Holy Greed

When I was a little girl kids would sing, "Lori, Lori, hallelujah." I remember that, but not who did it. Vaguely remember it being my brother, but other kids, too. Later on I had a good friend with a daughter named "Glory." That song really was about her.

Later on I thought it was a strange song, let alone hymn. Where were the lions lying down with the lambs we learned about in suday school?  How could something like that ever have a place in church? The gospel was Peace.

Recently I've gotten swept up in the "Mormon moment," alternatively the "anti-Mormon" moment, so I've been getting links and informed about a slew of historical, doctrinal and practical issues related to Mormonism. Today, though, i was just looking for information about Andy Williams, he just died, you know, and where did that search end? once again, in weird Mormon land. It started with remembering AW was friends with the Kennedys. I looked for him singing at Bobby's funeral, but apparently that wasn't recorded. There was a recording of him singing the same song he sang at the Kennedy funeral, though not from that occasion. The song was the Battle Hymn of the Republic. Given the context of Bobby's death, after his brother's, the struggles for justice and human rights they were engaged in, I can see how Andy's singing that song to Bobby's casket had a deeply personal meaning for all who were there.

Contrast this with all the other "Battle Hymn of the Republic" videos on the Tube. In fact, just google the title of the song and see what you get. Did you know that the very best version of that song on the internet is by... the Mormon Tabernacle Choir? Gosh, no, I didn't, before today. In fact, there were many different versions of them singing that song online.

Why? I can't imagine any other religion, except maybe some radical muslims, wanting to identify with.a terrible, swift sworded god. Mormon doctrine- about blood atonement.?

Sordid Slime

Oy vey, my head is too full of thoughts Mormon right now to begin to separate and weave something here. Suffice it to say they really, really like the Battle Hymn of the Republic.  Google it, the title of the song, see what you get. I ran into it today looking for a video of Andy Williams singing at Bobby Kennedy's funeral. His reference was deeply personal, about a family's literal, physical sacrifice for equal opportunities and peace. The Mormons  i think, have a very different connection to the song, more about holy wars and future one world order. 

I have some ideas about why, for another time, but for now wanted to share this. To me, it seems also appropriate for the Mormon big-business-church-state conglomeration. That's my bias, regardless, it's a witty little ditty. Take it to be about imminent domain posing as democracy, or add your own labels and share~   

Mark Twain's parody of the Battle Hymn of the Republic
written approximately 1900

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Mine eyes have seen the orgy of the launching of the Sword;
He is searching out the hoardings where the stranger's wealth is stored; He hath loosed his fateful lightnings,
and with woe and death has scored; His lust is marching on.

I have seen him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps; They have builded him an altar in the Eastern dews and damps; I have read his doomful mission by the dim and flaring lamps -- His night is marching on.

I have read his bandit gospel writ in burnished rows of steel:
"As ye deal with my pretensions, so with you my wrath shall deal; Let the faithless son of Freedom crush the patriot with his heel; Lo, Greed is marching on!"

We have legalized the strumpet and are guarding her retreat;* Greed is seeking out commercial souls before his judgement seat; O, be swift, ye clods, to answer him! be jubilant my feet! Our god is marching on!

In a sordid slime harmonious Greed was born in yonder ditch, With a longing in his bosom -- and for others' goods an itch.

As Christ died to make men holy, let men die to make us rich -- Our god is marching on.

Church, State, and Sacred Secrets

One of the finest examples of patriotism in our history is in the publication of the Nauvoo Expositor. I stumbled on the story researching genealogy and found it truly moving.

In short, a group of Mormons within the original church at Nauvoo grew concerned about a number of things after Joseph Smith announced his candidacy for president in 1844. Secretly practising polygamy, he denied it publicly. He abused his power as mayor of the city, to avoid extradition, and secretly taught about a Theocracy, with himself as President/ King.

After attempting to resolve these issues privately, the group published their concerns in the Nauvoo Expositor. They declared their loyalty to tenants of Mormonism and the U.S. constitution. They complained that Smith wielded "ecclesiastical control over civil and business affairs." They risked their personal safety to reveal those secrets, but as Americans felt obliged to reveal a politician who was on a path to usurp separation of church and state.

The Nauvoo writers, though obviously unprofessional, made strong points about their desire to honor the constitution of the United States, to differentiate themselves from Joseph Smith's desire to blend church and state, and to worship in a solidly Mormon way with no secrecy attached. I would encourage any Mormon to read the document for themself, not an interpretation, but the real deal. Those writers outlined the tenents of their faith as Mormons, and to me, at least, they seemed to cover the full range apart from then practiced, also then secret, polygamy.

Their side lost.

Their publication was legally declared a "public nuisance," the press officially ordered burned by Joseph Smith. Those printers were labeled apostates, still called "heretics" and “schizmatics” by the Mormon church. This was an example, in my mind, again, as an outsider, of the power of freedom of the press and the right to free speech being denied. That incident demonstrates to me the reason the writers of our first consitutional ammendment, designed for a free and democratic society, held free speech as something essential and, as such, guaranteed it for all of us. The writers of our first amendment held free speech as essential because free speech can check corruption.To burn a printing press, that's a huge thing. Our founding fathers, what would their response have been?

