Opening an hour-long special on the Mormon Church for Thursday's NBC Rock Center,
anchor Brian Williams proclaimed to viewers: "Most Americans say they
know next to nothing about the Mormon Church. Tonight, a rare look
inside the lives of modern Mormon families....A church still dealing with the issue of polygamy....And other issues of inequality."
Teasing a report on the history of the Church, Williams promised to answer the question of "why so many Americans still today are suspicious of the religion." Introducing that portion of the broadcast, Williams touted pop culture mocking the faith, starting with a clip of Fox's Family Guy
in which lead character Peter Griffin declares: "I'm going to be a
Mormon....Come on, nailing a different wife every night. That's a
no-brainer."
Williams
announced: "Comedy now takes liberties with Mormons, say nothing of the
polygamy-based dramas and then there's Broadway." Footage appeared on
screen of Comedy Central's South Park and the HBO series Big Love, followed by a clip of The Book of Mormon musical produced by South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone.
After briefly describing the founding of the religion, Williams quickly focused on negative perceptions of Mormonism: "Part of the history of the Church that they can't shake is polygamy....even
though polygamy was officially banned a century go, it's something the
Church still has to deal with....Critics in other religions have openly
called them a cult."
For more insight into the Church, Williams turned to Abby Huntsman,
daughter of former Republican presidential candidate Jon Huntsman, who
left the Mormon faith after meeting her future husband, a non-Mormon.
She lamented: "It's very black and white still, there's no gray area.
You either are in or you're out. And you live by the Mormon doctrine or
you do not."
Picking up on that theme, Williams explained: "In this modern world,
some old-school rules still govern the Mormon Church, and that means no
non-Mormons allowed inside their temples." He then suspiciously asked
Huntsman: "I can't get into the Mormon temple. Will that ever
change?...What goes on in there?"
Huntsman regretfully replied: "I hope it does. But I don't think that
it will....[It] causes a lot of people to feel maybe not good enough,
'Why am I not allowed in there?' So this idea of – maybe being more
accepting and moving with the times a little bit is much needed in the
Church today."
Williams then turned to those "issues of inequality" that he hyped at the top of the program: "There is another part of Mormonism in the recent past that was late to change, and that's racism. African-Americans were not allowed to become full members until 1978."
Talking to Al Jackson, a black member of the Church who married into the faith, correspondent Kate Snow worried:
In that church, you were pretty much the only black face in a sea of white faces. What's that like for you?...I ask in part because of the history of the Church. And you know it better than I do. Remember, as late as 1978, black Mormons were second-class citizens, banned from the priesthood and barred from the temples. Have you ever faced any kind of discrimination in the Church?
Jackson replied: "Never, never."
Portraying the Mormon Church hierarchy as sexist, Williams uttered: "[Morman] kids grow up in a church where the two genders, male and female, are not equal. That is one tradition among many that has survived despite all the changes going on in the world outside the Church."
Snow highlighted Joanna Brooks as "a rare Mormon woman, a feminist
who's taken a public stand....vocal on the subject of whether women can
have equality in the Mormon faith if they cannot hold leadership
positions."
Rounding out a picture of supposed Mormon intolerance, Snow talked to
Mitch Mayne, an openly gay member of the church who "knew his sexuality
would be at odds with his family's faith." Snow pressed: "What did your
mom say?" After explaining that his mother eventually became his "best
friend" and "ally," Mayne responded: "The first words out of my mom's
mouth when I told her that I was gay was, 'It would have been better for
me if you'd been born dead than gay.'"
Snow expounded:
Shunned by his family and shunned by his church, Mitch was sent to therapy designed to change his sexuality. It didn't....[He] turned his back on Mormonism for many years. When he returned, he found it less openly hostile to an openly gay man. While he's free to march in support of gay marriage, the Church still opposes it. But in San Francisco, he wasn't just welcomed in his congregation, he was elevated to a leadership position, a first for a gay man. As long as he remains celibate, he can serve.
Williams turned back to his interview with Huntsman, and her account of
leaving the Mormon Church. She recalled a bishop telling her that if
she married her non-Mormon boyfriend, "you're not going to have the
blessings, your kids will not be blessed if you end up marrying this
man."
Huntsman added:
I get kind of emotional about it because for a bishop to tell me how I needed to live my life and that I would or would not be blessed because of it, was, was very difficult. And I know that I'm one of many, many women that go through experiences like that. And I walked out that door and I couldn't go back.
Williams emphasized the point: "Abby Huntsman. A descendant of one of
the 12 original Mormon apostles and now a former member of the Mormon
Church."
Wrapping up the hour, Williams decided to promote The Book of Mormon,
not the religious text, but rather the Broadway musical mocking the
faith: "[It] has grossed an estimated $100 million on Broadway so far,
give or take. It is very funny. It is very dirty, a deep shade of blue."
Clark Johnson, a member of the show's cast and another ex-Mormon,
described his nightly performances as "a daily reminder of my past, my
history, and the life that I once fully embraced." After emotionally
recounting his missionary work for the Church, Johnson confessed: "I
know I don't sound like an ex-Mormon. But I am one. I had a long path
out of the Church, I didn't make it in one day. I didn't feel that I
could reach my full potential as a human being inside the church, as a
gay person."
