Ronald A. Rasband recently dedicated a new campus of the American Heritage School, which sounds like it’s a Mormon Christian nationalist place that I’m guessing will teach things like the wickedness of separation of church and state. Now that he’s opened the possibility of Q15 members using their position to suggest Church endorsement of their pet projects, I’m wondering what places other Q15 members might go for. Here are some guesses:
Russell M. Nelson – Hundreds of new temples all over the world (I guess this one doesn’t really qualify, because he’s gone a lot further than just implying Church endorsement.)
Dallin H. Oaks – Museum of Straight History at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia
Dieter F. Uchtdorf – Luftwaffe visiting exhibit at the US Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio
Neil L. Andersen – White Fertility Enhancement Project at Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina
Gary E. Stevenson – Fitness Center for the Stars in Bel-Air, California
Jeffrey R. Holland – Expanded Dodo Research Center at the University of Antananarivo in Madagascar (a pretty good school)
Kevin W. Pearson (hoping to become a Q15 member) – Texas State Prison system’s Panopticon Project in Huntsville, Texas
What pet projects do you expect to see Q15 members endorsing?
Well I would absolutely go see an exhibit on the Luftwaffe in Dayton, that sounds interesting. Though I don’t love the implication that Uchtdorf is pro-Nazi, rather than happy to be German. An exhibit on German aviation for sure. Elder Ballard might endorse a special “Old Ship Zion” exhibit at the Noah’s Ark museum in Kentucky.
We have done American Heritage’s online and homeschooling programs for the last 12 years. I would not classify American Heritage school as Christian Nationalist. While the school leans conservative with a bit of a mythical view of US history, they are very pro science (they teach human evolution), teach that all world cultures have value, and have lessons on critical thinking skills. My kids even had a lesson about the US constitution about the vital importance of separation of church and state as a part of religious freedom.
Em, great thought! Sorry–I didn’t realize the Luftwaffe was specifically associated with Nazis. I thought it was just the German word for Air Force. I could be wrong, though.
JLM, thanks for the correction! I’m really heartened to hear that!
For what it’s worth, the modern German Air Force calls itself the Luftwaffe. But if you enter “Luftwaffe” into English Wikipedia, the article is about the Nazi version. For the modern version, look under “German Air Force”. So both Em and Ziff are correct, but Em is a little bit more correct.
From American Heritage’s LinkedIn page:
“* LDS-oriented, Christ-centered K-12 Independent School
* Curriculum focusing on our Christian heritage, Founding Fathers, and internal to external reasoning
* Full core and elective curriculum offering
* Small class sizes; uniforms required; Mon.-Fri. schedule
* Located directly across from the Mt. Timpanogos Temple in American Fork, UT”
Does not seem exactly mainstream to me. Given it produced home school materials, it likely descends from Cleon Skousen’s and Reed Benson’s failed forays into education.
Right-wing church members have always possessed odd ideas concerning education. I seriously doubt what they call “science” deals much with organic evolution and history courses have been influenced by Skousen’s writings. But what could go wrong at a school so close to a temple?
Lest there be any doubt as to the spirit that permeates the school, see this from the 2021 obituary of Joe Ferguson, one of the co-founders of the American Heritage school in American Fork:
“Joe joined the John Birch Society in 1964 and became a Life Member. He concluded that this was the most effective way that he could work and fight to protect the principles upon which America was founded. He studied the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States seriously and often gave lectures on this subject. Joe ran for U.S. Congress in 1976, winning enough votes to win the Republican nomination but not enough to win the general election. He remained active in Republican politics. His patriotic work brought him into close contact with great people such as Robert Welch, Phyllis Schlafly, President Ezra Taft Benson, Dan Smoot, Dr. W. Cleon Skousen, Congressman Larry McDonald, who was lost when Korean Airlines 007 was forced down and many others. Joe treasured his friendships with these people. Alerting and instructing his friends as to the attacks upon the Constitution and the principles of Americanism was a challenge and duty to which Joe was deeply committed. Joe said often that a man is known not only by his friends but by his enemies. He was proud that his enemies were the enemies of the Constitution.
