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Show THE DAILY UTAH CHRONICLE ADVERTISING :801.581.7041 NEWS: 801.581.NEWS FAX : 801.581. FAXX EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Anna Drysdale a.drysdale@chronicle.utah.edu MANAGING EDITOR: Emily Juchau e.juchau@chronicle.utah.edu PRODUCTION MANAGER: Grey Leman g.leman@chronicle.utah.edu NEWS EDITOR: Courtney Tanner c.tanner@chronicle.utah.edu ASST. NEWS EDITOR: Katrina Vastag OPINION EDITOR: Andrew Jose a.jose@chronicle.utah.edu SPORTS EDITOR: Griffin Adams g.adams@chronicle.utah.edu ASST. SPORTS EDITOR: Ryan Miller ARTS EDITOR: Katherine Ellis k.ellis@chronicle.utah.edu PHOTO EDITOR : Conor Barry c.barry@chronicle.utah.edu ASST. PHOTO EDITOR: Brent Uberty PAGE DESIGNERS: Alisa Garcia, Ivy Smith, Devin Wakefield COPY EDITORS: Taylor Stocking, Kaitlin Baxter, Courtney Wales PROOFREADER: Audree Steed GENERAL MANAGER: Jake Sorensen j.sorensen@chronicle.utah.edu COVER PHOTO: Preston Zubal CORRECTIONS & CLARIFICATIONS The policy of The Daily Utah Chronicle is to correct any error made as soon as possible. If you find something you would like clarified or find unfair, please contact the editor at a.drysdale@chronicle.utah.edu The Daily Utah Chronicle is an independent student publication printed during Fall and Spring Semesters (excluding test weeks and holidays). Chronicle editors and staff are solely responsible for the newspapers content. Funding comes from advertising revenues and a dedicated student fee administered by the Student Media Council.To respond with questions, comments or complaints, call 801-581-8317 or visit vim dailyutahchronicle.com .The Chronicle is distributed free of charge, limit one copy per reader. Additional copies of the paper may be made available upon request. No person, without expressed permission ofThe Chronicle, may take more than one copy of any Chronicle issue. Find us on Facebook: facebook.com/TheChrony Follow us on Twitter: @TheChrony EDITOR'S NOTE e editorial staff of The Daily Utah Chronicle recognizes that many of the articles in this edition focus on the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but wishes to clarify Th that this focus is not meant to exclude or give favor to any religion or religious group. Because of the prevalence of Mormonism in Utah, however, and with the General Conference of The A SHARED grew up a Mormon boy in Idaho, but when the time came for me to leave the world for two years of knocking on doors, I chose not to go. I chose instead to stay in Salt Lake City and spend the two best years of my life at school. Just like the choice many in the LDS Church make to leave on a mission, my decision helps define the person I am today. Though I sometimes wonder how life might be different had I thrown myself out there, I don't regret anything. A lot has happened since then. This is my coming out. I am a Mormon, but I'm also not. I'm a human being. So is everyone else reading this paper. Some of you might be Mormon, others Catholic, Jewish or anything else. But you're all people. This is Utah, and a lot of what you'll read and hear about in Utah — including in this newspaper — pertains to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It's a controversial topic no one can really leave alone. But really, the LDS Church is just more people trying to mark their place in the world. And who isn't? I'm Sep ember 30 September 31 PLAY WITH LEGOS Register to get involved with the FIRST LEGO League at the U, a program that gives kids the opportunity to use their sick LEGO skills for more than just building awesome castles and candy machines. Find more information at www. utfll.utah.edu . RELIGIO writing this in the hopes that people will read it. Somewhere not far from here my friends are building this newspaper or studying for a test or doing their homework, all so that someday, somehow, their lives might mean something. For a lot of people, religion gives them that meaning. I think a lot about what life means. I'm a lot less certain than most and know a lot less about the lives of everyone else in the world than I'd like. But every day I'm moved by the people around me and the beliefs they hold and the lives they live. My family raised me in the LDS Church, and I am grateful for that. I was raised to stand for what I believe in and to believe in family, friends and love. And those families, friends and love I believe in stretch wide in their faiths, but everyone I've ever met struggles and hopes in the same way. We mourn our loved ones when they die, even if we believe in heavenly reunions. We celebrate our triumphs and thank God or heaven or maybe just our lucky stars for them, and when we celebrate, we want to share that excitement with people. A lot of people like to focus on our differences, but I really do believe we as people have too much in common for that. Maybe that makes me a humanist. I'd like to think I believe in humanity and the human condition. The way I see it, though, my life is the product of more than just one religion. Monday Tuesday Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints just around the corner, we have chosen to take this opportunity to take a deeper look at the LDS Church as one part of our special issue. Weds. October 1 JUST SWING IT Jazz will rule tonight at Libby Gardner Concert Hall, and you've got free