From: owner-aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com (aml-list-digest) To: aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: aml-list-digest V1 #685 Reply-To: aml-list Sender: owner-aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com Errors-To: owner-aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com Precedence: bulk aml-list-digest Friday, April 19 2002 Volume 01 : Number 685 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 18 Apr 2002 13:37:30 -0700 From: "Jacob Proffitt" Subject: RE: [AML] Wallace Stegner - ---Original Message From: Susan Malmrose > > Can someone tell me what a Jack Mormon is? My understanding is that originally, it was used as a term to define those who were friendly with the Mormons but who were not themselves Mormon. Joseph Smith had a number of friends who weren't baptized, but who nonetheless stayed by him even when literally under the gun. Over time, the use of the term changed to mean a Mormon who has lapsed in their religious observance. Usually that means someone who was born in the church, but doesn't believe in it or adhere to the tenets. Jacob Proffitt - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 18 Apr 2002 15:34:12 -0600 From: margaret young Subject: Re: [AML] Sanitized LDS History? Dear Gene had been asked by the BYU administration not to present at the Sunstone Symposium. He agreed to that, but attended the symposium as a supportive non-participant. After a particular session on the Church's Council for Strengthening Members (or some such title), Gene, in his typically impulsive, endearing style, stood and accused the Church of spying on its members. Of course, TV cameras had been following Gene everywhere just waiting for him to say something like that. So there he was, on the 6:00 news and in the papers. (I've always felt that the media has MUCH to do with the reputation Sunstone has. They've consistently depicted the Symposium as consisting of a bunch of feisty apostates howling at the Church--which is far, far from representative of any Sunstone Symposium I've ever attended.) Gene later learned that President Faust was in charge of that particular council, and wrote him a letter of apology. Gene told my husband that he truly regretted what he had said, that he felt he had spoken rashly. As things unfolded, however, that incident appeared to have much to do with his "retirement" from BYU. [Margaret Young] Ethan Skarstedt wrote: > What happened at and after the 1992 Sunstone Symposium? > > -Ethan Skarstedt > > Scott Parking wrote:"At one point he talks about his own conflict with > the Brethren over the > years, and in particular his experiences at and after the 1992 Sunstone > Symposium. He reveals both a humble heart, and a powerfully examined > faith." - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 18 Apr 2002 16:43:32 -0600 From: "Marianne Hales Harding" Subject: Re: [AML] Gen. Conference > > Well, what did you do after Conference? > > > > >I took a nap. > >Thom Most people take their naps *during* Conference :-) Marianne Hales Harding _________________________________________________________________ Join the world’s largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail. http://www.hotmail.com - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 18 Apr 2002 14:55:31 -0600 From: Barbara Hume Subject: [AML] Book of Mormon & Archeology [MOD: I feel like we've been getting off-topic a lot recently, so with apologies to Barbara, I'd like to request that anyone with a response to her query send it to her directly. This isn't a topic that I think is terribly on-target for AML-List.] >Gang, this Catholic kid keeps telling me that archeologists have proven >that the stuff in the Book of Mormon is all untrue, and that no >archeologists have been able to support anything in the Book of Mormon. >(He's been reading anti-Mormon sites.) He sneers when I suggest that one >should not base one's religious beliefs on archeological reports. Anyway, I wonder if someone can give me some of the references to archeological research that contradicts this notion. (Not that it will do any good, since the young man already knows everything, but it annoys me that I don't know the names of any such documents or reports.) I suppose the literary link is that these reports are written down? barbara hume - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 18 Apr 2002 17:04:29 -0600 From: Christopher Bigelow Subject: [AML] Query on Book of Mormon Language [MOD: Again, a query I want to accommodate, but please do respond off-list.] If anyone is interested in helping out with the following query (read his original message at the bottom first and progress upward), please contact this gentleman directly at his alan@donnelly.abelgratis.com address. Chris Bigelow <<< I'd be glad of any input that can be given, so yes please! Many thanks, Alan Donnelly >>> - ----- Original Message ----- From: To: ""donnelly.abelgratis.com"" Sent: Wednesday, April 17, 2002 10:12 PM Subject: RE: Query? Translator Joseph Smith called the original language "reformed Egyptian," whatever that means. I don't have references and studies at my fingertips, but I'm sure they're available. Would you like me to forward your query to our e-mail