In response to NBC

Last night my husband and I watched NBC's "Mormon in America" special. I thought it was good publicity, though I wasn't overly impressed with the reporting job for several reasons. There were moments when it rang true, but just as many when the reports missed the mark.

To open the show, Brian Williams started with a segment on Mormons in business. I thought it interesting that the only reason they really gave for Mormons' success in business was missionary service. It's a huge factor, for sure. You gain confidence and determination from knocking on doors and trying to share a message with strangers in the streets. But some Mormons are successful in business and they didn't go on missions. There's probably a little more there. I did like the reporter who covered that section. He seemed friendly and it didn't come across that he was looking for dirt.

The thing that offended me the most about the show was the talk about garments and the picture shown. If a reporter has done his research about Mormons, he would know that showing a picture of garments on national TV is one quick way to offend a whole lot of Mormons. Perhaps he can't totally be blamed, but honestly... If he'd done his research, it wouldn't have been too hard to figure out.

I feel like our society doesn't get the word "sacred." Reverence for sacred things has largely been thrown out the window. Most Americans don't go to church regularly. Many don't even go at all. It's little wonder "sacred" rarely appears in the modern American vocabulary. The United States has headed down a secular path paved by European countries, where churches have become architectural and historical sites for tourists to peruse rather than places to come closer to God.

Because Mormons revere some things as sacred, many in our society have labeled us as a secretive religion. This is hardly so. Because things like temple worship are sacred to us, we don't share them with just anybody we meet on the street. We're more than willing to invite people into dedicated temples if those people prove that they are worthy and willing to do what is required to enter the temple. These sacred things are so important to us and to our faith, we don't want them to be treated in disrespectful and irreverent ways.

It's a little bit similar to the way some Americans feel about the flag. For some Americans (including me), it's offensive to see others stomping on the flag and burning it in irreverent manners. We have so much respect for the flag and what the flag represents, that it makes us sad to see people vandalizing and disrespecting it. For Mormons, we don't want what goes on in the temple to be disrespected, made fun of or dragged through the mud in any way. That's why we don't talk openly about it. It's reverence, not secrecy.

On the subject of temples, I don't think that Abby Huntsman was the best person to interview about the temple, seeing as she's never been anywhere in the temple except maybe the baptistery. If they were planning on using her remarks, a good journalist would have asked the same questions to a temple-attending Mormon and used that person's remarks alongside Huntsman's. The fact that she hopes someday the Church will open the doors of the temples to non-Mormons shows that she doesn't quite get it.

And I think NBC would have done well to actually visit a temple. Maybe the Brigham City Temple, which is actually having its open house right now... Mormons DO open the doors of the temple to everybody prior to the temple's dedication. If NBC didn't take a tour of the temple, they could have at least shown the photos of that temple, which were recently released. All of the most important rooms are shown on tours and in the releases. I'm wondering how they missed that fact in their research, since the Church has posted quite a few things about the new temple.

View the photos of the Brigham City Temple here.

I must say, Huntsman had a fairly positive outlook on the Church, despite her break with it over her bishop's counsel. She just missed a few key things about the Church...

I liked the segment with the family from Lehi. I thought they mostly did a good job. Although the segment about caffeine came across wrong, either because of what the wife said or because of NBC's editing. Caffeine is not a forbidden substance like alcohol, tea, coffee and tobacco. Church leaders have suggested we not use it, because caffeine can be just as addictive as other drugs. It is a drug, after all. But people aren't  (or shouldn't be) denied temple recommends because they drink caffeinated drinks.

Personally, I don't drink caffeine. I can count on one hand the number of times I've had Coke (or Pepsi, Dr. Pepper, etc...) and that's including little sips when I thought it was root beer. That's a personal choice. I know plenty of good, faithful members of the Church who drink caffeinated drinks. I have plenty of family members who do, and I don't judge them for it.

