On the slaying of Laban...

So a classic (ad nauseum) question of theology: does God's immediate command supersede his established, written law? Folks cite Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac as an example (it isn't; the Mosaic law was not for another thousand years). But another, more poignant example is Nephi's killing of Laban...Nephi knew the law...was this not a case of God declaring an exception? Now when and to what degree God can declare exceptions is a can of worms I will not indulge in here. However, I will suggest to you, friendly readers, that we really should stop using the Nephi example. It's far too complicated for easy dissemination. But alas, we insist upon easy, cheap examples, so perhaps my words will be in vain...the life of the misunderstood...:)

Basically, according to John Welch, Nephi's killing did not fit comfortably under the Mosaic law (see Ex. 21:12-14, Deut. 19:4-13, and Num. 35:9-34). "Murder" as they considered it involved two characteristics: premeditation and a lack of divine providence. Nephi's text explicitly declares that it was not premeditated ("not knowing beforehand...") and that God had delivered him into his hands. On the first point, the question is: was Nephi willing? Was he entirely aware of the consequences of his actions? Both the Septuagaint and the Hebrew Bible give us clues--both offer passages that allow a killer an escape clause provided that the killing was done "at unawares." Of course, what made one unawares? The Hebrew text offers a definition that suggests a momentary lack of judgment on the part of the killer or some ignorance of the law. The Greek suggests a more telling word--akousios--lit. "unwillingly"--a word used to described the throwing over of cargo to save passengers. The question was a hot one for ancient jurists, according to Welch. Even Aristotle expresses some angst about fully assigning guilt to those who kill for "some noble purpose," though he ultimately does describe this is a "voluntary act." In either the Hebrew or the Greek context, however, while Nephi may have been indicted as being negligent for believing that his killing of Laban was a good deed, the law may have exhonerated him from the more heinous crime of murder.

Secondly, Nephi could have argued that God had delivered him into his hands, a concept that is drawn almost verbatim from Exodus 21:13. It is fairly significant that this phrase, of all phrases, was what the Spirit whispered to him that night. Indeed, the passage from which this is drawn was memorized by all Jewish students...repeated often and in numerous locales (at breakfast, walking down the street, etc.). The Lord was telling Nephi that there was legal covering for him...and that he would not be held guilty under the law. After all, the texts in question also tell us that those who do commit "involuntary" murder are provided an escape, "a city of refuge." The Lord did just that...indeed, providing him a country of refuge as Nephi was about to leave Israel entirely.

I do not suggest that there is an outright legal covering for all sticky acts (polygamy, murder, etc.). This is merely a question of argumentation--we should stop using the Nephi example to discuss the transcendence of God's immediate will over his written law. The example is messy and introduces more problems than it solves.

When the Salesmen Call...

So a young man wants to make a few dollars over the summer months doing good honest labor. A worthy goal indeed. Yet at what cost? A few months rent? Food? Perhaps such things cost a tad bit more...

While there many, many honest summer salesmen out there (heavens, my brother did it himself), based on reports from credible sources, I fear that the system is not doing good things for our people. And when I say "our people," I mean none other than the Mormon core. For example, APX security systems are based directly out of Provo, Utah. Yet certain salesmen have, to their own detriment, shown themselves to be a little too shrewd of operators. Unfortunately, these young men probably did not think twice about what they were doing...they certainly meant no harm and most likely did not anticipate the consequences of being so hasty. But the consequences were less-than-pleasant for this elderly lady...

Like I said...so many good people do it...but friends and countrymen...do beware...the recruiters at BYU are so blatant in their exploitation of missionary skills...all for the sake of money...

When the Salesmen Call: Summer Sales...Honest Labor or Corrupting INfluence

So a young man wants to make a few dollars over the summer months doing good honest labor. A worthy goal indeed. Yet at what cost? A few months rent? Food? Perhaps such things cost a tad bit more...

While there many, many honest summer salesmen out there (heavens, my brother did it himself), based on reports from credible sources, I fear that the system is not doing good things for our people. And when I say "our people," I mean none other than the Mormon core. For example, APX security systems are based directly out of Provo, Utah. Yet certain salesmen have, to their own detriment, shown themselves to be a little too shrewd of operators. . Unfortunately, these young men probably did not think twice about what they were doing...they certainly meant no harm and most likely did not anticipate the consequences of being so hasty. But the consequences were less-than-pleasant for this elderly lady...

