Mormon Questions: Book of Mormon Musical

I've started off every post of this series talking about how hilarious I think it is to be asked these questions about Mormonism. So why stop now, right? (But really and truly, being asked about Mormonism has never been offensive, only varying degrees of amusing. Keep on asking away!) Every time someone asks me if I've seen the Book of Mormon Musical I can't help but think they are joking. Except they never are. They're always asking in order to ask the follow-up question: What did you think of it? The problem is, I've never seen it! Or ever wanted to see it, or ever known another Mormon who has seen it. So. . .

We watch musicals, just not ones that make fun of our religion. You understand, don't you?

The thing is, I already know about Mormons. . . I am one. And I don't really care to watch several hours of Broadway that make fun of not only my beloved religion but all organized religion in general. If you have more specific questions about the musical then maybe I could address those? Like, post a comment or something? e.g. someone once asked me in the subway if we really believe that Joseph Smith pulled gold plates out of the ground and translated them into the Book of Mormon. Yes, we do. You can read more of what I believe about Joseph Smith in a past post.

If all you really wanted to know is how I feel about a Tony-winning musical making fun of my religion, then I can say most of what I feel is eh with *shoulder shrug*. Haters gonna hate. Though I do know some people who take offense. You can read my friend's response to the musical on her blog Valpo Studio (I don't think she's seen it either).

The official statement released in response to the musical by my church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is only one sentence:

The production may attempt to entertain audiences for an evening, but the Book of Mormon as a volume of scripture will change people's lives forever by bringing them closer to Christ.

Word.

Other posts from my Mormon Questions series:
Do you practice polygamy? // Do you really believe Joseph Smith was a prophet? // I don't understand all this Mormon jargon. // Do you have special underwear? // Why do Mormons get married so young?

Mormon Questions: Polygamy

A pregnant lady and her boo hitting up the sites in Washington D.C!

All the time when I tell people that I'm married and Mormon they follow up by asking - very politely - how many wives my husband has. LOL. I get it, it's a unique cultural heritage and Big Love is a popular television show. I explain that I am and will continue to be Carter's ONLY wife.

Polygamy was practiced by my church over a hundred years ago. In the late 1800s polygamy was outlawed in the United States and, in accordance with the new laws, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints stop practicing polygamy as well in 1890. There are still polygamous groups of people in Southern Utah and Nevada who may call themselves 'fundamentalist mormons' but these groups are not affiliated with my church. In fact, any person currently practicing polygamy cannot become or remain a member of our church. So in short, no polygamists here.

So - as I imagine some people might want to ask - how can I belong to and believe in a church that used to practice polygamy, even if it was a long time ago? It's a valid question and one I've even wondered myself. After some thought, the answer comes down to the fact that I faith that God commanded it and it was necessary and important at the time. Having faith doesn't mean having all the answers, it just means that I choose to believe despite questions that I can't answer.

Both the Bible and the Book of Mormon teach that marriage of one man to one woman is God's standard, except when God has commanded otherwise, as in the case of Abraham, Jacob, and some of the early Mormons. Somewhere between 25 and 50 percent of the Mormon population (including children) lived in polygamous households. All polygamous relationships had to be approved by church authorities. Women and men were free to choose whether to enter polygamous or monogamous relationships, or none at all. Those who practiced polygamy did so because they believed that they were following a commandment from God and obedience to His commandments would bring blessings. I don't know the particular reasons God asked His people to practice polygamy but the Book of Mormon identifies at least one explanation in Jacob 2:30, "to raise up seed unto [the Lord]" or to increase the number of children born into the gospel. Today, we honor the sacrifices made by these early saints but do not practice polygamy ourselves. If you are further interested in this topic I would recommend this in-depth article written by my church.

In a last interesting note, I am descended from polygamists on my dad's side. One of my ancestors, Edwin Rushton, had three wives married in 1842, 1857, and 1862. He had children with each of his wives for a total of 21 children, though many of them never survived past childhood. I am descended from the third wife. In 1887 he was prosecuted by the United States Government for polygamy and elected to serve a four month prison term rather than renounce his wives and children.

