,qs Vol. 4. No. 2 April 1997 Conference Critique: Come Prepared!

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1 BY COMMON CONSENT O RMON NEWSLIZTTIZR ( ) ' 'E MORNION A L L I A N C I ; LLIIANCE,qs Vo. 4. No. 2 Apri 1997 Conference Critique: Come Prepared! The first Conference Critique in its experimenta new format wi be hed Wednesday, Apri 8, 6:30 to 8:30 pm. in the third foor auditorium of the Sat Lake City Library, 209 East 500 South, in downtown Sat Lake City. According to Janice Ared, this semiannua conference critique, for the first time in four years, wi differ from the traditiona format of presentations by four or five paneists refecting on the justpast semi-annua genera conference, interspersed with audience reactions. "Now, everyone who attends is a participant," she said. "The Mormon Aiance considers genera conference to be the Church s most important coective tradition. Even peope who think they don t ike genera conference or are bored by it or can t stand to watch it discover that it fees very different when you re watching to make sense out of it. You notice different things than when you're just sitting through it. You get engaged on a different eve. You pay attention to what works and doesn't work. Most paneists in the past have found conference watching to be not ony interesting but even enjoyabe and heaing. Due to scheduing probems at the ibrary, the origina pan to meet in the room where the chairs coud be arranged informay had to be postponed unti the October conference critique, "but we 2 work with the imitations of fixed seating this time and enjoy the difference in October," she commented. Conference Watchers Guide As part of watching conference interactivey, consider these questions: 1. Did this conference seem to have a theme with severa speakers addressing the same topic? (Growth and retention have been two of President Hinckey s emphases at regiona and area conferences.) 2. Were any "probems" singed out for particuar mention? 3. How incusive were the addresses? Does the audience continue to be traditiona two-parent famiies with young chidren in the home? What about the divorced, the never-married men and women, the inactive, and those three typicay rebuffed audiences: feminists, gays, and inteectuas? 4. What were the messages to women, particuary at the Young Women s meeting? What were the messages to men at the priesthood session? 5. Were any socia issues addressed? 6. Were there any theoogica innovations or new interpretations? 7. What about structura changes, new officers, reeases, and other changes? 8. What are your genera conference fantasies?

2 ORGANIZATIONAL STATEMENT The Mormon Aiance was incorporatedon Juy Its purposes are to identify and document eccesiastica/spiritua abuse. to promote heaing and cosure for its survivors,to buidmore sensitiveeadership.to empowerlds membersto participate with more authentrcrtyin Mormonism. and to foster a heathier reigiouscommunity. ; By Common Consent is the quartery newsetter of the Mormon Aiance. Comments. artices.and itemsfor incusion are wecome. it they are submitted thirty days before the maiingdeadines.which are the first weeks of January, Apri. Juy. and October. Pease send them to Mormon Aiance S. Highand Drive. Maibox 215. Sat Lake City. UT Subscriptionsare $30foreach caendaryear. Atanypoint duringthe year that a subscriptionbegins.you wi receivethe four newsettersof that year andthe Case Reportsvoume for that year. On request. you may receive meeting noticesat no charge. Copies of earier Case Reports and 1996, are avaiabefrom Signature Booksfor $20 apiece (pn'ce incudes shipping)at 564 W. 400 North. Sat Lake City. UT84116.The orderine is (801) I To report cases of eccesiastica and spiritua abuse. contact Lavina FiedingAnderson Roberta Street. Sat Lake City. UT (801) Pease report changes of address here as we. i Late Again j The now-traditiona announcement that the annua voume of the Case Reports is ate is a yawner for those originay tod to expect Voume in November of "What can I say?" says Lavina Fieding Anderson. botteneck and apoogue. The probem certainy isn t ack of high-quaity materia or ack of interest in previous voumes." { Expect the 1997 voume in eary May With itsaccounts of missionaries who had consideraby ess than the besttwo years of their ives. the experiences of gays and esbians who tried to tak to their eccesiastica eaders, and the documentary history of David Wright, excommunicated in 1993 for his essays appying bibica criticism toos to the Book of Mormon. The 1998 voume, due out in the fa. wi dea with the excommunications and firings from BYU. Uncommon Dissent Gene Mahako As usua, the annua winter convening of the Utah State Legisature is one of the most popuar spectator sports in the state. This year s session was remarkaby restrained compared to past years exhibitions of pecuiar moraity egisation. What was acking in quantity. however. was made up forin quaity. The minimum marriage age in Utah is fourteen the youngest in the entire United States. A state representative panned to propose raising it to sixteen but had second thoughts when he found out that, in addition to parenta consent. a judge has to approve the marriage. He had third thoughts when informed that a a judge coud do was ask if the marriage were coerced and when he saw the genera pubic outrage that fourteenyear-ods were being aowed to marry. He reintroduced the bi to raise the marriage age. The Sat Lake County Cerk enthusiasticay supported the bi because she was the one who had to perform or icense some marriages that she found very questionabe. Coupes from out of state were coming, if not in droves, certainy in the dozens per year. so midde-aged men coud marry midde-schoo-aged girs. The bi had one dissenting vote in committee and passed the house by about an 80 percent margin. There was some surprise among radio tak show hosts that it was not passed unanimousy. But sanity seemed to be ceary in contro. Then the state senate baked. The bi faied narrowy, was brought up for a vote again in the cosing minutes of the egisative session. and faied by one vote. The ony sense I coud make out of comments from the I'nay" voters was that a raised age wouid somehow take away a basic freedom and that. since fourteen-year-ods coud get or cause a pregnancy. they shoud be aowed to many. (No one actuay quoted the LDS Church s basic position that the option of choice for pregnant teens is to marry foowed, in this order, by not marrying and pacing the infant for adoption. and by not manying and keeping the baby. but did I hear ever-so-faint echoes?) By this ogic, since fourteen-year ods ceary can have both the capacity and wiingness to get drunk, we ought to ower the drinking age to

