The Hermit Poet

May 1, 2007

PBS Special: The Mormons

Filed under: General — Neil Aitken @ 6:40 am

PBS is running a two-part special on “The Mormons” which has so far been rather even-handed in its approach. While I generally avoid delving into matters of religion in this blog, religion and spirituality are important aspects of who I am — so it’s good to see a well-researched documentary which avoids sensationalism and misinformation and puts its effort instead on showing both the dark and light aspects of the church and its history. I think it helps dispel the belief that Mormons are uniform in opinion or blind in their belief. There is room for complexity and diversity (and certainly room for me). PBS is making the first installment available online later today.

You can visit the PBS site here.

I’ll be returning shortly to regular poetry and life posting

3 Responses to “PBS Special: The Mormons”

  1. Matt Says:

    I agree wholeheartedly Neil. I enjoyed the whole thing and how they tried to give a very balanced perspective on the Mormon religion and culture. I often think that Mormons, in general, are not too keen on looking at some of the darker aspects of our history and culture; and we do have some. I often think that we, as Mormons, and society in general has a difficult time separating Mormon culture from Mormon religion. They’re two different worlds in my book…

  2. Connie Bradbury Says:

    Neil:

    I was a genealogy friend of your fathers and I respected him so much. I live in Alaska.

    I wanted to share some thoughts about the PBS program. It is my personal opinion that as Mormons in the 21st Century, we need to put less emphasis on the past and martyrism and concentrate on how our actions and deeds affect the good of the whole.

    Thanks for your blog and thanks for having such a wonderful father.

    Connie Bradbury
    Fairbanks, AK

  3. site admin Says:

    Thanks for you comments Connie.

    I agree that we as Mormons and as a society need to be less fixated on the past and more interested in where we’re going — however, I also see a need to be honest in confronting some of the more difficult aspects of our history. Perspective keeps us humble and motivates us to do better.

    The program, while not perfect, felt as even-handed as an approach we’ve seen yet. Certainly there were things which I’d hoped to see and others which were over-emphasized and sometimes still presented askew.

    In the end though it’s what we do with our lives and our beliefs — and even our histories — that defines us. What’s important is the spiritual path we’re currently pursuing and how it transforms us. And hopefully, as you note, how it becomes a force for the good of the whole.

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