discussion list and let anyone with more info contact you directly? We picked it as a title for our literary magazine because we liked the word. "donnelly.abelgratis.com" wrote: >Dear Sirs, > >Having just begun to read the Book of Mormon, I came across the name of the sea that Lehi was to set sail upon, with the name meaning "many waters". >From my little knowledge of biblical Hebrew, it obviously isn't in that language. I am most curious to know what language it is a translation from? I hope you can help me. > >Many thanks, > >Alan Donnelly > > >donnelly.abelgratis.com >3, Croxton Road, Thetford, Norfolk IP24 1AF, UK > - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 18 Apr 2002 17:25:35 -0600 From: Melissa Proffitt Subject: Re: [AML] LDS Nature Writing On Tue, 16 Apr 2002 21:35:36 -0600, Todd Petersen wrote: >Jim Picht said=20 > >I don't think there's anything about our church or our art and >literature >that's anti-environment. > >I heard one Mormon say that it's not important to worry about pollution >because the earth will be restored during the Milleneum. > >There's one example. That's one example from an individual. Where are the examples that our Church as an institution is anti-environment? And when have you ever = heard any Church authority teach that the earth's Millennial restoration means it's okay to pollute as much as we want? When individual members draw stupid conclusions from existing doctrine, that's the time to put a stop to those ideas going any further. After = all, we also teach that resurrected bodies will have every missing part = restored, but that doesn't mean I can cut off my neighbor's hand without eternal consequences. (Never mind the temporal ones.) [Melissa Proffitt] - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 18 Apr 2002 18:23:35 -0600 From: "Gae Lyn Henderson" Subject: RE: [AML] Gen. Conference I have yet to meet anyone personally who came to a > point of repentance after listening to Conference. > > > ----- > Jeff Needle Ah, Jeff, you have not been in Relief Society recently. (This is my best guess because you are both male and not a member!) In my ward some of the women were actively PREPARING for General Conference by praying, fasting, looking for the messages that they needed to hear. Careful notes were taken and then goals were set for the coming 6 months. I was not one of those persons I will admit. You really have to be into 1) heartfelt humility, or 2)"competitive righteousness" mode to comprehend this intense, super-achieving kind of serious spirituality that is practiced. On a recent visiting teaching trip, one of my "ladies" said that she was on her second year of never missing a day of reading the scriptures (come illness, come hospitalization, come what may). Very Dutiful! Gae Lyn Henderson - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 18 Apr 2002 18:48:38 -0700 From: "Kim Madsen" Subject: [AML] Good LDS Fiction I just wanted to take a moment and thank those of you who sent me suggestions to broaden my reading list in my search for excellent LDS literature. I've purchase the ones I could find, checked out from the library ones I couldn't. I've just finished reading Margaret Young's SALVADOR. Thought-provoking, beautiful story telling. The sense of place mesmerized me. Ditto for Marilyn Brown's HOUSE ON THE SOUND. Thank you for sharing it with me, Marilyn. What an exciting discovery--well-written LDS fiction! In fact, I've been moved to create a bookgroup of women who are seeking to read excellent LDS literature too--they are as excited as I. However, it still remains a challenge to find some of these books on shelves at bookstores. I live in Centerville. This gives me close access to Deseret Book, Carr's, Seagull Book and Barnes and Nobel. The only recommended titles I found at those places were of course Brown's [MOD correction: Young's and Gray's] STANDING ON THE PROMISES series and PRODIGAL JOURNEY by Linda Adams. I found SINGLED OUT, SALVADOR, WASHED BY A WAVE OF WINDS and UNDER THE COTTONWOODS in the local library. What happens when I want to add them to my own collection? Can one purchase these titles still? Where? My bookgroup women will want to own their own copies too...what are we to do? When I attended the AML conference in March (or was it the end of Feb?), many of these books were available there for purchase. Where are they hidden in the real world? Why do the LDS book publishers make it such a challenge for us?? Kim Madsen - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 18 Apr 2002 19:49:26 -0600 From: "Alan Rex Mitchell" Subject: Re: [AML] LDS Nature Writing Proffit wrote: I don't think that New York elites have any better right to influence art than Joe Cattle Rancher does, particularly when they're playing with OPM (Other People's Money) while they do it. So I guess that gives me (JCR) the permission to say something. I've been holding back writing about Todd's question of Mormon Nature writing partly because I've been busy with nature and partly because I have so much to say. I'm pleasantly surprised that the majority that have written been mostly correct (i.e., agree with my opinion). Of course I usually agree with Jacob Proffit 100% and usually wait for him to post because he can reason