3 .. _..... _. fourteen. As it stands right now, the underage bride or groom cannot egay toast his or her union in champagne at his or her own wedding reception. 3 Marriage is the most important, far-reaching decision a person wi make in his or her ife, yet the state requires ess experience and maturity for marriage than it does for getting a credit card, a beer, or a driver s icense. A minor who wants to get tattooed must have a parent physicay present--not a requirement for a maniage.. Thanks to ourvigiant egisature, you may receive wedding invitations engraved: "The coupe is registered at Toys F Us. i i The Modern Practice of Mormon Kitechcrafi; Troy Wiiams s anybody ese bugged by Mormon kitschcraft? You know, the shameess production of cheap, sentimenta, LDS memorabiia ike porceain tempes, Nephite unch pais, and Johnny Lingo action figures? I think part of the seaed portion of the Book or Mormon reads: "God commandeth that there sha be no kitschcrafts; for, behod kitschcrafts are that men market the gospe that they might get gain, but they seek not the wefare of Zion." Of course there is no doubt that manufacturers honesty convince themseves they seek the wefare' of Israe. Obviousy, one can buid the kingdom and sti make a quick buck at the same time! ; And to prove it, et s ook at the Lord's personay owned and operated Deseret Bookstore. Here we find Mormon kitschcraft at its zenith. Besides cheesy books and music, you can aso purchase framed and mounted Procamations on the Famiy (embeished with hand-painted fowers), Book of Mormon action figures and board games, CTR rings and car hood ornaments, Return with Honor (FtTW) T-shirts, tempe ties and Christmas ornaments, and (my favorite) Gordon B. Hinckey fridge magnets. The demand forquaity wares in LDS pop-cuture is increasing so rapidy that even an authorized procamation from the First Presidency coudn t stop it! We, okay, if you can't beat em, join em! Here are some ideas that I think woud bess the LDS community enormousy and turn a handsome profit as we! 1. Tempe-Chase: The Board Game. Be the first to make your caing and eection sure! by Packer Brothers. Aso on CD-ROM. 2. Eectric Seer Stones. Aso from Packer Brothers. Look into the stone and find your eterna companion! Batteries not incuded. 3. Life-size President Hinckey cardboard cut-outs. 4. FI'B rings. To encourage our youth to aways 'Foow the Brethren. 5. CTR. RWH, and FTB insignia nose and nave rings. Because kids wi be piercing anyway 6. Eectronic Morta-Pets: Experience ife as God! Create an eectronic spirit-chid and raise it in the pam of your hand. Punish it for sinning! Bess it for obedience! Give it reveations! Cause natura disasters randomy! And then think of the commercia appea of expanding a new ine of Mormon action figures. No youth in Zion woud be compete without the foowing: 1. Joseph Smith: "Treasure Seer" action figure: compete with seer stone, shove, divining rod, and hat. 2. Joseph Smith: 'Nauvoo Legion' action figure: In roya regaia with sword-cutting action arm and white horse. 3. Joseph Smith: 'Poygamist' action figure: compete with drop-away trousers. Additiona wives sod separatey. 4. Joseph Smith. Master Mason" action figure: compete with apron, Masonic robes. compass and square. 5. Emma Smith: Eect Lady," poygamy's foe action figure. 6. Porter Rockwe: with two-gun-singing action. And for those of you who ike your action figures to be a itte more contemporary: 1. Spanish Fork Barbie: with gravity-defying hair. 2. Jerad and Sandra Tanner: 'Career Apostates' actionfigures compete with mix-and match anti-mormon tracts. 3. Last Days Survivaist: with army fatigues, ammunition, and copy of An Enemy Hath Done This. Food suppy and surviva bunker pay-set sod separatey. There is aso a need to make Church history

