After Mitt Romney invidiously distinguished Israeli accomplishment from Palestinian lack thereof by pointing to the "hand of providence," ReligionDispatches' Sarah Posner piled on by claiming that he was "was hardly reading from a Mormon script." I'm not so sure.
To make her case, Posner relies on an interview with Daniel C. Peterson, professor of Islamic Studies and Arabic at Brigham Young and author of a book on LDS views of the Middle East. Here's the guts of Peterson's position:
While “a Latter-day Saint would find it very hard to be fundamentally critical of the Zionist project because our scriptures talk about the return of Jews to the Holy Land,” said Peterson, “there’s certainly room to disagree about the form that it’s taken or specific policies of the Israeli government. Some are going to be very sympathetic. You take someone like Glenn Beck who's obviously very closely aligned with the government of Israel but others who are extremely critical and embarrassed that Glenn Beck is a Mormon.” Peterson described Beck as “much more in line with certain militant evangelicals.”
I'd say that a scriptural commitment to the return of the Jews to the Holy Land is sufficient grounds for a Mormon to consider the hand of Providence at work in Israel. What's more, however, I'd say that Peterson is implying that Beck (the LDS convert) is more outside the Mormon mainstream than he really is.
As Matthew Bowman points out in The Mormon People, from the 1950s through the 1980s such influential LDS figures as Joseph Fielding Smith and Bruce McConkie adopted dispensationalist theology from Protestant fundamentalism and wove it into into Mormon ideas of the End Times. Their approach was adopted by W. Cleon Skousen, a sometime teacher at BYU, in a series of popular books, the last of which, The Cleansing of America, includes a Holy Land End Times scenario as wild and specific as anything by Hal Lindsey or Tim LeHaye.
In line with Mormon doctrine, Skousen also sketches out how United States' own future "Zion Society" would be providentially walled off from the coming Tribulation. Under the circumstances, perhaps we should take a closer look at the relevant passage from the AP report on Romney's remarks.
"And as I come here and I look out over this city and consider the accomplishments of the people of this nation, I recognize the power of at least culture and a few other things," Romney said, citing an innovative business climate, the Jewish history of thriving in difficult circumstances and the "hand of providence." He said similar disparity exists between other neighboring countries, including Mexico and the United States.
It wouldn't exactly be off Mormon script to see that U.S.-Mexico disparity as also invidiously providential.
NJ John | Aug 1, 2012 | 2:01pm
I am a white, Mormon male, born and raised in Provo, Utah, who served a mission, went to BYU, and was married in a Mormon temple. I currently live in NJ.
I think Prof. Peterson’s analysis is spot on. He has is finger on the pulse of Mormons today, and I think Mr. Silk is quite far off in his analysis.
Mr. Silk appears to make his analysis under the misapprehension that Mormons are mostly in Utah, and overwhelmingly hard right Republicans. It is stated oft, but worth repeating: there are more Mormons outside the US than in, and more Mormons outside of Utah living in the US than in.
There are certainly Mormons who subscribe to Skousen’s ideas, but for most his views are quite foreign. Moreover, many are conflicted about Glenn Beck. It is nice to see a Mormon face, but at the same time his views are quite radical to that of your typical member. If you press your average Republican American Mormon on any issue, you will likely find they are more moderate than the, as Prof. Peterson puts it, certain militant evangelicals who tend to follow Beck quite closely.
It is interesting that Mr. Silk draws support for his argument from leaders who lived decades ago, and not from contemporary leaders within the Church. Most statements are from the Zionist period or from the early or most turbulent years of the Jewish state. The US was, at that time and in general, more supportive of Israel.
There is a difference between “Providence” and seeing the fulfillment of biblical prophecies. Biblical prophecies can be fulfilled even where the manner or outcome is invidious. Providence implies a heavenly stamp of approval on the process. Prof. Peterson is right to point our the distinction. I recommend you read up more on the experiences of those who attend and teach at the BYU Jerusalem Center, Mormon, Jew, and Palestinian, for a better understanding of the Mormon view.