Celebrating the Cursing of the Lord

It is a terrible irony that one state of our union (the dominantly LDS one) has created a public holiday that celebrates the "cursings, wrath, indignation, and judgments" that we brought upon our heads when driven out of Nauvoo. We adore, idolize, and extol those of our ancestors who failed to do as the Lord commanded and were thus rejected "as a Church" and lost the chance for Zion in their generation.

But it is a whole other thing we have moved to when it has become commonplace for LDS youth to re-enact and celebrate that cursing by "feeling what it was like" to experience the wrath of God. It's called "pioneer trek" or just "trek." Our LDS Church even has online guides on how to accurately and "safely" recreate the experience of living through the indignation of God. There have even been those who have died or almost died as part of recreating these intentionally strenuous "activities." It is not uncommon to see heat stroke or third-degree burns with participants.

If it seemed it couldn't go further, yesterday in our mail we received an advertising flyer from a prominent LDS Church-owned retail outlet that takes things to a new level: this cursing re-enactment has become so popular among LDSs, that there are now those who are fully engaged in profiting off our propensity for foolishness. Utterly remarkable.

In contrast to our Gentile folly, for the equivalent among the Jews, I can find no ancient or modern example where they have celebrated their failure at the time of Moses and their 40 years in the wilderness. I know of nowhere that they attempt to "recreate" that suffering or where they extol their ancestors for having experienced it. That 40 years of suffering is certainly remembered by the Jews, but it sobers them. And they do not use parades, fireworks, concerts, or pageants to recall it.