Mormons as Citizens of a Communist State

Mormons as Citizens of a Communist State is an interesting, informative, and well-written volume by a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the LDS Church; the Mormons), who served in the North German Mission from 1958 to 1960 and later in the Freiberg Temple, “the only temple of the Church built behind the Iron Curtain” (p. 261), opened in June 1985. The book was originally published in German in 2008 under the title Mormonen und Staatsbürger: Eine dokumentierte Geschichte der Kirche Jesu Christi der Heiligen der Letzten Tage in der DDR. Drawing on largely primary sources (LDS church and German Democratic Republic [GDR] government records as well as oral interviews with church members who lived in the GDR conducted in the years 1989–93 and 2003–06 by church archivists and the author respectively), Kuehne sets out to present “a wide range of documents that show how the Church functioned in the GDR and how its members were able to live both as active Christians and as respected citizens in that country” (p. xv). His aim is to “objectively document” various opinions concerning “the relationship between LDS citizens and their atheistic government” (p. xiv). He neither critiques nor judges them. Among carefully selected excerpts from documents, the author's voice is to be heard rather seldom. Kuehne's aim seems to be modest; yet it is important. The present volume may be considered a milestone in recording the history of the Mormons in post–World War II Europe and in the former East Bloc in particular.

Archaeology · Church History · Communism · Democracy · German · Government (linguistics) · Milestone · Political science · Politics · State (computer science) · Theology · Classics · European history and politics · History · Law · Moravian Church and William Blake · Philosophy · Religion, Theology, History, Judaism, Christianity · Religious studies