My friend Allison pointed me to this ABC News broadcast and I am so excited to share it with you all! Although there are a few things that I feel got twisted a tiny bit, it’s the best news broadcast I think I have ever seen about the Church that will help non-members understand us more.
I know you will all want to watch it because they show video footage of the inside new Draper temple! I wish I could be there touring it myself, but we will all have to make do with seeing whatever the cameras show us. You will be able to see what the baptismal font looks like, the endowment rooms (I believe they refer to them as ordinance rooms in the video), the Celestial room, and the sealing rooms. I love that the Church is trying to find ways to open up to the world about our beliefs.
I wish I could embed it, but you will have to click here to visit the ABC site to watch it.
A few thoughts after watching it:
1. We don’t practice polygamy. If you practice polygamy you are not a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Period. We kick people out for doing that now.
2. I realize that this video will probably bring up more questions. Please ask away in the comments. I’ve been saving up all of your questions to answer as I go.
3. If the apostles wouldn’t talk about it in the video, I won’t be talking about it either.
4. The sealing room in the Draper temple is SOOOO pretty. Wow.
5. I love the last line. I plan to be less timid about defending my faith along with the Church leaders.
January 17th, 2009 on 12:21 pm
Jenna, thank you so much for sharing the link — I think it is great that the Church, and members like yourself, are willing to open up and share more about your faith. As humans, I think we are naturally suspicious of things which are kept a great secret, and while of course there are always going to be individual aspects of a religion which are reserved only for members, willingness to share more about the overall faith will hopefully one day help to eliminate false rumors and lessen the distrust from non-members.
I would love to hear a further explanation regarding the Baptism for the Dead — I know this was practiced regarding family members, but I had no idea that it extended to those with no association to the Church, such as those killed during the Holocaust. As someone descended from both Holocaust survivors and victims, this really jumped out at me — these people died because of their faith, so why is it thought that they would want to convert to another faith? In Judaism, I have always been taught to believe in my own religion, but that other religions can also be correct for other people. This practice of baptizing others with no connection to the faith makes it seem like the Church does not share this same idea — that ONLY the Church is correct and the rest of us are all believing in nonsense and so we must be “saved” in the afterlife — I would really like to hear some clarification on this point!
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January 17th, 2009 on 12:24 pm
Thanks so much for sharing Jenna! Kate told me about your blog. I have learned a lot by reading it! Thanks!
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January 17th, 2009 on 12:42 pm
Yay! I have an appt to go tour the Draper temple next week. I’m so excited.
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January 17th, 2009 on 12:47 pm
Jen I loved that link. The Draper temple is SO beautiful, and I think that this video is a great way for those who are curious about it to see a little more into what we believe. love you girl!
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January 17th, 2009 on 7:41 pm
So, is it totally pathetic that I immediately started crying as it opened with a hymn? Haha. I’m so excited that there is a new temple in Draper! I think this was truly insightful.
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January 17th, 2009 on 8:10 pm
Thank you for posting this, I saw that this was coming up on ABC but I never got a chance to watch it (until now)!
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January 17th, 2009 on 8:39 pm
I’m not sure if you’ll feel comfortable addressing this, but I’m going to give it a shot….. when do you learn the secrets of the church? Is this something you learn in Sunday School or is it after you have received your temple recommend? For example in my religion I was baptisted when I was a few hours old bc my parents weren’t sure I would live much longer. Then we reach a certain age we go thru confirmation, stating that we confirm our baptistism. Basically then if you die as baby you’re still going to heaven. So I’m curious to know if you die before you learn the secrets if you still go to heaven or how that works. Sorry if that sounds confusing! I really do appreciate your insight… I enjoy understanding others belief systems! I think it makes for a better world!
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January 18th, 2009 on 4:22 pm
I am hoping you could address the issue of gay marriage, both your views and those of the church. Also, how does the church handle domestic violence? Are those couples allowed to leave thier abusive spouse?
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January 19th, 2009 on 5:00 am
Thanks for sharing this, Jenna, I found it fascinating.
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January 19th, 2009 on 8:37 pm
Thanks for posting this. I really liked it. After watching my main question is: what do you think was twisted? It seemed really fair to me. Obviously they had to go into the whole “how could you not support gays” thing, but I thought that the clip of the apostles response was as fair/good as one could expect.
Also, I was happy to learn about the baptism of the dead. While I’d heard it referenced before, I didn’t know what it was. The way it was presented seemed quite fine to me. I think that it is harder for people like the first commenter to understand because their version of their religion (don’t tell my Orthodox Jewish friends that all religions are equally fine!) is pluralism friendly. My perspective is that it is a nice/kind action since (correct me if I’m wrong) you believe that the dead cannot have the best afterlife (correct the term) without it. I doubt that I will change my beliefs on what happens after death, but I see nothing wrong with people acting in kindness out of their beliefs.
Would you find it offensive if you knew that other Christians (say, Catholics) prayed for you after death, even though it’s not a part of your faith?
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January 19th, 2009 on 11:09 pm
Jenna, just found your blog (thanks to Amanda and Branden). Loved that you shared this link-without a tv, I had no idea it was even aired! I think they did a good job of showing that Mormons do not consider the FLDS part of our Church. However, my husband and I both felt that the interviewer was mocking sometimes (especially during the blip on Prop 8). However, as we’ve learned, there’s no such thing as bad press for the Church and Elder Ballard and Elder Cook did a phenomenal job defending the Church. I, too, felt a call to action to be a more courageous defender of my faith.
Oh, and the Draper temple is simply gorgeous.
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January 20th, 2009 on 6:28 pm
R-I wish they would be more explicit about saying that polygamists are NOT mormons. It seems silly to me that we are still trying to clean that up decades after we stopped. I’m not happy about the “secret handshake” comment either.
But, I love the way you worded things a bout the baptisms! Wow, I wish I could say it as well as you do. Your statement about prayer is just wonderful.
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January 20th, 2009 on 7:57 pm
I completely agree with you about the “secret handshake” comment, but I think that it’s hard for outsiders to “get” the significance of internal definition. Most of us are used to thinking that you can be whatever religion and just be “bad” (Jews that eat bacon and never pray and Catholics who use contraception etc.) Maybe it’s natural for outsiders to think that the FLDS are just “bad Mormons”. Or so I guess. At least they clearly stated that polygamists are not a part of the mainstream and that it is a “false impression that Mormons are somehow still polygamists”. And any fair person would realize that most (all?) major religions have polygamy in their history. So I hope it doesn’t bite too much.
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