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Famous saints

Published 17 January 2008

John Sutherland on the religion Mitt Romney may bring to the White House

Here's a challenge. Think of a famous Mormon - apart from the one who may well be the most powerful man in the world, come next November. No shame in being stumped. There's a good reason that Mormons are the invisible Americans. Mormons are scarred by persecution, and it has made them very shy. In the television drama series Big Love (whose runaway popularity has done Mitt Romney no harm), even Mormons themselves don't know what the Mormons next door are doing (polygamy, in the case of the TV show).

Persecution is the scar that all Mormons carry. The enemy is always there, and wise believers keep out of his way. As their sacred text puts it: "I, Moroni, will not deny the Christ; wherefore, I wander whithersoever I can for the safety of mine own life." Moroni is Everymormon. And Everymormon's primary identity is as a member of the family, the Church, the faith. The most famous Mormon artistic entity is a tabernacle choir without named soloists. "Mormon celebrity" is a contradiction in terms. So. Try these three:

Q: Who is the most famous

Mormon Hollywood actor?

A: Matthew Modine

Q: Ditto film director?

A: Neil LaBute

Q: Ditto novelist?

A: Orson Scott Card

Chances are, even if you answered those three correctly, you'd be hard-put to come up with a B-list.

But Card is the most interesting. In a survey I took of favourite science-fiction writers, his work came top among students at America's most prestigious science school, Caltech. The text universally mentioned in support of this verdict was Ender's Game (Tor Books). Card's Ender trilogy chronicles the career of an infant prodigy so intelligent, he has been retooled as a superweapon in the everlasting, unwinnable wars that ravage the galaxy. Young Ender, like all good Mormons, must submerge himself into the larger self: the army of righteousness.

We shall learn a lot about Mormonism over the next ten months. It's crazy stuff, involving wooden submarines, golden plates and much babbling in strange tongues. Mormons have usually kept it to themselves (as they have the prohibition on black men being accepted into the priesthood of the Church until well after the birth of Barack Obama, or the still-widespread practice of polygamy in the Utah outback).

The easiest way in is the comic-book series by another Church member, Mike Allred. (Never heard of him? He's up there on Famousmormons.com.)

More challenging is Orson Scott Card's novelisation of the life of Joseph Smith, founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS), in Saints (1984), and the same author's sci-fi allegorisation of the trials of the Mormon people in his five-volume Homecoming saga.

Who knows? That next home for the LDS tribe may be 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Hallelujah. (But not too loud, please - we don't want the people at 1400 to know that we're Mormons.)

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9 comments from readers

soccerdad
17 January 2008 at 15:31

Interesting that I've been a Mormon my entire life, studied the Church's history and known tens of thousands of Mormons, but I've never heard of some of the things that John Sutherland claims exist: wooden submarines? Babbling in strange tongues? Black men not being accepted into the priesthood until well after the birth of Barack Obama?

Sutherland is way off base, or I am.

As for Black men receiving the priesthood, the Mormons ordained Black men into the priesthood beginning in the 1840s, until the United States government and particular non-Mormon state officials in Missouri and Illinois persecuted the Mormons for doing so. Which other church (or any other social institution for that matter) was putting Blacks in leadership positions over Whites in the 1840s?

Also, Utah had granted sufferage for women in 1870, until it was forced to abandon it in order to gain statehood in the 1890s. Please don't study history to closely, we don't want people to know the complex past.

James Strong
17 January 2008 at 16:14

Either out of ignorance, or on purpose, you neglected to accurately point out that POLYGAMY hasn't been practiced by the Church since the 1800's!

While some groups of individuals choose to continue it - they have NOTHING to do with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons, if you will)

Furthermore, God condoned many ancient prophets from the Bible as polygamists - is the rest of the Christian world attacking them, too?

Please, do your homework next time!