Mormon Questions: Joseph Smith

Almost all anti-mormon literature revolves around Joseph Smith. Some of it true and some of it not. So when people hear 'mormon,' Joseph Smith is often the first person to come to mind.

Hence this question: "Do you really believe Joseph Smith was a prophet?"

The answer is yes, I absolutely do!

In case you aren't sure who Joseph Smith is, I'll tell you! Joseph Smith was a 14 year old boy growing up New York in the early 1800s. He prayed in the woods to know which church to join and in turn learned more than he ever expected to know, I'm sure. God and Jesus Christ appeared to him then and told him that he should join no church because the gospel and the priesthood had been taken from the earth when the original apostles died. Joseph later received priesthood power, the Book of Mormon, and instructions from angels. He became the first prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

I believe all that and more. I believe that Joseph was sincerely trying to follow God's directive. But I don't believe Joseph Smith was perfect and I don't believe he was more than a man (as in we don't worship Joseph Smith). Only Jesus was perfect and even then most people didn't believe He was the Son of God! They still criticized Him and pointed out perceived flaws.

Carter teaches Elder's Quorum (sunday school for men) and in his class someone brought up the good point that if all prophets were as well documented as Joseph was, they would likely all be controversial figures. Take Moses, for example. He intentionally killed a man! Or Jonas, who planned on forgetting the whole prophet business and moving far away where no one would know him.

The beautiful thing about Joseph Smith's story is how it all relates to our own. God uses imperfect people to do His work on this earth! Though we all are lacking (and He knows perfectly what we lack) we can all serve God in meaningful ways.

If you would like to know more about Joseph Smith and what we believe about him you can look at this website created by our church.

Mormon Questions: Terminology

At our first LIVE Christmas nativity. They had all sorts of biblical animals,  elaborately dressed roman soldiers, and one very cute baby.

Mormons use a lot of religious jargon that other Christian denominations do not use. Have you ever wondered, 'what does that mean?' when talking to a Mormon? I can admit, it can all be very confusing. Like stake? As in steak? What? (Until I was ten or so, I really did think it was "steak" and I had no idea what anyone was ever talking about ever.) 

I present to you translations of Mormon speak:

Atonement: The sacrifice of Jesus Christ. It includes his suffering in the garden of Gethsemane and on the cross as well as His resurrection.

Bishop: unpaid spiritual leader of a ward, or congregation. Similar to a pastor. They are asked to serve in that position for approximately 5 years. They give advice, conduct interviews, and assign callings.

Ward: analogous to a congregation. Everyone is assigned to a ward based on the area they live.* Approximately 100-300 people make up a ward.

Stake: A group of neighboring wards (seven or so) are put into a stake. A city may have several stakes. "Stake" is a term that comes from the Old Testament (Isaiah 54:2). The tent or church is upheld by supporting stakes.

Calling: an unpaid assignment in the church. Almost everyone has a calling and they vary from "visit so-and-so every month to "teach Sunday School" to "plan activities for the ward four times a year." 

Priesthood:  The authority and power that God gives to man to act in the name of Jesus Christ in all things for the salvation of mankind. You need it for things to be legit in God's eyes i.e. baptism, eternal marriage, ect.

Agency: the ability God gives to people to choose and act for themselves in all areas of their life. Everyone is free to choose between good and evil.

Prophet: A man who God calls to speak for Him. The prophet receives commandments, revelations, prophets and authority from God. He also leads God's church. God had prophets in biblical times and still has them today.

Branch: a congregation too small to be called a ward. A branch has a branch president instead of a bishop.

Contention: argumentative atmosphere 

Non-member: someone who is not baptized into our church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) 

Talk: a 15-minute sermon given by various members of the ward. The bishop picks the topic and asks someone to speak from the pulpit on the subject 

Trial: Hard times that we believe God gave us to help us grow and to 'try' us

*Growing up, I was always a little perplexed about the idea of "picking" a church with a likable pastor.  I can see how that would be a big deal to people; I mean if you're going to go there every Sunday and give the pastor money you need to like the church, right? Well, in our church the clergy is called of God with His priesthood authority (and not even paid) and so you are expected to go to your geographically assigned ward and make the most of it. If you don't have any friends, you don't like the bishop, or there is a closer building nearby, the overall sentiment is mainly: "Deal with it." It can sometimes be hard, but as a disciple of Christ you're supposed to build up the people and the ward where you are.

