tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1817835476996956670.post2595062520710959464..comments2024-03-12T09:44:18.874-07:00Comments on Howling Frog Books: Atlas of LoveJeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14247515387599954817noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1817835476996956670.post-38980855539070020742012-10-30T23:22:32.010-07:002012-10-30T23:22:32.010-07:00Yes, Katie could have a ring ceremony, which is co...Yes, Katie could have a ring ceremony, which is common when two people are getting married in the temple and their family members (parents, etc.) can't attend and aren't happy about it. It can't mimic a real wedding--no vows--but the temple ceremony does not include rings so you can have a ring-trading ceremony that usually makes most people happy.<br /><br />Your SIL may not have noticed that many Mormons didn't attend the wedding either. Temple weddings are *small*--usually only with family and very close friends, and even then you have to be an adult Mormon who has been through the temple to go at all. Younger siblings and bridesmaids *rarely* attend sealings, and it's not even uncommon for one or more parents not to be able to attend. Mormons consider the covenants made with God to be more important than who else is there. <br /><br />It's not so much that no one ever chooses to get married civilly for reasons like wanting friends to be there--that does happen, though usually not with two RMs who are faithful adults, it would be considered a very immature and superficial thing to do--it's more that it was treated as an easy, casual decision and the *very* heavy cultural and religious weight of that decision was ignored. Katie's parents, siblings, and friends are all freaking out, not to mention the guy's family. The bishop had a serious talk with her. The couple agonized tearfully over such a decision--the author doesn't seem to realize what would happen, that it's a huge deal. <br /><br />One way that Mormons really differ from fundamentalists is that everyone is encouraged to get as much education as possible--Mormons actually reverse the usual statistical trend where higher education correlates with less religion. So while, sure, there are LDS guys who aren't into booky girls, guys who love booky girls aren't exactly rare. Heck, even I found one.<br /><br />I don't know about Katie being the spiritual soul of the book. She was so often portrayed as kind of cold. (Indeed, described outright as cold, though that was another spot that I thought was unrealistically executed. Anyone could have been more graceful than that.) She was angry a lot. She was the only one who thought about the bigger picture, you're right, but sometimes that was portrayed as, well, cold. <br /><br />I gave it to a friend of mine who I knew would enjoy it, and she did love it--but since she's an RM herself she agreed with me about the Katie problem. :)Jeanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14247515387599954817noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1817835476996956670.post-9533569688125527012012-10-30T21:33:24.209-07:002012-10-30T21:33:24.209-07:00That's exactly what I wanted to know!!!!
The ...That's exactly what I wanted to know!!!!<br /><br />The backyard wedding didn't make any sense to me either, because my SIL was a bridesmaid in a LDS wedding but it was really more of a pictures thing. She wasn't actually allowed to attend the real wedding because she wasn't LDS. So why would Kate insist on having a backyard wedding so her nonMormon friends could be there? Wouldn't that be a blessing ceremony or something?<br /><br />The part about books and readership did seem believable to me though. But that's because I've seen that type of behavior in fundamentalist Christian circles. Sometimes you'll find a church where the culture just isn't that into academics. So I just figured Kate was in a ward where the people she hung out with were more interested in going to picnics than libraries. <br /><br />But would you agree that Kate was really the spiritual soul of the whole book? She was the only character who had her eye on a bigger picture the entire time.<br /> Jennifer Bardsleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16864426089518851810noreply@blogger.com