At best the whole IRS imbroglio is an example of ignorance and incompetence among lower-level employees. But we still don’t know if there was a deliberate effort by higher officials to specifically target conservative groups. That’s much worse. What has been learned is that high IRS officials knew about the scandal long before earlier this month, when a planted question at a routine press conference allowed the bad news to finally get out. There’s a lot of unanswered questions about this and the administration should follow the advice of liberal LA Times columnist Doyle McManus, which is be more forthcoming.

The IRS scandal could harm the implementation of ObamaCare. The tax collectors have a major role in enforcing the new health care law, and conveniently for GOP pols, the head of the Obamacare IRS squad played a role in the scrutiny of conservative groups. It’s easy to foresee a call that the IRS’s role in ObamaCare be eliminated.

A second wild pitch by the administration that legitimizes GOP scandal-searchers, such as Reps. Darrell Issa and Jason Chaffetz, is the news that the Justice Department identified Fox News journalist James Rosen as a “co-conspirator and/or aider and abettor” in an espionage investigation. This was learned after a slightly less embarrassing revelation that the Justice Department had been secretly ferreting through the work lives of Associated Press reporters

In this Washington post column, liberal journalist Dana Milbank explains why “The Rosen affair is as flagrant an assault on civil liberties as anything done by George W. Bush’s administration, and it uses technology to silence critics in a way Richard Nixon could only have dreamed of.”

As Milbank notes, if you start to prosecute the press for doing its job just because the government doesn’t want the information out there, that infringes on the First Amendment. If that can be infringed on, the oppressors will feel free to take on other rights. Milbank writes: “Guns? Privacy? Due process? Equal protection? If you can’t speak out, you can’t defend those rights, either.”

The Rosen affair is similar to Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon papers, as well as efforts during World War II to indict the Chicago Tribune for treason based on its reporting. In both cases, Nixon and FDR lost their battles with the press.

I don’t believe any of the scandals, including Benghazi, will take down President Barack Obama. Frankly, I believe what some regard as ludicrous — that the president learned of the IRS scandal from reading the newspapers. In this era, presidents are closely protected and kept out of the loop by their staff. It may be a White House job description to fall on the sword, but that doesn’t extend to the commander in chief.

What’s happening is the result of a badly managed administration, one that appears to be far better at campaigning than governing.

Anyway, one of the more recent pronouncements on wayward children being saved due to their parents’ earthly exertions came from LDS Apostle James E. Faust in the April 2003 General Conference. In his talk, “Dear Are the Sheep That Have Wandered,” Faust quoted the early 20th century LDS Apostle Orson F. Whitney, who was himself quoting LDS founder Joseph Smith: “The Prophet Joseph Smith declared—and he never taught more comforting doctrine—that the eternal sealings of faithful parents and the divine promises made to them for valiant service in the Cause of Truth, would save not only themselves, but likewise their posterity. Though some of the sheep may wander, the eye of the Shepherd is upon them, and sooner or later they will feel the tentacles of Divine Providence reaching out after them and drawing them back to the fold. Either in this life or the life to come, they will return. They will have to pay their debt to justice; they will suffer for their sins; and may tread a thorny path; but if it leads them at last, like the penitent Prodigal, to a loving and forgiving father’s heart and home, the painful experience will not have been in vain. Pray for your careless and disobedient children; hold on to them with your faith. Hope on, trust on, till you see the salvation of God.”

Here’s another quote from LDS apostle Boyd K. Packer, in the April 1992 General Conference: “Who are these straying sheep — these wayward sons and daughters? They are the children of the covenant, heirs to the promise, and have received, if baptized, the Gift of the Holy Ghost, which makes manifest the things of God. Could all of that go for naught?”

LDS doctrine differs from many churches in that it associates works, as well as faith, as criteria for judgment and ultimate reward from God. In that sense, the promise of salvation for wayward children is less an act of “grace” as a declaration that something can be accomplished for them in the afterlife. In his talk, Faust, who died in 2007, adds this caveat: “Repentant wayward children will enjoy salvation and all the blessings that go with it, but exaltation is much more. It must be fully earned. The question as to who will be exalted must be left to the Lord in His mercy.”

In Mormon doctrine, there is a difference between salvation, which is available to virtually all members of humanity, and exaltation, a higher, divine afterlife status. In fact, the Mormon view of human salvation is far more liberal than many churches, which sometimes draw a line separating humanity into a traditional heaven and traditional hell. It may be that the promise to concerned LDS parents that wayward children will belong to them in the afterlife — if the parents are righteous — is simply a consequence of a parent achieving exaltation and having the ability to interact with others, including children, who have been resurrected into a lower kingdom? The late LDS Prophet Joseph Fielding Smith seems to say exactly that in this excerpt from the LDS tome “Doctrines of Salvation”: “Children born under the covenant, who drift away, are still the children of the parents; and the parents have a claim upon them; and if the children have not sinned away all their rights, the parents may be able to bring them through repentance, into the celestial kingdom, but not to receive the exaltation.”

