This is another in the long-running occasional series of posts on Non-Mormon Mormon Movies. We have been doing these posts for so long that we might have to change the title to something like “Non-LDS LDS Movies.”

Today we will be discussing the powerful movie “Dead Man Walking (1995).” This is definitely not intended to be a movie about anything having to do with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In fact, the primary character in the movie is a Catholic nun named Sis. Helen Prejean (played by Susan Sarandon).

But Sis Helen’s actions in this movie are so incredibly Christ-like in a stunning and powerful way that I think all Latter-day Saints should be able to appreciate this movie. I ended up saying to myself, “how can I be more like Sis. Helen?”

The basic plot is that Sis Helen receives a letter from Matthew Poncelet (played marvelously by Sean Penn), who is on death row. She drives out to the prision to meet with him. Poncelet is a racist and sexist white supremacist Nazi supporter who is accused of killing two teenagers. At the beginning of our encounters with Poncelet, there is simply nothing redeeming at all about him. He has no remorse for the killings and claims he is innocent. He flirts in a disgusting, sexist way with Sis Helen even though he knows she is a nun. He has Swastika tatoos all over his body and praises Adolf Hitler.

We also meet the parents of the two victims, who describe the horrific rape and murder of the teenagers. The viewer cannot help but have tremendous sympathy for these parents, who desperately want Poncelet to be killed so he is never let out of jail to hurt others.

Sister Helen, however, is against the death penalty. She has a fascinating religious debate with the prison chaplain who favors the death penalty. I think the director Tim Robbins does a pretty good job of being fair to both sides of the debate, but of course we are meant to have more sympathy for Sister Helen. (You may or may not know that Sarandon and Robbins are a couple in real life).

Here is the incredible part of this movie: Sister Helen shows true Christ-like love for this monstrous, murderous man. And Poncelet responds to this love in an unexpected way but showing some repentance and change. At one point, Sister Helen reminds Poncelet that he is a child of God, and his shock at being shown this respect seems genuine. Imagine how different the world would be if all people truly believed they were children of God.

Susan Sarandon may be one of my least favorite actresses in terms of her politics, but her performance was so good that I could almost imagine the Savior Himself speaking when she delivered her lines. Her performance was so understated and mild — but still powerful — that it was as if the Savior was talking in the Church Bible videos. I cannot overstate how strong the last act of this movie is. I wept the entire time.

As long-time readers will know, I am proudly a right-wing Jeffersonian constitutional conservative, but I have also been a long opponent of the way the death penalty is practiced in the United States. I simply cannot endorse a government that kills people, even monstrous people like Poncelet. I think most people on death row should have their sentences commuted to life in prison without parole. And we should do a better job of making sure no innocent people are ever killed by the government.

So, this movie affected me emotionally in ways that some readers may not appreciate. But I still think it is worth watching for all latter-day Saints for the following reason: our Savior loves us even though we are all sinners. Can we learn to be more like Him? Can we learn to love even the monsters around us? Can we learn to believe that all people, even the worst among us, are children of God?

“Dead Man Walking” challenges us to try to show love to the most difficult people around us. I wish more movies did this.

NOTE: “Dead Man Walking” is rated R and has horrific, graphic scenes of rape and murder. I skipped through those scenes, which you don’t really need to see to appreciate the movie. If you skip through those scenes, the movie is more like PG-13.

My blog post for Come Follow Me: Mosiah 7-10 and 11-17

https://joelsmonastery.blogspot.com/2020/05/come-follow-me-mosiah-7-11.html

https://joelsmonastery.blogspot.com/2020/05/come-follow-me-mosiah-11-17.html

My blog post on Come Follow Me: Mosiah 4-6

https://joelsmonastery.blogspot.com/2020/04/come-follow-me-mosiah-4-6.html

We all know that some ordinances must be administered in person, such as marriages, baptisms, blessings, and partaking of the sacrament. However it is possible to continue many aspects of community worship using other methods. For those who haven’t yet been invited to share in virtual congregational meetings, I wanted to share how this can be done.

Live Gatherings

My local Relief Society used Zoom for a gathering to discuss gardening and how to make bread. While there are several other platforms for communicating, Zoom offers several benefits:

• Participants can use either a computer or their phone or can even join using a land line. There is no need to have a specific type of computer or to be a member of a particular social media platform.
• Zoom offers unlimited time for any conference between just two participants.
• Zoom offers free 40 minute sessions for more than two participants (up to 1000 participants, I believe)
• Zoom allows you to record the video and audio content, including separate audio for each participant, allowing savvy folks to edit together a polished product after the fact.
• “Zoom” is easier to say than anything that has more syllables (e.g., FreeConferenceCall.com)

My local Relief Society will begin gathering virtually on alternating Sundays at a set time on Sunday afternoons.

Our congregation has had an “empty nesters” group for Family Home Evening for many years. With the advent of the stay at home orders and cancellation of live Church meetings, this has also migrated to Zoom. Useful tips for live meetings:

• Set the meeting so everyone is muted by default when they join.
• Designate a moderator for the meeting – preferably rotating this opportunity. This doesn’t need to be the meeting host. The moderator can help make sure everyone gets a chance to participate.
• Conduct a wee bit of training so people know how to use the “raise hand” feature. Those old Primary habits can help ensure a conversation that comes closer to order than the chaotic default.

Pre-recorded Devotionals

Folks in my local congregation have mad media skills. Since March 29 leadership has been assembling devotionals to support our Sabbaths. Talk about home-centered, Church-supported worship! The Easter devotional is inserted above.

The format of these devotionals has typically been:

• Opening remarks
• Opening Song
• Opening Prayer
• Church video (Easter was about the Holy Week, last week was President Nelson’s reading of the Restoration Proclamation)
• Talks and music provided by members of the congregation
• Sacramental Song
• Closing Prayer for the devotional and invitation for households to administer the sacrament in their homes if there is someone available who is authorized to administer the sacrament.

I’m not part of the team that puts together our Annandale Devotionals, and I don’t know how they managed some of the magic that resulted in this devotional. For example, the performance of Beautiful Savior involved a singer in Annandale and a pianist in Utah. But as a moderately-informed person, here are suggestions on how such devotionals can be created: