Undersea Sculptures in Cancun, Mexico

I have an interest in outdoor environmental and/or monumental art.  For this reason, I was particularly interested in the following short article (written by the artist Jason deCaires Taylor) that appeared in NG (Jan 2012):

Submerged in transparent ocean waters [near Cancun, Mexico], my life-size statues act as tropical reefs.  Af first they look like ruins from an ancient civilization.  But look closely.  They’re based on real people performing contemporary acts, cast from coral-friendly, pH-neutral marine concrete.  Why do I create them?  To show what a sustainable, symbiotic relationship with nature might look like.

Five years ago in Grenada, West Indies, my training in sculpture, diving, set design, and photography converged.  I realized that underwater statues might be an artistic way to help revive one bay’s ecosystem.  After the [Mexican]government agreed, the scale and my ambition grew.  I’ve since sunk hundreds of works and shot the results.

First I sketch the statue, then research how best to construct, transport, and install it using cranes and a crew.  Once it’s finally in place, up to six months later, I get to photograph it–that’s the fun part. . . .

Snorkelers, scuba divers, and tourists in glass-bottom boats all see my work now.  I hope they enjoy it but also appreciate where it’s located–at a vital intersection of art, science, and the environment.

Snorkeler Inspects Sculptural Grouping Titled: "The Silent Evolution"

Jason deCaires Taylor inspects his underwater statue titled "Man on Fire"

For more information on other examples of monumental and outdoor environmental art, search the “monument” category to the right of this blog page.

Mormon Transhumanist Association’s April 2012 Conference

The 2012 conference of the Mormon Transhumanist Association will be held on 6 April 2012 at the Salt Lake City Public Library in Salt Lake City, Utah. The conference will be open to the public. Speakers will address the themes of Mormonism, Transhumanism and Transfigurism, with particular attention to topics at the intersection of technology, spirituality, science and religion.

For more information click here.

The “Prosperity Gospel” and Mormonism

According to a recent article by Peggy Fletcher Stack in the SLTrib (1 Jan 2011):

Through the ages, the idea that God materially rewards the righteous has appealed to certain kinds of Christians. Mormons are no exception. A Harper’s Magazine article even asserted that Mormon beliefs were like the prosperity gospel “on steroids.”

That may be an overstatement, says BYU’s [Warner] Woodworth [professor of organizational behavior], but it contains an element of truth.

Mormons may not call it the “prosperity gospel,” says Woodworth, who spends most of his time working with students and nonprofit groups focused on Third World poverty, “but many definitely believe that the more righteous they are, the more money God will give them because He wants them to be successful.”

Stack’s discussion of the Mormon “prosperity gospel” concludes:

 It has led to multilevel marketing schemes and scams, to overspending and under-giving, to conspicuous consumption and to a disregard for the poor, Woodworth says. “A lot of U.S. Mormons in business try to pay their employees as little as possible.”

And though many claim they will help those in the Third World after they have secured their first million, Woodworth says, few ever get there.

“It always feels to me that there’s a spiritual bifurcation. When they’re in the dog-eat-dog world, they’ve got one mind-set and one perspective, which is all about becoming the biggest, the richest and the greatest,” he says. “But when they go to church or serve in their calling as a mission president or whatever, it’s all about love and reaching out and we’re all the same and all equal.”

Loose-tight Management

In an article in Time magazine (19 Dec 2011), reporter Bill Saporito discusses the management style of Sergio Marchionne, boss of Chrysler, Fiat, and Fiat Industrial:

Sergio Marchioone, Boss of Chrysler and Fiat

. . . Marchionne brings an analytical ability that allows him to drill down to the smallest detail of manufacturing or even advertizing.  At the same time, he is blind to rank and open to new ideas, no matter where they come from.  “We flattened the organization out.  We reached out and brought people on the management team who had been buried underneath the classical hierarchy of corporate America,” says Marchionne.  “They were given an opportunity to play.  These are people who had been two or three layers down from the senior leadership.”

It’s sometimes known as loose-tight management, meaning that Marchionne is also unforgiving in holding people accountable for executing their ideas.  “It’s pretty intense, because he questions–and again, rightfully so–and there are times when you think you’re so prepared and ready and he’ll bring [up] something completely [different] that you weren’t thinking of,” says Laura Soave, a bright young marketing executive who was in charge of the Fiat 500′s American introduction until Marchionne moved her out for not moving fast enough to establish a new Fiat-dealer network.

