- JB on The Book of Mormon’s Anti-colonialism: “This post is actually resurfacing some long lost memories of me reading the Book of Mormon closely and carefully for perhaps the first time in my life in the Dominican Republic MTC, and arriving at the exact same conclusions. I can’t tell you the relief I felt as a young missionary when I got to the part about how if the gentiles repent, then they too can be spared and share in the same covenant; that is, it is we Euro-Americans who must conform to the Natives, not the other way around. (Doubtless an important insight to have before starting a mission in Latin America.) And this random blogpost I clicked on well over two decades later is probably the only other time I’ve heard anyone even breath a similar conclusion. There’s just this church-wide freeze out of this section of 3 Nephi, at least among white-Americans. But then, these same Americans have also largely ignored the parts of the Book about establishing societies of “neither rich nor poor” (4 Nephi 1:3), about giving to the poor freely without judgment or preconditions (Mosiah 4:16-19), about seeking riches solely to help the poor (Jacob 2:17-19), about the Lord who comes out as swift witness against those who oppress the hireling in his wages (3 Nephi 24:5; Malachi 3:5). Heck, not just us, but most “mainstream” Christians in general have also utterly skipped over the parts of the Bible, too, about selling all you have and giving it to the poor (Matthew 19:20-24), about the love of money being the root of all evil (1 Timothy 6:10), about having all things in common (Acts 2:44-45), and about the wickedness of saving for the future (Luke 12:16-21). 3 Nephi 16-20 is in good company it’s being strenuously ignored, too. Seriously, all these passages might as well be decanonized by now, for how much they’re expunged from our discourse. I guess everyone, even the “orthodox,” are cafeteria Christians after all.” Apr 27, 04:56
- on The Book of Mormon’s Anti-colonialism: “So, it’s actually the white Christian nationalists who think the church should only baptize white converts, and if you find yourself arguing for the same thing, you should probably back up and rethink the choices that got you here. The assumption that African Christians all use drums instead of pianos and pipe organs is genuinely pernicious and creates obstacles to providing congregations the resources they need (like organs and organ arrangements) for the music they prefer. There are multiple stark examples of ongoing ethnocide at the moment. If you think maintaining a few dozen congregations in a nation of over 50 million amounts to ethnocide, you should probably avoid using the term ethnocide.” Apr 27, 03:29
- on The Book of Mormon’s Anti-colonialism: “3 Nephi 16 talks about the Gentiles’ pride causing them to reject the fulness of the gospel. And so while we certainly want to be careful that we don’t get prideful because we think we’re cool–what we really ought to do is look at the things we’re doing that cause us to reject the gospel. That said, while the evils of colonialism are certainly a part of that problem — and I don’t believe that colonialism is evil in every respect — the Savior puts forth a long list (in 3 Ne 16) of the things that the Gentiles need to repent of–and it ain’t pretty.” Apr 26, 20:31
- on The Book of Mormon’s Anti-colonialism: “In the class I’m currently taking, we recently had a session on ‘post-colonialism’ based on readings from the field (such as Edward Said’s “” and Gloria Anzaldúa’s “Borderlands/La Frontera”), so my brain has been somewhat in this subject. One thing I’ve realized is that the LDS culture is on both sides of this issue. Regardless of what most members perceive, at least in the West we are a sub-culture of US culture and Western culture — this is where Armand Mauss’ “The Angel and the Beehive” is coming from. And that is a good example, since it shows that a sub-culture does maintain its distinctiveness in certain situations, but at a cost that includes an ongoing tension with the dominant culture. On the other hand, the discussion above is correct, that LDS culture also acts like a dominant, colonial culture when it enters other cultural environments. IMO, this is even true in Europe—I’m reminded of the story I heard years ago of European members asking a GA about why DB didn’t publish books in their language. The GA told them that those books weren’t important for them, as he walked out with those members into the hallway where his wife and daughter sat on the couch reading books from DB, written by writers from the intermountain west. Like it or not, the culture isn’t confined to the church building, and what is available in the dominant culture is often needed in the non-dominant culture. Local churches need materials that speak to their cultural environments. I realize that books are just a small part of things, and may not be important everywhere. My point is that the dominant culture doesn’t think about the non-dominant in the same way it thinks about itself. Its a kind of cultural blindness. But I think this is the whole question. Regardless of what we see, cultures interact and always interact, meaning that cultures don’t easily disappear. I think it’s a bit like Walter Benjamin’s observation about language and translation. The interaction that is translation, he said, changes BOTH languages. Just so, the interaction between cultures always changes BOTH cultures, just not equally. Although the Native American cultures have been largely wiped out, still they made significant impacts on U.S. culture. So there’s some hope. Then, we should also consider the idea that there is some kind of ‘gospel culture’ that the Lord is teaching us and that subsumes all other cultures. I’m not sure I believe this idea, and I think it is quite dangerous, to be frank. BUT, I do think that any culture should comply with the basic gospel principles—or maybe we should call them basic ethical principles so that we are inclusive of others who don’t have our understanding. Given all this, our cultures may be (as my posts here on T&S for tomorrow discuss) in a kind of process of differentiation from each other, kind of like what happens in relationships and in child development. In the beginning, we need to find ways of being