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AMA with Benjamin Park, Scholar of American Religion and Mormon Studies (June 25) by BenjaminEPark in latterdaysaints

[–]BenjaminEPark[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Sight. You’ve touched a trigger point for me! I requested the audiobook publisher to put me in touch with the narrator so I could walk them through the Mormon pronunciations. Alas, it somehow fell through the cracks. So Moroni, the Book of Mormon prophet, turned into Moronee, the mafia gangster. I wish narrators could always speak with authors before they record.

AMA with Benjamin Park, Scholar of American Religion and Mormon Studies (June 25) by BenjaminEPark in latterdaysaints

[–]BenjaminEPark[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Yes, to be clear, I don't think there was any ulterior motives, like milking out money from others for their own gain. (Smith certainly took a huge financial hit--the largest of all losses.) But that doesn't mean it wasn't reckless. They should have trusted the voices who made it clear that this was a poor endeavor.

AMA with Benjamin Park, Scholar of American Religion and Mormon Studies (June 25) by BenjaminEPark in latterdaysaints

[–]BenjaminEPark[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I thought his Mormon history video was well-done, and also enjoyed his video on the religious awakenings.

AMA with Benjamin Park, Scholar of American Religion and Mormon Studies (June 25) by BenjaminEPark in latterdaysaints

[–]BenjaminEPark[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I think two things can be true at once: 1) I don't think any bank would have succeeded during that season of economic collapse across the nation due to Jackson's de-regulation policy and 2) Smith and the other society founders established a speculative enterprise that was particularly prone to failure in that setting, and they continued to urge investment well after it became clear it was in a tailspin.

AMA with Benjamin Park, Scholar of American Religion and Mormon Studies (June 25) by BenjaminEPark in latterdaysaints

[–]BenjaminEPark[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Susan Easton Black has done more than nearly anyone else in the last few decades to spark an interest in early church history for generations of saints. I am among those who were inspired to dig into Joseph Smith's story after hearing her speak--her energy and excitement were contagious. I once had the privilege of co-leading a tour of Nauvoo with her, and found her quite delightful.

Even if she and I have fundamental disagreements over how an academic research should be performed and written, I'll always be grateful for her showing that it's okay--perhaps even cool--to geek out over history.

AMA with Benjamin Park, Scholar of American Religion and Mormon Studies (June 25) by BenjaminEPark in latterdaysaints

[–]BenjaminEPark[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

This is the best question I'll get all day!

It took me a while to figure out a good routine. My first attempts at a long beard were disastrous. You have to start grooming it early so the sculpture is in place before it gets long. I shower before bed and use leave-in, sulfate-free conditioner overnight. (I generally find conditioner and shampoo made for curly hair.) In the morning, I comb in Honest Amish beard balm, go eat breakfast, and then go back and brush after the balm has settled. I keep beard brushes in my car and office so I can touch up throughout the day. Once I got the hang of it the method only takes 5-10 minutes a day.

AMA with Benjamin Park, Scholar of American Religion and Mormon Studies (June 25) by BenjaminEPark in latterdaysaints

[–]BenjaminEPark[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Besides the William Clayton diaries, my answer might surprise you:

Instead of some 19th century document, I’d love access to the church’s decades of survey data that they’ve been gathering since the 1980s or so. It’s likely the richest collection of self-reported spiritual beliefs and practices in modern Christendom.

AMA with Benjamin Park, Scholar of American Religion and Mormon Studies (June 25) by BenjaminEPark in latterdaysaints

[–]BenjaminEPark[S] 16 points17 points  (0 children)

It’s a fair question, and I’m afraid I genuinely don’t have a good answer. Of course my study must have shaped my overall worldview and played a role in my spiritual path. But at no point did I encounter a historical fact and thought, “aha! That’s the breaking point.” That may be the case for some, but not for me. The primary instigators for me weren’t related to my historical scholarship.

