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Brandon Sanderson / Mormonism & Sanderson's Writing
« on: March 16, 2009, 07:52:23 AM »
Before anything else, let me say that I regard B. Sanderson as an enormously talented writer. I have read his Mistborn and Elantris novels, and regard them as ranking among the best fantasy novels in recent years.
With that said, I was troubled to learn that he is a devout Mormon. While all religious faiths rely on rather absurd premises, core Mormon doctrines enshrined in their sacred texts are especially pernicious, particularly those that elevate racism to the status of divine judgment of a people's intrinsic worth as human beings.
Consider the book Elantris again, and the description of the curse in it that is the foundation for the novel (i.e., a fair-skinned race turned dark and loathsome by a divine curse, and a city whose very walls were transformed in color from white to black to visibly mark the city's descent from purity into corruption), in light of this:
_________________
2 Nephi 5:21-23:
"And he had caused the cursing to come upon them, yea, even a sore cursing, because of their iniquity. For behold, they had hardened their hearts against him, that they had become like unto a flint; wherefore, as they were white, and exceedingly fair and delightsome, that they might not be enticing unto my people the Lord God did cause a skin of blackness to come upon them."
"And thus saith the Lord God: I will cause that they shall be loathsome unto thy people, save they shall repent of their iniquities."
"And cursed shall be the seed of him that mixeth with their seed; for they shall be cursed even with the same cursing. And the Lord spake it, and it was done."
"And because of their cursing which was upon them they did become an idle people, full of mischief and subtlety, and did seek in the wilderness for beasts of prey."
2 Nephi 30:6:
"...their scales of darkness shall begin to fall from their eyes; and many generations shall not pass away among them, save they shall be a white and a delightsome people."
3 Nephi 2:15:
"And their curse was taken from them, and their skin became white like unto the Nephites."
The above was the basis for the Mormon church refusing to ordain blacks as ministers until after the year 1978, at which time the leaders of the Mormon church received a new "revelation" that God had apparently changed his mind about blacks, and they weren't spiritually inferior to whites after all (this change of heart was rather convenient for the extremely wealthy Mormon faith, as the IRS had been threatening to revoke its tax-exempt status because of the faith's racist teachings and practices).
I believe Sanderson's internal struggle with these passages and past practices of his church is revealed in Elantris. I am heartened by Sanderson's portrayal of the character Galladon in Elantris, a heroic character who was also a black man.
A common theme running through Elantris and Warbreaker is men becoming gods. It is not surprising that Sanderson is preoccupied with this, since an oddity of the Mormon faith is that it is not a monotheistic one like Christianity, Judaism or the Muslim faith. Rather, it is a polytheistic / henotheistic one embracing the idea that there are many gods, and that the god that created the Earth was once a man living on a distant world who became a god. Indeed, according to Mormon doctrine the faithful can themselves ascend to godhood and rule their own worlds. I guess to Mormons, Milton's Satan in Paradise Lost presents a false choice by saying, "Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heaven."
As far as I am concerned, this isn't many steps removed from the beliefs underlying Scientology. Compare Sanderson's own statement that the Mormon church teaches "... that before we were born, we lived as spirits, and were involved in the production of this world. We chose to come to this planet...", with the belief of Scientologists that souls ("thetans") have lived on other planets before living on Earth, and that the spiritual community of souls created the universe through collective belief in its existence.
The following article (written by a Christian, something that I am not) presents an interesting analysis of whether the Mormon faith is a polytheistic or henotheistic one:
http://contenderministries.org/mormonism/polytheism.php
This entertaining cartoon explains the key teachings of the Mormon church, although it apparently isn't liked much by Mormons:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zy0d1HbItOo
I'm interested in how others feel about how Sanderson's faith has influenced his novels, with examples given from his writing, and also any portions of his novels that reveal a break with Mormon teachings. If I'd been aware of Sanderson's beliefs at the time I'd read his books, I'd have had a keen eye on which characters if any imbibed coffee or smoked tobacco.
