"Meet The Mormons"

[_Bazooka]

http://www.channel4.com/information/press/prog ... he-mormons

For the first time, Mormon leaders in America have permitted the Church in the UK to open its doors to cameras. With unprecedented access to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, this documentary follows a young British Mormon as he gives up two years of his life to convert the people of Leeds.

Known to most people as the men in suits who knock on our doors, young Mormon missionaries have the job of converting us to their particular brand of Christianity – they are the ‘Ambassadors of God’.

Twenty-year-old Josh Field from Sussex is one of around 200,000 Mormons in the UK. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is run from America. Based in Salt Lake City in Utah, the Mormon empire operates in 185 countries and has 15 million members worldwide. Their leader is Thomas S. Monson, whom Mormons believe is a living prophet receiving revelations directly from God. Every year he sends nearly 70,000 young men and women off to spread the gospel – and recruit to the church.

[_ludwigm]

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=34893
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[_Bazooka]

So this 60 minute programme aired in the UK last night.

I didn't get to watch it, but this morning I have had several non member acquaintances ask me about how magic my underwear is and how do I cope without being allowed to masturbate. Can someone who saw it please tell me that the Church didn't just propagate my ridicule for the next 3 months?

[_Bazooka]

Meet the Mormons (Channel 4) attempted to shed light on a world-renowned institution. Journalist Lynn Alleway set out to find out about the beliefs of the UK’s 200,000 Mormons by following an “ambassador of God” – one of the missionaries who are expected to give up two years to the church.
Cameras followed Josh Field, 20, as he said goodbye to his family (personal contact is banned during the mission) and trained for this work. Alleway did well to capture the contrast between Field's pride as he attended his initiation ceremony and his anguish as the reality of his separation began to sink in.
Field may have felt lonely, but he was never alone. The film felt claustrophobic at times, cooped up in a small Leeds flat, cleverly mirroring the constraints of his living environment, as we discovered he constantly had to remain in the same room as his “companion” (an older missionary called Elder Bauman) when they returned from peddling the religion like door-to-door salesmen each day.
Alleway’s discussions with the pair were awkward but revealing. At one stage, Field bizarrely insisted “it’s just like living with one of your mates”, as he sat in the bedroom in a suit and tie with Bauman.
For those with little knowledge of Mormonism, the film offered a helpful primer to rules banning tea or coffee as well as alcohol and smoking. But it was hard to resist a chuckle when we were told DJs at a Mormon dance would cut out sexually suggestive lyrics, only then to see teenagers dancing to the Spice Girls’ line “tell me what you want, what you really, really want”.
Too often, though, we were denied what we most wanted: answers. The companion arrangement meant that Alleway could not speak to Field about his feelings alone. A member of the church’s PR team was always lurking in the background, too.
The film ended, as it had begun, with Field’s faith: he was certain he would be “blessed” with a perfect life after the “sacrifice” he had endured. Thanks to the constraints imposed on filming, we will have to take his word for that.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvan ... aling.html

[_Bazooka]

Despite having 15 million Mormons in 185 countries around the world, much mystery surrounds the Mormon religion.

Now Channel 4 has gained exclusive access to the UK movement in Meet The Mormons, as it follows 20-year-old Josh Field, as he becomes a missionary.

His new role as an 'Ambassador of God' requires him to leave home for two years, in which time he's not allowed to see friends or family. Phone calls are limited to twice a year and letters once a week.

Here are seven extraordinary Mormon beliefs the excellent doc also uncovers.

1. Mormons must remain 'sexually clean'
Until they marry, Mormons are prohibited from sexual acts (which includes no self-pleasure).

They have special underwear they believe protects them from temptation.
<image of temple garments>

2. Jesus Christ moved to America following his resurrection
Rather than appearing to his own disciples before ascending to Heaven to sit to the right of his Father - the commonly-held belief in the New Testament - Mormons subscribe to the theory that, following his crucifixion, Jesus in fact moved to America and appointed 12 disciples there.

3. Tea and coffee is a sin
Members of the Mormon church can not drink alcohol or smoke.

Moreover, they are not allowed to drink tea or coffee as they believe that God commanded it this.