and write much better than I can. A couple of months ago I started imagining myself writing a Mormon Nature book-something along the lines of TT Williams Refuge. I even wrote an outline, some vignettes, etc. Only this book, Refuge II would be more practical and rational. I disliked most of the logic and Mormon content in Refuge-I shudder to read the preface that says the author is linking the rise of the Great Salt Lake in the 1980s to breast cancer in her family. I can't think of two events that are less related-they must have an r-value less than 0.01. But she stated it upfront and was able to pull it off because of what I call the Martian Principle-you can convince the readers to believe in Martians and a spaceship if you put it in the first chapter, but you can't introduce them in the last chapter to save the hero from the gallows. As many of you know, my wife and I have embarked on a mission to restore her great-grandfather's ranch in western Utah-so of course the nature book I have in mind would be biased (?) by direct experience in ranching, farming, remodeling, as well as past experience as a research agronomist/soil scientist. I want to write the book after I've finished my second fiction novel, and direct it at a nature-reading populace rather than a cowboy populace. The ideas for the book have come out of a college Introductory Biology class that I taught, and afterward began thinking of an essay "Teaching Biology to the Saints." That has gone through several drafts. But in the meantime, I've put together a 40 question quiz on the environment that I would be glad to offer the AML group to see how well they understand the nature around them. Would the group be interested? [MOD: Speaking for myself, I think it's a fine idea--and relevant to the discussion at hand...] Alan Mitchell - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 18 Apr 2002 21:03:40 -0600 From: "Todd Petersen" Subject: Re: [AML] LDS Nature Writing Tracie wrote: Along those lines, I have a friend who thinks any kind of recycling, conservation, reducing, reusing....is silly because we are taught that there is enough and to spare. This is where I think the dissemination of doctrine gets in the way. Section 59 of the D&C is pretty clear about how we're supposed to use the things provided in the creation. Also, about the Lord's feelings about not acknowledging His hand in all things. I think our doctrine IS quite clear about how we should treat the creation, but I also think that people don't understand what the Lord is asking. I'm currently reading the scriptures, earmarking anything the Lord says about land, water, air, pollution, cursing of the land because of iniquity, etc. There is a lot. I'm planning to write an essay exploring the doctrine as found in the scriptures, the words of latter-day prophets, and current environmental thought. Some LDS folks like Terry, Elder Featherstone, and a historian named Thomas Alexander have been writing about this stuff, but I'm surprised. Lots of folks on this list have been indicating that they think Mormons are pretty environmental. My thought is that if they were, wouldn't it be more obvious in their writing? Aside from Terry's work, Doug Thayer's "Mr. Wahlquist in Yellowstone," and the Gibbs-Smith book of LDS perspectives on the environment are the only major creative things. I guess I'm a little confused. - -- Todd Robert Petersen - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 18 Apr 2002 23:23:06 -0700 From: "Tait Family" Subject: Re: [AML] POTOK, _Old Men at Midnight_ (Review) Shelley wrote: My two cents': This is an excellent point, and I don't mean to discount it. But Potok also produces the "grand work" with equal success and depth in his book _Wanderings_, which never fails to move me to tears. It's a wonderful complement to his novels. Lisa Tait - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 18 Apr 2002 21:14:06 -0700 (PDT) From: Dallas Robbins Subject: [AML] Harvest Magazine A while back there once was an online magazine called Harvest (http://www.harvestmagazine.com). Unfortunately, it went on hiatus and is still in limbo, due to my busy schedule. I think there is still a place for Harvest, but I need to pass it along to someone who has the time to take on such a project. If anyone is interested in taking over Harvest, please email me privately at cloudhill@yahoo.com. Thanks. Dallas Robbins cloudhill@yahoo.com __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Tax Center - online filing with TurboTax http://taxes.yahoo.com/ - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 18 Apr 2002 22:42:01 -0600 From: "bob/bernice hughes" Subject: Re: [AML] LDS Nature Writing >And the reason we are still going is because some groups listened back >then and did things about it. The EPA for instance, Congress passing laws >against pollition, etc. All the harping back in our day did some good. So >instead of being cyncial, you should be grateful. > >Thom Duncan > I’m very grateful. If you were one of those harping, thank you. I didn’t notice on this thread any mention of the book _New Genesis: A Mormon Reader on Land and Community_ edited by William B. Smart, Gibbs M. Smith, and Terry Tempest Williams. So I will. I guess I just did. Many good