Joe was one of the co-founders, of American Heritage School that occupied a former church building in Pleasant Grove from 1969 until 2002 when a beautiful new facility was dedicated just east of the Timpanogos Temple. Joe was very supportive of privately–operated schools free of government control and its corruptive political influence. Let’s Go Brandon!” (https://www.nelsonmortuary.com/obituaries/joe-ferguson)
Lest anyone think they made up that “Let’s Go Brandon” bit as part of an obituary … it is really there. Who does that for an obituary???
Last June my stake (in upstate New York) sponsored a performance by one of the American Heritage School’s performing groups. They also requested assistance in housing and feeding the students (providing a modest “stipend” to those who did so). This is what I wrote to the local coordinator:
“Why are you asking members of the Church to support a private school from Utah that’s not officially affiliated with the LDS Church? It would be one thing if (as has happened in the past) they were an official touring group from BYU or an Institute of Religion. They are not. From their website,
https://af.americanheritageschool.org/:
“American Heritage School is not sponsored by, endorsed by, or affiliated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (“the Church of Jesus Christ”) or any other denomination.”
So why is the stake sponsoring and, thus, endorsing them?
I somehow doubt that the stake is going to start letting any group from anywhere use their facilities free of charge–to say nothing of providing transportation, housing, and food for a “small stipend” to every member of the group. This School is using (meaning, misusing) LDS people everywhere.
Tell them to rent a school auditorium and book a hotel.”
By the way, the rules and restrictions AHS created for these “hosts” were both endless and ridiculous.
I received no response from anyone.
Thanks, Last Lemming, for the further clarification on Luftwaffe vs. German Air Force.
And thanks, Old Man, I guess he’d consider me an enemy, and NYAnn, for more information on the American Heritage School. They do sound pretty far right.
I can’t speak for the on campus experience, but while their homeschool program curriculum is right of center, most of the teachers we have worked with haven’t brought their politics to the online classes. The few that have been more overt with their politics haven’t stayed for long.
As someone who identifies as center left, I find the schools church leader and founding father worship problematic, but their math, science and literature curriculum, while not perfect, is pretty solid. The staff has tried to accommodate the needs of my autistic child, and none of my kids have been reprimanded for sharing their more left leaning perspectives in class. Over all it has been a positive experience.
Is the school perfect? No. Do I agree with all of their politics and policies? No. Would I make a broad recommendation to enroll? No. But school does have some good points, and the faculty mean well. It certainly isn’t for everybody, but it isn’t the bogeyman either.
I do agree that the stake sponsoring the schools interstate field trip is a misuse if tithing funds, but that is largely the fault of the SP, not the school.
How about Elder Soares for Weight Watchers or Biggest Loser? He has leaned up over the last few years! Congrats to him. Maybe Elder Bednar is taking him running.
The pet projects for President Oaks and Elder Andersen got a legit snort out of me.
I’ve noticed that Elder Soares and Elder Stevenson have slimmed down over the past couple of years. I say good for them so long as they made the decision to do so of their own accords and did so in a healthy way. I just really hate how much church culture is focused on appearances and the physical, especially in the single adult scene. So many men weaponize wanting to be attracted to their future spouse (and there’s nothing wrong with that) and the “we’re wired to be that way!” claim, and use it as an excuse to hold women to unrealistic standards. It also doesn’t help that people – women especially – who aren’t classically Mormon beautiful are shunned and made to feel like they’re less than human for not conforming to narrow and rigid Mormon beauty standards.
I’m not saying we shouldn’t strive to be presentable and healthy, that we shouldn’t be always striving to improve and be our best, or that it’s wrong to want to be attracted to the person you’re going to spend eternity with. We should always be working on and improving ourselves, and we should WANT to look at our eternal companion without flinching or recoiling involuntarily. The reality is that the problem is SO much deeper than that.
JC: Well said.
That’s an interesting point about the weight loss among the Q15, Dub and JC. And JC, I totally agree that that’s great if that’s what they wanted to do, but I hate the idea of anyone implying that God has opinions on how much we should weigh. This fits too perfectly with the body shaming that (mostly or entirely?) girls and women face in the Church. It seems like fitness or clothing are important topics to talk about, but with parents or loved ones or doctors, not religious authorities. Putting this type of advice in the mouth of God is just giving it way too much weight.