Saturday, March 10, 2012

Mormon

http://mormon.org/

The first site image is a heavily religious one of Jesus Christ saving a blind man who is begging for help. There is a box that straight away grabs our attention;

What is the purpose of my life?

They offer to teach more about Jesus Christ, "our redeemer" who "made a way for us to be forgiven". If you click this link it takes you to a long page broken into sections, which seems like any Christian site. They talk about redemption and who and what Christ did for us. One thing I did notice was that all the photos were very multicultural - something they include on the first page too. Going back to the home page, in the slideshow after the picture of Jesus Christ it is full of profiles of Mormons - all of whom are of a different ethic.

The site has a page on "Values" which to me was very American; Freedom to Choose, Strengthening Families, Good Citizenship being just a few of these. These values are very strong in the American Identity. Americans pride themselves in their value and moral codes, and on being a Good Citizen.

I didn't see anything at first that showed the uniqueness of the Mormon religion. Under the section "Our Beliefs" there is however sections on Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. For those that don't know who Joseph Smith is or what the Book of Mormon is, they do try to offer an explanation and history. They also allow Mormons to answer "Who was Joseph Smith?". The website claims that "In response to a humble prayer, God called Joseph to re-establish the Church of Jesus Christ". Mormons only have a small section to explain the significance of Joseph Smith as they do not worship him (as such. Some claim they just "respect" their founder).

The most significant detail about the site is (as usual) the imagery. The imagery is a mix of old religious paintings with lots of different American Identities representing America and the Mormon community. This is significant because of the use of various American Identities. The media in America always portrays America as being far more equal and just than in reality it is, and the website goes along with this. They also heavily show their strong beliefs in values and Jesus Christ, which Americans also view as another important part of their Identity.

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