that ultimately you can’t take wealth with you when you die. The skeletons remind us that only our deeds matter, not the wealth we accumulate in this life.
Our next scene is a vision of what happened in the life of the skeleton pirates we just saw. We see them take over a city, and loot the businesses in the town. However, something goes wrong and the city catches fire. We see a pirate teetering with one foot on land and the other in a boat, trying to escape with some of the goods. We are shown that ultimately our wealth will perish, whether by fire or if we die before enjoying it. We then are taken up a waterfall (rather than going down one) while given the charge “Dead men tell no tales.” True to the initiation experience, we are given a charge at the end that sums up the lessons we are supposed to learn. This is to remind us that death overtakes all men, and that our lifestyle now determines our fate in the future. We should live our lives not clutching riches that we cannot take with us when we die, but should live our lives in a way that will keep us out of “fires” and develop character.
The theme park attraction that espouses the concept of initiation the most in my opinion is Pirates of the Caribbean at Disneyland Park in Anaheim, California. If you think this concept is far-fetched, just hear me out: (Note: this essay is written from the standpoint of the original ride, not the current overlay with Johnny Depp to make the ride more like the movie.)
When the ride starts out we board a small boat and are given preliminary instructions to remain seated the whole time. This is reminiscent of the Druid initiation ceremonies where the candidate would board a small boat and had to survive a voyage to be considered initiated. Next, we cruise through a swamp and the first scene we come to is an old man rocking back and forth in a chair. He is engaged in deep thought and is looking fondly at the Blue Bayou restaurant across the river, remembering fondly his life and the times he enjoyed like the people he is watching. This is a reminder to us that we will all end up like this someday, and that we should live our life in a way that we can look back on it with fond memories, nothing we would be ashamed of. This brings to mind the Fifth Degree of the Scottish Rite where we are told to emulate Hiram Abiff in a way that when we die we can look back on a life well-lived full of good deeds.
Our next scene we come to a pitch-black room with nothing visible but a skull and crossbones, an emblem of death. This is a reminder of the Chamber of Reflection in the York Rite Knights Templar degree where the candidate is left for a time in a dark room with the skull and crossbones to reflect on the life he has lived up to that point and his own mortality. The skull and crossbones in the ride talks to us and gives us advice, to keep both hands inside the boat as being the best way to repel boarders. Here the dead is giving us advice that we are about to undergo a trial, and that to become initiated we should remember the advice the dead would give us if they could talk.
Next we come to the trial we were warned about, we fall down a waterfall, and after falling down the first waterfall we hear the famous “Yo-ho” pirate’s song, with pirates rejoicing about the loot they managed to accumulate, and then after our boat falls down another waterfall, we are in a cave with skeletons clutching treasure. Following our death trial we are given a reminder that crime doesn’t pay, that ultimately you can’t take wealth with you when you die. The skeletons remind us that only our deeds matter, not the wealth we accumulate in this life.
Our next scene is a vision of what happened in the life of the skeleton pirates we just saw. We see them take over a city, and loot the businesses in the town. However, something goes wrong and the city catches fire. We see a pirate teetering with one foot on land and the other in a boat, trying to escape with some of the goods. We are shown that ultimately our wealth will perish, whether by fire or if we die before enjoying it. We then are taken up a waterfall (rather than going down one) while given the charge “Dead men tell no tales.” True to the initiation experience, we are given a charge at the end that sums up the lessons we are supposed to learn. This is to remind us that death overtakes all men, and that our lifestyle now determines our fate in the future. We should live our lives not clutching riches that we cannot take with us when we die, but should live our lives in a way that will keep us out of “fires” and develop character.
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