Also in the “Doctrines of Salvation,” Fielding Smith quoted LDS Prophet Brigham Young, who says: “Let the father and mother, who are members of this Church and Kingdom, take a righteous course, and strive with all their might never to do a wrong, but to do good all their lives; if they have one child or one hundred children, if they conduct themselves towards them as they should, binding them to the Lord by their faith and prayers, I care not where those children go, they are bound up to their parents by an everlasting tie, and no power of earth or hell can separate them from their parents in eternity; they will return again to the fountain from whence they sprang.” Several other quotes from LDS leaders on this topic is compiled in the September 2002 LDS magazine The Ensign.

In the early days of the LDS Church, huge importance was placed on how numerous a family a righteous Mormon priesthood holder could accumulate. The example of patriarchs, such as Abraham, was heavily emphasized. This was one reason, I believe, for the polygamy doctrine. However, the early LDS church also sanctioned “adoptions,” in which groups and families of church members became “children” of church leaders. John D. Lee, for example, was an “adopted” son of Brigham Young. This quote from Joseph Smith seems to underscore how the sealing process of children to parents provided an advantage in the next world:

“When a seal is put upon the father and mother, it secures their posterity, so that they cannot be lost, but will be saved by virtue of the covenant of their father and mother.

“Our Heavenly Father is more liberal in His views, and boundless in his mercies and blessings, than we are ready to believe or receive.” (For more quotes on this topic, go here.)

As I have mentioned, salvation for wayward children is a doctrine that likely scores of thousands of active LDS parents fervently cling to. The LDS Church’s belief that family ties are eternal is not public relations. It is frankly regarded as a promise tied to strict theological obedience. As a result, parents are serving as proxies for countless children, battling for their status in the afterlife even as many of these children have long put Mormonism out of their minds.

Below are capsule reviews of the books and short interviews with the authors, as well as links to buy the books.

Byuck: This is a crazy book. It’s chaotic but hilariously funny. It’s a satire on life at BYU in
the 1990s and involves two eccentrics, Curses Olai and David Them, to create a rock opera, “Byuck,” which deals with avoiding what is regarded as the main responsibilities of being at BYU, namely matrimony and the ensuing white-shirt-and-tie responsibilities of adult life. The novel is intersected with assorted musings and academic contributions from Dave, such as his “Memory Book,” and lists of spiritual brainstorming from stake conference, and so on. There are witty caricatures, such as Peter, a “macho” BYU guy.

A lot of people have compared Byuck to “Napoleon Dynamite” and I read a review that tagged it with “The Death of a Disco Dancer.” As I told the author, I kept thinking of John Kennedy Toole’s “A Confederacy of Dunces.” The plot’s not similar but it has some of that creative chaos that makes “Confederacy” so memorable. By the way, the history of Jepson’s efforts to get Byuck published, including his dealings with Deseret Book, are as chaotic and hilarious.

The Hand of Glory: This young adult paranormal novel is a genuine horror tale. Carter, who subtitles it “Harrowed Valley Hauntings: Book 1,” has written a spooky story with talented, and chilling illustrations from Galen Dara. The back story of Hand of Glory is steeped in early Mormon history, with polygamy, sin and blood as a means of settling dilemmas. The protagonist is Paul McCallister, 14, who moves to a small Wyoming town. He’s not too happy there, being chased by bullies and wondering where his mom disappeared to. Eventually, Paul’s activities energizes ghosts of a long-ago generation, leading to a scary resolution.

I love antiques, old books and magazines, and anything that shows history at its dustiest. My favorite sections of the novel revolve around Paul’s visits to an old junk shop run by a distant relative.  To sum up, a great read, for kids and adults, but beware, this is not faux scary. It’s creepy.

German Leaves is not a novel, it’s an expanded work of scholarship from academic Ralph P. Vander Heide, who long ago covered the topic while getting a doctorate in German Exile Literature. The topic involves ideas, and writers who became exiles as a result of totalitarianism in Germany, the spread of Nazism.

There’s many subtopics in German Leaves, and my advice is to find sections that pique the readers’ interest and delve right in. I particularly enjoyed a section in which the author notes the failure of organized religion to prevent world wars and proposals, in various literary journals, that posit the idea of atheist-based altruism as a preferable alternative to religion. Whatever the topic, Vander Heide has a passion for “German Leaves” and his writing style is both interesting and provocative.

Here are links, via amazon, to all three of the books reviewed: Below that are interviews with the authors, in this order, Jepson, Carter and Vander Heide:

Byuck: Here

The Hand of Glory: Here

German Leaves …: Here

The interviews:

Me: Eric, the novel is chaotic but cool. For some bizarre reason, it reminds me of a Mormon version of A Confederacy of Dunces. Question: Is the novel a unique slice of life from 1990s BYU, or is it still relevant to the campus experience today? Also, I read The Motley Fool interview and the process trying to get accepted by Deseret Book is worthy of its own story. After all the talk, receiving a form rejection notice is hilarious. Do you think DB rejects works such as BYUck strictly for marketing reasons, or is a blend of ideology and marketing?

