The Mormons
Press Reaction – Go here
My reaction:
I think the overall production, The Mormons, was excellent. I believe the director did a great job handling the various difficult topics around Poligamy and The Mountain Meadow Massacre.
My favorite parts of the documentary were found here: The Family and the Essence of Religion.
Act 4 – The Family – Go Here
Act 5 – Those who can and can’t conform – Go Here
I loved this section of the presentation. While some gross generalizations about our mormon culture were spewed by some ex-mormon voices, I can wholeheartedly agree with the various issues outlined by critics in terms of Mormon Mother guilt and depression. The bar is so high in some wards and stakes that the pressure to be the ultimate mother can be very stressful. I believe this perfectionism contributed to my nervous breakdown after the birth of our first baby. And the breakdowns of various women I have known. The pressure to serve and do and be anxiously engaged, especially when pregnant and nursing is over the top in some wards.
I am so grateful for my mother. She was so clear about this issue. With her babies she would get released from all of her callings when she was three months pregnant and then stay home and focus on family until her baby was six months old. This example was so powerful for me when I would come up against the wall of social pressure to serve and do and be busy during pregnancy.
It all came to a head for me when I was expecting my fourth baby and was called to be the primary president. I was tandem nursing Jeff and Allison and was pregnant with Andrew, and the bishop wanted me to serve as a president to a 95 kid primary. Plus serve as a visiting teacher and take care of my family.
When I was six months pregnant I just bowed out and asked to be released from the presidency and all of my duties in the church. I felt tremendous guilt at the time, but it did not diminish my desire to put my all into my family. I have met mormon women who have decided to bottlefeed with baby formula rather than breastfeed, simply so they have more time and energy to serve at church. I believe this is a rather misguided placement of energies and efforts.
Now that I am older and more settled with my mother heart, if we welcome any more children into our home I will simply get released from all callings as soon as pregnancy is confirmed and stay away from church service and work for at least a year, if not more, while I take care of things on the home front.
At various times I have had four, five, six major callings at the same time. And again, in my old age, I have determined not to do more than three at a time. Right now today I serve as the sacrament meeting chorister, the welfare specialist, and a visiting teacher. And it is about all I am willing to do. The leaders of the church have been more vocal about Bishops not overwhelming families with church service, but as far as I can tell the status quo of mothers being required to do and be and serve is still very much a part of our culture, and I would like to see things relax somewhat, especially for the young moms with lots of toddlers.
As we watched this section together as a family, we were surprised and thrilled to see our dear friends, the Tilleman-Dicks profiled in this segment. We spent three years associating with this wonderful family in our Liahona Home Educators Denver Support group during the years that we home schooled.
Annette is a wonderful friend, and an amazing mother. When she found out I was expecting Benjamin she said to our group, “I’m jealous”. This from a mother who had experienced eighteen pregnancies and had eleven live children. Annette was so passionate about home school that when I explained to her that I was overwhelmed with caring for a new born and that we had decided to enroll our older children in a charter school in 2003, she grasped my arm and exclaimed, “Jenny, your children would be better off running wild for two year while you locked yourself in your bedroom than to send them to school.” I appreciated her insights, but still felt passionate that our children were not being served by homeschool while I was nurturing Ben.
Annettes children were some of the most spiritual I have ever met, and it was pure joy to hang out with them for three years of fellowship in our group.
One other segment that I loved was this final one:
The Essence of A Religion – Go Here
Overall I believe the presentation was excellent. And I am grateful to the director for the time and focus she put into this documentary. I also loved the music and artwork that made the visuals so pleasing to watch.
Jenny Hatch