I believe that paper and the surrounding incidents have a powerful place in American history, but probably quite a different one than most Mormons do. I believe the burning of the Nauvoo Expositor to be an example of the power of free speech.

For Mormons, though, the man who ordered the press burned was their hero, the same man who saw himself as head of church and country at the same time. Joseph Smith is a "prophet turned martyr."

I come from a tradition that celebrates questioning, that of the Episcopal faith. Apparently Mormonism does not. This is the way it seems to me.

My daughter knows many more Mormons than I do, and tells me they are not all the same. So tell me, what is the range of Mormon political views? We on the outside wonder if there is difference among you or if, similar to the Prop 8 in California, you will vote and campaign. because your elders tell you it's good for your salvation, regardless of whether it is "from the pulpit" or not. We will watch for softer directives made manifest in funds.

How does this presidential election play out with you? Do you all vote the same? And where are your printing presses these days? To me, press today seems to be the internet, and not so easily burned. But Mormon internet presence, in my experience, often minimizes reader participation. Facebook Mormon pages, the official ones anyway, and Youtube as well, have comments blocked.

150 years after Nauvoo a Mormon runs for President, while you talk of the church's sphere of influence shrinking. Perhaps, but to an outsider this is even more confusing. Often I fear Mormons do the opposite of what they announce. We only have your actions (PACs and campaign funds) to look at, but we are watching.

UPDATE, from OPENSECRETS.org, Center for Responsive Politics: Federal Election Commission regulations only require disclosure of funds bundled by registered lobbyists. In 2008, both Barack Obama and John McCain agreed to disclose any bundlers who raised over $50,000 for their campaigns. Obama's re-election campaign is again disclosing those bundlers for the 2012 election. No 2012 Republican presidential candidates have agreed to voluntarily disclose their entire bundlers lists. As such, the only bundlers listed for Republican candidates are registered lobbyists.

Les Zazous...

was the name of a counter-culture group in France during WW II. There are different versions of the evolution of the title Zazous. What is clear is that Cab Calloway was hot in Paris pre-war, and za-zou was part of the scat he included in HiDeHo, among other performances. The Zoot Suit, again Calloway, influenced their distinctive look. and flew in the face of the occupying forces at the time. They danced swing, usually in underground clubs, while Cab kept American troops hep around the world.

Cab Calloway's music had many inter-cultural references, implying that Jewish, African and Asian Americans interacted with each other in making music among other things. African American influence in society and culture was much more widely accepted in France than the U.S., something that definitely rubbed the Nazis the wrong way. Les Zazous signified something uniquely French, young and passionate. Le Jazz Hot was forbidden, so threatening that they had to change the titles of the songs to get Nazi permission to publish recordings.

It's difficult to find a lot of information about Les Zazous, there weren't that many of them at any one time, probably less than 300 at their peak. This is taken from Wikipedia:

"The male Zazous wore extra large jackets, which hung down to their knees and which were fitted out with many pockets and often several half-belts. The amount of material used was a direct comment on Government decrees on the rationing of clothing material. Their trousers were narrow, gathered at the waist, and so were their ties, which were cotton or heavy wool. The shirt collars were high and kept in place by a horizontal pin. They liked thick-soled suede shoes, with white or brightly-coloured socks. Their hairstyles were greased and long.

Female Zazous wore their hair in curls falling down to their shoulders, or in braids. Blonde was the favourite colour, and they wore bright red lipstick, as well as sunglasses, also favoured by some male Zazous. They wore jackets with extremely wide shoulders and short, pleated skirts. Their stockings were striped or sometimes net, and they wore shoes with thick wooden soles.

The Zazous were big fans of checkered patterns, on jacket, skirt or brolly. They started appearing in the vegetarian restaurants and developed a passion for grated carrot salad. They usually drank fruit juice or beer with grenadine syrup, a cocktail that they seem to have invented.

The Zazous were numbered in the hundreds rather than thousands and were generally between 17 and 20. There were Zazous from all classes, races, and genders but with apparently similar outlooks. Working class Zazous used theft of cloth and black market activities to get their outfits, sometimes stitching their own clothes. Some of the more bohemian Zazous in the Latin Quarter varied the outfit, with sheepskin jackets and multicoloured scarves. It was their ironic and sarcastic comments on the Nazi/Vichy rulers, their dandyism and hedonism, their suspicion of the work ethic and their love of �decadent� jazz that distinguished them as one of the prototype youth movements questioning capitalist society.

While they did not suffer like their contemporaries in Germany, the working class Edelweiss Pirates (some of whom were hanged by the Nazis), the Zazou subculture represented an important dissident minority in a society of widespread complicity and acquiescence."

They weren't a militant group, more of an artistic bunch of kids who identified with a look, sound and thought. The Nazis took them on, publicly shaving the heads of the Zazou men on the streets. Persistent Zazous were sent to work camps, not in large numbers, and the movement moved underground. I'll work on finding more pictures so you can see the look.