Infographics have become popular communication tools. They describe concepts using a combination of images and text. The Mormon Newsroom (the official news of the LDS Church) released the following infographic today to provide a look at the Church to those who may be unfamiliar. I found it useful and informative for Latter-day Saints as well.
With all of its social hyperbole, occasional irreverence, and what appears sometimes to be an exaggeration of many elements of a Mormon lifestyle, The Singles Ward still captures very well many aspects of the LDS lifestyle.
The Singles Ward takes a look at the funny side of LDS single life.
Following the story of Jonathan Jordan as his life is met with a series of unexpected setbacks (especially a failed temple marriage realized when Jordan’s wife hits a spiritual wall, which then leads to his own fall from faith), triumphs (including a rebound of faith and romance that are tied together, and everything in between, LDS cultural stereotypes are emphasized throughout the movie. Among sub-cultures within the LDS faith, singles wards tend to have their own unique flavors. The Singles Ward picks on many of the
Although I generally cringe at the depiction of sacrament meetings (one of the more sacred meetings for Mormons) in a movie, I found myself chuckling about some of the difficulties portrayed in the movie of parents attempting to have a spiritual experience while monitoring energetic kids whose priorities obviously align more with their ages rather than their parents’ ideals for reverent behavior. As a father of three kids, the youngest of which (just under a year) loves to make attempts at rushing the stand, I’ve lived that scene many times. Many of the other depictions of conversations had in Mormon circles and among Mormon singles are somewhat close to being accurate, the main difference is that they’re portrayed by The Singles Ward with more humor than we tend to understand within our culture.
I liked this movie enough to watch it a few times. I’d not really recommend it as a replacement for family home evening or Sunday School, but its entertainment value outside of those settings is worth an hour and a half.
The Book of Mormon has been getting a lot of attention recently. One might expect Latter-day Saints to welcome that news. However, the majority of the Church’s membership doesn’t have a desire to pay much attention to the version of The Book of Mormon that’s garnering such a popular response.
From the perspective of its creators, The Book of Mormon play seems to have directly hit their target, entertaining revenue-generating ticket-purchasers whose enthusiastic reviews attract others to the show. But what does the Broadway Book of Mormon miss that the one on your nightstand successfully targets?
The Church’s Official Statement in response to the Broadway parody sums up the difference:
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.
Experience tells us that years after The Book of Mormon play – with the banter and short-term appeal that make it attractive to its audience – has faded from the spotlight on Broadway stages and elsewhere, the volume of scripture will continue to quietly strengthen families and promote Christian values.
Share The Book of Mormon
The recent interest in The Book of Mormon gives us a great opportunity to share our beliefs. Mormon.org has a page about the Book of Mormon that describes very clearly what the purpose of the book is. Here are some ways you can share the page, which includes a video introducing The Book of Mormon and an opportunity for visitors to request a copy.
Mormon.org/book-of-mormon/
• If you have access to a blog or web page, you can describe how The Book of Mormon has influenced your life and include a link to http://mormon.org/book-of-mormon/ so that people who read your web page can learn more about The Book of Mormon.
• You can visit the Mormon.org Book of Mormon page and “Like” it using your Facebook account. Doing so will allow your Facebook friends to recognize your interest in The Book of Mormon.
While serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I appreciated the media resources we had at our disposal to give potential converts a deeper understanding of what it means to become a member of the Church and to live the unique lifestyle of a Latter-day Saint. During that time I also learned of several examples of people who made great sacrifices to join the Church and remain worthy members. Possibly my favorite story illustrating the sacrifice that may be required for discipleship is the experience of Vincenzo Di Francesca as told in the movie How Rare A Possession.
While serving as a clergyman in Sicily, Vincenzo Di Francesca discovered a copy of The Book of Mormon that had been discarded. The book was so tattered that it was impossible for Vincenzo to discern what exactly the book was. However, as he read the book, its contents inspired him, and he quickly understood that it contained true principles and doctrines. Vincenzo began to read from the book during his sermons, referencing passages that clarified and gave greater meaning to the religious texts he normally used.
Others within the church, parishioners and other clergy, observed what was taking place. Vincenzo’s loyalty toward the book soon set him at odds with his superiors in the church, who, despite their appreciation for his work in the ministry, held councils to dissuade him from using the unknown book. At each level Vincenzo refused to disavow the book.
Ultimately he was ordered to burn the book or be dismissed from his position. Refusing this order would result in serious consequences for a man who had dedicated his life and loyalty to his church. However, having gained a solid testimony that there was something more to be gained by remaining true to the inspiration he’d received from the book, he made the choice that cost him his ministerial rights.
Having been rejected from his church, Vincenzo’s attention was more solidly fixed upon finding out what organization had published the book. The next few years brought him the knowledge that he pursued, and he was eventually baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
How Rare A Possession tells Francesca’s story in a way that brings it to life and allows the viewer to deeply understand the price he paid for the opportunity to achieve eternal wealth. I recommend the movie for anyone seeking to know more about The Book of Mormon and the church for which the book is the keystone.
The recent release of The Book of Mormon musical on Broadway have piqued interest in The Book of Mormon. How Rare A Possession is a much better depiction of the purpose and influence of The Book of Mormon than the Broadway musical, especially since the creators of The Book of Mormon musical never intended for their play to be anything other than a way to use the name of a sacred text to mock religion in general.
There has been a lot of news recently about the Book of Mormon Musical being performed on Broadway right now. It is always intriguing to members of the Church like me to see how people portray us and our culture in the secular arena.
The Church released a statement about the Book of Mormon Musical that very candidly and accurately describes the relationship between the new play that playfully mocks our religion and the Book of Mormon itself.
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.
In June of 1997, when the Bulls came to Salt Lake City to play the Jazz in the NBA Finals, some people said that Dennis Rodman was one of our greatest missionaries after he made some disparaging comments about the Church, complaining that it was hard for him to “get in sync because of all the [expletive] Mormons“. Although he was obviously not purposely promoting the Church, his comments brought up the question, “Who are these Mormons Rodman’s talking about?” among basketball fans, many of whom would have had no other incentive to pay any attention to the Church had Rodman not insulted the Church. The benefit to the Church at that time was that people did ask about us as a result. Undoubtedly there were some who came to see the Church for the example of good that it really is because of the negative publicity.
The net effect of the musical will likely be similar to what Dennis Rodman accomplished, except on a much greater scale. The play has gotten and will continue to get much more attention than Dennis Rodman’s thoughtless statement. The question still remains, though: How should members of the Church respond to the secular world’s use of something sacred to us as an object of classless humor? In the case of the Book of Mormon musical, there was a lot of thought – albeit from people who don’t rank very high for being thoughtful or respectful- put into their production, specifically with the intent of drawing a significant profit by making fun of religion in general and our religion in particular.
It’s natural to be ambivalent about situations like this. On one hand, it’s disappointing that there are so many people in this world who are as ungodly as are the creators of the Book of Mormo. After all, following the trend of their other productions, the play is laced with expletives and ultimately extremely crass. It’s surely not the best way to spend a Family Home Evening nor a big chunk of your food storage budget. On the other hand, if people like the South Park folks want to make fun of the restored gospel, it does give us many opportunities to explain the Book of Mormon, which has influenced so many millions of people for good, many times through channels, including this particular play, that only God could understand.
The LDS Church has a crowd sourcing project that facilitates members’ involvement with performing tasks that assist in the Church’s work. Check it out by following the link below.
