On July 13, 2008, Chris Hardy, a Las Vegas entrepreneur, was excommunicated from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints for creating and selling a calendar of returned male Mormon missionaries. One of the most confusing aspects of Hardy’s schism with the LDS Church is that he was excommunicated, while the young men who posed for the calendar reportedly were not. While no one knows exactly why this difference exists except the LDS Church leaders, themselves, it’s interesting to delve into LDS doctrine in order to determine if a possible explanation can be found. In light of the Men on a Mission calendar and it’s resulting effects, LDS Church spokeswomen Kim Farah stated that “any church discipline is the result of actions not beliefs” in this news release here. This appears to hold true in word if not in deed throughout the recent history of the LDS Church. Although the official LDS Church website, www.lds.org, makes no mention whatsoever of the calendar or Chris Hardy, it does clarify this doctrine quite clearly on other topics. For example, in an interview for a PBS special with Boyd Packer, a leader in the LDS Church in July 2007, excommunication is a final step that can be taken against members who cannot or will not make “the necessary changes” in their lives to truly repent of actions taken that are destructive to themselves, their families, or others, to truly repent any action that destroys the faith of another member which was quoted from the LDS Newsroom here.
This basic doctrine of sin as action and not belief is even further clarified in another interview – this one discussing “same gender attraction.” Two LDS Church leaders clarify that while LDS Church doctrine terms the act of homosexuality a sin, having the tendencies or inclinations toward an attraction for your own gender is not a sin. It only becomes a sin once you act upon those beliefs. These two leaders believe that behavior – even homosexual behavior – is controllable, and that all a gay person must do is accept that their actions cannot go against the teachings of the LDS Church. If the gay member remains celibate and does not act upon those inclinations, he may participate fully in every aspect of the Church that is available, including missionary work, entering temples, and so on as published by the LDS organization themselves here.
Now, getting back to Chris Hardy and considering the LDS Church’s view of sin as action and not belief, it’s easy to see the possibility that perhaps Mr. Hardy’s Disciplinary Council felt they had no other choice but to excommunicate him. Hardy maintains in statements to the press here that he was “stepping outside the stereotypes and stepping outside the image” of the LDS Church, a definite no-no in terms of publicly going against Church doctrine. He also could be said to be promoting activities that could adversely affect the faith of the young men who posed for him, as well as the young Mormon ladies who likely had interesting dreams after perusing the pages of shirtless young men. Clearly, from his own statements, he was not repentant and probably not going to have a sudden revelation that included repentance any time soon.
Apparently both the LDS Church and Mr. Hardy came away from the meeting satisfied with the results. The Church no longer has a member publicly a
cting in a way they deem contrary to gospel, and Chris Hardy now feels “empowered and free.” Of course, let’s not forget that with an approximate 10,000 calendars sold at $14.99 each, the gross take was about $150,000. It would be interesting to see how much of that was net profit, and how much – if any – was paid to the young “models.”
More to the point, though, is the question of why some of the twelve young men were called to meetings, but not disciplined as was reported in the press here. Are their actions any less responsible for the overall effect of the calendar? Was it truly just a matter of sincerity in apologies or perhaps unfair treatment of those who have served missions and those who have not? Hardy is a returned missionary himself, but “has not been active in the church since 2002.” In a similar case involved a gay member of the Church who wrote a contrary letter to the editor of the Salt Lake Tribune, the LDS Church noted that it does not speak of what takes place in the council sessions because they deemed such disciplinary meetings and communications confidential – an admirable and responsible point of view.
However, the whole situation brings to mind the question of moral and religious duplicity. It seems reminiscent of the recent problems the Roman Catholic Church has had with sexual abuse being swept under the rug in order for the Church to achieve its own objectives. This is not to say that the Men on a Mission calendar shares the same caliber of moral impropriety as a priest who defiles a boy, but for a member, not understanding the purpose behind their leaders’ actions is almost as destructive to one’s faith. Should those leaders then be excommunicated for possibly “destroying the faith” of others? All churches seem to have issues with revising their doctrine in order to meet their current needs. Perhaps the backlash from excommunicating twelve returned missionaries would – in and of itself – put the Church in a bad light, just like revealing the abuse would have put the Catholic Church in a bad light. Perhaps it was a choice between the lesser of two evils, an odd choice when considering religion and churches. Then again, perhaps not so odd when we realize that churches and religions are comprised of human beings, fallible and susceptible to influence and tradition.
It’s highly unlikely that any of us will ever know the rationale or discussion involved in the decision to excommunicate Chris Hardy for his missionary style beefcake calendar. However, it will be interesting to see whether the 100 returned missionaries who applied to be on the 2009 calendar will change their minds after the controversy circling around the 2008 one.
What do you think about the controversy? Should one man face all the punishment for putting together a calendar when the men who posed in it did so of their own free will? How do you feel about organized religion and the question of moral duplicity? We want to know what you think! Leave us a comment!
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From such a small start, the Unclaimed Baggage Center has grown to a 40,000 square foot facility in Scottsboro, Alabama. The state of Alabama can’t complain as the store brings in millions of visitors a year flocking to the store for lost treasures and unheard of bargains. Every day nearly 7,000 new items are added to the stores shelves. You can view the Unclaimed Baggage Center’s website at 
Treasures like an antique 1770 violin, diamond rings, silver, wedding dresses, hidden money, Egyptian artifacts and just about anything you could ever imagine. In terms of jewelry, the record for the Unclaimed Baggage Center so far is a 40.95-carat natural emerald was found tucked away in a small plastic bag.
lves from iPods, cellphones, camcorders and guitars. One item that seems to be in abundance and priced the most competitive isn’t very surprising since it’s actually the actual bags that contain all the treasures. If toothpaste ever became valuable the Unclaimed Baggage Center would be in an enviable position.
Other tips that are suggested are taking photos of your luggage and an inventory of its contents so that when you do file a claim that you have proof. The other most important thing is to never leave if you don’t get your baggage, always file a claim immediately before you leave.