Jepson: “I had a similar experience with Covenant and in that case I know for sure that it was the marketing department that forced the editors to drop it. So I suspect that marketing leads. In fact, I rather think that marketing defines ideology — or, more accurately, perception of customer ideology leads marketing ideology.

“I appreciate the Confederacy of Dunces comparison. I haven’t read that book in years and so I can’t comment on whether any particular influence should be seen — certainly I didn’t include anything intentionally — but you make me want to reread it. In many ways, I think I was too young when I read that one.

“I did a promotion with the BYU Memes Facebook page, but it’s too soon to say how well Byuck captures their experience. I will say that one of the kids at my high school got his hands on a copy and he, a non-Mormon Bay Area 16-year-old son of Russian immigrants, seemed to latch on to it. If he can dig it, surely 2013 Cougars can. But we’ll be testing that when we finally get it into the BYU Bookstore. I’ve been a bit lax about getting that bit of sales done.”

—

Me: “I’m wondering how you market a scary YA tale with a Mormon overview, albeit pretty light.

Have publishers mentioned any concerns with the polygamy backstory? Is their reluctance from traditional Mormons pubs to the content? I know that Twilight isn’t even sold in Deseret Book.

The old shop fascinates me maybe the most. What were some life experiences that helped transmit those pages to the novel?

Carter: “You’re right, the book isn’t Mormon because it presents doctrine or events unique to Mormon life, but because of its interest in how connected we are to our ancestors, and how our actions resonate in worlds we can’t see.

“Interestingly, the Publisher’s Weekly review didn’t mention the Mormonism at all; it was more interested in how the plot has roots in the Bible. It said: ‘A very interesting family history tied closely to the Biblical story of Abraham and his two wives gives a unique angle to this ghost story.’

“I was actually more worried about the Bible story turning readers off than the Mormonism. In an MFA course I attended, we read an essay based on Samson and Delilah, and three-quarters of the class were thoroughly confused. Apparently, the only students who knew the story were the two Mormons and the Baptist minister’s daughter. I don’t think Bible stories are really that well known anymore.

“It was probably inevitable that religion would show up one way or another in this book. I grew up loving the author John Bellairs, and his ghost stories always had Catholicism working in the background. In one series, the protagonist is assisted by a Catholic priest. In another, the protagonist tries to recover the Urim and Thummim from some evil force. (When I read that particular book, I thought, “Hey, Joseph Smith knows where those are!”) The thing that fascinated me about Bellairs’ books was that the key to overcoming evil wasn’t purity or a crucifix or holy water, it was smarts, soul, and a dose of crabbiness. You couldn’t just put your arm to the square and cast out the ghosts, you had to encounter them, figure them out.

“And that’s kind of how I spent my nights as a kid: encountering the possibility of ghosts. Because if you’re a Mormon, you have to believe in ghosts. Your parents can’t tell you there’s no such thing: the scriptures are full of them, LDS Church history is full of them, our theology is full of them. And Mormonism will be the first religion to tell you that ghosts have identities; that they have personalities; that they can be as evil or as good as any human being. So my young self with his overactive imagination would stare into the darkness and wonder who the ghosts were.

“The old shop was one of my favorite parts of the book, too. I based it on a thoroughly amazing place I visit from time to time in Wyoming and mixed it in with memories of filing numerous newspaper clippings away in my grandmother’s dozens of full-size filing cabinets that seemed to multiply while I wasn’t looking. And finally, I added the feel of a dream I sometimes have where I find new, fascinating rooms in a house I thought I knew well. I look forward to exploring the shop further in the next book.

“I’m afraid I don’t have much to tell about trying to get the book into stores yet. We are still finding our way through Deseret Book’s process, and I have no idea how that will turn out.”

–

Me: What was the key distinction between the academic work of the past and turning it into a book decades later?

Vander Heide: “The good academics who advised on the dissertation insisted that I write in a logical , ABC (or B follows A) style without  compromise. The final product was not to be a novel!  The professor who reviewed grammar and style, etc. was an editor for the Modern Language Association, which is prestigious in the academic world. Curiously his German pronunciation was so poor that he was the only professor I had who did not conduct his classes in English. The man knew the language inside out as a study in grammar, history, knowledge of lit, but for some reason could not pronounce it. I appreciated his editing skills, but…. 

“I always wanted to write an equally informative and researched study, but a “better read” (or at least less dry).  The story of the Deutsche Blätter is a fascinating one. I wanted it preserved. Germans are no more evil than anyone else and the persons who founded this magazine prove that point. How well educated they were! (They were) true humanists and educated in the tradition of Goethe and Schiller whose portraits appear on the cover. They detested Hitler and  Nazism, but did not believe they represented the true German historically. 

A most daunting obstacle for me was the task of translating all the German passages. It certainly would not, I knew, sell in the USA with so much in German. The university German department did not want translations. So, one good day I had an epiphany to keep it all, i.e. two languages as explained in the preface. “I did it my way” as the song says, concerning the two languages. 

“My second inspiration was to add personal anecdotes including the murder of my cousin in the Netherlands, Dutch women collaborating with the Nazis, so many Netherlanders joining the German armed forces, resistant groups, and the account of the “brain drain.” It seems Hollywood especially profited. However, we also received the learning and wisdom of philosophers, scientists, politicians, so very many. 

