Archive for the ‘ Missouri Mormons ’ Category

Pennies from Heaven: How Mormon Economics Shape the G.O.P.

Harper’s magazine I grew up a Mormon, but the wrong kind of Mormon: we were Missouri Mormons, or RLDS – as contrasted with the more successful Utah Mormons or LDS. This contrast was so blatant the church renamed itself the Community of Christ – for reasons it has never made clear. It didn’t really matter, [ READ MORE ]

The Church Was a Product of the Fifties

The church I am referring to here is the church of my childhood, called the RLDS Church at the time, and later renamed The Community of Christ. None of my other readers will be interested in this. Any social movement is a product of its times, and is part of them; it cannot be otherwise. [ READ MORE ]

Kierkegaard and the Church

What church am I referring to here? The church I grew up in, the church of my family. It used to be called the RLDS – we were the Missouri Mormons, and we carefully distinguished ourselves from the Utah sort (the LDS). It is now called the Community of Christ. About the time the name [ READ MORE ]

Mormonism is Now Cool

iTunes – Fresh Air podcast Our ancestors must be turning in their graves. There is a hit musical now about the Book of Mormon. One hundred years ago the Mormons were the laughing-stock of America, now they are so acceptable Broadway can poke fun at them – much to their delight, I am sure. They [ READ MORE ]

They Pretend They Never Had a Past

I refer to my family here. We were Missouri Mormons – which we carefully distinguished from the Utah Mormons. They were the other - and not a very nice other at that. Eventually, however it became obvious that they were becoming successful and we were not. So the RLDS (the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) [ READ MORE ]

My Problem With People

This problem has been residing at some lower level in my psyche, and has now decided to surface – whether I want it to or not. Now that I have written this sentence, I am analyzing it – and realizing that the “I” I used so glibly is really a bunch of things, must of [ READ MORE ]

The RLDS Church was Economically Successful

In this way it was like the LDS, who were also economically successful. When the RLDS became less successful economically, during WWII, they faded. They couldn’t make the move from the family farm/small business world to the corporate world that was taking over. The LDS had no problem this way, because they were already a [ READ MORE ]

The Impact of WWII on America

This morning, I was thinking about the impact of WWII on the church of my family; we were Missouri Mormons, or RLDS – and we carefully distinguished ourselves from the Utah Mormons, who were the LDS. We were the good guys and they were the bad guys. About the time of WWII, our church began [ READ MORE ]

Mormonism as an Expression of a Social Mood

I am now reading Mood Matters – which is all about social moods and how they effect social events. I immediately related this to Mormonism, the religion of my family-of-origin. I have long suspected that Mormonism occurred in response to some social needs of its time and place: the early 19th Century in America and England. [ READ MORE ]

Pearl S. Buck

I am now listening to The Good Earth, and I must say it is a different kind of literature – I don’t know quite what to make of it. It is clear she has a deep sympathy for the Chinese peasants, the like of which I have not encountered before. From Wikipedia: Pearl Sydenstricker Buck [ READ MORE ]

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