Mormonism in the New Century

August 09, 2010

Continued from Page 2

If I am right about the recent move of the cyclical pendulum away from retrenchment and once again toward assimilation and accommodation, then I would expect the "Correlation" process to be loosened somewhat and adapted to the predicament, which the Church increasingly faces, of trying to retain a rapidly growing membership, at least half of which is lost to defection within the first year. The success of the Church in this effort, between now and the middle of this new century, will depend in large part on whether and how this adaptation takes place, as well as upon the ability of the Church to enhance its public image. Much will depend also on national American developments over which the Church has little or no control, including both domestic and international policies and events. For better or for worse, the Church can never substantially separate itself from its American origins and geopolitical location, so it is fated to "work out its salvation" with that patrimony, both at home and abroad.

Armand L. Mauss retired in 1999 as Professor Emeritus of Sociology and Religious Studies at Washington State University. Since 2005, he has taught courses in Mormon Studies as adjunct faculty in the School of Religion of the Claremont Graduate University. He is author, co-author, or editor of several books, including Neither White nor Black: Mormon Scholars Confront the Race Issue in a Universal Church, with Lester E. Bush (Signature Books, 1984); The Angel and the Beehive: The Mormon Struggle with Assimilation (University of Illinois Press, 1994); and All Abraham's Children: Changing Mormon Conceptions of Race and Lineage (University of Illinois Press, 2003), the latter two of which were awarded best book prizes by the Mormon History Association. He is also author of a hundred or so articles and reviews in professional sociological journals and in the journals of LDS scholarship, including Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought; the Journal of Mormon History, BYU Studies (reviews), and Sunstone Magazine.

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