The Angel and Beehive: The Mormon Struggle with Assimilation

by Armand L. Mauss

"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.

Genres: Religion, History, Mormonism, Lds, Nonfiction, Sociology, Christianity

280 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 1994

Reviews

[Tylernickl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mauss implicitly separates the doctrine of the LDS church from the culture, which he shows to be shifting, constructed and contingent on historical context. He backs his assertions with research on predominant Mormon attitudes/behaviors, historical and current.

[Greg Diehl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mauss has a gift for orienting his reader's toward a more holistic perspective that appreciates the forest through the trees. There are things you know about Mormon History but don't necessarily appreciate how those instances relate to one another. What are we to make of Manifesto #1 much less Manifesto #2? What of the church’s stance on race (maintaining a repugnant priesthood restriction well into the late seventies) or its take on the ERA etc.? The list is long and can be quite exhausting as well as vexing, particularly when each is viewed in isolation. But when placed against the backdrop of a larger sociological context that shows how the church’s positioning over time can be viewed like a pendulum that swings back and forth from a place of institutional distinctiveness (represented by the Angel Moroni on top of the Salt Lake Temple), and one of larger cultural assimilation and accommodation (represented by the Beehive atop the Hotel Utah/Joseph Smith Memorial building), a longer-term perspective comes into view that provides some much-needed depth to much of (definitely not all) of the difficulty.

Much like Cameron from "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" when he finds himself in a moment of serious introspection in front of George Seurat’s “A Sunday on La Grande Jatte.” The camera cuts back and forth between Cameron’s face and the face of the young girl at the center of the pixelated painting. Drawing closer to the canvas with each moment, the scene progressively pulls so close to her face that it is no longer identifiable as such. Similar to Cameron's experience, I can often feel lost in many Mormon moments that perplex me. Using his mastery of sociology as his brush, Mauss is able to work the process in reverse.

It was particularly fascinating to see how, in a posture of retrenchment (a doubling-down on distinctiveness) toward the latter half of the twentieth century, some of the most influential church leaders (think McConkie and Fielding Smith) actually embraced many of the tenants of Protestant Fundamentalism [scriptural inerrancy and literalism, authoritarian leadership and strict obedience to pastoral (“prophetic” in Mormon parlance) injunctions, hostility toward secularism, biblical (scriptural) criticism, and scientific theories such as evolution, etc.].

I found two of Mauss's observations regarding this embrace of fundamentalism particularly ironic. One is that Protestant fundamentalists have consistently been some of the most visceral and vocal of the anti-Mormons (I experienced this first hand during my Mormon mission to the southern U.S. during the mid-nineties). The other irony (and this one has also hit very close to home for me personally) is what Mauss describes as the “increased susceptibility for defections.” In other words, we (the collective form) have set ourselves up to experience “faith crisis” on a large scale. Mauss’s analysis in this regard is particularly prescient when it comes to Mormon youth who he sees (writing in the mid-nineties) as being “highly susceptible to disillusionment.” Anyone tracking developments on this front over the past few decades will recognize how prophetic (pun intended) that prediction has become.

How can I give his work any less than five stars?

[Christopher Angulo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't think that a book so old could still be so relevant and thought provoking. This work was great!

[Jon Webber · Rating 2 out of 5]

Academic, and 30 years old, much less interesting than I thought. Some clever statistical conclusions

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well-executed, approachable writing

[idkailey · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the research is now outdated I am obsessed with the assimilation - retrenchment concept Mauss brings up and loved this read and what he had to say about all that mormon culture

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mauss adds a very incisive look at the sociology of Mormonism, especially in the 20th century. What he said wasn't new, but I appreciated that accompanied his honest critique. I would be interested in what he would have to say today, 16 years after he first published this book.

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating look at the Mormon movement during the 20th century through the lens of sociology. This book is yet another key section of the Mormon library important to understanding the changes in the faith that have occurred throughout the development of the Mormon faith tradition.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read it once many years ago. I need to review again.
It's practically required reading for 20th century (second half)
Mormonism.