(A final word: I am not a religious scholar of any sort, let alone an expert on the Mormon faith. If I've relied on erroneous information about the Mormon faith in writing the above, please explain the nature of the error.)
[title edited to better reflect thread - TJK]
With that said, I was troubled to learn that he is a devout Mormon. While all religious faiths rely on rather absurd premises, core Mormon doctrines enshrined in their sacred texts are especially pernicious, particularly those that elevate racism to the status of divine judgment of a people's intrinsic worth as human beings.
Consider the book Elantris again, and the description of the curse in it that is the foundation for the novel (i.e., a fair-skinned race turned dark and loathsome by a divine curse, and a city whose very walls were transformed in color from white to black to visibly mark the city's descent from purity into corruption), in light of this:
_________________
2 Nephi 5:21-23:
"And he had caused the cursing to come upon them, yea, even a sore cursing, because of their iniquity. For behold, they had hardened their hearts against him, that they had become like unto a flint; wherefore, as they were white, and exceedingly fair and delightsome, that they might not be enticing unto my people the Lord God did cause a skin of blackness to come upon them."
"And thus saith the Lord God: I will cause that they shall be loathsome unto thy people, save they shall repent of their iniquities."
"And cursed shall be the seed of him that mixeth with their seed; for they shall be cursed even with the same cursing. And the Lord spake it, and it was done."
"And because of their cursing which was upon them they did become an idle people, full of mischief and subtlety, and did seek in the wilderness for beasts of prey."
2 Nephi 30:6:
"...their scales of darkness shall begin to fall from their eyes; and many generations shall not pass away among them, save they shall be a white and a delightsome people."
3 Nephi 2:15:
"And their curse was taken from them, and their skin became white like unto the Nephites."
The above was the basis for the Mormon church refusing to ordain blacks as ministers until after the year 1978, at which time the leaders of the Mormon church received a new "revelation" that God had apparently changed his mind about blacks, and they weren't spiritually inferior to whites after all (this change of heart was rather convenient for the extremely wealthy Mormon faith, as the IRS had been threatening to revoke its tax-exempt status because of the faith's racist teachings and practices).
I believe Sanderson's internal struggle with these passages and past practices of his church is revealed in Elantris. I am heartened by Sanderson's portrayal of the character Galladon in Elantris, a heroic character who was also a black man.
A common theme running through Elantris and Warbreaker is men becoming gods. It is not surprising that Sanderson is preoccupied with this, since an oddity of the Mormon faith is that it is not a monotheistic one like Christianity, Judaism or the Muslim faith. Rather, it is a polytheistic / henotheistic one embracing the idea that there are many gods, and that the god that created the Earth was once a man living on a distant world who became a god. Indeed, according to Mormon doctrine the faithful can themselves ascend to godhood and rule their own worlds. I guess to Mormons, Milton's Satan in Paradise Lost presents a false choice by saying, "Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heaven."
As far as I am concerned, this isn't many steps removed from the beliefs underlying Scientology. Compare Sanderson's own statement that the Mormon church teaches "... that before we were born, we lived as spirits, and were involved in the production of this world. We chose to come to this planet...", with the belief of Scientologists that souls ("thetans") have lived on other planets before living on Earth, and that the spiritual community of souls created the universe through collective belief in its existence.
The following article (written by a Christian, something that I am not) presents an interesting analysis of whether the Mormon faith is a polytheistic or henotheistic one:
http://contenderministries.org/mormonism/polytheism.php
This entertaining cartoon explains the key teachings of the Mormon church, although it apparently isn't liked much by Mormons:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zy0d1HbItOo
I'm interested in how others feel about how Sanderson's faith has influenced his novels, with examples given from his writing, and also any portions of his novels that reveal a break with Mormon teachings. If I'd been aware of Sanderson's beliefs at the time I'd read his books, I'd have had a keen eye on which characters if any imbibed coffee or smoked tobacco.
(A final word: I am not a religious scholar of any sort, let alone an expert on the Mormon faith. If I've relied on erroneous information about the Mormon faith in writing the above, please explain the nature of the error.)
[title edited to better reflect thread - TJK]