Who We Are
I admit it; I'm infatuated with my new iPhone. It lets me post to LiveJournal online, it lets me write and dispose of shopping lists without wasting paper, it lets me download my favorite podcasts, and it lets me make phone calls--not an advantage to be taken lightly, as my girlfriend with her AT & T version of the iPhone will tell you.
The iPhone also lets me log in to Facebook on the go--and to be even more specific, it allows me to play Scrabble and Words With Friends.
I'm too cheap to pay for these apps, so I use the free versions. The tradeoff is the omnipresent ads, but even these can be fascinating. Are there really people who want to catch Chicken of the Sea tuna on their iPhones?
The ad campaign I find most interesting of late, however, is the series of ads that are apparently portraying fun-loving young people who happen to be Mormon, the "I Am A Mormon" campaign. It took me a while to figure out that it reminded me of the "I'm a PC" ad campaign. The similarities go beyond the fact that I'm neither a Mormon nor a PC devotee.
I haven't viewed the entire ad, but I gather the gist is that being a Mormon does not make one odd or different. I have no argument there; it is the same valid principle behind the It Gets Better Project.
It did make me wonder as to the purpose of the ad campaign. Are the Mormons recruiting? Did the quasi-backlash against Mitt Romney's religion in the last presidential campaign make the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints feel the need to assert that there is nothing odd or unusual about being a Mormon?
They shouldn't have to feel that need. I would say that one of my best friends is a Mormon, but that makes it sound like I'm trying to emphasize that I know one Mormon who is perfectly normal like the rest of us, and that is not what I'm trying to imply. What I'm trying to say is that I know someone who is a perfectly lovely person, and whose dad was one of the most selfless men I know--he came up to split wood for my parents during one winter when they were both suffering from sciatica and were confined to bed for the majority of the day. My friend and his dad happened to be Mormon, and I respect that their beliefs work for them and are none of my business. If the church feels the need to let everyone know that Mormons are just like us, I support that.
However, I would remind the church that I do not forget that they spent heavily on the hateful Proposition 8 campaign in California that aimed to deny certain human beings the right to have a loving relationship recognized, validated, and celebrated. This was money that could have been spent helping impoverished people in a downtrodden economy. The fact that this money was invested in a discriminatory movement rather than being used for social benevolence links the Church rather unfortunately with the failed prophet of the rapture, Harold Camping--the man who was flabbergasted when the world didn't end on May 21st, and who said there was no point in donating his millions to charity before being transported to Heaven.
This connection is tenuous, I know, and I would not lump Mormons in with the fearmongering of Camping's Judgment Day posters. I also recognize that everyone has limited resources, so I would not expect the Mormons to help everyone in the world. But they should not act to harm others.
As with any organization, there is a difference between individuals and the collective. I recognize that most Mormons feel that Prop 8 was probably a fine thing to support--they just happen to be wrong, and I would hope that a majority of the individuals recognize the hypocrisy of a campaign asserting that we should treat Mormons as being no different than anyone else, when their church was a prime funder of a proposition that treated certain human beings as second-class citizens.
The iPhone also lets me log in to Facebook on the go--and to be even more specific, it allows me to play Scrabble and Words With Friends.
I'm too cheap to pay for these apps, so I use the free versions. The tradeoff is the omnipresent ads, but even these can be fascinating. Are there really people who want to catch Chicken of the Sea tuna on their iPhones?
The ad campaign I find most interesting of late, however, is the series of ads that are apparently portraying fun-loving young people who happen to be Mormon, the "I Am A Mormon" campaign. It took me a while to figure out that it reminded me of the "I'm a PC" ad campaign. The similarities go beyond the fact that I'm neither a Mormon nor a PC devotee.
I haven't viewed the entire ad, but I gather the gist is that being a Mormon does not make one odd or different. I have no argument there; it is the same valid principle behind the It Gets Better Project.
It did make me wonder as to the purpose of the ad campaign. Are the Mormons recruiting? Did the quasi-backlash against Mitt Romney's religion in the last presidential campaign make the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints feel the need to assert that there is nothing odd or unusual about being a Mormon?
They shouldn't have to feel that need. I would say that one of my best friends is a Mormon, but that makes it sound like I'm trying to emphasize that I know one Mormon who is perfectly normal like the rest of us, and that is not what I'm trying to imply. What I'm trying to say is that I know someone who is a perfectly lovely person, and whose dad was one of the most selfless men I know--he came up to split wood for my parents during one winter when they were both suffering from sciatica and were confined to bed for the majority of the day. My friend and his dad happened to be Mormon, and I respect that their beliefs work for them and are none of my business. If the church feels the need to let everyone know that Mormons are just like us, I support that.
However, I would remind the church that I do not forget that they spent heavily on the hateful Proposition 8 campaign in California that aimed to deny certain human beings the right to have a loving relationship recognized, validated, and celebrated. This was money that could have been spent helping impoverished people in a downtrodden economy. The fact that this money was invested in a discriminatory movement rather than being used for social benevolence links the Church rather unfortunately with the failed prophet of the rapture, Harold Camping--the man who was flabbergasted when the world didn't end on May 21st, and who said there was no point in donating his millions to charity before being transported to Heaven.
This connection is tenuous, I know, and I would not lump Mormons in with the fearmongering of Camping's Judgment Day posters. I also recognize that everyone has limited resources, so I would not expect the Mormons to help everyone in the world. But they should not act to harm others.
As with any organization, there is a difference between individuals and the collective. I recognize that most Mormons feel that Prop 8 was probably a fine thing to support--they just happen to be wrong, and I would hope that a majority of the individuals recognize the hypocrisy of a campaign asserting that we should treat Mormons as being no different than anyone else, when their church was a prime funder of a proposition that treated certain human beings as second-class citizens.
posted by Devin at 11:09 AM
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