Mormon Scholars Testify

[LA Ute]

Christensen is accustomed to receiving incessant accolades and respect. He has served as a GA. He is the preeminent LDS "scholar" and is often interviewed by newspapers and magazines as such. He often publicly defended his friend Mitt Romney during his campaign. His testimony accurately mirrors the culture he lives in. He has a lot of power and will defend one of its primary sources in writing. Just sayin'....

I know you are just sayin' but it seems a little harsh.

[Rosebud]

I know you are just sayin' but it seems a little harsh.

Yes, it was harsh. I guess that's my point. Christensen is exceptionally influential and polished. I've rarely heard him criticized. People don't dare. Maybe I just immaturely wanted to dare to not jump on his bandwagon, that's all. I don't really expect anyone to agree. That would be different . (Well... I guess I can count on Seattle to sit next to me on this one.)

I was brusque, but know that I didn't mean him any personal harm. He's pretty strong and has lots of people to defend him so I doubt my harsh words can hurt him much. It's much more likely that they'll serve to convince people to dislike me. It guess I'm just a person who respects the Mary Magdalenes of the world more than the Clayton Christensens. Christensen is safe.

He IS a "scholar," but IMO "one of the world's premier businessmen" is a better way to describe him. Does anyone know of a site that has some testimonies of non-BYU and non-world/church leader scholars?

But, I'm sorry it bothered you LA....

[LA Ute]

Yes, it was harsh. I guess that's my point. Christensen is exceptionally influential and polished. I've rarely heard him criticized. People don't dare. Maybe I just immaturely wanted to dare to not jump on his bandwagon, that's all. I don't really expect anyone to agree. That would be different . (Well... I guess I can count on Seattle to sit next to me on this one.)

I was brusque, but know that I didn't mean him any personal harm. He's pretty strong and has lots of people to defend him so I doubt my harsh words can hurt him much. It's much more likely that they'll serve to convince people to dislike me. It guess I'm just a person who respects the Mary Magdalenes of the world more than the Clayton Christensens. Christensen is safe.

He IS a "scholar," but IMO "one of the world's premier businessmen" is a better way to describe him. Does anyone know of a site that has some testimonies of non-BYU and non-world/church leader scholars?

But, I'm sorry it bothered you LA....

Didn't bother me. It didn't! Didn't! Didn't!

No, I was just suggesting that you didn't mean to come across that way.

I do not know if there are testimonies from the folks you describe. I am inherently suspicious/nervous about famous Mormons being paraded around, whether Osmonds, athletes, or scholars. But that's just me.

[Rosebud]

Didn't bother me. It didn't! Didn't! Didn't!

Glad to hear it .

No, I was just suggesting that you didn't mean to come across that way.

Confession: I did. I kind of forced you all to listen to my cathartic moment. Thanks.

I do not know if there are testimonies from the folks you describe. I am inherently suspicious/nervous about famous Mormons being paraded around, whether Osmonds, athletes, or scholars. But that's just me.

Yeah.... I hear ya'.

[Solon]

Didn't bother me. It didn't! Didn't! Didn't!

No, I was just suggesting that you didn't mean to come across that way.

I do not know if there are testimonies from the folks you describe. I am inherently suspicious/nervous about famous Mormons being paraded around, whether Osmonds, athletes, or scholars. But that's just me.

There's a book called Why I Believe that features testimonies of "famous" LDS, including Galdys Knight, Stephen R. Covey, Richard Eyre, Kieth W. Merrill, Steve Young, Andy Reid, and others.

There's also a book by Lee Benson and Doug Robinson (DesNews writers) about Mormons and the Olympics called Trials and Triumphs.

To my knowledge, there are no comparable book for members of other faiths.

[myboynoah]

There's a book called Why I Believe that features testimonies of "famous" LDS, including Galdys Knight, Stephen R. Covey, Richard Eyre, Kieth W. Merrill, Steve Young, Andy Reid, and others.

There's also a book by Lee Benson and Doug Robinson (DesNews writers) about Mormons and the Olympics called Trials and Triumphs.

To my knowledge, there are no comparable book for members of other faiths.

I'm sure they are out there. For example, Cat Stevens wrote about his conversion to Islam. Well known Evangelicals have been more than happy to write about their sincere beliefs. This seems fairly common to me.

[LA Ute]

There's a book called Why I Believe that features testimonies of "famous" LDS, including Galdys Knight, Stephen R. Covey, Richard Eyre, Kieth W. Merrill, Steve Young, Andy Reid, and others.

There's also a book by Lee Benson and Doug Robinson (DesNews writers) about Mormons and the Olympics called Trials and Triumphs.

To my knowledge, there are no comparable book for members of other faiths.

Yeah, I think I understand those efforts but they make me nervous on several levels.

[Solon]

I'm sure they are out there. For example, Cat Stevens wrote about his conversion to Islam. Well known Evangelicals have been more than happy to write about their sincere beliefs. This seems fairly common to me.

This isn't a challenge, myboynoah, but it's a topic I'm interested in. Can you (or anyone else) point me to some of these books? Especially something that's a compilation of several persons' stories, with the subjects' faith being the unifying feature? Is there a book out there about prominent Jehovah's Witnesses, or about Episcopalian athletes from various countries who have made it to the Olympic Games?

