The Mormon Worker

The Mormon Worker

The Mormon Worker is a blog and irregularly published periodical in Provo and Salt Lake City, Utah, focusing on Mormonism and "radical politics."[1][2]

Contents

Origins and focus

Several active members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) started the paper in 2007, originally as a bi-monthly publication.[2][3][4] Its founder was William Van Wagenen, a 29-year-old Harvard Divinity School graduate, returned missionary, and Salt Lake City stockbroker. After college he went with the Christian Peacemaker Teams to Iraq, where his roommate, Tom Fox, was kidnapped and murdered by terrorists and Van Wagenen had also been kidnapped for nine days. After returning to Utah, Van Wagenen was motivated to start his paper after meeting other Mormons concerned with social justice issues they felt were ignored by their community.[5][6]

The paper hopes to connect the ideas of the radical left with core ideas from the Mormon faith, such as cooperation, charity, the teachings of Jesus Christ, and social equality. The paper explores the compatibility of Mormonism with Christian anarchism and Christian pacifism. The paper does not seek to criticize the church or its leaders, but to examine radical elements in the Mormon tradition and comment on current politics and economics.[4] The first issue printed 2,000 copies and distributed freely at local bookstores.[6] Because of its unconventional focus, the paper received press coverage, such as the feature religion article in The Salt Lake Tribune and at the On Faith website run by The Washington Post and Newsweek.[5] As of summer 2009, the paper had published six issues.[7]

The paper's positions have been criticized by some conservative church members,[8] but Van Wagenen asserted the response had been "largely positive." He claimed more Mormons, including young people and some conservatives, had become conflicted about capitalism and disillusioned with the Iraq War. Further, he believed the staunch conservative LDS image really came from the Mormon Corridor of the western United States, and most worldwide members "were not Bush-supporting Republicans."[9] Others have sympathized with the paper's message but suspected its anarchistic language would be easily misunderstood and avoided by potential Mormon readers.[6]

The Mormon Worker was a member of the Latter-Day Saints Coalition Against Torture, which opposed interrogation techniques used under the Bush Administration during the War on Terror.[10]

Influences

The paper and its title are inspired by and modeled after The Catholic Worker, a Catholic newspaper founded in New York City by Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin in 1933.[2][5][9] The ideas of Christian anarchists such as Leo Tolstoy are also influential on the overall philosophy of the paper.

See also

References

  1. ^ "About: A Note to our Readers". The Mormon Worker. http://www.themormonworker.org/about.php. Retrieved 2010-03-18. 
  2. ^ a b c Bushman, Cory (September 2007). "The Mormon Worker". The Mormon Worker. http://www.themormonworker.org/articles/issue1/the_mormon_worker.php. Retrieved 2010-03-18. 
  3. ^ "Review: Mormon Worker #4". Alternative Press Review. January 11, 2010. http://www.altpr.org/?q=node/6. Retrieved 2010-03-18. [dead link]
  4. ^ a b Creagh, Ronald (February 27, 2008). "The Mormon Worker". Research on Anarchism. R.A forum. http://raforum.info/spip.php?article4799&lang=us. Retrieved 2010-03-18. [unreliable source?]
  5. ^ a b c Patel, Eboo (October 22, 2007). "Mormon Social Radicals?". On Faith: The Faith Divide (The Washington Post). http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/eboo_patel/2007/10/mormon_social_radicals.html. Retrieved 2010-03-18. 
  6. ^ a b c Stack, Peggy Fletcher (October 24, 2007). "Latter Day nod to anarchy: New publication echoes 'radical elements' in effort to promote justice". The Salt Lake Tribune. http://www.rickross.com/reference/mormon/mormon450.html. Retrieved 2010-03-18. 
  7. ^ "Archive". The Mormon Worker. http://www.themormonworker.org/archive.php. Retrieved 2010-03-18. 
  8. ^ Guest Post: Whither the Mormon Anarchist « In Rare Form[unreliable source?]
  9. ^ a b Wilcox, Greg (June 17, 2009). "William Van Wagenen: The Mormon Worker". Salt Lake City Weekly. http://www.cityweekly.net/utah/article-8272-william-van-wagenen-the-mormon-worker.html. Retrieved 2010-03-18. 
  10. ^ "Mormon Peace Project: Torture Is A Moral Issue". http://www.mormonpeaceproject.org/. Retrieved 2010-03-18. [unreliable source?]

External links


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