Wondering about the cultural, intellectual, theological climate of
American before the time of Mormonism's conception and the Mormons
subsequent influence back on this culture.

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Request for Question Clarification by kutsavi-ga on 15 Feb 2003 15:02 PST

Hi there Ustepk, 

Great question, and a topic that I'm very interested in myself.  I was
wondering if you might be able to narrow the scope a little, however? 
Are you looking for information on any specific region or maybe a
specific aspect of culture?  Any kind of clarification would be of
help in providing you an answer.

--Kutsavi

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Clarification of Question by ustepk01-ga on 17 Feb 2003 14:28 PST

American culture prior to the beginning of Mormonism was very
pluralistic.  I'm interested in wether the rise of Mormonism was a
reaction against this pluralism and if so how they saw themselves
combating the pluarlism and if not how the Mormon's viewed its own
place amongst a plurality of Christian denominations.  Along these
lines, I'm also interested in the reactions of the non-Mormons towards
this new Christian denomination:  Was it accepted, embraced, or met
with hostility and contempt?

Dear Ustepk01, 

The following of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints
(Mormonism) and its rise are closely linked to societal developments
in 19th century United States. This was an era of great religious
experiments, as Peter W. Williams authoritative book, "America's
Religions" (University of Illinois Press, 2002) argues. This era was
not only characterised by "surviving" religious groups (like Mary
Baker Eddy's Christian Science and "Jehovah's Witnesses"), but also by
many groups, which later ceased to exist.

Mormonism is a product of the era, of the expansion westwards, of the
social and political climate. However, its role as a reaction to
pluralism is not clear, it could be better placed as a reaction to
"The Great Awakening’s and to similar processes.

Mormons themselves viewed themselves as unique and "better" as the
"Gentiles" (non-Mormons). As the BBC Web Site pus it "Mormons believe
their church is a restoration of the Church as conceived by Jesus and
that the other Christian churches have gone astray." (BBC, "Overview
of the Mormon faith"
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/mormon/index.shtml). In fact,
the polygamist family structure could be also attributed to an
aspiration to distinct themselves from the society.

The response to Mormonism was more than not hostile. Mormonism was
considered heresy, and its followers as deviants. Mormon religious
practices, such as polygamist family structure, encountered resistance
despite the Mormon claim, that their practices should be protected
under the First Amendment. It is more difficult to finger the exact
era, in which Mormonism was widely legitimised. Williams (2002) claims
that the rightwards religious drift during the 1970s (this time
distinctively as a reaction to pluralism) brought about legitimacy to
Mormonism.

More to read on the subject
===========================
Donald Scott "Mormonism and the American Mainstream"
http://www.nhc.rtp.nc.us:8080/tserve/nineteen/nkeyinfo/nmormon.htm

David Bowie "World-Wide Web Links Related to Mormonism"
http://www.sas.upenn.edu/~dbowie/mormwww/mormonwww.html - a Mormon
presents a compilation of web-pages. (Not *that* David Bowie... :-)

Weblash Centre http://www.wabashcenter.wabash.edu/Internet/mormon.htm
- More Mormon links.

Charles W. Nuckolls "THE ANTHROPOLOGY OF MORMONISM"
http://www.as.ua.edu/ant/Faculty/charles/mormonsyl.htm

Reactions to Mormonism among women
http://womenshistory.about.com/cs/ldsreactions/ (About.com has lots of
pop-ups, beware).

University of Virginia with their excellent review on religious
movements - http://religiousmovements.lib.virginia.edu/nrms/mormon/mormon.html

I hope that helped. I searched the web on Mormonism, using the term
"+edu" to get mainly academic related articles (since most of the
material is theological and other arguments in favour or against the
group).

Answered my question adequetly enough. Thanks.