“The Leaves is not dry history, but not a novel, of course. Perhaps it is an historical narrative which allows me to grind my ax (axes) and both ask and answer questions. How did Hitler accomplish it ? How could the German people follow him? Could this happen again? Through Dr. Rukser, Mr. Theile and all the contributors I freely examine the questions free (good or bad) from the pressure and power of graduate school professors.”

I’d wager most Latter-day Saints who take the Sacrament weekly and sip from tiny paper cups aren’t aware that for about 90 years, members sipping from a large ward Sacrament goblet was the norm in LDS chapels. Frankly, it was the norm in most protestant and Catholic congregations as well. In the fall 2012 “Journal of Mormon History,” Justin R. Bray, an archivist at the LDS Church History Department in Salt Lake City, has a fascinating article. “The Lord’s Supper During the Progressive Era, 1890-1930.” Bray explains that the gradual demise of the single-goblet Sacrament ritual in Mormon chapels was one of many sanitary reforms initiated during the “Progressive Era” in America.

As Bray relates, even before some church members began questioning the use of a large ward goblet, sanitary reformers were already at work initiating reform measures in the cities. One of the first disease-breeding “conveniences” to go were drinking mugs, usually chained next to water fountains in cities. Salt Lake City stopped using public drinking mugs in 1910, for example. The mugs were a health hazard. They allowed people ill with disease to pass on bugs to unlimited numbers of persons. Bray relates one case where an entire student body and faculty of a school was taken ill due to one sick student who drank from a public mug.

As Bray writes, “The Progressive Movement … was an attempt to cure the ills of American society left over from massive industrial growth in the late 1800s.” Reducing disease caused by factory conditions and unsanitary housing was part of the crusade. Many Mormons, including LDS Church President Heber J. Grant, considered themselves progressives. As early as 1900, Bray relates, Seldon Clawsen, a member of the 18th Ward in Salt Lake City, was lobbying LDS leader George Q. Cannon, to do away with the large sacramental cups. Cannon’s death postponed his efforts for about a decade, but by 1910, as Utah was reforming its public drinking locations, efforts were renewed, led by Clawsen, to replace the cups with individual tiny cups and trays.

Initially, there was strong opposition to the idea of replacing the large communal cup, with traditionalists arguing that the Lord would not allow illness to result from his Sacrament. Eventually, an 18th Ward committee recommended ending the large communal cup practice to the bishop and the stake president of the Ensign Stake, where the 18th Ward was located. The stake president cautiously referred the matter to church leadership.

Then-LDS President Joseph F. Smith handled the matter more like a politician than a spiritual leader. As Bray’s article relates, he was”impressed” with the tiny cups but felt that most members would oppose a change. Also, Smith was worried he would be blamed in the tiny cups idea failed.

Eventually, though, as Bray relates, quoting Clawsen’s notes, “President Smith … looked at the floor for a minute or two, then he looked at us and smiled and said, ‘I have it. I’ll turn the matter over to the Council of the Twelve. Then they can take the blame for the failure.’”

Eventually, the Quorum of the Twelve allowed the 18th Ward to use the tiny cups, so long as the ward handled the costs. After a little while, every ward in the Ensign Stake was using tiny cups instead of a large cup.

It wasn’t long before the First Presidency of the LDS Church began recommending, but not mandating, that members use the tiny cups. In an interesting bit of marketing, the LDS Church leaders recommended that wards buy metal sacrament cups and trays patented by a church member, Jacob Schaub, who sold his cups and trays through the Sunday School Union Bookstore. Despite the endorsement, Bray relates that Schaub’s Sacrament set was never very popular with wards, which were not afraid to buy sacramental sets not affiliated with the LDS Church. The article includes old ads from Schaub, and another competitor, Daynes Jewelry Company, that were advertised in LDS church periodicals. Ironically, Brays relates that one objection to the Schaub tray and cups was that they failed to meet sanitation standards. Nevertheless, Schaub prominently placed in his ads that his Sacrament set was “Recommended by the First Presidency.”

For six years, the use of the trays and tiny cups were largely restricted to the Salt Lake City area. LDS President Joseph F. Smith did little to promote a change, church-wide, from the traditional large cups. As Bray relates, what hastened the end of of large, communal Sacrament cups in LDS wards for good was the Spanish Influenza epidemic after World War I. Returning U.S. soldiers brought it to America, where 675,000 Americans died; 21 million across the world. In October 1918, Utah banned all public gatherings, and many residents wore protective masks over mouths. Bray writes, “Whole cities were quarantined. Some cities, like Ogden, allowed people to enter only with a doctor’s certification of good health.”

Ironically, the Spanish flu epidemic claimed the life of LDS President Joseph F. Smith, who died of pneumonia “caused by the influenza virus.” Because of the epidemic, the next LDS president and prophet, Heber J. Grant, was not sustained until June 1919, in a delayed LDS General Conference.