Granticus
17 January 2008 at 17:34

The average American could easily think of a few famous Mormons. Donny and Marie Osmond are the obvious first, but any sports fan knows that Super Bowl MVP Steve Young is Mormon. Saying that little-known Matthew Modine is the most famous Mormon actor is a cheap way of proving the flimsy point that Mormons are the "invisible Americans." How about Oscar nominated actress Amy Adams from the film "Enchanted"? Or Golden Globe nominated actor Aaron Eckhart from "Erin Brockovich" and "Thank You for Smoking"? And the idea that "Mormon celebrity" is a contradiction is just silly. The Osmonds are internationally recognized and Steve Young is in the NFL Hall of Fame. What a ridiculous article.

Celt
17 January 2008 at 17:49

Black MEN weren't given the Priesthood until the 1970's. Speaking in tongues is a well known Mormon phenomenon, and Polygamy is alive and well in Mormonism, to whit: MEN can have many more than one wife in the after life. In fact there are many mormon men who, when widowed, get "sealed" in the temple to their second, third, or fourth wives. So, soccerdad, apparently you don't know your own religion too well.

David
17 January 2008 at 18:07

Check out famousmormons.net for a great list of famous Mormons--you will be surprised at the large number and who they are.

David

Steve45
17 January 2008 at 21:55

How about trying this to find out that a Mormon invented t.v. If not the best, one of the best gun manufacturers was a Mormon.

http://famousmormons.net/

Steve45
17 January 2008 at 22:03

How about trying this URL below to find out that a Mormon, Philo Farnsworth, invented t.v. Careful, that knob may singe your fingers! If not the best, one of the best gun manufacturers was a Mormon, Browning.

http://famousmormons.net/

You may want to switch sports idols too, once you've had a look here. Throw away your Kodak cameras too. Mormon Kay Whitmore was CEO of Eastman-Kodak. Who knows? He may have had 20 wives! Watch out for those astronauts too! Check them for their horns! Several U.S. presidential cabinet members. Be sure to check your money bills for Mormon signatures oo some. Could burn a hole in your pants! Avoid International Olympics too. Might run into a silver or gold medal winner Mormon! Best get rid of your computer too, especially Dell, of which CEO is a Mormon! Ouch! Ooch! Eech! Certainly wouldn't want to breed any success into the American Way of Life!!! I'm sure all these folks were right there at the Mountain Meadow Massacre too! Even African-American vocalist, Gladys Knight! Scary times for bigoted anti-Mormons!

iain1917
18 January 2008 at 08:10

Celt, don't tell us what our religion is about, because you are just exposing your own ignorance. Speaking in tongues in LDS is talking foreign languages, such as French, German etc. It is the evangelicals that babble in the tongues of 'angels', not LDS. Look at the beam in your own eye before criticising us: you may find that you are able to see things more clearly once you've dealt with your lump of wood.

blain
20 January 2008 at 05:41

Soccerdad -- Wooden submarines are found in the Book of Ether -- how do you think the Jaredites made their crossing.

The Manifesto marked the point at which plural marriage went from being considered required for exaltation to something which was no longer acceptable. There were two more Manifestos that followed it that were given well into this century. The first Manifesto can be found at the end of your PofGP as "Official Declaration 1."

Right after it comes "Official Declaration 2" which announces the end of the priesthood ban against blacks. For more information on the priesthood ban, look for Darius Grey's slide show on John Dehlin's blog -- it was presented at BYU in an abbreviated form a year or so ago.

Author -- Mormons speaking in tongues are pretty boring, and nothing like Pentecostals and other charismatics. We believe in gifts of the spirit, but that they are manifest for the building up of the kingdom of God, not for our own entertainment.

Also, Gladys Knight is a pretty famous Mormon. But you did good in selecting Scott, and talking about Saints. But Homecoming is not recounting the story of early Mormons (that would be The Tales of Alvin Maker, beginning with Seventh Son), but, instead, is a retelling of the first book of the Book of Mormon: First Nephi. Other Mormon-influenced science fiction from OSC would include Folk of the Fringe.

Also, if you want to get a richer idea of what Mormon life is about, you might want to check out some of the bigger Mormon blogs, like Times and Seasons, or By Common Consent or Feminist Mormon Housewives, and you might want to talk to people like Clark Goble, Kevin Barney, John Dehlin, Darius Grey, Margaret Young, Molly Bennion, Armand Mauss, Ronan Head or J. Nelson-Seawright.

Just some suggestions.

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