To me, it's kind of like movies. I don't watch rated-R movies. I don't even watch most PG-13 movies. Haven't seen most superhero movies. Definitely haven't seen the newest Batman. Prophets have counseled us to be selective with the entertainment we watch, and I take that very seriously. For many Latter-day Saints, all PG-13 movies are within limits. As long as it isn't R, they feel it's okay. And I don't judge them for it. PG-13 movies with too much violence, immorality and swearing don't make me feel good. I don't feel closer to God after watching them. They make me want to cry seeing those things on the screen. So I don't watch them. That doesn't mean people who watch them are bad people. Jeff isn't even as picky about movies as I am. Definitely don't judge him for that. :) And I also know people who are even more strict about movies than I am. It's all about what helps you feel the Spirit.

In the section on Church history, I felt they did a decent job. They kind of skipped the most important part of the Restoration story, but at least they got most things right. I really liked what the professor said. (Was he from Yale? Harvard? Can't remember...) He talked about how our story wasn't crazy if you compare it to Christian history. It has the same extremeness (for lack of a better word) of stories from the Bible. I thought that was a good point. :)

I wasn't so impressed with Williams' multiple uses of "second-class citizen" in describing LDS women and those of African descent. I also did not like the use of "racism." Those of African descent were not given the priesthood until the 1970s. That is true. And I'm sure there have been plenty of racists in the Church through the years. But what about the fact that one of the main reasons Mormons were kicked out of Jackson County, Mo., was that they were against slavery? And the fact that Joseph Smith, the first prophet of the Restoration, ordained a former slave to the priesthood? And that Joseph gave a former slave his favorite horse to sell so the man could collect enough money to buy his son out of slavery? Nobody in the Church knows exactly why blacks weren't given the priesthood until later. Maybe the Church wasn't ready for it. Maybe it was just a tradition that was passed down. We don't know. But it wasn't racism.

And the part about women being second-class citizens? First off, Mr. Williams, please don't draw your own conclusions or read your own assumptions over the air without stating that those are yours. Or you could state those are the opinions of some women in the Church. Please don't assume that every woman in the Church feels that she is a second-class citizen. Maybe you should have interviewed at least one other woman in addition to the Mormon feminist?

I won't lie. I've definitely had problems wrapping my mind around some of the differences between men's responsibilities and women's responsibilities in the Church. A lot of Mormon women do. But I don't believe that God loves his sons more than He loves his daughters. Nor do I think the prophet and other leaders of the Church have more respect for the men of the Church than they do of the women of the Church. Our roles are different, but they are equally important in the eyes of God. And didn't Neelemen talk about how important mothers were to their sons in the business segment of the show?

Probably the best part of the show was the tour the first reporter (from the business segment) took of Welfare Square and the humanitarian warehouses the Church has. I kind of laughed at how amazed he was at the size of the warehouse. It is big! I thought it was interesting to hear an outsider's perspective on how we take care of our own and how we send so much aid to other places around the world. It was funny how he talked about having Mormon cheese and Mormon turkey on Mormon bread with Mormon milk and Mormon honey. lol.

The other part they talked about was gays in the Church and about the Book of Mormon musical. The first man, who holds a leadership position in his ward and is gay, was kind of interesting. His story about coming back to the Church was inspiring, but... I feel like along with many members of the Church, he's missing the point about why the Church is for traditional marriage. I won't go into detail right now, but traditional marriage is a huge part of the gospel, because family is such a huge part of the gospel. I support The Proclamation to the World 100 percent, and if you want to read more about it, it's available on lds.org

The other story about a gay Mormon was a pretty good one. Even though he left the Church because he didn't feel he fit, it seems he still respects the Church. He talked about how much his mission taught him and how much it affected his life for the better. While I don't really appreciate The Book of Mormon musical, which he is an actor in, I appreciated what he had to say about the Church. He civilly agreed to disagree and wasn't afraid to acknowledge the good effects in his life from being a member of the Church.

He did admit that if that musical had a rating, it would be R. Guess I'm definitely not seeing that one. lol.

Overall, I think I would give NBC a 'B' for their special. The reporting didn't have as high a quality as you'd expect from a national news source, but it wasn't terrible. They tried to not be biased, though they didn't have enough sources for some of the conclusions drawn. It was an interesting piece and, as my husband reminded me, any publicity is good publicity.

If you want to learn more, please visit mormon.org.