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<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n ***<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints should be aware that they are about to be front and center yet again in a not-insignificant pop-cultural event, a seven-part Hulu television mini-series entitled Under the Banner of Heaven<\/i> that will air this coming spring.\u00a0 It\u2019s scarcely the first<\/em> such event \u2014 think, among many others, of Arthur Conan Doyle\u2019s A Study in Scarlet<\/em> (1887), which marked the first appearance of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson; the Danish silent film Mormonens Offer<\/em> [A Victim of the Mormons<\/em>] (1911); Zane Grey\u2019s Riders of the Purple Sage<\/em> (1912), which has been called \u201cthe most popular western novel of all time\u201d; the two-part Tony-Award- and Pulitzer-Prize-winning play Angels in America<\/em> (1991, 1992), which was later made into an HBO miniseries (2003); Jon Krakauer\u2019s original bestselling book Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith<\/i> (2003); the HBO series Big Love<\/em> (2006-2011); and the smash musical hit The Book of Mormon<\/em> (2011-), which has won multiple Tony Awards and many other prizes.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The screenplay for this upcoming miniseries version of Under the Banner of Heaven<\/em> was written by the ex-Latter-day Saint LGBT activist Dustin Lance Black, who won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for the 2008 movie Milk<\/em>, about the gay rights activist and San Francisco politician Harvey Milk, <\/em>and who worked as a writer, then as an executive story editor, and finally as a co-producer on Big Love<\/em>.\u00a0 Black also narrated the documentary film 8: The Mormon<\/i> Proposition<\/em>, which was co-directed by the former-Latter-day Saint gay activist Reed Cowan.\u00a0 Under the Banner of Heaven<\/em> will star the Anglo-American actor Andrew Garfield, who also figures as its producer.\u00a0 Previously, he\u2019s played Spider-Man\/Peter Parker and \u2014 I really, really liked him in these roles \u2014 Desmond Doss in Hacksaw Ridge<\/em> and Rodrigues in Silence<\/em>.\u00a0 Given his self-description as an agnostic pantheist and the fact that he\u2019s starred in productions of Angels in America<\/em> both in London and on Broadway \u2014 for which he won multiple awards, including a Tony, and an Olivier nomination \u2014 I\u2019m not counting on Mr. Garfield, as its producer, to be a voice of respect and restraint with regard to the portrayal of Latter-day Saints and Latter-day Saint history in Under the Banner of Heaven.<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n That the miniseries will at least touch upon mainstream Latter-day Saint history, as well as upon the horrific story of religious fanaticism and murder that is at its heart, is shown by the fact that the cast list for it includes actors portraying Joseph Smith, Emma Smith, Brigham Young, John Taylor, and, yes, of course, almost inevitably, Porter Rockwell.\u00a0 And the official teaser<\/a> for Under the Banner of Heaven<\/em> leads me to believe that it will, at least passingly, touch upon matters pertaining to the temple.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n It will be easy for us to hunker down for this.\u00a0 We might regard it, and not without justice, as simply one more wearisome example of elite cultural contempt \u2014 or, at least, of elite pop<\/em>-cultural contempt \u2014 for us.\u00a0 It will almost certainly be that<\/em>.\u00a0 (A small handful of embittered former Latter-day Saints are already squealing with giddy delight.)\u00a0 Or we might react angrily, defensively.\u00a0 But that would probably be foolish and almost certainly useless.\u00a0 Back in the early twentieth century, in fact, when that Danish silent film Mormonens Offer<\/em> [A Victim of the Mormons<\/em>] appeared, misguided Latter-day Saint efforts to have it banned (as films in those early days sometimes were) actually helped to foster its success.\u00a0 I think that the official response of the Church to the Book of Mormon<\/em> musical (e.g., \u201cYou\u2019ve seen the play, now read the book!\u201d) was vastly better.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n I don\u2019t know how much of a splash Under the Banner of Heaven<\/em> will make.\u00a0 But it seems to me to offer a golden opportunity.\u00a0 It may pique the interest of people who think of us, otherwise, as a pretty bland bunch with an extra book and, at one time, an extra wife or two.\u00a0 To the extent that it provokes curiosity and discussion, that\u2019s a good thing that we can use to the benefit of the Kingdom.\u00a0 If people begin to wonder about us (e.g., \u201cDoes my Mormon neighbor really believe that<\/em>?\u201d\u00a0 \u201cIs my Latter-day Saint dentist really a dangerous religious zealot?\u201d\u00a0 \u201cMy LDS co-worker\u2019s church does what<\/em>?\u201d), I\u2019m not really going to complain.\u00a0 If there are conversations around the office water cooler, that\u2019s not necessarily a bad thing.\u00a0 We should be prepared, and we should act.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n It was Winston Churchill \u2014 not<\/em> the Democratic activist, former chief of staff in Barack Obama\u2019s White House, recent Chicago mayor, and current ambassador to Japan, Rahm Emanuel, to whom it is often misattributed \u2014 who famously said, \u201cNever let a good crisis go to waste.\u201d\u00a0 This miniseries may not constitute a \u201ccrisis,\u201d but it certainly shouldn\u2019t be allowed to go unutilized.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n ***<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Since I no longer hold any political opinions, I plainly have no opinion and take no stance, pro or con,<\/a> regarding the brilliant Russian peacekeeping operation in Ukraine<\/a>, which was apparently badly needed in order to free that so-called \u201ccountry\u201d from Nazi rule<\/a>.\u00a0 However, I do<\/em> think of myself as a historian<\/em>, and I continue to assert my right to hold historical<\/em> opinions.\u00a0 With that in mind, here are some links that are relevant to my views on a particular historical issue, upon which I would be happy to elaborate further in a private telephone call on a secure line or, say, during a private nighttime meeting on one of the uninhabited Channel Islands off the coast of California, or in a deep-sea submersible with room for no more than two people:<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n CNN:\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s time to admit it: Mitt Romney was right about Russia\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n CNN (video):\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s time to admit it: Mitt Romney was right about Russia\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n Deseret News<\/em>:\u00a0\u00a0\u201c\u2018Mitt Romney was right about Russia\u2019: Media look back on his much-maligned comments from 2012: Utah Sen. Mitt Romney was praised for his past comments on Russia\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n Fox News:\u00a0 \u201cRomney swipes Obama, Trump and Biden after Russia invades Ukraine: \u2018The \u201980s called and we didn\u2019t answer\u2019: Romney said, \u2018The \u201980s called and we didn\u2019t answer'\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n If you\u2019re interested in opinions loosely connected with current Russian peacekeeping efforts, you won\u2019t hear them from me<\/em>.\u00a0 I have none.\u00a0 But here are a couple of links where you might encounter such things:<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Primetime Propaganda<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>