***
Dear Chuck,
Thanks for your email.
You never know what'll happen when prejudices drop.
I've spent considerable time studying Mormonism and consider founder-prophet Joseph Smith a sexual predator and religious sham. (Aside: The strength of Mormonism is its unswerving emphasis on family/tribe - phenomena that are essentially zoological, not religious. That said, the concomitant discipline of "focused family life" has results in the development of strictly "moral" people, who, like most strictly "moral" people, are belligerent right-wingers.)
To my surprise, I have come away from my study of Mormonism with considerable appreciation for polygamy.
Mind you, I can not imagine polygamy in my own life -- nor recommending it to anyone I know -- but I now understand its benefit... at least under certain circumstances.
Of course, nothing's perfect.
Despite King David's 7 or 8 wives -- one of them purchased with 100 Philistine foreskins -- he ended up "loving Jonathan like no woman." http://en.wikipedia.
Gotta love the ancient Jews!
Nobody told a better story!
Nobody!
This is the same David whose psalms are read during Catholic mass.
In fact, David is the only biblical author whose work is read at every mass.
Ironically, any modern "Christian" with a modus operandi fractionally as outrageous as David's would be consigned to a yet uncharted Circle of Hell, relative to which Bill Clinton's "eternal reward" would be Seventh Heaven -- a breezy beach, turquoise water, white sand, good company, delectable food, celestial drink.
I am eager to see Rob Reiner's filmatic rendition of "Under the Banner of Heaven." If he adheres to the structure of the book and contextualizes the real-life murders within the ebb-and-flow of Mormonism's checkered and often sordid history, it would be an eye-opener with completely unpredictable socio-political fallout. http://paxonbothhouses.
Pax on both houses,
Alan
On Sat, Jul 13, 2013 at 11:37 PM, CH wrote:
I don't know, a full 6% of audience members did not like it. Can they all be wrong?
In seriousness, I'm always pleased when any knee-jerk reaction (and hating pedophiles is certainly one) is looked at mindfully.
There is a similarly expansive view of an actual (not falsely accused) pedophile in an episode of Top of the Lake, BBC series on Netflix, which also features Holly Hunter as far and away the best Zen guru ever put on film.
C
On Jul 13, 2013 11:27 PM, "Alan Archibald" <alanarchibaldo@gmail.com> wrote:
Dear C,
I'd like to see this movie.
Hope y'all had a good day!
Pax
Alan