Like I said...so many good people do it...but friends and countrymen...do beware...the recruiters at BYU are so blatant in their exploitation of missionary skills...all for the sake of money...

A LIterary Gospel: How Literature has to Fight the Good Fight Too

In my conversations (electronic and otherwise) with literary-minded folk concerning the merits of Mrs. Stephanie Meyers work, I have received a most interesting criticism:

I find it ironic to praise the restraint in these books when sex is still at the forefront.

This venerable respondent has, unwittingly, paid me a great honor. My praise is, of all things, "ironic." Such criticism makes compliments hardly necessary. The praise is ironic, even deliciously so, because Meyer has effectively taken the discourse of mainstream teeny-bopperism, turned it on its head, and made it popular all the while. Would I call it Shakespearean? Heavens no...at the end of the day, the book really is about a bunch sniveling adolescents who are trying to keep their fangs to themselves. But while not great and abiding literature, it poses the question of how Latter Day literature is to make inroad with the populace? JOseph Smith remarked that he saw it to be his duty to make that which was righteous also popular (this in the context of his presidential campaign). Will we have a rise in abstinence because of Twilight? I'm skeptical...but what are we left without Twilight? Sixteen, Cosmopolitan, and heaven knows what else. Never mind the other idiocies that predominate primetime television. Sexual relations are part of the discourse; ignoring them will only alienate readers into thinking the book is drawn straight from the black-and-white era. Never mind that Twilight only addresses in the most oblique of ways.
If you're going to co-opt a sentiment, this is the way to do it; make abstinence kind of hip. Frankly, Meyer's argument that abstinence only makes the romance all the more magical is nothing more radical than what Brent Barlow has taught in BYU marriage and family classes for years.

If sexuality is going to be a construct (as intelligentsia and mass society claim--though in different terms), let's play the political game, mold it to the way we want, and spread abstinence through every means possible. Otherwise, we risk slipping into "Fortress Zion" mentality, hunkering down and "taking care of our own" (the backhanded compliment so many missionaries hear), and letting the collective assumptions and soul of morality go to waste (and the terrorists win...just kidding). If we don't mind sexuality in literature, why not focus on real sexuality, the sexuality that was instilled in us for divine purposes.

Do we realize that we are losing the culture war? Folks might read the Bible, but few believe it. The classroom is hardly effective; too many bureaucratic forces put up road blocks. Better to beat the cultural elite at their own game, produce our own talented writers who can promote the gospel in the marketplace of ideas...and as Meyer has done, win a few million fans doing it.

Can a Latter Day Saint write a book that does not address such issues in some substantive way these days? Heaven help us if they can't. We don't do much lobbying in Congress (save for an occasional gay marriage crusade or some alcohol issues), and the courts are hardly in our favor. Tapping into the power of the mind that really makes up society is the best venue that remains, and for all of its provinciality, Meyer has done a commendable job in recapturing the romance of abstinence.

Christian pop culture: An Eternal Oxymoron...Part II

So I ran across this story about a Mormon author who, in the most unlikely of ways, has actually conveyed a solid gospel message in a manner that is attracting millions (in both in readership and in dollars)...

Stephanie Meyer...mother of three...BYU grad...orthodox Mormon

The content of the books are not of particular interest to me...I never was a fantasy fan to begin with and I even found Harry POtter barely over the threshold of tolerability. The Chronicles of Narnia? Please...unless I'm hunting for a good C.S. Lewis quip for a talk, I find my inspiration elsewhere...

But Stephanie Meyer demands my respect...she has made sexual restraint slightly chic (at least in her literary world...whether it transfers into actual ideological revolution...well, I'll leave that for the literary Marxists to decide). We talk of the need to produce literature that demonstrates the drama of the gospel...but all we normally get is, well, esoteric pieces with songs that cast overpopulation as the root of evil (money, political power, lust...for some reason, these manage to slip by our goodly brother artists). If only in number of copies sold (which, while no sign of literary merit, is a sign of widespread appeal), is becoming an effective mouthpiece of the values of middle American Christianity. More significantly, she is crossing over in ways that the Christian subculture folks are failing to do. Congratulations, Sister Meyers. you've done us proud.

