The Mormon Monk

Peter and Social Capital Two and a half months ago, I (briefly) told the story of Peter , a young man who moved from BYU, Utah and a predominantly Mormon culture to NC State, Raleigh and his non-member girl-friend Chelsea (again, all names have been changed). I explained that my job as a ward missionary is to provide Peter with social capital that is supportive of his membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Social capital is important, because it is the number one predictor of religious belief or conversion. To use a secular example, I'm much more likely to believe that the world is round if I'm around lots of other people who believe the world is round, regardless of whether or not that belief is accurate. So too, are we much more likely to believe specific religious doctrines and churches if we are around other people who believe in the truthfulness of those doctrines and churches. Since my initial observations on the importance of providing Peter with...

Each March, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints invites the submission of original music and poetry "to encourage musical talent and bring new musical works to light." Among other categories, the church invites the submission of potential hymn texts. Now, one of the things that hymns do is teach doctrine, and since the last edition of the hymnbook was released, a substantial new statement of doctrine has been issued by the First Presidency-- The Family: A Proclamation to the World . This unique document teaches at least eight principles not taught by any hymn currently available in our hymnbook: 1) Marriage is ordained of God. 2) The family is central to God's plan. 3) Gender is an eternal and purposeful characteristic. 4) God's command to multiply and replenish the earth is still effective. 5) Parents are accountable to God for raising their children. 6) The family is ordained of God. 7) Families are encouraged to work and play together. 8) Husbands and w...

In Elder's Quorum today, we had THE TALK. If you are a man, or if you are a woman who has ever been to priesthood session of General Conference for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, you know what THE TALK is. THE TALK is when a priesthood leader pleads with his male listeners not to view pornography and exhorts those who are consumers of pornography to get ecclesiastical (and potentially professional) help. THE TALK is almost always uncomfortable, but I thought my Elders Quorum President, Matt Willis, did a phenomenal job today. More important, for the first time in a long time--perhaps since I got THE TALK on a monthly basis as a teenager--I actually heard a new idea for preventing pornography use: the PPI. In Mormon culture, PPI stands for Personal Priesthood Interview, a (supposedly) regular meeting between men and their immediate priesthood leaders where priesthood holders give an account of their lives (in general terms--confessions of sins are saved for intervi...

In 1747, a young missionary named David Brainerd died. He had spent the last four years of his life preaching to the Delaware tribe of Native Americans, living among them and teaching them about Jesus Christ. His life story, as recorded in his journal and popularized by Jonathan Edwards was a bestseller in the eighteenth century and is still in print (and read) today. As a full time representative of Jesus Christ, Brainerd took his religion a little more seriously than most, but as I read through his journal, nothing struck me more than his reverence for the Sabbath Day. On each Sunday that he made an entry in his journal, Brainerd began the entry with the title "Lord's Day" and then described his day's activities. On one Sunday, Brainerd writes that he preached to a group of Christiant "about sanctifying the Sabbath, if possible to solemnize their minds; but when they were at a little distance, they again talked freely about secular affairs. O I thought what a h...