As mentioned, Grant was “progressive by temperament, diligently campaigning for ‘better city ordinances and state laws on the question of proper sanitary conditions,’” writes Bray. During the same conference that sustained him as church president, Grant said that 1,000-plus LDS church members had died from the Spanish flu epidemic in nine months. It wasn’t long before ads for trays and tiny cups became ubiquitous in LDS Church publications, thereby helping sales of trays and cups outside of the Salt Lake valley. In 1923, as Bray relates, a 13-step guide for LDS wards on handling the Sacrament was published in the LDS periodical “The Improvement Era.” As Bray relates, “these instructions stressed that the sacramental water must be distributed in ‘individual glasses’ and ‘carried in trays.’”

No mention was included of a common sacramental cup. After nearly 100 years, the practice of a large common Sacrament cup, passed around to babies, ancients, tobacco users and delicate lips, had ended.

Afternote: For those interested, here’s a 1911 article from The Improvement Era on the LDS Sacrament. Also, the Daynes ad above is from this blog site.

There’s no shortage of hypocrisy in Washington D.C., but the real reason Congress, and the White House, suddenly discovered that even with cuts we can afford air traffic controllers, was noted by syndicated columnist Debra Saunders. She writes, “There was a fear factor: If a plane crashed, voters would blame Washington.”

The barriers are falling on the sequester fear tactics. It’s likely now that control towers at smaller airports are safe from closure (Read). Frankly, I think the chances of civilian defense furloughs will be whittled below the current 14-day threat, perhaps to zero.

Some pundits are casting this as a loss for President Obama and the Democrats (read), but it’s a win for everyone. If our pols had failed to have the will to make these tiny sequestration cuts to a universally acknowledged bloated, debt-ridden budget, it would have cast a very pessimistic outlook on future, bigger cuts that will be needed, such as Medicare.

And be assured that despite the loud constituencies, we will one day have to face cuts in entitlements. They’ll be more painful than today’s mild cuts. That it seems we could take the baby steps necessary in 2013 bodes a little bit better for our resolve in the future.

Fifteen years after the lightly read “Father of Lies,” fiction about Mormons written by lapsed Mormons is hot. There’s a lot of religion being shucked out of the systems of a lot of authors, albeit not nearly as graphically as Evenson or Waters. There’s “The Lonely Polygamist,” as well as “Elders,” and another offering, a collection of short stories, “Godforsaken Idaho,” by a lapsed Mormon named Shawn Vestal. That hasn’t got as much press as “Lonely Polygamist” or Elders,” so I invested $6 via Kindle and spent a not unpleasant few days reading Vestal’s stuff.

He’s an exceptionally talented short story writer, and his critiques of his former faith range from the subtle to coshing you over the head with his prose. Although the cover features a photo of Joseph Smith, such Mormon ideals of family ties and families being forever assume greater roles in Vestal’s tales. I particularly liked his first short story, “The First Several Hundred Years Following My Death.” In it, Vestal manages to create a completely unique vision of the afterlife. In it we live eternally in the same condition that our body enjoyed when we die.

The narrator, Rex, a chronic adulterer who abandoned his children before dying at 47, finds that peace can only be encountered in your past life. Death does not offer a new body, or a better spirit. Any experience in your life can be recalled, and any dish or drink ordered in the afterlife cafeteria. As Rex says, “Now that it’s gone your life is the only thing that you have left. Ransack it, top to bottom. Plunder that fucker. Find whatever you can in there, because it’s all there is.” Joseph Smith plays a cameo in this tale, as an arrogant guy being damned by a few others as he struts through the eternal cafeteria. The tale ends with a riff on the families are forever mantra, as Rex and his past and future generations plan a family reunion, egged on by a relative who was a Mormon. The reunion falters and fails, as its participants realize they have nothing in common with each other.

“Winter Elders” is the darkest of Vestal’s tales of Mormonism, the closest to an Evenson-type story (although his “Opposition In All Things” is pretty grim, too). It features, “Bradshaw,” ex-Mormon, with wife and new baby, consumed by a hatred for his former religion. When a disturbed Mormon missionary, Elder Pope, won’t leave him alone, it leads to a violent conclusion. Vestal’s prose is impressive: “Pope smiled patiently at Bradshaw, lips pressed hammily together. It was the smile of every man he had met in church, the bishops and first counselors and stake presidents, the benevolent mask, the put-on solemnity, the utter falseness. It was the smile of the men who brought boxes of food when Bradshaw was a teenager and his father wasn’t working, the canned meat and bricks of cheese.” What conflicts Bradshaw, an emotion reflected in Elder Pope that must be destroyed, is a sole memory of Bradshaw once accepting the emotions of his former religion.

A couple of other stories, “Gulls” and “Diviner,” explore the paradox of accepting a person, religion, or ideology that disgusts you. In “Gulls,” young teen Sara Miller, living in late 1840s Utah, is tired of her faith, her hypocrite father, and not enamored of a bishop who wants to make her his plural wife. Sara’s father is furious she is hedging on Bishop Warren’s proposal: “When she’d told him she wanted to pray over the proposal before giving Bishop Warren an answer, she had seen blood and confusion gathering under his skin. ‘Do you not think,’ he had whispered harshly, ‘that I have prayed on it myself?’ … Three days passed, and Sara received no answer to her prayers. The expectations of Bishop Warren shaded every minute of every day, and she felt her father’s heart darkening toward her.”

