Hans Castorp!?!?! Come on down....

[_MrStakhanovite]

Welcome to the board Hans! I was taking a peek at your blog, and I'm excited that you've started posting here. So what is your story? How did you get involved with Mormonism? Be as specific or vague as you like...

[_hans castorp]

Thank you, Stak.

Here's the story in a (okay, large) nutshell.

I'm a never-Mo. My first exposure to Mormonism was the Mormon pavilion at the 1964 New York World's Fair. (Yes, I am that old.) I dug the Arnold Friberg paintings and the angel on the spire, and took home a couple of pamphlets. They fascinated me, and I did a little reading but not much more. A few years later, in college, I met a grad student (also a Never Mo) who was interested in Mormonism and knew a relative of one of the GAs. He clued me into some of the more unusual LDS doctrines, and I started to read more about the church. Then I took a course in American philosophy which approached Joseph Smith as the unacknowledged realization of Emerson's call for a new, American revelation. By this point I was hooked.

I acquired (and even read) books about Mormonism, subscribed when I could afford it to Mormon journals, and when the net appeared, followed Mormon blogs and discussion boards. I've been lurking around here for quite a few years. I have a few Mormon (mostly ex-Mormon) acquaintances, and I once had a conversation with Elder Oaks's violinist daughter (we were sitting next to each other on the subway; I was reading the Book of Mormon). My only Mormon-related professional experience was copyediting Harold Bloom's The American Religion (yes, I left in all those weird capitalizations).

So that's most of the how. The why follows.

[_Bret Ripley]

Welcome to the board Hans! I was taking a peek at your blog, and I'm excited that you've started posting here...

Seconded! Thanks for the link to his blog, Stak. Thoughtful stuff.

[_Fionn]

Wilkommen in der Zauberberg!

[_hans castorp]

Now as to the why . . .

In the first place, I've always been interested in the strange and unusual, and believe me, to a half Southern WASP-half Jewish boy in New York, Mormonism is plenty of both.

Second, it embodies a lot of what America was and is about, for good and bad. There's a good deal that's familiar amidst all the outlandishness.

Third, I had become very interested in the history of religion and in theology. It seemed to me, especially in the 70s, that Mormonism was a laboratory demonstration of the problem of reconciling religion and modernity, a process that had splintered Protestantism in the 19th and 20th centuries and seemed to be rocking even the Barque of Peter.

And fourth, but by no means last, it's so bloody interesting!

[_Morley]

Welcome, Hans.

Did you post here previously under another name? Somehow I found a link to your blog a while ago and read it. I was impressed.

[_MrStakhanovite]

My only Mormon-related professional experience was copyediting Harold Bloom's The American Religion (yes, I left in all those weird capitalizations).

Man I love this board sometimes.

[_hans castorp]

Wilkommen in der Zauberberg!

Danke!

[_Fence Sitter]

Welcome Hans!!

From the sounds of it you are bringing a rather unique perspective to the board.

[_hans castorp]

Welcome, Hans.

Did you post here previously under another name? Somehow I found a link to your blog a while ago and read it. I was impressed.

Thanks, Morley.

No, I've never posted here before. Perhaps you came across my blog in real life? Though it's so obscure, I don't see how.

hc