BoM to be Honored by Library of Congress

[Silver Girl]

The BoM will be honored by the Library of Congress.

Any thoughts on this?

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/8656 ... event.html

[Hagoth]

The books in the "America Reads" exhibit were apparently chosen by the public. The Book of Mormon was not in the previous list. I wonder if someone started a campaign to get members to vote it onto the current list, sort of the way they got Meet the Mormons onto Netflix.

[Silver Girl]

The books in the "America Reads" exhibit were apparently chosen by the public. The Book of Mormon was not in the previous list. I wonder if someone started a campaign to get members to vote it onto the current list, sort of the way they got Meet the Mormons onto Netflix.

I'm sure this was a push by special-interest Mormons. I really, really have a problem with this - I imagine most of those who agreed to it have no idea that it is plagiarized, and that it has been used to discriminate against blacks, women and the LGBT community. I also think they don't realize the church verges on tax abuses of the level Scientology practices. As for honoring its place in history - the book was the 'cornerstone' of a religion that exploited teenage girls and wives of other men - the migration to the west was done to flee the law.

[glass shelf]

Most of the time, I'm really, really grateful that we live in a society that is more accepting of differences and cultures than the last election results would represent. Other times, I think it lets things like the BoM and Mormonism have far more legitimacy than they should have. We should still be able to denounce horrible histories and rotten organizations that suppress people no matter how much the leadership has whitewashed itself to create a good corporate front. I can respect Modern Shakerism where everyone chooses it as an adult (and subsequently, it's a dying religion with less than a handful of members), but I have lots of bad feelings about childhood indoctrination.

This kind of action also gives Mormons some of the legitimacy that they are so desperately craving, and I don' t want the religion and its leaders to appear more legitimate.

So many mixed emotions.

[w2mz]

They should give it the award for "Most widely distributed least read religious fan fiction."

I mean heck, members don't read it unless they are regularly browbeaten to do so by leaders in conference and in weekly meetings.

It would be awesome too if part of the honor mentioned the Smithsonian letter clarifying that it is not used as a historical document for any sort of research.

[MerrieMiss]

The BoM will be honored by the Library of Congress.
From the Library of Congress website (emphasis mine):

"Books That Shaped America" [2012 exhibition] was a popular exhibition that featured 88 books chosen by Library curators as being representative of the breadth and influence of books by American writers, from the country’s founding to the present. The titles were not intended to be a list of the "best" American books. Rather, the Library curators selected 88 books by American authors that they believed had a profound effect on American life…

Once again, the volumes featured in the "America Reads" exhibition do not necessarily represent the best in American letters, nor do they speak to the diversity of our nation and the books it produces. In other words, the selections are not definitive or all-encompassing. But as with the 2012 exhibition, "America Reads" is intended to jump-start new conversations about the most influential books written in America and what they mean to people.

I don’t think it gives any added legitimacy at all. Mormons may spin it as good PR for the church, but on the whole, it isn’t. Joseph Smith is listed as the author, putting him on the same level as any other fiction writer to the American public.

The Book of Mormon, and Mormonism as a product, is a large influence on the United States. It makes Mormons less than a footnote in any eighth grade history textbook. It’s created one of the most conservative states and voting bloc. It’s a lasting product of early nineteenth century American religious texts that is still around (some may argue it isn’t read much, but I’d guess it’s read at least as frequently as other texts on that list).

From a sociological or anthropological view, Mormonism is a really interesting phenomenon. Of all the philosophical and religious movements from the early nineteenth century, Mormonism has lasted the longest and been the most influential. I’m surprised The Book of Mormon isn’t taught more at universities in American Literature courses, which again, I think would give it no more legitimacy than reading Jonathan Edwards. It would cause the book to be read as any other book and studied objectively as a nineteenth century text. I loved my Bible as Literature class, but it definitely made for some cognitive dissonance I shelved for a long time.

[glass shelf]

MerrieMiss-Those are really good points. I'm probably thinking too much like a Mormon when I think it adds legitimacy.

[moksha]

If Trump wishes to be nice to Mormons like the Obama Administration is being with this gesture, he should require those "so-called" sticklers for accuracy at the Smithsonian to have a Nephite exhibit. "Exhibit it and weep" he could tell them, "or you're fired!" Those pointy-headed historical curators need to be taught a lesson and that exhibit should do nicely.