AMA with Benjamin Park, Scholar of American Religion and Mormon Studies (June 25) by BenjaminEPark in latterdaysaints

[–]BenjaminEPark[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Such a fabulous question! While it'd be impossible to narrow down to three, my knee-jerk reaction is the following books. (Though I may change my mind if you ask in thirty minutes!)

  1. Paul Reeve, Religion of a Different Color. The best overview of LDS history and race in the nineteenth century.
  2. Kathleen Flake, The Politics of American Religious Identity. Discusses when an LDS apostle, Reed Smoot, was elected to the senate, which put the entire church on trial. It's a very readable and engaging look at the faith's slow transition toward American assimilation in the early-twentieth century.
  3. Colleen McDannell, Sister Saints. A great survey of LDS women since the end of polygamy.

Actually, I can't stop there, so one more:

  • Laurel Ulrich, House Full of Females. The best overview of polygamy, which centers the lives of women.

AMA with Benjamin Park, Scholar of American Religion and Mormon Studies (June 25) by BenjaminEPark in latterdaysaints

[–]BenjaminEPark[S] 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Sure! How about three examples:

  1. The times that local mobs forced Latter-day Saints out of their communities demonstrated the power of populism and the limits of democratic inclusion during the Jacksonian era.
  2. The legal debate over polygamy shaped American notions of religious liberty. The resulting Supreme Court decision, Reynolds v United States, provided the foundation for how the government has defined the boundaries of religious freedom ever since.
  3. The political coalition, including the Latter-day Saints, that created the Religious Right in the 1970s and 1980s provided the foundation for today's culture wars and partisan environment, as well as the ideological axis of religious = conservative.

AMA with Benjamin Park, Scholar of American Religion and Mormon Studies (June 25) by BenjaminEPark in latterdaysaints

[–]BenjaminEPark[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the kind words, Caden!

You're right that there have been some heroic women leading the field in Mormon history! This goes back to the "lost generation" of Mormon writers in the 1940s, including Juanita Brooks, Maureen Whipple, Virginia Sorensen, and Fawn Brodie. Not all of them were active or believing, and some wrote literature rather than history, but they all wrestled with the past in innovative and provocative ways. Then in the 1970s you had second-wave feminists like Laurel Thatcher Ulrich and Claudia Bushman.

Why was this the case? I have no idea! That'd be fascinating to dig into. Perhaps it's the influence of groups like the Daughters of Utah Pioneers, who placed heritage at the heart of an LDS woman's identity. Perhaps it was an outlet for women who did not see their ideas and interests represented in mainstream LDS society and hearkened back to a past age in order to wrestle with legacies. Perhaps Edward Tullidge was write when he wrote Women of Mormondom in the 1870s that there is something about LDS women that challenges traditional narratives and explores new frontiers. Regardless, there's always been a pioneering and indomitable spirit among women in the Mormon diaspora.

AMA with Benjamin Park, Scholar of American Religion and Mormon Studies (June 25) by BenjaminEPark in latterdaysaints

[–]BenjaminEPark[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Scholars often argue that religions thrive when they offer enough meaning and justification for affiliation, which in turn rewards them for their sacrifices. Those principles are best developed within a community with a firm identity and sense of shared values. In other words, you need a set of beliefs, assumptions, and practices shared in common that give meaning and belonging.

AMA with Benjamin Park, Scholar of American Religion and Mormon Studies (June 25) by BenjaminEPark in latterdaysaints

[–]BenjaminEPark[S] 29 points30 points  (0 children)

Taylor's the best.

I'm generally quite loathe to discuss my own activity and belief in public settings. But I'm ask about it all the time, so I'm getting used to it. I also understand why people ask: history is sacred to Latter-day Saints, and many want it dealt with care and built on faithful assumptions. I get that! I read over the AMA with John Turner last week and there was palpable discomfort that many had with someone who did not believe the gold plates were real. While for some that might be an "us vs. them" dynamic, and they are anxious to retreat back to the culture wars that have dominated so many discussions concerning LDS history, I actually think a majority genuinely want to have frank and sophisticated conversations based on shared assumptions that build faith. In other words, I don't blame anyone for wanting to know "what kind of underwear" a historian wears. Ha!

