Equal Rites - The Book of Mormon, Masonry, Gender and American Culture

Erscheinungsjahr 2004
ISBN: 978-0-231-12640-3
Verlag: Columbia University Press

Buch, Englisch, 352 Seiten, Format (B × H): 166 mm x 236 mm, Gewicht: 610 g

Reihe: Religion and American Culture

Both the Prophet Joseph Smith and his Book of Mormon have been characterized as ardently, indeed evangelically, anti-Masonic. Yet in this sweeping social, cultural, and religious history of nineteenth-century Mormonism and its milieu, Clyde Forsberg argues that masonry, like evangelical Christianity, was an essential component of Smith's vision. Smith's ability to imaginatively conjoin the two into a powerful and evocative defense of Christian, or Primitive, Freemasonry was, Forsberg shows, more than anything else responsible for the meteoric rise of Mormonism in the nineteenth century.

This was to have significant repercussions for the development of Mormonism, particularly in the articulation of specifically Mormon gender roles. Mormonism's unique contribution to the Masonic tradition was its inclusion of women as active and equal participants in Masonic rituals. Early Mormon dreams of empire in the Book of Mormon were motivated by a strong desire to end social and racial discord, lest the country fall into the grips of civil war. Forsberg demonstrates that by seeking to bring women into previously male-exclusive ceremonies, Mormonism offered an alternative to the male-dominated sphere of the Master Mason. By taking a median and mediating position between Masonry and Evangelicism, Mormonism positioned itself as a religion of the people, going on to become a world religion.

But the original intent of the Book of Mormon gave way as Mormonism moved west, and the temple and polygamy (indeed, the quest for empire) became more prevalent. The murder of Smith by Masonic vigilantes and the move to Utah coincided with a new imperialism and a new polygamy. Forsberg argues that Masonic artifacts from Smith's life reveal important clues to the precise nature of his early Masonic thought that include no less than a vision of redemption and racial concord.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Jr., Clyde Forsberg

Forsberg Jr., Clyde

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Christentum, Christliche Theologie Christliche Kirchen, Konfessionen, Denominationen Christliche und christlich motivierte Bewegungen und Sekten
• Geisteswissenschaften Christentum, Christliche Theologie Christliche Kirchen, Konfessionen, Denominationen Andere und Moderne Christliche Glaubensgemeinschaften
• Geisteswissenschaften Christentum, Christliche Theologie Kirchengeschichte
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziale Gruppen/Soziale Themen Gender Studies, Geschlechtersoziologie
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziale Gruppen/Soziale Themen Klubs, Vereine, Geheimgesellschaften
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Amerikanische Geschichte
• Interdisziplinäres Wissenschaften Wissenschaft und Gesellschaft | Kulturwissenschaften Kulturwissenschaften
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Mentalitäts- und Sozialgeschichte

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Preface: Mormon Masonry?Introduction: The Wax and Wane of Masonry in American CulturePart I. The Mormon-Masonic Nexus 1. Reading a Sealed Book2. Was Joseph Smith a Mason?3. Dreaming Masonry: Getting the Story Plumb4. As the Words of a Book That Is Sealed: The Book of Mormon as Esoteric Male (Hi)Story5. Fleeing Babel with Mother and Child in TowPart II. The Quest Within the Quest 6. A Bible! A Bible! We Have Got a Bible7. The Search for the Long Lost Book in the Book of Mormon8. What Manner of (Masonic) Men?Part III. The "Anti-Evangelical'' Mind of Joseph Smith Jr. 9. Whether a Man Can Enter a Second Time into His Mother's Womb10. Heaven and Hell: Divining the Ghost of Emmanuel Swedenborg11. Father-Son and Holy Ghost--Mother? The Mormon-God QuestionPart IV. The Millennial, Racial, Economic, and Political Confederacy 12. Thy Kingdom Come: On Earth as It Is in Heaven13. The Lost Ten Tribes Found: Mormons and Jews14. The Curse and Redemption of the Lamanites15. The Economic Kingdom of God: Masonic Utopianism UnveiledPostscript: The "Americanness'' of MormonismNotesBibliographyIndex

Über Autor(innen)

Clyde R. Forsberg, Jr. is a CEP (Civic Education Project) Fellow and teaches American studies at the American University Central Asia in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.