essays. Not that anyone asked about my personal perspective, but I will offer it. I grew up in Utah, moved away for twenty years, and just recently moved back. The most shocking thing to me is the deterioration of air quality in twenty years. As I descend from some of our beautiful canyons into a brownish muck (and I’m not talking inversions here), I can’t help but think that parents who clamor for quality of life confine their children to breathe that stuff. You probably don’t notice it if you haven’t been away for twenty years. Growing up, we never had warnings to stay inside if you have respiratory problems. Its routine now. Having lived in polluted cities (Hong Kong, Taipei, Bangkok, Saigon) I thought I was moving back to pure air. Wrong. And most Utahns are in denial. Bob Hughes _________________________________________________________________ Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 19 Apr 2002 00:43:22 EDT From: HOJONEWS@aol.com Subject: Re: [AML] LA Festival of Books In a message dated 4/18/02 3:37:15 PM Pacific Daylight Time, jana@enivri.com writes: > Does anyone know if there will be LDS publishers or authors at the Los = > Angeles Festival of Books? > Dear Jana and All, I'll be there. Booth 603, Peloff Quad. It's listed under Authors' Coalition in the program. You might also find a listing under "This is the Place." I'll be formerly signing at 1 p.m. both Sat. and Sun. though unofficially I'll sign just about anything for anybody at any time! Ha! Carolyn Howard-Johnson, Author of This is the Place, an award-winning story about a young journalist who writes her way through repression into redemption For a FREE First Chapter Click Here or send to: carolynhowardjohnson@sendfree.com FREE Cooking by the Book at http://www.tlt.com/authors/carolynhowardjohnson.htm - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 19 Apr 2002 00:14:53 -0500 From: Jonathan Langford Subject: RE: [AML] LDS Nature Writing Gae Lyn asked: >I am surprised that this has been such a widespread point of dissonance that >so many might be leaving the church because of it. I would be interested to >know more about this and to hear some of your anecdotal evidence. I have to hastily backtrack and say that I personally know of only a few cases, and those ambiguous. The case I know best is that of a very close acquaintance of my wife's who left the Church in her late teens/early twenties. And to be perfectly honest, I don't know how much of her leaving the Church had to do with environmental issues, though my sense is that it played a role (I know that feminist issues also played a role). I know that while she lived in Utah, she was part of a neo-pagan group that had relation to the environment as one of its basic ideas. I don't know how many other people in that group had been raised LDS, but I find it hard to believe that it wasn't significantly represented. When I say that I think this is probably a larger area of cognitive dissonance, especially among young people, than Mormon history, I have to admit that I'm relying more on logic than on firsthand knowledge. We tend to become aware of church history issues as we study church history more. This means that, to some degree, problems with church history are problems that afflict the committed. Discomfort with the Church's stand on the environment, however (or lack of it), is--I would hypothesize--something that's likely to be part of a more general drifting-away from the Church, and one that could easily happen (say) in the late teens or early twenties. Correcting what I said earlier, I wouldn't guess that we'd see many, if any, individuals leaving the Church "because of environmental issues"; rather, what I suspect we may see is environmental issues playing a role in developing a worldview that doesn't go along with traditional Mormonism very well. (Liberal social politics and feminism would be other common elements of such a worldview.) In most places, I think you have to get in with a fairly sophisticated group before you discover people who are politically liberal but active and committed Church members, or environmentalists, or peace activists, or who talk about feminist ideas as part of the gospel. Not that those people aren't out there, but they generally don't talk about it much in a Church context. I know a couple in my ward who have very liberal views on homosexuality, for example, but I suspect I'm one of maybe five people in the ward who are aware of those views. We just don't get that many public, discussed role models along the lines of Marden and Bessie Clark, who used to (correct me if I'm wrong, Harlow) travel to Nevada to protest against nuclear power plants. Not that I feel particularly strongly about nuclear power plants, but if there's a youth growing up in the Church who cares passionately about nuclear power, I'd like for him or her to know that it's possible to be an active LDS anti-nuclear activist. Or an active LDS feminist. Or an active LDS environmentalist. We're aware of such role models, here on AML-List; but I think that especially outside the centers of the Church, there's little awareness of such things among the general membership, and that awareness is almost entirely confined to adults. It's entirely possible