Before long, Sara receives visions of death and decay. Just before the Mormon legend of the miracle of the seagulls occurs, Sara begins to anticipate, and welcome the desolation caused by the crickets. When her farm is saved, instead, Sara, bemused, is resigned to becoming a polygamous wife.

“Diviner” is not among the best in the collection, but it’s an interesting take on a pre-prophet Joseph Smith, narrated by Isaac Hale, the father of Smith’s eventual wife, Emma. Told in journal entries, it casts Smith as a still-teen hired by a skeptical Hale and several greedy neighbors to find buried treasure. Vestal’s Smith is a charismatic, attractive youth, who easily captivates Emma. Smith’s constant revelations and “readings of stone,” his client’s fruitless digging, and Smith’s explanations that God is continuing to sink the treasure lower into the earth, eventually leads to anger and violence, including tarring and feathering, against the professional money-digger. To Hale’s dismay, that only increases his daughter’s love for the young con man.

After Emma runs off and marries Smith, Isaac suffers a breakdown, only to recover some after reuniting with the now married couple and accepting that which he finds abhorrent. As Vestal writes, “He (Smith) believes his foolishness, every bit of it, and so is merely a man. He never asks anyone else to pray, and I am relieved not to do it and offended not to be asked. When Emma looks at him in admiration or love or whatever it is that pulls them toward each other, I feel I have crossed into a fresh hell. And yet I am happy to be here, somewhat. I had rather be near her than not.”

The resignations of Vestal’s characters. “Sara” and Isaac Hale to live in that which repels them is an interesting theme through Vestal’s stories. Another prevalent theme of the stories is that of a father and/or husband who fails to take responsibility for his actions or preserve healthy relationships with children or spouses. In an interview published at amazon.com, Vestal says that an influence on the actions of wayward men in his stories is his father, a man who served time in jail and prison.

A sidenote: There is excellent “grizzly bear” Mormon-themed fiction authored by active Mormons. Authors include Douglas Thayer, Christopher Bigelow, Todd Robert Petersen, Coke Newell, Eugene Woodbury, Jonathan Langford, etc. Yet they haven’t attracted a wide audience. One reason may be that these works are ignored by the LDS Church’s publisher, Deseret Book, which still favors bland, “teddy bear” prose on its bookshelves.

The Scouts have proposed allowing gay Scouts into troops, but banning gay adults from any role with Scouts. This proposal fails on many levels but here’s two:

One, it basically tells gay Eagle Scouts that once they have entered adulthood they are no longer morally fit to be associated with Scouting. Two, it tells gay Scouts that their lifestyle is so morally unfit that there can be no adult gay role models in Scouting for them. It just boggles the mind that this “compromise” actually moved beyond the brainstorming stage, through discussion and into a major proposal. I can’t imagine such a bad idea being approved in May at the Scouts national council meeting.

Even those who favor the ban are not happy with the proposal. Tony Perkins, of the conservative Family Research Council, told the Los Angeles Times that the latest proposal was “incoherent.” He’s right.

The Scouts should bite the bullet and do the right thing, which is ending its ban on gays, period. The organization could return to an earlier trial balloon idea, which called for allowing local troops to decide whether to include gays in Scouting. Or, the Scouts’ leaders can simply reaffirm their ban on gays and deal with any economic consequences as a result. I don’t support an idea from liberal California legislators to revoke the group’s tax-exempt status, but any private organizations which choose to pull sponsorship from the Scouts because of their stand on gays have the right to do so. And, it’s true that if the Scouts allow gays, the organization may lose its affiliations with some churches, maybe The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

But this pitiful compromise needs to be dumped. It’s an insult to gay youths and gay adults.

The money quote from Givens is this: “You see, even brilliant individuals and ordained Seventies can buy into careless assumptions that lead them astray. That Joseph Smith at some point entertained similar notions about Book of Mormon geography only makes it more imperative for members not to take every utterance of any leader as inspired doctrine.” For longstanding Mormons, that is not necessarily an easy transition. Authority is big in the church, and the words of a general authority, let alone an apostle or prophet, can be a debate-finisher.

But understanding that all people are fallible, as well as a realization that doubt is a component of true faith, are main themes of Givens’ advice. It’s well-needed, because, the LDS Church is losing young adults who are confronted, in an Internet-archived world, with contradictions that can easily dent weak faith that relies on claims of certainty.

Givens offers five components of belief that can lead to doubt. In The Prophetic Mantle, he reminds readers that the Scriptures, including The Bible, are full of prophets who err. They include Abraham. Moses, Jonah, and Paul. Givens writes, citing LDS Prophet Spencer W. Kimball’s repudiation of Brigham Young’s Adam-God heresy as an example, “… when Pres. Woodruff said the Lord would never suffer his servants to lead the people astray, we can only reasonably interpret that to mean the prophet will not teach us any soul destroying doctrine—not that they will never err.” Again, this addresses the incorrect assumption that whenever a prophet speaks, he is absolutely correct. This weak idea is easily disproved — just read many of Brigham Young’s discourses — but it can do damage to persons who demand no errors in their belief.

