For the past two days, we've followed the Willie-Martin handcart trail as part of a faith-promoting experience for LDS youngsters. I tagged along to see if it's working.
Quick answer: Pretty much. The kids seem fairly impressed with the stories of horrible faith-based sacrifice. It's hard not to be proud of what your ancestors endured to help build Zion.
Long answer: I don't know. I get a little nervous when it comes to making heroes out of people by telling only half the story.
The story we're hearing on this trip is that a group of impoverished Mormon converts attempted to reach Utah by pulling handcarts across America . Caught by snow in Wyoming, hundreds died. Others had limbs amputated from frostbite.
They endured all of this - starvation, frostbite, dead children - because of their devotion to the gospel. So determined were they to build up the kingdom of God that they were willing to die.
The kids are being told this is the sort of faith they should have today.
Maybe, maybe not.
I believe the handcart journey certainly started because of faith. My own ancestors did it. I've read their journals and letters. Tired of being mistreated as a minority in England, they wanted to gather with other Mormons in Utah.
I think my ancestors understood there was some risk in this. I also think they weighed those odds and proceeded anyway.
But if someone had guaranteed them that coming to Utah would cost them six children, a father, a pair of legs and years of pain-wracked poverty, I'm betting they would have stayed home and helped build up Zion in England.
When is your trouble an actual test of your faith and when is it simply the natural result of your own stupidity? It's a fair question, especially because there are valid lessons in both.
Right now the kids are only hearing about how brave and faithful the pioneers were, how those who survived the test were truly devoted to God. They aren't hearing that they ignored repeated warnings to wait until the following year. So how about lessons on how important it is to listen to wise counsel, and even just common sense?
Leave a baby in a hot car today while you earn a living, and you're a monster when the baby dies.
But haul four kids into the mountains in the middle of winter in an open handcart, and you're a valiant pioneer when all of them freeze solid. I suppose it's understandable that we teach this. You can get more mileage out of valiance than you can out of simple-mindedness.
rkirby@sltrib.com
