Brigham Young's Erotic Dream

[Everybody Wang Chung]

"When Brigham Young called me to be in the First Presidency, he told me it would be just like the movies. Unfortunately, I didn't think the movie would be Brokeback Mountain!" -- George Albert Smith

In Michael Quinn's Same-sex Dynamics Among Nineteenth-Century Americans we learn that Brigham Young had a very interesting dream involving the Governor of Utah, Alfred Cumming. It's one of those many bizarre historical nuggets the Church would prefer to never see the light of day. I would have loved to have seen this dream portrayed in Six Days in August.

Brigham Young, even dreamed of sleeping with non-Mormon men as a way of resolving conflict. In 1858 the church historian wrote: “Prest. Young said he dreamed last night, of seeing Gov. [Alfred] Cumming. He appeared exceedingly friendly, and said to Prest. Young we must be united, we must act in concert; and commenced undressing himself to go to bed with him.”

https://archive.org/details/samesexdyna ... p?q=alfred

A close approximation of Governor Alfred Cumming in Brother Brigham's dream

[drumdude]

These are the juicy historical tidbits I’d love to see grace the pages of DCP’s blog!

[Doctor Scratch]

Given the bizarre fixation on "Brother Brigham" by the Powers That Be at Interpreter, you kind of have to wonder what's going on. I agree with you, Everybody Wang Chung, that this type of thing absolutely will be whitewashed from any Mopologetic productions. And yet I think it's worth asking: if Brigham himself demanded that Dr. Peterson join him in bed, what would be the response? Would it be anything less than unbridled enthusiasm? I think we all know the answer.

Meanwhile, you kind of have to wonder whether this sort of impulse has played out elsewhere in the Mopologetic ranks. Has the Afore, perhaps, dreamt of joining Jack Welch in bed?

Mind you: I'm not saying that sex would have been the end goal here or anything like that. I'm merely saying: isn't is possible--possible--that the Mopologists have had thoughts/fantasies that are at least in the same ballpark as this one that "Brother Brigham" had about Gov. Cumming?

[toon]

The name fits for an erotic dream. "Ello Gov'na. Cumming?"

[Everybody Wang Chung]

Given the bizarre fixation on "Brother Brigham" by the Powers That Be at Interpreter, you kind of have to wonder what's going on. I agree with you, Everybody Wang Chung, that this type of thing absolutely will be whitewashed from any Mopologetic productions. And yet I think it's worth asking: if Brigham himself demanded that Dr. Peterson join him in bed, what would be the response? Would it be anything less than unbridled enthusiasm? I think we all know the answer.

Meanwhile, you kind of have to wonder whether this sort of impulse has played out elsewhere in the Mopologetic ranks. Has the Afore, perhaps, dreamt of joining Jack Welch in bed?

Mind you: I'm not saying that sex would have been the end goal here or anything like that. I'm merely saying: isn't is possible--possible--that the Mopologists have had thoughts/fantasies that are at least in the same ballpark as this one that "Brother Brigham" had about Gov. Cumming?

Excellent post. The Afore is simply obsessed with all things related to Brother Brigham. No doubt the Afore would jump at the chance of sharing a bed with him. And if reports can be believed, the Afore doted and fawned over the actor playing Brigham at every chance while on the film set.

As one very respected LDS scholar said, "One cannot write Text and Context and not be deeply conflicted about one's sexuality." Psychologists will tell you that people who are homophobic or lash out, do so because they are fearing their own impulses and such behavior can be a strong indicator of the person's own internal conflict with sexual orientation.

[Doctor Scratch]

In a typically “on-brand” post, it would seem that the Afore is accusing you and I of having mental health problems, Everybody Wang Chung. Why does he think it’s okay to crack jokes about this sort of thing? There are regular commentators on his blog who’ve been very open about their struggles with psychiatric disorders, and yet here he is using this as a rhetorical weapon? Pretty lousy behavior, if you ask me.

Meanwhile—back to the subject at hand. There is literally no way that this obsessive, sniveling, “ass-slathering” Brother Brigham project will be anything but a wholesale whitewash. There will be no mention of BY’s “dream,” or his speculations about people living on the sun, or his racism, etc. DCP will continue to be obsessed with the man, thus fueling continued (very valid) speculation about his (the Afore’s) feelings about the man (I.e., BY).

I’m reminded of a memorable early exchange from Pulp Fiction, where the hit men played by John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson are discussing professional/erotic boundaries, and I think it applies here: if “Brother Brigham” demanded it, would Daniel Peterson give BY a foot massage?

[Gadianton]

Brother Brigham project

sorry, there's a project going on about Brigham?

[Doctor Scratch]

Brother Brigham project

sorry, there's a project going on about Brigham?

My sincere apologies, Dean Robbers! I realize that I’ve failed to give you your usual update on the State of Mopologetics. Partly (if I may say so) this is not my fault: the Mopologetic leadership has basically been asleep at the wheel this calendar year. Still, I think it’s worth reiterating the Mopologists’ tripartite goals:

1. To post *some*thing—anything—on the Interpreter website each week. It does not matter if it has been posted before, or if it is crap, or if it is riddled with errors. *Some*thing must be posted—quality be damned.
2. To continue the colonialist efforts in the DRC, though I would imagine the Trump administration’s recent travel ban is going to have some kind of impact. Then again, this was always a half-baked, “arms-length” project for the Afore, so who knows?
3. A complete, full, utterly ambitious rehabilitation of Brigham Young’s reputation. This is Dr. Peterson’s pet project. Or, at least, it sort of is. He mostly just goes on vacations. But when he feels like it, he is engaged in this bizarre, hero-worship ass-kissing of Brigham Young. Movies. Blog posts. Conference presentations. The whole shebang.

I admit that it’s easy to see the parallels: BY has been maligned forever (and for good reason) and so has DCP. It would seem that there is some projection/displacement going on here.

[Gadianton]

I guess I thought Six Days was a one-off thing. I suppose the Netflix series was a good excuse to stir up righteous indignation. But hasn't everyone forgotten about that? Was there a trip to London recently? Did that have anything to do with Brigham?

Do you think he will write a book about Brigham and publish it?

Do you think that the Afore and the Brethren have had secret meetings to discuss Brigham?

Is this more of an internal or external thing?

Here's where I'm going with this. it seems like an excuse to fund Interpreter. Look, the world is attacking Brigham! We're the last defense! Easy to explain.

But, the internal dynamics could be more interesting. Conservative and liberal Mormons have both had issues with Brigham. Denver Snuffer basically said the whole thing ends with Joseph. That current has pulled the typical conservative Mormon even deeper into Smith worship and ignored Brigham. And then I'd imagine the new MI and liberal scholars are uncomfortable with Brigham for all the authoritarian stuff. So if Interpreter can launch a new purity test, whereby members are vetted based on their testimonies of Brigham, and given Interpreter controls the talking points, then they are back in the saddle, holding the salvation of every member in their hands.

what do you think the whole thing might be about?

[Dr Exiled]

Young likes Cumming? I'm not surprised given all the wives he had, but perhaps he got bored and wanted something different.