admission with a UCard. Drop by if you're in the mood for cool tunes and Count Basie. It's a potluck of various cultures, and every day, more is thrown into the mix. I spent the weekend out of town with my girlfriend and her family, and each night before dinner we sat down and prayed. "Bless us, Oh Lord, and these thy gifts, which we are about to receive, from thy bounty, through Christ, Our Lord. Amen." As we prayed, we all held hands around the food, something I had never done growing up. As we held hands, I felt a connection with these fellow humans. Maybe I don't share their beliefs now, but while praying there I wanted to. And I did. That's what I believe in. Everyone likes to talk about different religions. I could go on and on about the LDS Church, but at the end of the day we all believe in the same thing: something bigger than any of us. Christians call that Christ, Muslims Allah, Jews Jehovah, and even atheists call it science and the universe. We all recognize, though, that we are humans here on earth and there are things out there we don't understand. Remember that as you read through our religion issue of The Daily Utah Chronicle. It's easy to feel poorly towards people who think differently than you. But they're just people, and so are you. Try to see the world from their point of view, and you might see that it's not that different after all. g.leman@chronicle.utah.edu @TheGrayLemon oDi GET ON THE 'GRAM Hashtag your insta photos with #yourcampuslife and follow @yourcampuslife (that's the Union Programming Council's account) to enter their Utestagram contest. Did we mention that there will be prizes? Because there will. WITH ADDISON BUTLER RELIGIOUS ICONOGRAPHY IN FASHION CAN CAUSE CONTROVERSY a D uring the last few weeks of my senior year at Alta High School, some of the school's art history students, including me, spent a weekend in San Francisco to admire art, bask in the bay-side glory of one of the United States' most beautiful cities and ultimately cram as much information on artists, movements and styles into our nimble, malleable brains as possible before the looming AP test finally rolled around the next week. In retrospect, the little vacation did more to distract us from acing the exam than legitimately help, but the city's handful of coveted art museums did serve to captivate us and sparked a fresh passion in the subject to fuel us through to the exam. Golden Gate Park, San Francisco's lusciously green and exquisitely landscaped cultural hub, is the stunning home to the first museum we visited on the trip: the de Young. The permanent exhibits were dedicated to highlighting both American and global art from all across history, but what stood out most to me was the unexpected temporary exhibit housed in the museum's basement. Jean Paul Gaultier, the avant-garde French couturier, was given the unique opportunity to showcase a retrospective of his work, dating all the way back to the mid-'80s, an opportunity that is largely unheard of in the U.S. outside of the Costume Institute at the Met My jaw dropped as I took in the painstaking details and beauty of the seven couture dresses dramatically staged on pristine white mannequins in the exhibit's first room. Each of them came from a different couture season and showcased a wildly different aesthetic, but one similar convention tied the eclectic collection together. As I perused the room and eyed the splendor of these dresses, each with an immaculate halo circling the mannequin's head, I realized something. These seven women in front of me were, in fact, interpretations of the Virgin Mary. While his inspiration springs from all across the board in his collections, Gaultier is infamous for his fascination with early Christian and Byzantine art in his designs, as well as a number of other religious figures across the world. The seven Virgin Marys enthralled me, but to some observers it did not have the same dazzling effect. "I cannot believe this': I heard an elderly woman say to her friend.The two could not get over the fact that such iconography was being used in the name of something as trite as fashion. Religious iconography isn't exclusive to haute couture, however, and plenty of spiritual symbols have trickled down into consumable, fast fashion as well. Anybody else remember that awful trend of cross-printed leggings and sweaters a few years back? I definitely do. Mass production of the classic Christian symbol ensued once retailers realized consumers ate them up (causing me eye-roll after eye-roll throughout that cold winter, but that's beside the point). One scroll through Tumblr or Pinterest will lead you to countless Eastern religious symbols strewn on the sweaters, shirts and jewelry of self-proclaimed "bohemian" girls. The women I observed at the de Young did have a point when they highlighted the frivolity of Gaultier's idea of creating couture out of Christianity. In Gaultier's case, the usage of Mother Mary made a definite artistic statement on his personal views on fashion and can easily be justified by fashion and art enthusiasts. Much less can be said about the mass marketing of the holy details and images that Forever 21 and H&M flippantly slap on their clothes, which begs the question: At what point is spirituality cheapened in the name of fashion? a.butler@chronicle.utah.edu @ChronyArts 3 |