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Abstract
In the growing fields of Sikh and Mormon studies, comparative investigations can spark new levels of self-understanding and exposure to surprising points of contact in the religious experience of the other. A comparison of Sikhism and Mormonism, focused on the experiences of women, is an important intervention in existing scholarship. This study is based on oral history and participant observation of Sikh women living in Salt Lake City, Utah, the headquarters of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (better known as the Mormons) and Mormon women in India. Additionally it draws from observations of a practicing Mormon woman studying Sikhism in conjunction with her visit to Amritsar. This study reveals how a comparison of the experiences of Sikh and Mormon women illuminates the ways women navigate within patriarchal structures while seeking to utilize the liberating structures available within each tradition. This study points to further comparative work to be done in Mormon and Sikh studies and demonstrates ways women’s experiences in ‘other’ religions traditions of the world can offer resources for feminist scholarship in one’s own.
Notes
1 See The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ, 2 Nephi 29: 12, 14.
2 See Properzi (Citation2015).
3 See Bushman (Citation2005), Cole (Citation2011, 135–136) and Kaur Singh (Citation2011, 127–137).
4 Kaur Singh (Citation2011, 23).
5 Kaur Singh (Citation2011, 23).
6 See Bushman (Citation2005) and Brodie (Citation1995). For more on Joseph Smith’s polygamy which included both polygyny and polyandry, see Compton (Citation1997).
7 See Bushman (Citation1997) and Beecher (Citation1992).
8 Joseph Smith – History 1: 17.
9 Mark 9:7, Bible, King James Version.
10 There are various accounts of the first vision the earliest of which mentions only one being. See http://josephsmithpapers.org/site/accounts-of-the-first-vision.
11 Joseph Smith – History 1:19.
12 Cole (Citation2011, 21).
13 Cole (Citation2011, 21).
14 Cole (Citation2011, 21).
15 Bushman (Citation2005, 561).
16 Book of Mormon, 1 Nephi 19:7.
17 Jakobsh (Citation2012, xx).
18 ‘Praise to the Man,’ ‘Oh How Lovely Was the Morning,’ and ‘Latter-day Prophets’ in the Mormon hymnal, See also Shipps (Citation1985, 64).
19 Kaur Singh (Citation2005, xi).
20 Shipps (Citation1985, 65).
21 For an explanation of temple garments, see http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/temple-garments.
22 Harjit Kaur, Oral History Interview, January 30, 2015. Transcription page 5.
23 Harjit Kaur, Oral History Interview, January 30, 2015. Transcription page 4.
24 Harjit Kaur, Oral History Interview, January 30, 2015. Transcription page 7.
25 Harjit Kaur, Oral History Interview, January 30, 2015. Transcription page 7.
26 Harjit interview, 7.
27 Doctrine and Covenants, 58:27.
28 Rait (Citation2005, 28).
29 See Handbook 2, page 15 “The Ward Council,” https://www.lds.org/bc/content/shared/content/english/pdf/language-materials/08702_eng.pdf?lang=eng.
30 Rait (Citation2005, 27).
31 Harjit interview, 14.
32 Harjit interview, 8.
33 Harjit interview, 9.
34 From the Stephen Sondheim musical “Into the Woods.”
35 Harjit interview, 14.
36 Harjit interview, 14.
37 Harjit interview, 11.
38 Harjit interview, 11.
39 Harjit interview, 4.
40 Jakobsh (Citation2012, 65). See also McLeod (Citation1989).
41 Rait (Citation2005, 162–163).
42 Brother and Sister Kumar transcription, May 4, 2014. Page 18.
43 Santosh Katighar, May 7, 2014, Page 16.
44 See http://ordainwomen.org.
45 Kaur Singh (Citation2011, 118).
46 Annapurna Gutty interview 15 May 2014, transcription page 13.
47 Annapurna Gutty interview 15 May 2014, transcription page 14.
48 Sister Aurora interview 29 April 2014, transcription page 3.
49 Kaur Singh (Citation2011, 119).
50 Cole (Citation2011, 153).
51 Kaur Singh (Citation2005, 129).
52 See Asay (Citation1997).
53 Kaur Singh (Citation2005, 129).
54 http://www.ldschurchtemples.com/mormon/underwear/ accessed January 6, 2015.
55 Kaur Singh (Citation2005, 180).
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Taunalyn Rutherford
Taunalyn Rutherford. Address: Brigham Young University, JSB 370, Provo, UT 84602 USA. Claremont Graduate University, 150E. 10th ST., Claremont, CA 91711, USA. [Email: [email protected]]