That’s Marchionne’s MO:  give people all the rope they need and then yank it if he has to.  Or maybe even if he doesn’t.

And Saporito continues:  “. . . An unabashed Apple admirer, Marchionne has the Steve Jobs gift of absolute focus.”

The federal agency I work for could certainly use some “flattening” of its organization.  In the meantime, manager will hopefully drill down.

Here’s to the Modern American Family

Last week, I went to visit my son and his family in Manassas VA; my grandson was being ordained a Deacon in the Aaron Priesthood (think of it as a Mormon Bar Mitzvah) and I wanted to be there. 

After the ordination, we were invited over to my ex-sister-in-law’s house (my brother’s first wife) for dinner, a birthday party, and an early Christmas party.  At the dinner party were my ex-sister-in-law, my niece and her campanion (who are gay), another niece (bachelorette and daughter from my brother’s second marriage) and her lawyer friend (who appears to have MS), my daughter-in-law’s outspoken brother (a bachelor visiting from Idaho), my son and his family (wife and five children) and myself.

My ex-sister-in-law, who has never remarried, has a beautiful home in a wooded area near Arlington VA.  She only has one daughter (who is gay) and will, in all probabilty, have no grandchildren, so she enjoys hanging out with the members of the Hansen clan who live in the Washington DC area.  Which is great.  Since my wife and I live in UT, it is good to know that my children and grandchildren have support anchors in the DC area.

My son and his family are all very religious, very Mormon.  My ex-sister-in-law was converted to Mormonism as a teenager and briefly attended BYU.  I doubt she is still a member.  My two nieces are probably not Mormon.  The one niece, who is gay, has bad feelings about the LDS Church’s support of Prop 8.  Yet there we were, all having a wonderful time, enjoying each other’s company at Christmas time.

Trying to define a “traditional” family is silly.  My niece and her companion are not a threat to my family or any other family.  They are a loving couple.  At the party were 4 adult singles who all seemed comfortable with their marital status.  They all enjoyed spoiling my grandchildren.  Fun was had my all.

Merry Christmas everyone.

“The Descendants,” A Movie Review

The movie “The Descendants,” starring George Clooney, received generally favorable reviews (90 percent approval rating on rottentomatoes.com with one critic calling it a “masterpiece”).  I’m not sure why.  It is heavily flawed for several reasons:

Is George Hiding from this Movie?

• The movie is a comedy-drama with an Hawaiian subplot, but where are the Hawaiians?  Have they all moved out?  The only ones I can remember seeing in the movie are:  a mother and daughter in an early short scene and an Hawaiian trio performing in a bar.  (It also has Hawaiian music.)  This is like going to Africa and ignoring the Africans.  Is the world really this Caucasian centric?
• The movie has an environmental back plot.  The movie stars George Clooney.  Any idea how the environmental issue will be resolved at the end of the movie?
• To add interest, “The Desdendants” has an insensative boyfriend who follows the main characters around.  He stays around way too long, before happily disappearing at the end of the movie.
• The family dynamics in this movie are ridiculous.  The kids go from bratty and spoiled, to understanding and caring in a couple of weeks.  Granted they have to deal with a lot in a short time, but really.

Recommendation: Skip it in the theaters, but rent if it you like George.

A Relative in LDS Borderlands

Last Sunday, my aunt Kay died.  She was 94 years old, and had been suffering from dimentia.  Her death was not unexpected.  Aunt Kay and my genetic uncle had been married for 71 years.  Uncle Vincent, who is 98 (+or- a year), attended the funeral, as did my genetic aunt who is 94.  My mother, who is 91, was unable to attend because she is currently on oxygen and tethered to her home in St. George.

At Aunt Kay’s funeral, her 4 children (all about my age) spoke.  I didn’t know my aunt well, so this was a timely opportunity for me to learn more about her life.

She was born in Kentucky and was raised in a Southern Baptist home.  During the Great Depression, times were difficult but her family was able to scrape together enought money to send her to a nearby nursing school, where she did well.  From there she took a job and continued her education in Ann Arbor MI.