The Rock Center special did feature some positive segments on
Mormonism. At the top of the show, correspondent Harry Smith described
the great business success of many members of the Church. Later, Smith
returned with a story about the massive Mormon charitable efforts to
provide basic needs for people within and outside the Church.
In January, a full Rock Center story [1]
was devoted specifically to Mitt Romney's Mormon family heritage.
Correspondent Mike Taibbi declared: "Mitt's great-grandfather, Miles
Park Romney, led that first expedition to escape not persecution but
prosecution for polygamy, what Mormons called 'plural marriage.'"
A campaign documentary [2]
about Mitt Romney set to air at 10 p.m. et Friday on MSNBC will
apparently also focus on the Republican candidate's Mormon faith.
Previewing that special on Wednesday's Today, host and political
director Chuck Todd teased: "...[Romney] decided to sit down with us on
this. You know, for a long time they didn't want to do this, they don't
like to talk about it. And they feel like, you know what? They have a
problem....people feel as if they don't know Mitt Romney. And if you
don't understand his faith, then you don't know Mitt Romney."
Here are portions of the August 23 program:
10:16PM ET
BRIAN WILLIAMS: But part of the history of the Church that they can't shake is polygamy.
STEVEN SNOW: It's impossible to reinvent our history. And that is our
history. It is what it is. And we make no apologies for that.
WILLIAMS: Steven Snow is the official church historian. He concedes
that even though polygamy was officially banned a century go, it's
something the Church still has to deal with.
SNOW: We believe that was actually God's will at the time. But we
believe in 1890 that stopped and our prophet told us that that was no
longer acceptable.
WILLIAMS: Critics in other religions have openly called them a cult.
While Mormons consider themselves Christians and believe in the Bible,
there are some key differences. Among them, Mormons believe Jesus
visited either north or south America after his death and resurrection.
Mormons don't drink, no caffeine, cigarettes or swearing either. They
are expected to tithe 10% of their income to the Church. Ideally, theirs
is a wholesome family and church-based life and until now, it's also
been very private. Despite some very public figures, from Napoleon
Dynamite to the top Senate Democrat Harry Reid, and of course, the man
who wants to be the next president. Why do you think those of us
non-Mormons don't know more about the Mormon Church?
ABBY HUNTSMAN: I don't think they've done a good enough job opening up.
They've been very secretive. And it causes people to think of it as a
mystery.
WILLIAMS: Abby Huntsman grew up in a family considered Mormon royalty.
She's a descendant of one of the 12 original Mormon apostles. Her
father, Jon Huntsman, former Utah governor, former U.S. ambassador to
China, ran unsuccessfully for the GOP nomination. Abby is one of 60
Huntsman family grandchildren and is the only one to marry outside her
religion. She is no longer active in the faith.
HUNTSMAN: There are a lot of wonderful parts to the Church, the family
aspect is what I love the most about it. But it's very black and white
still, there's no gray area. You either are in or you're out. And you
live by the Mormon doctrine or you do not.
WILLIAMS: In this modern world, some old-school rules still govern the
Mormon Church, and that means no non-Mormons allowed inside their
temples. Ann Romney's parents, as non-Mormons, weren't allowed to see
their own daughter married inside the temple, in what's called a sealing
ceremony. The same was true when Abby Huntsman's parents were married,
her grandparents, as non-Mormons, had to wait outside on the couch. What
about the fact that you and I right now could walk across Fifth Avenue
into St. Patrick's Cathedral, no one would care or wonder what our
religious affiliation is. I can't get into the Mormon temple. Will that
ever change?
HUNTSMAN: I hope it does. But...
WILLIAMS: What goes on in there?
HUNTSMAN: ...I don't think that it will. Nothing crazy. It's very much a
sacred thing for Mormons. And causes a lot of people to feel maybe not
good enough, 'Why am I not allowed in there?' So this idea of – maybe
being more accepting and moving with the times a little bit is much
needed in the Church today.
(...)
10:20PM ET
BRIAN WILLIAMS: Mormons are famously obsessed with genealogy. And they
believe in baptizing the souls of the dead, even non-Mormons. It's meant
to give them a chance to go to the true heaven.
STEVEN SNOW: We believe everyone, either in this life or the next, will
have an opportunity to accept or reject the fundamental beliefs that we
believe.
WILLIAMS: But when it was found they were baptizing even Holocaust
victims who died because they were Jews, the Church admitted the mistake
and acted to stop it. There is another part of Mormonism in the recent
past that was late to change, and that's racism. African-Americans were
not allowed to become full members until 1978.
SNOW: We're not certain even today why that practice or why that doctrine was in place. It pained me as a young man.
WILLIAMS: The Mormon Church is under pressure to move fast, faster than
they'd like to open up because they're being pushed by questions and
public fascination with their religion. In no small part because a
Mormon could be the next President of the United States.
(...)