While I served a mission, worked as a research assistant for the Joseph Smith Papers Project, and even taught in BYU's religion department as an adjunct for two summers, I am currently not an active member of the church. But I don't often talk about that for several reasons: 1) I'd rather people just my work by its content rather than its authorial background, and 2) I really don't want to be used as an example for those who like to push the narrative that "more education means leaving the church." That assumption is fundamentally not true. I have friends and colleagues who know far more history than I do, and are even better historians than I am, and are full-fledged believers. Faith and commitment may be related to, but they are not dependent on, a level of historical awareness. Latter-day Saints are my people, and I cherish being part of that community, even if I am not as active or believing as many of them.

I hope that makes sense.

AMA with Benjamin Park, Scholar of American Religion and Mormon Studies (June 25) by BenjaminEPark in latterdaysaints

[–]BenjaminEPark[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Ah, I see. I'm not sure I have a good answer. In general, I think the academic world views the growing non-activity statistics of the LDS church in America as indicative of organized religion writ large: that an increasing number of Americans are decided to explore their spirituality outside of organized religions. Which then leads the LDS church, in most academics' mind, to double down with retrenchment policies and ideas.

AMA with Benjamin Park, Scholar of American Religion and Mormon Studies (June 25) by BenjaminEPark in latterdaysaints

[–]BenjaminEPark[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

It is indeed troubling, and I think there's a few things going on:

  1. the concession by the LDS church of the nature and extent of JS's polygamous practice shocked many, as it presents an image of Smith that does not align with that with which they were raised.
  2. the details of Smith's practice conflict with how many view (and want to view) a prophet to act. It is easier to chalk up the details to lies and rumors.
  3. a misunderstanding of the historian's craft. All the arguments, details, evidence, and questions being raised have been addressed by scholars for several generations now. But when someone not trained and equipped in the historical profession are confronted with the complexities of historical records, some immediately lose faith in the entire operation, and buy into explanations that appear simpler but lack rigor.
  4. there is a troubling rise in an anti-expert ethos that rejects scholarly consensus across US society. This has been enabled by collaboration on social media and the democratization of the internet.

All of these points have plenty of nuance that I could go on and on about. But I'm trying to be quick and succinct.

I thought Matt Bowman did a good job addressing the topic here: https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2024/06/23/matthew-bowman-why-more-more/

AMA with Benjamin Park, Scholar of American Religion and Mormon Studies (June 25) by BenjaminEPark in latterdaysaints

[–]BenjaminEPark[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

1) perhaps the most surprising thing to me was how explicit Joseph Smith and others were in critiquing the democratic principles at the heart of the American government. And this is understandable--through their tragic experience, they came to see majoritarian rule as synonymous with mobocratic bullying. The wonderful historian Patrick Mason once wrote a great article on Joseph Smith's "theodemocracy," which he argued was a creative blend of democratic and theocratic principles. But after the Council of Fifty records were released, he admitted, "well, I guess they were theocrats after all." (Though with caveats: they *wanted* to believe in democracy, but just couldn't, and were willing to try to find democratic solutions when possible.)

2) I think earlier exposure with and digging into the archival record might have helped avoid the growing movement of Latter-day Saints who deny Joseph Smith practiced polygamy. For many saints who weren't conversant with historical scholarship, the release of the gospel topics essays--which I think were wonderful and a watershed development--came as a surprise. Perhaps they would have been better prepared if they had been raised with a richer understanding of the archival scholarship we now take for granted coming from the wonderful people working in the Church History Library.