that I'm overestimating the importance of environmentalism to people. I was raised in western Oregon, and environmentalism really is a big deal there. On the other hand, my wife's acquaintance was born and raised in Provo... I also need to clarify that many people--probably most--don't leave the Church (in my view) for cognitive but rather for behavioral reasons. So even if I'm right, there are probably relatively few youth out there who drift away from the Church for reasons related to environmental issues, compared to (say) those who leave Church activity for Word of Wisdom or law of chastity issues. But then, how many youth leave the Church because of problems with Mormon history? Only a few, I suspect--but they're likely to include some of our most thoughtful youth (it's not something you tend to worry about unless you're fairly thoughtful to begin with). I'd argue that the same is likely true of environmental issues. So what does everyone else say? Am I talking through my hat, or does this phenomenon (people drifting away from the Church at least partially for environmental reasons) really exist? Jonathan Langford Speaking for myself, not AML-List jlangfor@pressenter.com - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 19 Apr 2002 11:30:49 +0200 From: "Ryan Orrock" Subject: RE: [AML] Gen. Conference [MOD: I'm allowing this post through, but really I'd rather that if we're going to discuss General Conference, we focus more on the rhetoric and language of General Conference--including issues of audience relationship as appropriate--and not on questions of spiritual value, content of the talks, etc. Not that those things aren't important--probably more important--but they really fall outside our purpose here on AML-List.] We see this "blinding conversion" after one talk in the Book of Mormon, but what we don't see is the x years of kingship where King Benjamin worked and sweated and toiled with his subjects to get them to become more obedient, a little at a time, until that moment when they were ready, as a group, to actually covenant to do what they should. That said, I also know that most of the people I give a Book of Mormon to put it down after five minutes and gain absolutely nothing from it. Is the book therefore worthless? You could say, "The scriptures are all the same, faith, repentance, baptism, over and over and over." Yet there is unlimited depth to the scriptures. If Moses spoke to us, would we bother to listen and to do? In Jesus' time, the people said, "If our days had been in the days of the prophets, we would have not stoned the prophets and cast them out . . ." or even just ignored them? Yet, here they are - modern-day Moses, Peter, and even Jesus Christ himself through the voice of His servants. President Hinckley seems to say something to this effect after almost every conference, but in October 2000, it was very clear: "Following the benediction we shall depart this great hall, turn off the lights, and lock the doors. You who are listening across the world will switch off your television set or the radio or shut down the Internet. As we do so, I would hope that we will remember that when all is over, "Still stands thine ancient sacrifice, An humble and a contrite heart" (Hymns, no. 80). "I hope that we shall ponder with subdued feelings the talks to which we have listened. I hope that we will quietly reflect on the wonderful things we have heard. I hope that we will feel a little more contrite and humble. "All of us have been edified. The test will come in the application of the teachings given. If, hereafter, we are a little more kind, if we are a little more neighborly, if we have drawn nearer to the Savior, with a more firm resolution to follow His teachings and His example, then this conference will have been a wonderful success. If, on the other hand, there is no improvement in our lives, then those who have spoken will have in large measure failed. "Those changes may not be measurable in a day or a week or a month. Resolutions are quickly made and quickly forgotten. But, in a year from now, if we are doing better than we have done in the past, then the efforts of these days will not have been in vain. "We will not remember all that has been said, but there will arise from all of this a spiritual uplift. It may be indefinable, but it will be real. As the Lord said to Nicodemus, "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit" (John 3:8). "So it will be with the experience we have enjoyed. And perhaps, out of all we have heard, there may be a phrase or a paragraph that will stand out and possess our attention. If this occurs, I hope we will write it down and reflect on it until we savor the depth of its meaning and have made it a part of our own lives. "In our family home evenings I hope we will discuss with our children these things and let them taste the sweetness of the truths we have enjoyed. And when the Ensign magazine comes out in November, with all of the conference messages, please don't just throw it aside with the comment that you have heard it all, but read and ponder the various messages. You will find many things that you missed when you listened to the speakers." - - President Gordon B. Hinckley - Final talk of October 2000 