Christian pop culture: An Eternal Oxymoron

A fascinating piece on evangelical Christian pop-culture...on how the "Jesus is my homeboy" crowd is doing in the cultural marketplace of ideas...

According to this columnist, they're tanking. Evangelical Christians are beginning to see that their meager attempts to be funny, hip, or subversive are just woeful attempts to co-opt what the secularists have been doing for for over a century. Christian rock seems to be little more than a few synthesizers playing a few prolonged orchestral chords, all the while with the name "Jesus" intoned in the manner of a love song. Christian raves, Christian pro-wrestling, and many more offshoots provide Christians their own alternate reality in which they can live comfortably without fear of pollution. Yet one (namely, I) might ask: for being evangelistic, front-line cultural warriors, these niche-based artists seem to be at best using 22 rifles against the enemies' AK-47s. Worst case, they aren't even willing to get out of the bunker.

Of course, this posting might come uncomfortably close to we LDS connoisseurs of LDS products. Admit it; we've all imbibed of the EFY subculture in our times at some point. We've all either bought LDS themed T-shirts, Peter Breinholt/JOseph: A Nashville Tribute cds, and Greg Hansen calendars. Is this wrong? Most certainly not...I like some of them myself (though the "I Know that My Redeemer Lives" song on the EFY cd is a little soothingly sketchy). We've all watched Saturday's Warrior, though some of us might compare the experience to an awkward family reunion where we have to endure the odd views of our strange Utah relatives. Some of us might have even seen a beautiful CTR ring that seems to draw more attention to itself than to "the right" (available to you for three easy installments of 119.95...that's only 475.00...just call 1-800-BUY-ZION for more information).

Such a mentality, unfortunately, is the illegitimate son of a very legitimate principle. Call it the "Fortress Zion" paradigm--we talk of our homes, family, church as being a fortress against the outside world; it is not an enormous leap to believe that since this fortress is under attack, that we must hunker down and weather the storm. This mentality gives expression in our tendencies to limit our friendly associations to members (I do it too), to only participate exclusively in Church humanitarian projects (if we participate at all), and to consider the works of Sherri Dew (poignant though they may be) as the pinnacle of our cultural edifice. As Elder Neal A. Maxwell has noted: the love of the gospel leads us into the fray, not away from Ninevah.

As a caveat, I only question Deseret Book because it is a cooperation that publishes many, many things by many authors with doctrinally unsound positions. As such, I believe that it must be seen as an entity separate from the church. I suppose the broader question is this...what relationship does having a distinct cultural identity have to our spirituality/theology? How "peculiar" must we be? And do we have something to offer society that the evangelical culture does not? While other utopian societies demonized dancing, the arts...the Mormons were the first to bring it to the West. President Kimball remarked: "Members of the Church should be peers or superiors to any others in natural ability, extended training, plus the Holy Spirit which should bring them light and truth."

In other words, we need to give a good name to the scholarship, the art, the music of the Christian faithful. Jewish scholarship has been wonderfully represented, but their orthodoxy has largely crumbled under the weight of modernity. Christian scholarship has melted under the heat of the culture wars. Mormons remain as the wild card.

Sticking it to Obama

Tired of reading stories from journalists transfixed by Obama's almost mythical ability to pacify and conciliate?

Read this...

Tortured Logic: What Latter Day Saints are to make of torture...

I read this article today on a Latter Day Saint interpreter/interrogater in Iraq who committed suicide when she saw the interrogation techniques being used (now I know it's the Huffington Post, but you can confirm the facts of the case through other sources). This raises some questions for me...

1) It's one thing to be in direct combat, where you essentially kill or be killed (as horrific as even that situation is). What of those who are asked by their leaders to interrogate criminals who are defenseless? How much accountability do they have?

2) How should Moroni be used as our exemplar in this situation? He did not torture...he saw the subjects of the interrogation as battlefield combatants and killed them on the spot if they would not swear an oath to give up their arms and their aggressive ideology of war.

3) Let's just remember that we join an infamous fraternity when we torture...(the Gulag, the concentration camps--both the South African and Nazi versions, and many notable others)...

It's one thing to think about this ruffian, hardened CIA agents who live on the edge of morality...it's quite another to think of a Latter Day Saint daughter of Zion (a returned missionary, no less) who's driven to madness by this parallel universe...