Another issue Givens addresses is the mistaken idea that God was silent on issues of theology, and that the Christian church was inactive, for centuries prior to 1820, when Joseph Smith received the First Vision. Instead, Givens urges those with doubts to see Smith’s mission not as starting over, but “that of bringing it all into one coherent whole, not reintroducing the gospel ex nihilo.”

The third part of Givens’ essay addresses the idea of “Mormon Exclusivity,” or the assumption that in a world of several billion, a few million Mormons have a “monopoly on salvation.” Givens then points out something that I deeply appreciate about my religion, that it offers salvation to virtually all of God’s children. He writes, “… the most generous, liberal, and universalist conception of salvation in all Christendom is Joseph Smith’s view.” Givens stresses the theology that “here and hereafter, a multitude of non-Mormons will participate in the Church of the Firstborn.”

The final two points of Givens’ essay are a rebuttal to the idea that organized religion is unnecessary and the misbegotten assumption that belief automatically brings personal satisfaction and personal revelations of truth. He explains that the gospel of Christ is a message that invites inclusion, and sharing, and spiritual sociality that exists on the earth, will exist in the afterlife. He writes, “In this light, the project of perfection, or purification and sanctification, is not a scheme for personal advancement, but a process of better filling — and rejoicing in — our role in what Paul called the body of Christ …”

As for the personal feelings of failure, disappointment, despair, and general unhappiness, traits that do not go away even when we profess a belief, Givens advises “three simple ideas: be patient, remember and take solace in the fellowship of the desolate.”

As Givens continues, “Patience does not mean to wait apathetically and dejectedly, but to anticipate actively on the basis of what we know; and what we know we must remember.”

Memory is a powerful component of faith and belief. One reason we are taught to gather in organized churches is to participate in the Sacrament, where we remember what Christ’s sacrifice has done for us.

And, as Givens relates, membership in the Society of the Desolate is something to be proud of. Its members include Mother Teresa, whom Givens quotes, said “I am told God loves me — and yet the reality of darkness and coldness and emptiness is so great that nothing touches my soul. … Heaven from every side is closed.”

If we take nothing else from “Letter to a Doubter,” please understand that even the most spiritual feel spiritually alone, not rarely but often. That too, is a test of faith.

In his conclusion, Givens urges that we be “grateful” for our doubts. He adds, “I am grateful for a propensity to doubt because it gives me the capacity to freely believe. … An overwhelming preponderance of evidence on either side would make our choice as meaningless as would a loaded gun pointed at our heads.”

I lack the talents Givens possesses to do justice to his discourse/essay, so I urge readers, again, to read it carefully. It’s important that we not allow our doubt to be exploited by others, but use it as an advantage designed to strengthen our spiritual beliefs.

One of the points raised by those outraged by the Senate killing the measure is that 90 percent of Americans support the extended background checks. I imagine that number is likely pretty close to the truth, but don’t expect there to be a wave of public anger that shifts the debate over guns and sweeps pro-NRA pols out of office. (The president more or less made that appeal in his remarks yesterday).

This Gallup poll explains what I mean. Only 4 percent of Americans see guns/gun control as their most important issue. Most may agree that it’s be nice to have tougher background checks, but they are not going to vote against Senator X or Senator Y because of Wednesday’s vote. In fact, I’d wager that among those small minorities who will vote on how a pol votes on gun control, the intensity is higher among opponents of more gun control measures. There basically 55 votes to move the bill forward yesterday (Sen. Harry Reid voted no for a procedural reason), but it’s in no way sure that even the mild Toomey-Manchin bill would have cleared the Senate in a final vote. And, frankly, it would have been dead on arrival in the U.S. House.

Jennifer Steinhauer, writing in the New York Times today, sums up the recent legislative comedy well. “The 68 votes last week to allow the debate on gun legislation to proceed was a mirage, a temporary triumph granted by senators willing to allow shooting victims and their survivors the vote they sought with absolutely no intention of supporting the final legislation and crossing the gun lobby or constituents who see gun rights as a defining issue.”

Charles W. Cooke, writing in the conservative National Review, also notes that despite supporters bringing gun violence victims such as former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, and families of Newtown victims, to cheer for the various congressional gun control bill, no gun control advocates “could get past the fact that laws banning assault weapons, limiting magazine size, and forcing background checks upon all gun transfers would do nothing to stop maniacs. They could not present ploys such as “if it can save one life . . . ” without looking manipulative and desperate. People can tell when their representatives don’t know what they’re talking about, and they know when they’re being played.”

The best gun control advocates can hope for is that the heightened conversation on gun control since the December Newtown atrocity continues. Right now, it’s not going anywhere in Congress.