Conference It is my experience that when I have followed this counsel that I have found things in the conference talks that have both helped me change my life's course for more happiness (the more important thing) as well as find doctrinal insights that were previously hid from me. It may not have been perceptible to anyone but me. No one may have heard me shout, "Hallelujah! I believe!", but the effect was there. Elder Romney said, almost fifty years ago: "In this conference we have been greatly entertained at times with eloquent oratory. We have been taught by great teachers. We have heard enough truth and direction in this conference to bring us into the presence of God if we would follow it. We have been taken on to the spiritual mountain and shown visions of great glory, but how many of us have heard that voice saying we would have a part therein" (in Conference Report, Apr. 1954, pp. 132-33)." If we find it is all the same, we might ask, why? Perhaps because just as many Latter-day Saints don't pay their tithing this conference as last conference. If the Church had 100% tithe payers, I imagine the talks would move on to other things. But you can never move to the meat if you can't even take the milk. Or do we only receive light and knowledge in proportion to that light and knowledge which we have already received? I love conference. It isn't always easy to sit through or stay awake for, but I believe the Lord had a reason for commanding that these conferences take place (D+C 20:61-63). Ryan [Orrock] - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 19 Apr 2002 07:29:46 -0600 From: "Scott Parkin" Subject: Re: [AML] Sanitized LDS History? Ethan Skarstedt asked: > What happened at and after the 1992 Sunstone Symposium? Margaret Young already wrote a complete reply, but I hope it's not an abuse of the fair use doctrine to use Gene's own words from his essay titled "On Spectral Evidence, Scapegoating, and False Accusation" as it appears in his collection _Making Peace._ Starting at the bottom of page 36, Gene wrote: ===== This seems to me to describe my own community in the past few years, at least along the Wasatch Front: people accusing others of being Korihors or traitors or Nazis, rumors of persecution flying throughout the Mormon intellectual community, people denied positions or opportunities on spectral evidence, and back-biting concerning the Brethren. I am ashamed that into this cave of winds I boldly and angrily stepped and committed a gross error based purely on spectral evidence. In happened this way: Lavina Fielding Anderson gave me a presentation at the August 1992 Sunstone Symposium on how we might go about healing the breach that seemed to be growing between church authorities and Mormon intellectuals and feminists. My anxiety and pain increased during her catalogue of events I knew about and in which I knew people had been badly hurt, hurt at the heart of their faith, and I suddenly became convinced that the Strengthening the Church Members Committee (which I had recently heard about from a BYU administrator) was behind most of those events. My general hurt and fear focused in anger, and during the question-and-answer period I accused the committee of undermining the church and invited the audience to use their influence to stop it. I had in mind that the people would write to church leaders they knew and that thus the committee, which I assumed was ad hoc and mid-management, would be quietly discontinued. But in my heart was also a desire to punish, and the powers of darkness were glad to oblige--that is, the natural laws of reciprocal violence that are always unleashed by growing, unresolved animosities based on spectral evidence and by the scapegoating that suddenly focuses that growing plague. Television cameras captured and replayed the scene on the news; an Associated Press reporter went right out, called the church spokesman, and got a confirmation of the existence of the committee and some of its activities in question, which was reported nationwide. Meanwhile I went home to Provo in a welter of emotions (still angry, sometimes glad, even a bit self-righteous about speaking out, but then doubtful, increasingly aware that I had violated the principle that offenses should be dealth with personally and privately). As the publicity continued, much of it negative, I felt much anguish; I remembered a comment to me the night after the Sunstone session from one in the audience who may have been alluding to my recent book, _The Quality of Mercy:_ "Well that was brave, but it wasn't very merciful." Indeed, I felt like a hypocrite, and when I learned from the First Presidency statement the next week that the committee consisted of two apostles, James E. Faust and Russell M. Nelson, I felt despair that I had, however unwittingly, criticized them and possibly invited others to do so. I immediately wrote an apology to them, at the same time doing what I should have done before if I had been patient enought to find out how: I told them directly and personally what concerned me about the committee's actions as I now understood them, of the hurt I felt those accusations had caused me and others I knew. [SNIP] Between my "outburst" (as the AP reporter rightly called it) on