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BY COMMON CONSENTI l l l : M O R M O N

Vol. 6, No. 1

First Meeting of the MillenniumThe Proclamationon the Family:Who Gets Left Out?

"The Family. A Proclamation to the World,"which has achieved near-scriptural status since itsannouncement in 1994, holds up an ideal andidyllic view of family life: a providing-protecting‑presiding father, a nurturing mother and theirchildren. The goal of strengthening families is oneeveryone can support, but this new ideal raisessome unexamined questions:

Who canhave/be"the" family? What happensto the individualwhen the basicunit of Church andsociety becomes "the family”? Who does this newideal exclude? What are the costs in human termsof such exclusion? What uncertainty about “fittingin“ does the uncanonizedbutauthoritative status ofthe proclamation imelfadd?

The Mormon Alliance will sponsor an opendiscussion of these questionsWednesday, 12Janu‑ary 2000, at the SaltLakePublicLibrary,209E.500South, from 7:00 to 8:30 p m . in the story room.(This room is on the north end of the children'slibrary on the second floor and may be enteredeither through the children's library whom the adoorway on the northeast side of the atrium.)

Janice M. Allred, mother of nine, will moder‑ate the panel. Panelists are Jay Bell, gay Mormon;Tim Rathbone, at-home father; Vickie M. Stewart,divorcedmother. All are Mormons who have fami‑lies but who find that the Proclamationmakes anuneasyfit for their family. Audience participationiswelome.

Wisdom and “The Heart of Darkness”Arthur C. Wiscombe

As a lad of sixteen, growmg up in the cultureof the suburbs of LizardGulch, Utah, I was stn'ckenby the poetic, literary, philosophic, and nobleimpulse. I wanted to know, like Matthew Arnold,everything that matters. Where would I find ulti‑

January 2000

mate wisdom andhigh culture? I hadanimagineddream that I died and, in a formal interview, re‑ported to the Gods on the wisdom I had encoun‑tered on earth. I awoke in a sweat because,whiletheir faces expected an intelligent response, I wasasmute asI was empty andkept lookingatmy feetin tense silence.

I resolved that day to make a serious on‑slaught on my inadequacies. Plato taught me thatknowledge is the base of am'angle leadingupwardto understanding and on to the mountain peak ofwisdom. Alfred NorthWhitehead taught me that aperson can have knowledge and no t be wise butcannot be wise without knowledge. Later, HughNibley taught me that even religious zeal withoutknowledge can make one a danger one self and tothe community.

What I eventually observed is that most ofthese teachers were transferring to me their ownindoctrinations, rather than original thought fromtheir own suffering and experience. I resolved todigdeeper intoou r common literary,philosophical,religious, and scientific legacy.This quest occupiedmy interestandmy action for the next fifty years. Itnever once occurred to me that I shouldmake anyattempt to save theworldnonly aportionofmyownsoul. Here and there, I came upon aninsight thatrewardedmy quest.

One of these struckmewith aprofoundforce,destroying the lastvestiges of my youthful idealismforever: much of the world's evil has been done by"good" people--the Sunday School-attending types.The essence of this Heart of Darkness is, in myopinion, the misuse of power and the betrayal ofsocialjustice. Justice is the least talked-aboutmoralidea in our religious curricula.Why dowecontinu‑ously tiptoe around the injustice that corrupts usdaily? The way we continually exploit one anotherfor supposed private gain and privilege?Why suchvast misuse of power? Why, for instance, hasorganizedinstitutionalbureaucraticreligionalwaysrequired its hate groups?Was it n o t goodmenwho

A L L I \ N C I £

wrote women, half the human race, ou t of theoriginal US. Constitution? Has n o t much of therepression of women by men been done out of asense of decency,God,andthe naturalorder?WhydidAmericanChristianclergyholdsoadamantly tothe policy and practices of racism until publicenlightenment and the demands of justice forcedthem to change against their very will of assumedgoodness? Is no t the present ethnic cleansingravaging EasternEurope this same absurdity? Is itn o t time to connect justice to wisdom and exploremore honestly the very essence of the “heart ofdarkness"?

