Green Oasis

The LDS Church has just published a news release regarding the upcoming Frontline and American Experience combined documentary called The Mormons. Aside from being upset about coverage of polygamist groups (it’s The Mormons, not The Latter-day Saints, hello?), the following paragraph made me think:

“The big question that members of the Church are asking is whether these programs will come close to capturing the essence of how Latter-day Saints define and see themselves,” he said. “Will members look at these films and say, ‘yes, that’s me.’ Or will they look at it and say, ‘even after four hours, they missed the point.’ It comes down to both content and context and it is important that those closest to the faith see themselves in the portrayal. As the religious scholar Wilfred Cantwell Smith said, ‘No statement about Hindu religious life is legitimate in which Hindus cannot recognize themselves. No interpretation of Buddhist doctrine is valid unless Buddhists can respond: ‘Yes! That is what we hold.’ The same certainly applies to the treatment of Mormonism.”

I agree with this sentiment up to a point, but this assumes that people have accurate knowledge about themselves and the institutions that they belong to. How many LDSers would recognize their own institutional history if it was presented to them truthfully? Perhaps they will not feel accurately portrayed simply because their own views are skewed away from the truth as seen by objective observers.