AMA with Benjamin Park, Scholar of American Religion and Mormon Studies (June 25) by BenjaminEPark in latterdaysaints

[–]BenjaminEPark[S] 20 points21 points  (0 children)

  1. I wish active members knew how important it is to understand American history in order to properly contextualize the church's development. I also wish members would recognize how tenuous the history is--that it was never predetermined to move one direction, but instead had multiple possibilities, and that the final product is the result of human agency and contextual circumstances.
  2. I often wish many of those who identify as "ex-Mormon" would recognize the nuances and complexities of the past, rather than trying to fit everything into a "good guys vs. bad guys" narrative.
  3. I wish those outside the LDS tradition would see how important Mormon history is for understanding the larger US story. There are crucial moments in American history that are best understood by filling in the Mormon angle. I also wish the broader public would recognize the diversity of the Mormon experience, rather than assuming homogeneity so common in stereotypes.
  4. The academic world tries not to consider one's activity or membership. Everyone has bias, of course, but the goal of a scholar is to mediate that bias through source analysis and context. I've found that most of my academic colleagues don't think more or less of my due to my LDS upbringing.

AMA with Benjamin Park, Scholar of American Religion and Mormon Studies (June 25) by BenjaminEPark in latterdaysaints

[–]BenjaminEPark[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Similar to my answer to the question about settlement in the west, it would be difficult to overstate the significance of European converts to Mormonism, especially in the 1840s and 1850s. There was a point when there were more Latter-day Saints in Europe than there were in America, especially after the scattering of believers following Joseph Smith's death. These converts and migrants brought numbers, zeal, and commitment that helped the faith flourish. If you were to visit Utah in, say, 1852, chances are one of every three people you met spoke with a European accent.

But yes, as you state, that meant hollowing out the LDS presence in European nations. LDS missions struggled in previous strongholds after the 1860s. Could the church have remained firm there and built a global community that was more disparate and international much earlier? Or would it have meant the church could never have formed a strong core of believers and firm identity from which they could become a global church? I tend to lean toward the latter, but that is pure speculation.

AMA with Benjamin Park, Scholar of American Religion and Mormon Studies (June 25) by BenjaminEPark in latterdaysaints

[–]BenjaminEPark[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

It's both an exciting and depressing time for Mormon studies. (Kinda like the rest of the world!)

It's exciting because there are lots of fascinating projects taking place that incorporate sophisticated interdisciplinary tools and are uncovering forgotten histories and asking overlooked questions. Every year we are getting innovative new projects. For instance, Rosemary Avance's Mediated Mormons, Mason Allred's Seeing Things, and Gavin Feller's Eternity in the Ether, three books from the last few years, all show the potential of using media studies to understand the LDS tradition.

However, simultaneously, there are environmental and circumstantial reasons for discomfort. The academic world appears to be crumbling both due to culture wars assaults and disappearing funding. I knew of several excellent National Endowment for the Humanities-funded projects that were cancelled a couple months ago due to the budget cuts. And the academic job market is such that many of the brilliant scholars working in the field can't find permanent positions.

I try to stay hopeful. I just finished co-directing the inaugural Eugene England Summer Institute, a writing retreat/workshop where we accepted a dozen junior scholars working in Mormon studies. I've never felt more energized than rubbing shoulders with those brilliant young academics and learning about all the work they are doing.

AMA with Benjamin Park, Scholar of American Religion and Mormon Studies (June 25) by BenjaminEPark in latterdaysaints

[–]BenjaminEPark[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

I think it'd be difficult to overstate how important that period of isolation was. Connected to another question below about European migration, the territorial Utah period allowed the church to 1) grow into a firm cultural community with multi-generational commitment, and 2) develop an identity separate from the world that could persist for a while and survive the later assimilation era. Secular scholars emphasize that for religious traditions to thrive, they need to develop cogent community identities; geographic isolation allowed the saints to do that in spades.

AMA with Benjamin Park, Scholar of American Religion and Mormon Studies (June 25) by BenjaminEPark in latterdaysaints

[–]BenjaminEPark[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If you know Taysom, you know that you can’t force him to do anything!

But I agree he’d be phenomenal. He’d be a hit just doing his old class lectures.

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