The would-be “destroying angel” that prompted Joseph Smith to get moving on polygamy is one of those “legends” that I heard from parents and others growing up as a young Latter-day Saint. I had always assumed it was another legend, such as the White Horse Prophecy, that gets passed around so often that it achieves a false legitimacy. However, there seems to be enough persons aware of this claim that it should be placed above folklore status.

In the book, “Nauvoo Polygamy, but we called it celestial marriage,” author George D. Smith adds to Bushman’s account with one caveat. He reports that Smith’s plural wife, Rollins Lightner, also included the drawn sword in her story. From “Nauvoo Polygamy,” D. Smith repeats a statement Rollins Lightner made in 1902, claiming Joseph Smith told her he had been commanded to marry her as far back as 1834, but had resisted, until, as she related “the Angel came to him three times, the last time with a drawn Sword and threatened his life.”

Rollins Lightner, quite reasonably, relates that she asked Smith “if God told him So, why did he not come and tell me [?]” Apparently, Rollins Lightner did have what she regarded as an angelic visitation. She said, “”… and an Angel came to me, it went through me like lightning.” The pair were married in 1842.

LDS historian Brian C. Hales, who has done a lot of research into polygamy and the early Mormon Church, cites LDS Apostle Erastus Snow as a supporting source that Joseph Smith felt his life was in danger if he did not implement polygamy. Hales writes, “Erastus Snow claimed that Joseph had ‘to plead on his knees before the Angel for his Life.” (Hales’ research lists many persons who were told, either secondhand or by Smith, of the angels’ visits and displeasure. The earliest account he has is 1854.)

If, as most historians believe, Fanny Alger was Joseph Smith’s first plural wife, there was several-years time of “foot-dragging” before the Mormon prophet began to implement polygamy. As Hales and other historians note, not-surprising opposition to the practice by Smith’s lawful wife, Emma, probably was the strongest reason for Smith’s reluctance. Emma Smith had reportedly kicked servant Alger out of the Smith home. Although reports are that she attempted to understand and countenance her husband’s polygamous efforts during the Nauvoo period, she was never able to accept it. After her husband’s murder, a key reason for her refusal to follow Brigham Young with most of the Saints to the Rocky Mountains was due to polygamy.

Bushman brings up another reason that Smith may have been reluctant to embrace polygamy. It was that skeptics of new religions tended to look for dysfunctional sexual behaviors as a reason to condemn the churches or movements. Bushman writes, “From the … sixteenth century to the camp meetings of the nineteenth, critics expected sexual improprieties from religious enthusiasts. Marital experiments by contemporary radical sects increased the suspicions. … With old barriers coming down, people were on the lookout for sexual aberrations.”

Joseph Smith was certainly smart enough to realize how Mormons would be if the young church embraced polygamy. He also, it is virtually universally acknowledged by historians, loved his wife Emma deeply and was loathe to do anything that would hurt her. These conflicts must have disturbed him.

The idea that lust motivated Joseph Smith’s desire for polygamy may satisfy his most severe critics, but the historical record does not support it. A wait of several years after the failed union with Fanny Alger shows reluctance for the practice, not desire. One need not believe that Joseph Smith pleaded before an angel with a sword to acknowledge that. The doctrine of plural marriage, as Smith and other early Mormon leaders understood it, was essential to increase eternal families, and one’s glory in the after-life. It’s likely that many of Smith’s plural marriages, particularly the ones that involved plural marriages to women already married, were sexless and intended only for the afterlife.

To active Mormons, and others who read all the church’s scriptures, the God described in the Doctrine and Covenants is, at least in verbal rhetoric, similar to the God of the Old Testament. Frankly, it’s not that difficult to picture a god of that temperament sending an angel with a sword to “persuade” Joseph Smith to start polygamy.

Nevertheless, whether the angel is a part of Mormon history, or just part of Mormon lore, will always be debated. Church leaders invited that discussion in 1934, when LDS apostle Melvin J. Ballard, wrote, “The statement … concerning the angel appearing with the drawn sword is not a matter that is in our own church history. While it may be all true, the church has not pronounced it authentic nor has it contradicted it.” (Hales, “Joseph Smith’s Polygamy Volume 1a)

Of course, that was during a time that the LDS Church leadership was slowly pursuing a more modern, accommodating church that would assimilate well with the rest of the world. Almost 50 years earlier, a period where the church was still embracing polygamy, Hales writes, “Future apostle Orson F. Whitney, grandson of Heber C. Kimball and son of Joseph Smith’s plural wife Helen Mar Kimball Whitney, apparently believed the story genuine. His 1888 biography of Heber C. Kimball includes this statement:

‘A grand and glorious principle had been revealed, and for years had slumbered in the breast of God’s Prophet, awaiting the time when, with safety to himself and the Church, it might be confided to the sacred keeping of a chosen few. That time had now come. An angel with a flaming sword descended from the courts of glory and, confronting the Prophet, commanded him in the name of the Lord to establish the principle so long concealed from the knowledge of the Saints and of the world — that of plural knowledge.’

I don’t know how many persons today believe in, or even know of, the alleged angel that threatened Joseph Smith to marry other women, but it clearly merits inclusion as a part of LDS Church history.