Guest EditorialOur Needfor the Unconditional

Dimension of RealityHarryFox

As the twentieth century draws to a close,there appears to be a growing energy crisis-mot ofenergywhich comes from fossil fuels,butof humanenergy We are finding it harder and harder tomuster the energy with which to tackle and solvethe mountingproblems facing us.

Forexample,we have no t beenable to payoffthe nationaldebt or to keep crime under control orto adequatelymee t o u r social responsibilities to thepoor and the oppressed. In ou r homes, we arefinding it extremely d i f fi t h to maintain effectivecommunication between husbands and wives andbetweenparents and children. And in the churchesWehave no t yet been able to make muchprogresstoward reuniting the numerous segments intowhichwe have solongbeen divided.

We are finding that simply to be told of ourobligations has no t been enough to get us to act.Where, then, canwe find the energy to dowhatweknowwe must do?

I believe that the answer liesmainlyinbecom‑ingaware of theunconditionaldimensionof reality.Too many of usseem to know only the conditionaldimension--the idea that every relationship inheaven and on earth requires mutual obligations.ForeverythingI dofor you, youmust dosomethingfor me. To people governed by this mentality, it isinconceivable that there is anything for which aperson does n o t have to do something. For suchpeople there is no 'free lunch."

In saying this, I amnot saying that there is noplace for the conditional. Of course there is! I knowthat most lunches are n o t free. But the conditional

alone is n o t enough. What, then, is the uncondi‑tional and how does it relate to the conditional?

Considerhurricanes.They straddlewater andland asthey move along over a continental coast.The half over land is fed energy by the halfwhichsoaks up energy from the warm ocean water overwhich it passes. The half over water is soaking upenergywhile the halfover landis expendingit.Onehalf freely "receives" in the realm of the uncondi‑tional "ocean" andthe otherhalffreely "gives" in therealm of the conditional “land."

The sixteenth-century Reformers knew wellwhat we are talking about, asdid the Apostle Paulfromwhom they learnedthe gospel of "salvationbygrace through faith. Grace is God's unconditionalgift to usof his love,mercy, forgiveness, andrecon‑ciliation in Christ in spite of our failures to bewhatwe ought to be. "Faith'l is our acceptance of thisfreegift. The morewe accept God‘s grace (the uncondi‑tional dimension of reality) the better able we areto fulfill our responsibilities in the conditionaldimension. The relationship between these t w odimensions iswhatPaulandtheReformersreferredto asthe relationship between “faith” and "works.""Faith“ which feeds on the free gift of God‘s graceobtains the energy with which to do the "works"which our situation demands. God will then havefrom us what we and all others need mos t : anunconditional love-commitment to him in responseto his unconditional love-commitment to us inChrist.

October anference CritiqueSIGNS OF SCHISM?

A definite polarization in General Authority tieswas notedat the October Conference Critique.PresidentHinckley wore ties in black and white geometricaldesigns, followed by seven other General AudioritiesincludingMerrill J. Batemanand RussellNelson. ElderPacker led a counter-movement with a solid-red tie.followed by Elders Oaks, Porter, Porter, Maxwell, andBanks. Straddling the sartorial schism were PresidentFaust,who hada red andyellow tie, acombination alsoselectedby EldersPerryandMonson.

Perhapsamore significant trend showedup in thecontinued downward trend of talks emphasizing doc‑trine. Janice Allred identified only three talks in thiscategory compared to approximately six apiece in theprevioustwoconferences.The slackwas takenup,no tbythose focused on the institution (17, up from 15 at thelast conference) but by those emphasizing Christianliving.

The Relief Society general meeting, which had

featured asits highlight the presentationof the "Declara‑tion" (see accompanying article), drew a range of opin‑ions. "I don't see what the big deal is one way or theother," saidonewoman. "Somewomen are sohappyandthrilled about i t , and some are really upset; but is itreally that different?”

"I'm interested in the broader question it raises,"commented one man. "Is it a carryover fromthe missionstatement concept of corporate America?" Anotherspeculated that it hadbeen created aspart of the ReliefSociety's newpoliticalactivities ( i t co-hostedthe Genevainternational conference on families with the HowardInstituteandFamilyVoice, headedbyBYUlawprofessorRichardWilkins, in November).

