A non-prophet organisation

Firstly, a disclaimer. I'm neither a fan nor a regular viewer of South Park. This program often contains lots of clever satire, which I like, which is usually overshadowed by excessive crudity, which I don't like. However, last week I relented when SBS aired the episode All About Mormons, which manages to provide a mostly accurate account of the origins of Mormon history and theology.

In the episode, a Mormon family moves into the town of South Park. Their son Gary (pictured above, bottom left) befriends Stan Marsh at school and invites him over for dinner, where they explain their beliefs to him, and then later to Stan's father and the entire Marsh family. During these scenes the episode then breaks off into a sub-story, partially told in a hilarious song, about the origins of Mormonism, as outlined below.

Mormonism was founded by Joseph Smith (1805-1844), a self-proclaimed prophet and restorer of the true church. The story goes that one day Joseph Smith was praying in the forest near his home town of Palmyra, New York, asking God which denomination he should join. God and Jesus appeared to him (or an angel, according to different versions of this story) telling him he shouldn't join any of them, but instead start his own. In another appearance, an angel named Moroni also revealed to him the location of a set of mysterious golden tablets which contained another testament of Jesus, buried in the ground somewhere near his home. He dug up the tablets, which were written in the hitherto unknown language of Reformed Egyptian.

Fortunately for Smith, or so Mormons would have us believe, also buried with the tablets were two magic peepstones, called the urim and thummin, which Smith placed in a hat and peered through to translate the tablets into King James English, dictating the words to his scribe, Martin Harris, a wealthy Palmyra farmer. Financed by Harris, in 1830 Smith published the Book of Mormon, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, as it later became know, was born. This episode can be watched as a primer on Mormonism, because its full history is more complex and controversial.

In mainstream Christianity, Mormonism is rightly regarded as a cult, and the above story has no credibility whatsoever. As for its founder, Joseph Smith, his harshest critics have accurately labelled him as an occultist, bigamist, and con artist, amongst other things, and also highlight his involvement in Freemasonry. The website http://www.cults.co.nz/lds/index.html gives Mormonism a "danger" rating, which sounds like sage advice to me. I'm no expert on cults, but I've done enough reading and research to know that anyone who knows what's good for them should steer well clear of Mormonism. For more on Mormonism, I highly recommend reading the chapter in The Kingdom of the Cults, by Walter Martin (Bethany House, ISBN 0764228218).

How I spent part of Easter

Whilst more devout Christians than myself attended Maundy Thursday church services, I went along to Trades Hall Bar in Carlton for the launch of Conceived on a Tram, which is a book of cartoons, illustrations and graphic stories done by various artists in Melbourne, with essays by Age columnist Danny Katz and Australia's unheralded comic genius, Shaun Micallef.

Mr Micallef was also present to officially launch the book. With his trademark self-deprecating humour, he commented about his own lack of artistic ability, which he demonstrated on stage by drawing a picture of a man pointing. When he was 12 years old, he enrolled in a correspondence art school, where students had the opportunity to submit their work for appraisal. His effort was a picture of former British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill, traced from a photograph, but also submitted on tracing paper. Needless to say, it wasn't evaluated favourably. To this day he appreciates good cartooning and illustration, with the exceptions of Snake Tales, Bristow, and Fred Bassett.

With the formalities over, the next part of the evening was the draw off, which was like Pictionary, or that segment on Spicks and Specks, but with book titles. Two teams of three, with members drawn from the audience, and Micallef captaining one of the teams, competed for the reward of recognition from their artistic peers.

To be honest, I felt a little out of place mingling with artistic, creative types. This wasn't quite my cup of tea. I don't have an artistic bone in my body. It's not that I don't like art, or appreciate artistic talent, but I don't understand it, and can't be bothered putting the time in to develop an appreciation for it. Having said that, I appreciate good writers and speakers.

As a longtime fan of Shaun Micallef's work, in television, print, and radio, I wanted to hear what he had to say. I'm not one for small talk or fawning over celebrities, so this time I didn't bother to buy the book or have it signed by anyone who contributed to it. However, that didn't stop me from once attending the 2004 Melbourne Writer's Festival launch of Shaun Micallef's own book, Smithereens (Penguin, ISBN 0143001213, $24.95) and having it personally signed by the author, with whom I chatted briefly on the night.

For more information on this book, which should be available direct from the publisher, visit http://www.sleeperspublishing.com/

The wonderful wireless

If you're looking for an alternative to the entertainment black hole that is Sunday night television, then you may care to listen to the Open House. In Melbourne, it airs from 9 till 11 pm on Light FM. Hosted by broadcaster, speaker, and author Sheridan Voysey, this radio program explores issues of life, faith, and culture from a Christian perspective. It never fails to inform, stimulate, and challenge. I find listening to it a great way of starting my week off on the right foot.