In Ann Arbor, she met and fell in love with my uncle, who was attending medical school at the University of Michigan.  My uncle was raised in Smithfield UT, the son of a respected country doctor, and local civic and LDS Church leader.  My aunt and uncle married in a Southern Baptist Chapel in Ann Arbor.

After moving to Salt Lake City, my uncle was dedicated to his work (respected surgeon) and it fell on my aunt to take the children to church, which she did.  She took them to the local LDS Ward.  My aunt occasionally attended Presbyterian services, but after one of their meetings, the minister criticized her for taking her children to a Mormon church.  She never returned to that Presbyterian church.

After ten years of marriage, my aunt invited the missionaries over, and after sufficient indoctrination joined the LDS Church.  She and her husband’s marriage was sealed in a Mormon temple.

According to her children, she was active in the LDS Church, but never gained a strong testimony.  Her reason for joining had more to do with her family than with a strong religious conviction. 

In other words, she lived in the LDS borderlands (a word stolen from Sunstone).  Apparently, it’s a very popular place.

PS.  There is a park in northern SLC that is named in honor of my aunt.  She wanted a place for children to play.

Marker Honoring my Aunt in a City Park High in the Avenues District of Salt Lake City

The Mormon Concept of a Pre-existence

I recently wrote a blog entry for IEET about the intersection of transhumanism and Mormonism.  One paragraph dealt with the Mormon version of the pre-existence:

Mormons, as part of their worldview (known as the ‘Plan of Salvation’), believe in a long state of ‘pre-existence’ for humans as ‘spirit children’, and this belief has historically been used to explain a variety of worldly inequities. For example, those who are less valiant in the pre-existence are somehow punished with a poorer station here on Earth. This Mormon belief seems more like a bad metaphor than doctrine I can relate to.

This comment engendered the following response from Peter Marlow:

Yes, Mormons believe in a “pre-existence” where we (all beings) each lived with God as spirits before coming to this earth to gain a physical body and experience mortality. We are here to learn to love God and one another the way God loves us, Jesus Christ being our perfect example. I believe God places each of us on this earth in certain stations and exposes us to certain experiences in order to best help us achieve our full potential, individually and collectively. I believe He is fully engaged in providing each of us, His children (whom I believe He loves with a presently incomprehensibly great love), with the best possible opportunities to learn and practice His love, regardless of how they may superficially appear to us.

You may have heard speculation from some that “those who are less valiant in the pre-existence are somehow punished with a poorer station here on Earth.” This belief runs counter to established LDS Church doctrine. You will certainly not find such teachings in the Standard Works (our scriptures). We all know of many very valiant people who had been born into extreme poverty. Indeed, Jesus was born among animals in a manger.

All of us, who are old enough, remember being told that one of the reasons that Blacks were not to be given the priesthood was because they were less valiant in the pre-existence.  So, at some point in Church history, there was a connection between premortal behavior and where we are placed on earth.

According to lds.org, the sprits in the pre-existence “were not all equally valiant, there being every degree of devotion to Christ and the Father among them. The most diligent were chosen to be rulers in the kingdom (Abr. 3:22-23).”  To me, this implies a continued belief in a relationship between behavior in the pre-existence and life here on earth.

Mormon friends who work with the mentally challenged have their own theory about the pre-existence:

These individuals [mentally challenged] were pre-ordained in the pre-existence to come to earth in a less than perfect state.  They made the choice or were “selected” as the most choice spirits in the pre-existence, because God knew they were already Celestial Kingdom bound, so this was their trial on earth:  to be less than perfect as a test for those of us who are here, i.e., how we react to them, how we provide service, how we judge. . .  When we worked on Sundays at the Developmental Center in American Fork [Utah] (formerly the training school), we were told that we were amongst members of the Celestial Kingdom, who are here for OUR benefit/test, not THEIRS.

This concept is a bit difficult for me to grasp.  I can’t understand the bifurcation of some individuals coming earth to be tested and other coming to be actors in a grand theatrical production.

It looks like the concept of a pre-existence continues to be a matter for much personal speculation.  I can’t help but think that many Mormons believe that gays are the way they are because of something that happened in the pre-existence.