4 more accessibe to our youngsters. I m presenty negotiating with Breathing Scriptures about producing animated adaptations of the popuar books, The Mountain Meadows Massacre, The Mormon Hierarchy: Origins of Power, and Saamander: The Story of the Mormon Forgery Murders. Just consider the great spiritua boon the above products woud bring to the Saints. The potentia here is endess! As ong as the LDS demand is high, I fee prompted to suppy! May we a seek the wefare of Zion and bring economic bessings upon our heads continuay. I I Being a Cass Heretic: Ten Tips for Success Lew Waace Every Sunday Schoo cass worth its sat needs a cass heretic (CH) who wi keep the teacher on his or her toes import reevant know edge from strange fieds pay devi s advocate when needed inject variety when the tedium of the recyced esson manua becomes ovenvheming, and occasionay prickthe consciences of the members by posing questions having to do with the actua consequences of iving the gospe as Opposed to the pharisaica fancy-footwork of keeping the rues. As someone who caed mysef to this position as a teenager and who has seen no signs in the many decades since then that such a caing is neither desirabe nor necessary, I offer the distied wisdom of how to make this caing a successfu one. i use mascuine pronouns for convenience ony, since some of the most successfu CHs have met have been feminine. I 1. Be prepared! Know the esson we. Know what the anonymous esson authors purposey eft out (or didn t know about) and be armed with chapter and verse of your source-preferabe scripture or top Church authority from memory. (My persona preferences are Joseph Smith and the 0&0, since they are rarey toppabe.), 2. Be friend and ay to the teacher. You can say things as a 'student' that he, as 'teacher' might ike to say, but can't. Hep ampify and reinforce the good pointsyfthe esson. Hep him concude the esson as he panneduyou can guess it from the direction--perhaps by keeping quiet the ast ten minutes or by imiting your input _ _ to very brief, pungent, supportive points. Be a dependabe source of discussion-provoking comments whenever he needs you to pep up a cass. 3. Use humor where possibe. Humor and informa banter reax thecass and make it more receptive to new or unusua views or ideas. Come prepared with a few good one-iners. Sef-deprecating humor is good. You can introduce some very touchy ideas if you are aughing at yoursef. 4. When you take on dumb ideas, choose your battes carefuy and try not to offend cass members. Instead of issuing direct chaenges, use Socratic teaching by asking: 'How do you reconcie that with.. 7" "Shoud we... 7" Does that mean we beieve...?' 'What if...7' Asking others for their opinion is much better received than overt assertions. This technique is particuary good for combatting ignorance, error, sothfuness. prejudice, and maice--especiay when their proponents empoy them for a righteous purpose. 5. Aways make it a poicy to turn over every idea or concept to ook at unforeseen and/or unintended consequences. 'What about....7 Doesn't this sometimes produce... 7" Bring out the beef jerky when the soft stuff has gone down. Hammer homethe 88th and 121st sections of the Doctrine and Covenants. 6. Cutivate aies in the cass by praising, ampifying, and (if possibe) cinching with good scriptura references the good pointsthat another cass member has made, especiay if he is somewhat antagonistic toward you. Bring books or photocopies which may augment the esson, but show them to the teacher before cass. Let him read your great quotation or pass around your handouts. 7. Be faithfu and enthusiastic about aspects of Churchwork that youfindworthwhie-geneaogy. music. Scouting, etc. After a, the basic principes of the gospe wi produce a heathier. happier, and more productive ife foranyone and are worth working for. 8. Stay with the practica. Dodge or ignore (or make mid fun of) the 'mysteries' ike the number of anges that can dance on the head of a pin. Opinions and specuation wi not change reaity, but they easiy distract us from thinking ceary and reaisticay about what it actuay means to ive the gospe. Joke about "we mystery oving Mormons" if you can get away with it.

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