4. Baptism after death
They believe they have the power to baptise people once they have dies, so even if you weren't a Mormon in life, you can be saved.

5. Jesus Christ asked for their church to be created
The Son of God appeared to founder Joseph Smith almost 200 years ago and said the other Christian churches were not his and had gone astray, queue the birth of the Mormon church.

6. Swimming is prohibited
Young Mormon missionaries are not allowed to go swimming (as Satan has 'power over the waters').

7. Marriage can be 'sealed' for an eternity
Couples attend 'sealing' ceremonies in their temple which assure they will be together, even after death.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/meet ... fs-3768501

[_Bazooka]

If you thought that Mormons were mostly confined to Salt Lake City and the Osmond family compound, you were wrong. As shown in Meet the Mormons (Channel 4), director Lynn Alleway's all-too-fleeting glimpse into missionary life, the Church of the Latter Day Saints is bustling with activity in the UK too.

The big boast of this hour-long, one-off documentary was Alleway's unprecedented access. Never before has the church's Utah HQ given a film-maker permission to document the lives of its UK members. But don't get too excited. It turns out that the Mormon definition of "access" and "no access at all" are, in effect, remarkably similar.

Alleway was allowed to shadow 20-year-old Josh as he set out on his two years of mandatory missionary work in Leeds, but she also had a shadow of her own; a representative of the Church who sat in on all of their interviews. There was footage of a Mormon temple's grand interiors, featuring chandeliers and life-sized model cows – but since no non-Mormon is allowed to enter, let alone film there, this was all pre-approved by the Church leadership. In agreeing to be filmed, their intention may well have been to dispel myths about Mormonism, but evidently old habits of secrecy die hard.

Josh's refusal to discuss their special chastity-promoting underwear, for instance, only made the long john-like garment seem undeservedly mysterious, while doctrines like Jesus's trip to America, baptisms for the dead, and the bar on female clergy were never actually broached. Instead, there were lots of shots of a mostly blank-faced Elder Field, as Josh was known in the church. These reminders of his inscrutability only made our frustration more acute. Alleway seemed convinced that if she could only get her subject alone, he would have revealed some hidden anguish behind this mask of calm. But was it a mask? I suspect that she hadn't factored in the stunting effect that weekends spent dancing to The Spice Girls at booze-free Mormon discos might have on character growth.

Better value was Morgan, a plump, blustering young man in a blazer and T-shirt combo, who managed to contribute a few thoughts on pre-marital sex before being firmly led away by Des the PR man. "I went on a date with this girl and we went to go watch a movie and – let me tell you – that was as fun as any form of sexual relationship could be," he announced with confidence.

"You haven't had sex, presumably?" ventured Alleway.

"No, I haven't. But the thing is, I know the chemical equation of it, so I can guess." Final score: Mormons 1 Documentaries 0.

Missionaries like Elder Field have an allowance of only £26 a week for food and haircuts, but they're still better off than Sammy-Jo, in another documentary from yesterday evening, Channel 4's Beauty Queen or Bust. As a hopeful Miss Black Country contestant, her £56 dole money has to stretch to rent, food, travel and a shedload of false eyelashes. So even though 44 years have passed since feminists protested Miss World 1970, it seems that women in dire economic straits are still reduced to trading off their looks in the hope of advancement. And woe betide the ugly ones.

Some things have changed, however; the outmoded swimsuit parade has been replaced by an "eco-wear" round, in which pageant contestants have to create an outfit from recycled materials. Twenty-two-year-old Natalie used human hair for her dress: "'Cause I do hairdressing and hair extensions for a living, I thought why not incorporate it into the eco round?" Why not, indeed.

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-enter ... 66619.html

[_beanboots]

any way to watch this online?

[_beanboots]

I went ahead and searched for it on youtube. Didn't find it, but found something better. This is hilarious:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FLIxXeKax4

[_Bazooka]

any way to watch this online?

I don't know if you can view it from the States but it's on 4oD.
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/4od


Just watched it, Church PR does a truly awful job.

[_beanboots]

any way to watch this online?

I don't know if you can view it from the States but it's on 4oD.
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/4od


Just watched it, Church PR does a truly awful job.

thanks, zook. time to drag the ol' proxy outta the barn.