Please Do Away with Curses

The LDS Church has historically been plagued with alleged curses — the curse of Cain (or Ham), the curse of the Laminites, etc.  These racial (or racist) beliefs need to be seriously reconsidered.  The priesthood is now given to Afro-Americans, but as far as I know, there is still the “curse” of a dark skin.  It has been determined that the vast majority of Native Americans are not Laminites, but what about the “dark-skin” curse?  “White and delightsome” is still haunting LDS Church members.

It’s time for the LDS Church to make a statement about race, about curses, and about the pre-existence.  The idea of “curses” is seriously flawed and has caused unnecessary heartbreak to the Church and its members.  According to Frances Lee Menlove in a letter to the editor of Sunstone magazine (Dec 2008):

It seems to me like deja vu (the LDS Church’s problems with the gay community).  I remember the controversy about the definition of marriage around the 1950s and 60s.  Then it was black intermarriage, miscegenation laws.  Apostle Mark E. Peterson told us “God has commanded Isreal not to intermarry,”  Apostle Bruce R. McConkie told us “caste systems have their root and origin in the gospel itself,” and both were very vocal opponents of interracial marriage with blacks.

The year I graduated from high school in SLC, Apostle Peterson called intermarriage with Negroes “spiritual death” and opined at a BYU convention, “We must not allow our feelings to carry us away, nor must we feel so sorry for the Negroes that we will open our arms and embrace them with everything we have.  Remember the little statement we used say about sin, “First we pity, then endure, then embrace.”

The LDS Church’s withholding of the priesthood to Blacks must bare much of the blame for these discriminatory attitudes.  The idea that Blacks, gays, or anyone else were less valiant in the pre-existence and deserve a “secondary” place on earth, needs to be officially abandonned.  The idea of “caste systems” is totally unacceptable.

Paying for Miracles

I’ve never been comfortable with the concept of connecting monetary contributions with miracles or blessings or inspiration.  This idea seems wrong for several reasons:

• bad things also happen to people who pay their tithing and make other monetary contributions
• the concept seems uncomfortably similar to the medieval practice of buying and selling indulgences and
• it’s seems unlikely that God is stirring the pot as much as some of us might think.

The coupling of monetary contributions and blessings is prevalent in Mormonism today.

According to a personal note by David Tedder published in Sunstone magazine (Dec 2008, p. 5):

When the Stake President sat us down, it wasn’t about “getting out the vote,” knocking on doors, or putting a sign on our lawn [in support of Prop 8].  It was about making a contribution–a rather sizable contribution.  He already had a figure in mind.  Interestingly, my wife and I both heard the figure in our heads before he said it.

The hard part about being asked by the Church to do something like this is, despite free agency, we really don’t say no.  And if we do, we just don’t get it.  So after kneeling in prayer, we mailed a check the next morning for the requested amount.  That same day, a miracle happened for my family which, although I won’t go into it, we believe came as a direct result of our decision. 

This quote makes me extremely uncomfortable.  It is my personal belief that the LDS Church should not have been involved in the Prop 8 election.  Then to assign a miracle to contributing financially to the cause makes me doubly uncomfortable.

Along the same lines, there is a short biographical piece in the recent Ensign magazine (Dec 2011) about President Lorenzo Snow (fifth President of the LDS Church):

Fifth President of the LDS Church: Lorenzo Snow

During President Snow’s time as prophet, Latter-day Saints in southern Utah were suffering from a drought.  While speaking at a conference in the southern Utah town of St. George, President Snow was inspired to promise the Saints that it would rain and they would enjoy a bountiful harvest if they would pay tithing.  Though the members paid their tithing, several months passed without rain.  President Snow implored Heavenly Father to send rain.  Later he received a telegram announcing, “Rain in St. George.”

This episode was captured in a LDS movie titled “The Windows in Heaven.”  At the time when President Snow made his promise in St. George, the LDS Church was deeply in debt.  In 1963, when “Windows” was released, the Church was again in financial trouble.

Also in the Dec 2011 issue of the Ensign is a quote from Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (quoted from an article in the Ensign, May 2004, p. 41):

Do you want the windows of heaven opened to you?  Do you wish to receive blessings so great there is not room enough to receive them?  Always pay your tithing and leave the outcome in the hands of the Lord.”