I think a biography or autobiography of an individual would be good, but unless it's written to justify or explain why that person believes, it seems to have a different goal than the two books I listed. But I'd need to see some of these books before I could really make any comparisons.

[Moliere]

There's a book called Why I Believe that features testimonies of "famous" LDS, including Galdys Knight, Stephen R. Covey, Richard Eyre, Kieth W. Merrill, Steve Young, Andy Reid, and others.

There's also a book by Lee Benson and Doug Robinson (DesNews writers) about Mormons and the Olympics called Trials and Triumphs.

To my knowledge, there are no comparable book for members of other faiths.

I think you are correct that this is mainly a Mormon thing. We seem to desire to be seen as "normal" in the world and part of that is due to the weird misconceptions that people have with our religion. We have this stigma that if someone in the limelight or the "higher ups" in society is Mormon then it casts a favorable shadow over the entire church. In a sense, this thinking is correct since people will see Steve Young or Harry Reid and realize that not all Mormons are cooks.

I would guess that other religions in similar situations (i.e. JWs) probably track high profile members just as much as we do, they just don't have as many in law/business/politics.

[Moliere]

This isn't a challenge, myboynoah, but it's a topic I'm interested in. Can you (or anyone else) point me to some of these books? Especially something that's a compilation of several persons' stories, with the subjects' faith being the unifying feature? Is there a book out there about prominent Jehovah's Witnesses, or about Episcopalian athletes from various countries who have made it to the Olympic Games?

I think a biography or autobiography of an individual would be good, but unless it's written to justify or explain why that person believes, it seems to have a different goal than the two books I listed. But I'd need to see some of these books before I could really make any comparisons.

One other thought. What other religions are as centralized as the Mormons? In the pool of religions that are recognizable throughout the world and that have at least a moderately large membership base (maybe more than 5 or 10 million) I bet we are easily the most centralized.

We run our stakes/wards almost to the letter of the directives (CHOI and other letters) that come out of SLC. I bet many other large religions give their congregations much more latitude over curriculum and procedures than our church.

[LA Ute]

This isn't a challenge, myboynoah, but it's a topic I'm interested in. Can you (or anyone else) point me to some of these books? Especially something that's a compilation of several persons' stories, with the subjects' faith being the unifying feature? Is there a book out there about prominent Jehovah's Witnesses, or about Episcopalian athletes from various countries who have made it to the Olympic Games?

I think a biography or autobiography of an individual would be good, but unless it's written to justify or explain why that person believes, it seems to have a different goal than the two books I listed. But I'd need to see some of these books before I could really make any comparisons.

Couple of thoughts:

The LDS books we are talking about mainly are published by Deseret Book, aren't they? I wonder if other sectarian (Catholic, Evangelical, etc.) publishing houses put out books about great Catholics? I do not know. Such books are encouraging to members of the faith in question (in our case, our youth, for example) and send a message that you can be a great achiever and still be an active Mormon.

I also think we have a collective, perhaps somewhat unconscious desire not to be weird. This may have its roots in polygamy. After it ended we needed a couple of decades to rejoin American society (e.g., Reed Smoot's struggle to be seated in the Senate). Books like these tell others (and us) that we are not weird. The Romney campaign showed that plenty of people still want to depict us as weird.

I don't mind these books. They make me a little nervous because they set people on a pedestal from which it is easy to fall.

[Moliere]

I don't mind these books. They make me a little nervous because they set people on a pedestal from which it is easy to fall.

Kind of like Latter-day Night Live where Michael B is given a 10 minute segment for stand up comedy. Oh how the mighty have fallen.

[myboynoah]

This isn't a challenge, myboynoah, but it's a topic I'm interested in. Can you (or anyone else) point me to some of these books? Especially something that's a compilation of several persons' stories, with the subjects' faith being the unifying feature? Is there a book out there about prominent Jehovah's Witnesses, or about Episcopalian athletes from various countries who have made it to the Olympic Games?

I think a biography or autobiography of an individual would be good, but unless it's written to justify or explain why that person believes, it seems to have a different goal than the two books I listed. But I'd need to see some of these books before I could really make any comparisons.

Perhaps I'm not quite understanding your point. Do these work?

Against All Odds: My Story (Chuck Norris)

It's All About Him: Finding the Love of My Life (Alan and Denise Jackson)

Finding God in the Questions: A Personal Journey (Dr. Timothy Johnson)

50 People Every Christian Should Know: Learning from Spiritual Giants of the Faith

If these don't fit your definition, that website has plenty of other options.

[Solon]

Perhaps I'm not quite understanding your point. Do these work?

Against All Odds: My Story (Chuck Norris)

It's All About Him: Finding the Love of My Life (Alan and Denise Jackson)

Finding God in the Questions: A Personal Journey (Dr. Timothy Johnson)

50 People Every Christian Should Know: Learning from Spiritual Giants of the Faith

If these don't fit your definition, that website has plenty of other options.

These are pretty good. Thanks myboynoah. I'll have to check them out for a project I'm doing on religion and identity.

Most of these books focus on Christianity, but not a particular brand or denomination of Christianity. If you stumble across anything like that, please let me know. In the meantime, this gives me some stuff to work with.

Thanks again.