So what do you think? Any other confusing words I should add the the list?

Mormon Questions: Special Underwear

Carter and I at a rock climbing gym due to some very kind relatives. And, yes, we are wearing garments :)

One of the reasons I really wanted to do this series was so that I could figure out the best explanations to give other people about what I believe. All the questions I'm going to address are ones I've personally been asked and most of them are also questions that I felt I answered inadequately. Instead of feeling like I had clearly and succinctly explained what I believed and why I believed it,  I often felt that I had rambled on incoherently, only confirming what they already thought: Mormons are weird.

The first time I was asked about "special underwear" I was totally taken aback. I had no idea what he was talking about! The questioner was an acquaintance during high school and he had a perfect understanding of everything Mormons believe because he had been to one of those anti-mormon classes his church held (sarcasm). He rambled on about it for several minutes before I put it all together. He was referring, of course, to temple garments.

You can make anything sound odd, if explained in an odd way, and it's the same with garments. So you've heard that we have holy underwear! And that we have to wear it at all times including sex and showers (Carter's gotten this one before). Oh and haven't you heard that garments are even bulletproof? Well, I'm sorry to say folks, that we are all not as exotic as your pastor would have you believe.

Like many religions, we too have outward symbols of our inward commitment to follow the Savior. Jews wear tassels (tzitzit), Catholics wear crosses, and Mormons wear garments. It is a personal reminder to live righteously. We believe that the garment is protective in that God protects and blesses us when we follow his commandments and keep our covenants. We wear our garments with devotion in connection to our devotion to Christ, meaning we wear our garments as much as possible, though not all the time (as in, not during sex, swimming, exercising, and showering!!!).

If you want a more in-depth examination of temple garments, I would look at this article.

Don't you think this is just the weirdest question? Where do people get this stuff?

Mormon Questions: Young Married Mormons

Carter and I in front of the Salt Lake Temple a month before we were married there.

A while ago I read this post called How to Train A Mormon and I haven't been able to get the topic out of my head since. In the post, the author explains that when she was young and naive she expected people outside of Utah to ask questions about her "glowing light" and why she was so happy. Instead, she was surprised to face questions more like, "Why don't you drink coffee?" and "Why do you wait to have sex until marriage?" In the article, the author goes on to talk about obedience and why mormons aren't weird and yada yada.

The article got me thinking though, what questions am I asked about Mormonism and how do I answer?  So I'm making this into a series of posts titled: Mormon Questions. I'm hoping there is a little of something for everyone. If you've ever been asked an unexpected question about Mormonism and answered well, or even not-so-well, then please share your experiences! If you are a Mormon but you've never lived in an area where Mormons are a novelty, then maybe you've never encountered such questions before. However, chances are you will someday! If you are not a Mormon but have unanswered question about what exactly Mormons believe, then maybe I'll be able to answer a few.

So, no. 1 on the list is : "Why do Mormons get married so young?"

I'm not sure if it's because I am recently married (10 months) or what but, surprisingly, this THE most-asked question by my friends and random strangers.

The answer is that there are likely many reasons why, but my favorite reason is because we believe that family is most important in this life. To us, families are a priority, and, consequently, there is no reason (including career goals) to put off having one. I usually throw in there that it isn't a church policy; no one is dictating that we get married and have babies before 25. Sometimes I even joke(dryly) about BYU: "When you throw a bunch of 20-something kids together all thinking about marriage, some of them are bound to go through with it."

I think most people think marrying so young is naive. I was married fairly young, and likely naively, but, like most Christians, we believe that God helps two imperfect people come together to have a perfect marriage.

My least favorite answer to this question is: "Because we don't believe in sex before marriage." It makes all Mormons sound like sex-deprived zombies. Sure, it's true that we believe in abstinence before marriage, but no sane individual gets married just for sex. It may be a component of a desire for marriage but more like a top 100 reason and not a top 5. So maybe don't include this in a conversation about Mormons. PLEASE.

So what do you guys think? Really, truly, I'm very interested to see how you answer this question!