similar to each other, showing respect and love, and later we need to find ways of being different from each other, demonstrating independence and the ability to act on our own. Members in Africa are likely to be trying to show that they are good church members, and that they are adopting the gospel completely (inadvertently including non-gospel elements of the dominant culture). While they will adapt to US practices in many ways, often ways that are not required by the gospel, they are also differentiating from their own dominant culture. And in the future they will likely adopt or retain ways of acting from the dominant culture and differentiate from U.S. LDS culture. All this is a messy, unorganized and largely unconscious process. Lots of good things will be lost, non-dominant cultures will face the biggest losses. It won’t be right, just or fair. But good things will also be gained. The best we can do is to try to make good decisions when we are in the midst of these struggles. Its not easy.” Apr 26, 15:23
- on The Book of Mormon’s Anti-colonialism: ““It looks to me like the Book of Mormon is saying with these prophecies, among other things, that it’s a moral problem for white people to take non-white’s land and subjugate those non-white peoples.” It looks to me that this is a big problem today for the Church. To some extent the conversion of non-whites to the gospel is a form of neo-colonialism. We take what has historically been a white culture and try to impose it on converts. In the form of an unwritten dress code, Church music, pioneer history, language, etc. We seem to be encouraging a form of ethnicide. I travel a lot. As I entered a Mormon church in Kampala, Uganda, there are prominent individual photographs of 15 white GAs in Western businessman garb. Not one black or African. During the service, the music doesn’t sound very African. No drums or traditional instruments. The men are dressed in white shirts and ties. Luckily, some of the women are in more local attire. Is the Church trying to encourage Africans to merge with a more Western culture? The question becomes to what extent does the Church need to accommodate African culture? It needs to be remembered that one of the fastest growing areas of the Church is Africa. This becomes even more of an issue in non-Christian areas where the native religion is an important part of the culture like Buddhist and Hindu countries.” Apr 26, 11:42
- on The Book of Mormon’s Anti-colonialism: “I remember giving what I thought was a very ordinary interpretation of this in a Book of Mormon class at BYU. It was apparently brand new and kind of unsettling to most class members, though a Peruvian-American guy said, “Yeah, that’s what my mom always taught me.”” Apr 25, 22:52
- on The Book of Mormon’s Anti-colonialism: “I discovered this around the time of my mission and thought it was a very big deal (still think it’s important). And as I’ve said a lot, I’ve never heard it taught in church. It was a very controversial teaching from the beginning. Ezra Booth said the Mormons were talking about it during their Lamanite mission in 1831 and the Missourians listed that teaching as one of their complaints against the Mormons in 1833. Parley Pratt made a big deal of the teaching in the first ed of Voice of Warning, but then took it out. The claim that the Mormons wanted to collude with the Indians against the Whites was around a lot in the 19th century, but did seem to get suppressed. I don’t know that process. But yeah, it’s one of the main Book of Mormon prophecies, but not something the church teaches. So, no need to apologize, Kendall. Good points. This first post is a bit of an overview. Thanks, RLD. More to come. I’m wondering about the implications Book of Mormon’s anti-colonial statements on the US’s foreign policy.” Apr 25, 17:32
- on “Modar” is a Thing: “Interesting…file this under “things that are different in ‘the mission field’.” If I have a vague sense that someone might be a member, it’s because I’m about to recognize them as a member of my stake. My stake is big enough that I only leave it 5-6 times a year, mostly for temple trips. So the probability of me running into someone who is a member without me knowing it is so low, they’d probably have to be wearing BYU apparel before it would be reasonable to guess they’re a member. My Modar is sadly undeveloped. I’m curious if Modar would hold up (i.e. recognition still better than chance) if the people to be recognized were 1) members with no Utah ancestors, 2) converts, or 3) members outside the US. That would tell us something about what gives us away.” Apr 25, 13:51
- on The Book of Mormon’s Anti-colonialism: “I think it’s worth highlighting that the colonial project gets reversed no matter what. You’ve quoted from the bad ending, where the Gentiles refuse to repent, but the good ending (3 Nephi 16:13) is that they are “numbered among” the covenant people, who get their land back. We Gentiles (white descendants of Europeans in this context) will not be the dominant people in the promised land for long. I look forward to the series. There seems to be a tension in the scriptures between a notion that peoples are entitled to a “land of their inheritance” that comes down to them from their ancestors, and the idea that race and ethnicity don’t matter to the Lord. Of course colonialism is condemned by both.” Apr 25, 13:34
- on The Book of Mormon’s Anti-colonialism: “When I was young, realizing what this prophecy meant—that American Mormons were given not only a warning, but a blueprint for our demise—I felt that I’d discovered a mystery hiding in plain sight. That the prophecy occupied so much surface area of the Book of Mormon, and we virtually never discussed its literal application in church settings, constantly puzzled me. I’m willing to bet select church leaders have addressed the prophecy; but it is a wonder why it’s not an emphasis. I suppose “racism” and “nationalism” are tools some folks will reach for, but I suspect particularism—placing ourselves in the center of history—and determinism—belief that our fate is secured by God—is why we don’t engage seriously with the topic. Steve, apologies, you’re applying the prophecy to anti-colonialism, and I’m sort of reflecting on its obscurity, so a bit off topic.” Apr 25, 11:24
