Being LDS
I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
What does that mean?
Well, quickly, it means that I ascribe to the tenets the church puts forward. I believe the Book of Mormon is revelation from God. And I believe we are led by a Prophet who receives revelation from God.
But, being a member of this faith, and when I live in Utah, does this mean that being LDS answers who I am. Does my faith define who I am and what I do?
There are reasons I bring this up is not that I don’t think these are important questions; but rather, do these questions have a need to find answers when I sit down and write one of many different things: fiction, personal essays, poetry, television, movies.
Those are examples, but I think the examples are pertinent to the questions I am asking. If I, as a member of the LDS church, decide to write fiction within that environment, is it necessary to explore what it means to be LDS. Let me give an example:
Dean Hughes is an LDS author. He is also a professor on campus. He wrote a series of books, that I have read, titled The Children of the Promise where we follow a family who sends their sons and daughters off to serve, in various capacities, during World War II. Throughout the series, Hughes writes his characters dealing with a) their religion, and b) the consequences of the world at war and the choices made before the World War II. All of this deals with each individuals faith in God and willingness to be faithful in the LDS church.
I understand the desire to find meaning in things. There is meaning in the trials and joys we have in life, in general. There is meaning in getting married. There is meaning in having families. There is meaning in finding religion, or losing it. There is meaning in so many things that, if we are set upon doing it, we can get lost in looking for what that meaning is.
What all of this comes down to, for me, is that we, as members of the LDS church, spend way too much time talking about what it means to be members of the LDS church. We are concerned with defining a culture and then, once defined, exploiting that culture for entertainment purposes. One of the problems with LDS cinema is not that we are producing movies, but that we are producing movies that go over the same definition of who we are again and again and again. The exceptions, mostly the ones by Richard Dutcher don’t really choose to explore something else, or delve in to realms where being LDS is a part of the character rather than a reason for what is happening.
I realize that suggesting we change the way we approach our cultural entertainment, and the answers to prevailing questions: like: Who am I? or What am I? For many people, this is a part of the fiction we create, this is how we explore the cultural phenomenon that is Mormonism or being members of the LDS faith. And yet, I think that by creating this question, and it is artificial, we eliminate many opportunities that we have to explore other themes that might come up.
What is it like to be white in South Africa?
What is it like to be sober and clean in East L.A?
What is it like to find a new life and new opportunities?
Granted, this is not even close to what can be accomplished in writing or in entertainment within our culture. And yes, I believe that being LDS is being a part of a culture, living in Utah around other members of the church is being a part of a much larger culture. Yet, we don’t have to explore that culture to tell good stories. We can explore other cultures, other genres, and then allow our culture to show up as we write; to allow us to explore themes like racism or ageism or cultural shock or growth or failure in so many different ways.
We, as members of the church, as creative members of the church, have the opportunity to allow morality to be the guide in creating fiction and we don’t do that. We are stuck with what it means to be LDS that we forget that there is no single, uniform, universal answer to that question. What it means to me is not the same thing as other people. I approach my religion and my faith very differently. Even though I approach is differently, though, I find that I discover similar outcomes as the people around me.
Writing about what makes me different doesn’t make me a better writer; rather, it has me explore the same question everyone else (seems to be) is writing, and that is what I would love to see the culture and the environment and the community move away from.
You can’t answer the question; you won’t come up with a satisfactory answer; explore a different topic – but write in a way that moral fiction is produced that may use members of the church.
John Hattaway | smokingpen | Alicia Grey | Clockwork Princess | Cassandra West
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