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Jun. 25th, 2007 03:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
liptonrm_backupAm having another flare up, though this one isn't as bad as the week and a half long one from last time, so that's progress. Anyway, can't focus on creative stuff (sorry Haley post-Wendigo and OC/SPN sequels!) but I think I can ramble on about sociology and religion. So this is for all of you still interested in what's up with us crazy mormons.
First a disclaimer, this is all based on my own personal experiences as a Latter-Day Saint and observations I have made. Other people with different backgrounds and opinions will view things differently, I'm sure. For more information on my background in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints please refer to this post.
Anyone who has even the most tangential connection with the LDS church is probably aware of the central importance the family plays in its doctrine and practices. Everything, and I do mean everything, is centered around the family unit. One of the previous church presidents, David O. McKay, famously said, "Nothing compensates for failure in the home." and that phrase is repeated ad infinitum in the church to this day. Family is stressed as the number one priority for members of the church and the obtaining of a family is the most important goal imprinted on the rising generations (an issue I'll deal with more extensively in a later column).
Most people of every walk of life would agree that family is important and that emphasis along with the doctrine of eternal families tend to be the most attractive things about this religion. The notion is so fundamental that it extends out past the biological family to encompass what can be considered to be the religious family. The ward or branch (local congregation) can very much be viewed as an extended family and the responsibilities due one ward member to another are very similar to those due one family member to another. Ward members are absolutely encouraged to become intimately involved in each other's lives.
Mormonism is, in a lot of ways, an all or nothing endeavour. It's not just about sharing religious beliefs and ideals but also about community and active participation in such. Every active adult ward member is a home or visiting teacher and it's the job of home and visiting teachers to once a month check in with or visit their assigned families to share a spiritual message and offer assistance and friendship. On its surface this program can seem a little like Big Brother, especially considering that whether or not visits were made is reported on a monthly basis to ward and stake leadership. For someone like myself who's a stubborn individualist it can be a little aggravating but the fact is the vast majority of home and visiting teachers (being every one that I've met or had) really do mean well. They have the best of intentions and genuinely want to help and uplift and share the happiness that they've gleaned as members of this particular church. It's all about uplifting and strengthening each ward and by extension each individual member of the ward.
It's hard to describe how all-encompassing Mormonism is. It's not just a religion, it's a way of life and people take their perceived duties very seriously. Some people thrive in this type of community. I remember as a freshman in college having a very serious conversation with the bishop about how important it was to have friends outside of the church. He was working from the presumption that I would have easily made friends with other members of the church and would've had a more difficult time in that new environment finding commonalities with people outside of that community when the opposite was the case in my situation. If you're not actively involved in the social side as well as the religious side of church membership then you're not considered to be as involved in the community as you should be.
And boy howdy are there activities. As I'm still in the young single adult demographic (18-30 years of age and not married) I attend a young single adult ward and there's at least one activity a week not to mention group family home evenings. The goal is marriage (a topic for another time) but it's also about community. I'm the type of person who would much rather stay at home and watch tv then go to a group activity where I don't know anyone and as such I feel a lingering sense of guilt that I'm not participating enough. Then there's my home teacher who will call me any Sunday if I don't show up for church for whatever reason, a habit that gets extremely aggravating (aggravation that is only exacerbated when it's mentioned to my mother whose response was, "He's only worried about you").
Of course, these programs don't only serve to aggravate. Many people thrive in such an active, all-encompassing community and if anyone is ever in need of any help they know exactly who to turn to and can be certain that help will come. Having such a structure in existence also helps in times of disaster. FEMA could learn a thing or two about relief mobilization from Church Welfare.
In the end all of it is done with the avowed purpose of promoting and strengthening the religious community. In much the same way parents worry about children, ward leaders worry about members with all of the attendant benefits and aggravations. It's not perfect but no family ever has been. ;-)
Hmmm, maybe I will get some creative writing done tonight. That would be nice.
First a disclaimer, this is all based on my own personal experiences as a Latter-Day Saint and observations I have made. Other people with different backgrounds and opinions will view things differently, I'm sure. For more information on my background in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints please refer to this post.
Anyone who has even the most tangential connection with the LDS church is probably aware of the central importance the family plays in its doctrine and practices. Everything, and I do mean everything, is centered around the family unit. One of the previous church presidents, David O. McKay, famously said, "Nothing compensates for failure in the home." and that phrase is repeated ad infinitum in the church to this day. Family is stressed as the number one priority for members of the church and the obtaining of a family is the most important goal imprinted on the rising generations (an issue I'll deal with more extensively in a later column).
Most people of every walk of life would agree that family is important and that emphasis along with the doctrine of eternal families tend to be the most attractive things about this religion. The notion is so fundamental that it extends out past the biological family to encompass what can be considered to be the religious family. The ward or branch (local congregation) can very much be viewed as an extended family and the responsibilities due one ward member to another are very similar to those due one family member to another. Ward members are absolutely encouraged to become intimately involved in each other's lives.
Mormonism is, in a lot of ways, an all or nothing endeavour. It's not just about sharing religious beliefs and ideals but also about community and active participation in such. Every active adult ward member is a home or visiting teacher and it's the job of home and visiting teachers to once a month check in with or visit their assigned families to share a spiritual message and offer assistance and friendship. On its surface this program can seem a little like Big Brother, especially considering that whether or not visits were made is reported on a monthly basis to ward and stake leadership. For someone like myself who's a stubborn individualist it can be a little aggravating but the fact is the vast majority of home and visiting teachers (being every one that I've met or had) really do mean well. They have the best of intentions and genuinely want to help and uplift and share the happiness that they've gleaned as members of this particular church. It's all about uplifting and strengthening each ward and by extension each individual member of the ward.
