I was uber disappointed in the PBS special. I read on the LDS Newsroom that they were accepting comments in 100 words or less from those who watched...so this is what I said:
"The Mormons" was a failed attempt at logical analysis of the LDS church and its practices. The music, picture, and contributor choices left much to be desired, and were stacked and skewed to a secular and non-Mormon viewpoint. The time spent on discreditable topics overpowered the spirit, truth, and goodness of the Mormon faith. Opinion was stated as fact, even after concession of absent evidence, and often fact was misrepresented to the bias of the contributor. The voices of the LDS Prophet, Apostles, and Seventy were the saving grace to an otherwise inaccurate and displeasing depiction of the LDS church.
So there it is. 100 words exactly. I could elaborate, but instead I'll just direct attention to Pres. Hinckley's full interview comments, which I loved! I love the spirit and peace that our prophet, apostles, and seventy bring! I also really loved Elder Holland's Comments on the Book of Mormon. They had such great clarification and insight.
The Church is True!
2 comments:
Amen Sister!!
I watched about 40 minutes of it (partly because I was rather disgusted by that point, partly because I had to get back to studying for finals) and was very disappointed. The part about baptism for the dead, for example, was given by some journalist that says we baptize our dead relatives. There was no mention that the people being baptized were living and that the baptism was on behalf of the dead person. Just cut to the next scene. If I didn't know any better, I would think Mormons were baptizing corpses. And about the Mountain Meadow masacre. So maybe it was Mormons that did this and perhaps tried to pin it to the Indians. Think about how you might react if a state government ordered every member of your religion to be exterminated. Think about how you might react if your nation was essentially forcing you out because of your beliefs. Now, I am not saying what happened was justified in any way, but it is perhaps understandable, that a very small minority of members might not be able to entirely turn the other cheek in the face of such persecution. What upset me was that they focussed on what is otherwise a historical anomaly for the Church. Sure the Church, or more correctly, some of its members, may have a few skeletons in the closet. But look at the Church from the beginning to its current status and what do you see? Some of the best contributions to society that this world has ever seen (just look at the Apostles). Millions of dollars in charitable aid. Thousands of hours of service to those in need. To spend so much effort trying to speculate on the acts of a few members of the Church over 150 years ago is not the balanced and objective approach that I would expect from a national television network. But in the end, television is business and if objectivity doesn't sell, lets dig up some dirt and sell that. That's why magazines like the Enquirer and World Weekly News are still in business. Sure its fun to hear about Elvis sightings and alien encounters, but it's not fun when what has historically been a misunderstood religion, is subjected to such a skewed and inaccurate portrayal in the name of objective journalism. Well anyways. Theirs my little rant.
I thought some of the topics they presented well but what I didn't understand is why they spent so much time on some things that don't even define what it means to be a Mormon. Ryan said it well. I really enjoy American Experience but I didn't feel that this special was objective about presenting the truth. It spent too much effort on the controversial. Hopefully, most of the people who watched the special are objective enough to look past all that. Great post, Jane!
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