August 6 and my day of humiliation and repentence on October 3, I went through another shift in perspective. On the one hand I became conscious that people in the church, even in an organized way, were willing, in the name of honorable ends, to use hearsay evidence to judge, hurt, intimidate, and even punish people. Perhaps most troubling of all, I learned that others, even though disagreeing with such means, were willing to stand by and let those things happen, even participate to some extent. On the other hand I became more fully aware the *I* could participate in the same kind of activity--with gusto. In my own hurt and desire for revenge I could use spectral evidence to judge and try to punish people, even risking harm to the church I believe is as true as the gospel and risking violation of my sacred covenants and deepest committments. It is time to stop. The risk is enormous. We may be at the period prophesied by Christ: "Then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another" (Matt. 24:10). We must stop listening to, accepting, or passing on to others spectral evidence. We must, I believe, specifically stop dealing indirectly, spectrally, with offenses. We must stop writing to people in authority with our complaints; stop using church authority to intimidate or punish rather than dealing face-to-face with those who offend us in speech or writing; and stop criticizing the Brethren. ===== I happened to live in Gene's ward at the time. I had no idea of what had happened at Sunstone, and so had no idea what the context was when he stood up during Gospel Doctrine class and with a broken heart and contrite spirit apologized for any harm he had done in speaking his opinions. He reiterated his faith and trust in the Brethren, and his committment to the Church and the gospel. Though I had no idea why he spoke those words, I felt that he spoke them from his heart and with extraordinary humility. I believed him, and I believe the spirit bore witness of the truth of his words and his intent. That day I gained a deep and abiding respect for Gene England as an honest seeker for truth--a respect that causes me to now read his words with a great deal more charity than I once might have. I don't know what the long-term fallout of that experience was, but Margaret's belief that it eventually led to his early retirement from BYU resonates with the things I have heard from other people who I trust. At the risk of falling prey to the use of spectral evidence myself and raising the ire of our esteemed moderator, let me say that I am deeply saddened in heart at what appears to have been an unnecessarily harsh and punitive response. I believe the BYU lost one of its most important thinkers, and one of its most honest teachers. I know that Gene was deeply hurt, though he remained true to his own ethic and was very sparing of criticism for BYU. I could condemn BYU and its administration, but that would do me no good and it wouldn't restore the wrongs--real or imagined--that I suspect they've done over the years. I believe BYU is no more punitive than any other university and will argue that fact with anyone who tries to condemn them for their apparent mistakes. I do wish that BYU would be better than other universities, but in the end my job is to make my own world better rather than condemning institutions or their practices. Had not Gene written his essay, had he not told his story in humility and with grace, I would only have the equally inflammatory versions of the story that I've heard from both ends of the spectrum on this issue. I'm glad he told his story, and that while he criticizes those who condemned him he also condemns his own failure to live by the ethic he believed in. It's why we all need to tell our stories our way, because only by telling the story from all perspectives and viewpoints can we understand the impact and power of human experience--to our benefit and detriment. Scott Parkin - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 19 Apr 2002 09:18:50 -0600 From: margaret young Subject: Re: [AML] Good LDS Fiction The biggest problem you're facing is that it is very hard to stay in business in LDS publishing. The company which did _Salvador_ (Aspen) is not really functioning now, and that book as long been out of print. Gideon Burton's father reprinted a few titles of much loved Mormon literature--namely Don Marshall's _Rummage Sale_; Doug Thayer's _Under the Cottonwoods_ and Gene England's _Dialogues with Myself_. But I haven't heard of any more books forthcoming from the Burtons' company. Benchmark Books often provides books for the AML Conference--and they do have probably the best collection of LDS fiction, both in print and out of print. As for books published by presses other than Deseret/bookcraft and Covenant, you probably need to go directly to the publisher to get their catalogue. I understand Cornerstone will no longer be publishing (sad). As far as I know, Cedar Fort is still doing good things. Signature markets mostly to its particular audience, but does have a very classy catalogue. I'm hoping these presses have websites. [Margaret Young] - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ End of aml-list-digest V1 #685 ******************************