It's hard to describe how all-encompassing Mormonism is. It's not just a religion, it's a way of life and people take their perceived duties very seriously. Some people thrive in this type of community. I remember as a freshman in college having a very serious conversation with the bishop about how important it was to have friends outside of the church. He was working from the presumption that I would have easily made friends with other members of the church and would've had a more difficult time in that new environment finding commonalities with people outside of that community when the opposite was the case in my situation. If you're not actively involved in the social side as well as the religious side of church membership then you're not considered to be as involved in the community as you should be.
And boy howdy are there activities. As I'm still in the young single adult demographic (18-30 years of age and not married) I attend a young single adult ward and there's at least one activity a week not to mention group family home evenings. The goal is marriage (a topic for another time) but it's also about community. I'm the type of person who would much rather stay at home and watch tv then go to a group activity where I don't know anyone and as such I feel a lingering sense of guilt that I'm not participating enough. Then there's my home teacher who will call me any Sunday if I don't show up for church for whatever reason, a habit that gets extremely aggravating (aggravation that is only exacerbated when it's mentioned to my mother whose response was, "He's only worried about you").
Of course, these programs don't only serve to aggravate. Many people thrive in such an active, all-encompassing community and if anyone is ever in need of any help they know exactly who to turn to and can be certain that help will come. Having such a structure in existence also helps in times of disaster. FEMA could learn a thing or two about relief mobilization from Church Welfare.
In the end all of it is done with the avowed purpose of promoting and strengthening the religious community. In much the same way parents worry about children, ward leaders worry about members with all of the attendant benefits and aggravations. It's not perfect but no family ever has been. ;-)
Hmmm, maybe I will get some creative writing done tonight. That would be nice.
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no subject
Date: 2007-06-25 11:40 pm (UTC)And, for the record, having sortof worked with FEMA, they could learn a thing about mobilization from three-toed sloths...
Seriously, thank you so much for writing these up. I have LDS relatives and have had several LDS friends over the years, but a lot of the faith/culture is still mostly an unknown to me.
Can I ask, um, a maybe awkward question? A few years ago I did a summer program at Cornell and became decent friends with one of the other attendees (we were, oh, the only two who wanted to do things besides find every bar in Ithaca until 2am - plus, she was really awesome). She was also a very-into-her-church member of LDS (am I throwing this term around wrong?) and we had a lot of interesting conversations over the summer. One thing that threw me was that her brother (a few years younger than her) came to visit and they tended to walk around holding hands and...I mean, I don't think anything not-okay was going on, it's just a level of closeness you don't usually see between grown-up siblings. Is this remotely common? I could see, with emphasis on family, other barriers that scare some people being removed...
no subject
Date: 2007-06-26 01:08 am (UTC)First the easy terminology question. A person is LDS and the church as a whole is sometimes called the LDS Church. I'd probably rephrase your sentence somewhere along the lines of, "She was a very-into-her-church latter-day saint" simply because it scans better orally.
Ok, enough with the beta, on to the awkward. I, ummm, can't speak for your friend or her family but I can say that my brothers and I do not hold hands. But there is a cultural difference between mormons from Utah or the Mountain West and mormons from other parts of the world. Your theory sounds as reasonable as any other. All I know is that the tendency isn't one with which I've had any experience, either personal or observational.
no subject
Date: 2007-06-26 01:33 am (UTC)Yep. I think that can be said for a lot of cultural/religious groups. But sometimes it feels like there is a lot to Mormonism that is extra-secret. My ex has relatives who are super fundamentalist-Christian and one of them once ranted to me about how Mormonism was a cult and I sat there thinking "everything you're saying about Mormons is what I think about you only...you've tended to be way more offensive and judgmental and 'my way is the only way' than any Mormon I've ever met." *sigh*
Yay beta!
Yeah - her family was from upstate New York so...eh...I just remember finding it a little odd and I've never seen others behave that way, you know?
I really wonder what happened to her...she was going on her mission to Spain a few months after the summer ended and we lost touch.
no subject
Date: 2007-06-26 04:49 pm (UTC)And, to be fair, Mormonism can seem extra-secret. It's only in the past few decades that it's become something more then an insular little American religion. That's why I'm striving to be as open and honest as any one biased individual can be on the topic.
That's also why there are no awkward questions. =D
no subject
Date: 2007-06-26 03:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-26 03:25 am (UTC)You know, I'm in the FHE commitee, but I never go. I'm horrible. And I don't really visit teach (but everyone in my apartment building is in my ward, so...). I had a home teacher once that was My Personal Stalker, and that kind of burned it for me. But it's a really good system and community. It's just, like you say, some people are less group-oriented, and so it can be a little aggravating. However, I am in a lovely ward where the bishop gets you from an academic and not a moral standpoint, and so I am thoroughly enjoying myself. :)
Keep at it, I want to hear what you say about marriage and family. You're much more objective on the whole subject than I am!
no subject
Date: 2007-06-26 04:56 pm (UTC)Oh, marriage and family is coming. I think I'm going to do a general organizational overview next to explain wards and stakes and meetings and the like. That will include a bit on how we're Christians and why other people still don't agree. After that it's straight on to gender issues. Apparently my college years spent studying primarily Roman/European history, world religions, and women's issues are finally going to be put to good use.