The Angel and the Beehive: THE MORMON STRUGGLE WITH ASSIMILATION [Hardcover]

Armand L. Mauss (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1994

"The past few decades have witnessed an increasing reaction of the Mormons against their own successful assimilation, " Armand Mauss writes in The Angel and the Beehive, "as though trying to recover some of the cultural tension and special identity associated with their earlier 'sect-like' history." This retrenchment among Mormons is the main theme of Mauss's book, which analyzes the last forty years of Mormon history from a sociological perspective. At the official ecclesiastical level, Mauss finds, the retrenchment can be seen in the greatly increased centralization of bureaucratic control and in renewed emphases on obedience to modern prophets, on genealogy and vicarious temple work, and on traditional family life; retrenchment is also apparent in extensive formal religious indoctrination by full-time professionals and in an increased sophistication and intensity of proselytizing. At what he refers to as "the folk or grassroots level, " Mauss finds that Mormons have generally been compliant with the retrenchment effort and are today at least as "religious" on most measures as they were in the 1960s. A sizable segment of the Mormon membership, Mauss asserts, has gone beyond "Mormon" retrenchment to express itself in a growing resort to Protestant fundamentalism, both in scriptural understanding and in intellectual style. The author calls on a wide array of sources in sociology and history to show that Mormons, who by mid-century had come a long way from their position as disreputable "outsiders" in a society dominated by the mainline religions, seem now to be adopting more conservative ways and seeking a return to a more sectarian posture.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Mauss's socio-historical analysis of selected transformations in the Mormon Church ... makes significant contributions to the sociology of religion. -- Sociology of Religion.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 280 pages
• Publisher: University of Illinois Press; First Edition edition (April 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0252020715
• ISBN-13: 978-0252020711
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,015,705 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Objective, May 1, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Angel and the Beehive: THE MORMON STRUGGLE WITH ASSIMILATION (Hardcover)

This is not a warm fuzzy, feel good, faith promoting book. It is a fair, objective, social science aproach to the LDS church.

26 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Objective, enlightening scholarship, May 29, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Angel and the Beehive: THE MORMON STRUGGLE WITH ASSIMILATION (Hardcover)

Mauss does a nice job of illuminating the origins of a trend many of us in the church have noticed in the last few decades. He shows how the right-wing, anti-intellectuals have no greater doctrinal support than others, but how they have seized control of many outlets that make their version of Mormonism seem normative.