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Jewish World Review Feb. 14, 2002/ 3 Adar, 5762
Marianne M. Jennings
http://www.NewsAndOpinion.com --
KATIE COURIC'S rapidly blinking eyes distracted us from her Elke Sommer/snow bunny headband. Katie was visibly nervous because her co-host at the Olympics opening ceremony, Bob Costas, was talking of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Katie held her breath as Bob talked Mormons, "You're on thin ice, baseball boy."
Katie is not the only one on the edge about Mormons snowing on the Olympic parade. USA Today skirted the issue with this headline, "Utah much more than Mormons." A New York Times' 2,800-word piece disapproved of Mormon missionary work during the Olympics. Hide your sons and daughters. If John Walker Lindh watches the Olympics he'll be in white shirt and tie riding a bike around Camp X-Ray.
All religions do missionary work and make no secret of their desires re: conversion. Democrats and aerobics instructors do the same. The media are more open-minded about leper colonies than Mormons. It's an irrational fear for the Mormons' worst sin is going a little heavy on the cinnamon roll frosting.
Ease up on the brothers and the sisters. On the fear mongering scale of journalism, Mormons are right up there with guns. There is a palpable fear that this faith grabs your soul at its very mention. About 60,000 Mormon missionaries around the globe have worn shoes and 12-hour days to prove that the soul-grabbing theory is seriously flawed.
The brow beaten Saints withdrew a planned Olympic advertising campaign from NBC. To quell the media rebellion, the Mormon Church promised, "it won't "proselytize," Bob Costas' phrase that halted Katie's blinking.
The news stories drip with disdain like frosting from the rolls. A sample, "The last few years have brought out the French cuisine, but also the purchase of a downtown square by the Mormon Church, which is off limits to loiterers, smokers and sin in general." Private land use control is not unique to Mormons.
There's a standard formula for the Olympics/Mormon stories: get in the bribery dig; mention the missionary work; rustle up a few disgruntled cranks who hate Mormons for choice quotes; and tap into skiing potheads who want liquor in Safeway.
The bribery that brought the games to Salt Lake City was awful. However, these were novices, or "hypocritical bumpkins," as the Times says. They used checks and credit cards. Important safety tip on bribes: Use cash! Thirty years of prior bid attempts by SLC included only letter openers to grease the palms of the IOC.
SLC put codes of ethics in place so that elected and appointed officials now play by the rules, even when the IOC doesn't. The media mention that 2 "high-ranking church members" were indicted but neglect to note that the charges were tossed. Ease up!
A disgruntled crank quote from the Times, "This community is like a theocratic monoculture. If Mormons were left to their own devices, they would own the country."
Mormons may be 70% of the Utah population, but they are 2% of the U.S. population. A Wall Street coup seems unlikely. If the Times' fear and loathing are any indication, no Mormon could get a cab from La Guardia. The closest Mormons come to mainstream entertainment is the Osmonds, and Marie has had trouble handling it. Ease up on the brothers and sisters.
I offer the assurance and perspective of an insider who was once an outside crank. Nearly 30 years ago, I lived with Mormons while a Gentile, their lighthearted label the media take seriously, as I pursued my degrees. I studied them and their faith and saw the things the cranks mention. The cliques. Their desire to be different from the cosmopolitan ideal. They'll take a Wal-Mart over a Spago. Another child over a new car. And a donut over a beer.
But, employing the nouveau notion of tolerance, I came to understand them. If you know Mormon history, you know that the "cliques" are security stemming from hesitancy about a world that has been cruel and confiscatory. The mocking media coverage drives a turtle back into its shell. But, ask a Mormon about Joseph Smith, the atonement, or Lavell Edwards, and the hesitancy vanishes.
When you explore the Mormon faith and people with an open mind, you find a remarkable people and religion. They will step in and care for a family when a mother is ill, even if it means months of work. Their welfare program offers help with dignity, including training for a better job. Adults are selfless when it comes to helping teens. They teach 6 AM seminary classes, do hikes, and chaperone weekly dances.
Take note of this peculiar people with their low rates of divorce and cancer and amazing longevity. Perhaps it's the cinnamon rolls, but there is nothing to fear from a people who would give you the shirts from their backs if you asked, just not in the public square. Ease up on the brothers and
02/11/02:Because I was courted
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