War & Peace In Our Time: Mormon Perspectives
5November 4, 2012 by Gregory VanWagenen
The Book of Mormon is commonly interpreted in one of two irreconcilable ways: As the unerring and perfect word of the divine creator, or as a fraud, written by a cheap con-artist. Adherents of these two readings rarely agree, and expend an enormous amount of energy arguing over their own limited interpretations. This is to be expected. As Mormons are many, and not one, the lenses through which the text is interpreted will be diverse.
Mormonism, unlike Christianity, was inaugurated within the context of history. Relevant accounts from reliable contemporary sources allow us to examine its formation relative to social and historical events, drawing coherent conclusions in the process. War and Peace in Our Time is a collection of 17 lectures, compiled and produced by Greg Kofford Books, which effectively detranscendentalizes The Book of Mormon, liberating it from conflicting viewpoints, and applies the principles of the text (with an admirable degree of objectivity) to the historical process of conflict. The positions of the narrators are diverse and expectedly irreconcilable, but all approach scripture as text, from which practical lessons might be derived, relevant to practical human experience in the shared lifeworld.
Despite the diversity of viewpoints within the collection, there are some common themes, and one of the most interesting is the inherent tension resulting from the evaporation of traditional structure from the lives of individuals. The process of modernization is approached as detraditionalization of the social order, leading to the individual’s ability (and subsequent responsibility) to decide for himself on ethical and social matters. Emancipation from dependency is thus linked to the loss of conventional supports bound up in the being of social institutions, namely the LDS church. Matters of official doctrine give way to cultural suggestion, ultimately internalizing the locus of decision.
For modern Mormons, there are few rules which are set in stone, and weighty issues like the morality of conflict are left to the individual to decide and act upon. This is entirely consistent with the original intent of the founders of the religion, who gave priesthood authority to every worthy adult, implying that one clears his own path through the woods. The act of participation, worth more than a ticket to the auditorium, carries the price of making every significant decision an act of applied philosophy. This collection won’t provide any individual answers, but it marvelously succeeds in providing readers with seventeen examples of thoughtful decisions on a weighty topic.
Thanks for the review.I think you summarized the whole fairly well. ANy thoughts on individual chapters?
I think that stepping away from the debate and asking “does this book have something to teach the world” is a useful and (even now novel) way to approach the Mormon scriptural and historical narrative.
Aside from your essay, I particularly enjoyed Rick Duran’s. I’m assuming that aside from being an economist he’s studied sociology extensively. The murder of “Old Bishop”, recounted by Jennifer Lindell, was also noteworthy. I’d never heard that story before.
I enjoyed Lindell’s as well
Is there some sort of framework that mormons use to base their morality. One time I Was talking to a mormon and they sais that their morality is based on following the commandments of God and I asked what are those commandments and they said something to the effect htat they followed what God wanted them to do and didn’t have any clearly defined commandments so in the case of that individual it seemed wrong to use the word commandments. But are there any clear commandments or any framework at all?
Two basic ideas I can think of are the law of chastity and the word of wisdom but I am not sure how prevalent following those things is in any of the mormon church’s and the LDS church in particular.
I’m assuming that your impression that there are numerous Mormon Churches which include the LDS Church.is not a joke. There is only one LDS church and it is commonly Mormon. And, yes, we have a framework for morality. It is the scriptures in general: The Bible (old and new but mostly the New Testament), the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenant and the Pearl of Great Price.
Our morality is based on the teaching of the prophets both ancient and modern. It includes, generally, the Ten Commandments, the Sermon on the Mount and to Love God. It can be encapsulated by, along with many other scriptures, Romans 13 9:
For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
There is nothing complex about our directions regarding morality; it is quite clear. There is often some difficulty and a great deal of rationality in adhering to these directions. When in doubt, we go directly to the four basic works.