Another woman suggestedthat, like the Proclama‑tion on the Family, it took common ideas without ascriptural basis and placed them in "an authoritativecontext. Thus, when questions are raisedabout how it isused or even what it means, the answer is, ‘ Because it’sanauthoritativestatement.”Mostofthosepresentagreedthat citing the Proclamation on the Familyhad replacedanalysis of the gay-rights issues it was used to attack.

NearlyeveryoneenjoyedSheriDew‘spresentation,and found her energy a refreshing change in the other‑wise low-key evening. "I like the intelligence, the pas‑sion, the stronger tone," said one. Another, while agree‑ing, said, "I was disappointedin themessage that ‘we arespecial.‘ It stereotyped the so-calledwomen of the worldand it also deemphasized individuality in women bymaking it clear that it was the Churchthatmakeswomenspecial. I saw the same deemphasis on the individual inrenaming homemaking meeting ‘ Home, Family, andPersonalEnrichrnent.‘ The individualmade it on the listbut only in third place."

Onewoman pointedou t an interestinganomaly inVirginia U. Jensen's parable about the mother birdwho"protected, providedfor, andnurtured"herbabies. "Twoou t of three of those functions are assignedto menin theProclamation on the Family," she pointed out . "Do wehave a subtle form of subversion happeninghere?"

AlsoattractingmuchcommentarywasElderRussellM. Ballard warning to "beware" of "false prophets andfalse teacherswhohaveor at leastclaimto havemember‑ship in the Church. There are thosewho,without author‑i ty, claim Church endorsement to their products andpractices." He reiterated a 1993 statement by ElderFaust, that the Churchhas "no suchthingasloyalopposi‑tion."

"Itwas prettydiscouraging," commentedone man."ThatJosephF. Smithquotationheusedequatespersonalrevelationwithbeingsubjectto the devilanddenyingtheatonement of Christ.”

Another m a n agreed: "It told me that there was noway to talk about doctrinal change. He claimed that thedoctrine was always the same, but what that boils downis to deny that the Church has ever taught anything

different and to demonize those who knowhistory."Elder Ballard also went farther than most earlier

statements by denouncing “self-appointed” "men andwomen” who are engaged in "sponsoring syrnposia,books,andjournalswhose contents challenge fundamen‑tal doctrines of the Church. Beware of those who speakandpublishin oppositionto God's t r ue prophets."It's"theclosing of the Mormon mind," summarized one partici‑pant.

In the "favorite talks" department, ElderVaughnJ.Featherstone's address, built around several deeply feltpersonalstories, rankedhigh,butone woman respondedto his grief that his family did no t have prayer atThanksgiving dinner asthe bishop had requested: "Whydoes everything have to be in a family? Why didn‘t heknow that he could pray as an individual?" OthersenjoyedElderMaxwell'sanalysisof LamanandLemuelasconveyingnewinformation,andoneparticipanthypothe‑sized that, by denouncing them as intellectually lazy,Elder Maxwell was actually sending a covert messagethat "we should bemore intellectual."

THE “DECLARATION” DuetTerry Redd

[AdvancecopiesoftheDeclarationwere distributedto priesthood leaders with a letter by Elder Boyd K.Packer, acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve,dated 13 September 1999.]

The attached statement affirms the ideals of ReliefSociety sisters.

I know this, because I told them so.The statement will be introduced during the

general Relief Society meeting on Saturday, Sept. 25,1999. Please provide a copy of the statement to eachsister following the general ReliefSocietymeeting.

And submit the name of any sister who declines acopy.

This may be done in a Sunday Relief Societymeetingor by visiting teachers during the monthlyvisit.

Andyou knowwhat I mean by "may."Please use the attached order form to obtain

additional copies from Church distribution centers. [nocharge]

Weprinted 10million, sodon't beshy.Please encourage priesthoodandauxiliary leaders

to discuss this statement in appropriate meetings.Untvee hahve vays to "encourage" zem, jah?

DECLARATIONWe are beloved spirit daughters of God, and our

lives havemeaning, purpose, and direction.(They do! They do! They do! They must! Mustn't

they?)Asaworldwide sisterhood,(dominated byworldwide brotherhood,)we are united in our devotion to Jesus Christ, our

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