| Subject: | Mormon Propaganda for the Youth Program is in full swing. |
| Date: | Jan 03, 2009 |
| Author: | Uncle Mo |
| I have never seen LDS, Inc. pull all the stops like
this before:
http://abrandnewyear.lds.org/index.html They have a cast of about 500
singing kids with staging, choreography and full orchestra, and all the
vocal soloists are American Idol ready. They are wearing jewel tone shirts and getting down and showing how wholesome they are. Hey, celibate kids that never use profanity are kewl 2! There are also an abundance of dark-skinned people on stage. It doesn't reflect the true demographics of SLC but certainly projects a "global" image. The GAs [General Authorities - Mormon top leaders] are kewl 2 as they now step out from the pulpit wearing head mics and read from the teleprompters that must be at least 20 ft. away. Don't worry they're still in their suits and ties. Also reflecting the global Church were the very white GAs who all spoke with very Utah accents. It's a little trip down memory lane as I hardly ever hear them anymore. I believe one was the daughter of Little Tommy Monson, but hey, let's not go into the nepotism issue right now. The music was all in a vapid Christian pop style. They even got the crowd to wave their arms in the air (aka "Jeehsus antennae"). That's the first time I have ever seen that at a Mormon event. Behind all the elaborate mode of delivery was the same old tired message: don't sin, don't sin, don't sin, and it's better to be dead than disbelieve. They are hyperfixated on all the cultic minutiae to maintain control of their adherents. Many platitudes are delivered. The Apostle that started the show kept on saying how much they loved the youth and how good they looked. So much so that you really couldn't believe him. He didn't seem completely comfortable with the setup. I think LDS, Inc. is seeing that they have do more to compete with all the other media vying for the youth's attention. Does it work? Since they believe what they are selling is so truly true, doesn't it make sense that it should mostly sell itself? I think this has been the modus operandi in the past, but I think they are getting a little desperate with this kind of presentation. BTW, LDS, Inc. is not the first to discover that stadium rallies with music, uniforms, speeches, and cheering crowds will inspire and solidify the next generation of dues-paying adherents: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuMajt-qooE [Web note: Be sure to read the observations of a participant in the rally.] |
| Subject: | Re: Za Propaganda for da Youth Program is in full sving. |
| Date: | Jan 03 03:25 |
| Author: | Vicarious Tool |
| I noticed something very interesting in the Hitler
Youth rally that you posted a link to. In the roughly five minutes of
speaking, I counted 5 admonishments to the youth to be loyal/obedient.
Combine that with good music in the beginning (for the time. After all,
Germany was famous for its contributions to the arts and culture) and I see
some very disturbing parallels. Youth indoctrination of any firm dogma is sickening to me, whether it be blind nationalism/racism (as was done to the Hitler youth, of which includes the current occupant of the papal throne) or be it religious, such as the morg's attempts with their new program, or with places such as "Jesus Camp" of the documentary of the same name. The Internet, rather than being a means of bringing people to the morg, is helping a great many to get out. I think that in large part that is because there are plenty of accurate descriptions of the morg's history and practices than were previously available. 15 years ago the most I saw were dishonest pamphlets put out by evangelical groups that had a lot of facts wrong, or things by guys like Ed Decker that have very little credibility (if any). However, the truth is becoming more readily available, and it's affects are quite obvious. Combine the trickling out of members due to the Internet with a reduced cash-flow from tithing (either members earning less, less members paying, and members not paying a full %10, or a combination of all three) and it looks like 2009 is going to be a very interesting year indeed for LDS Inc. How long can they make the house of cards built upon the sand appear to be a solid house built upon a rock? I'm very curious to see what the waves will bring. |
| Subject: | Ever Heard of Live Out Loud (LOL)? |
| Date: | Jan 03 03:46 |
| Author: | A-Bomb |
| My mom bought my 5 year old an album from the
Devils...er. Deseret Bookstore called Live Out Loud (LOL). It's a group of
like three 9-year olds with songs written probably by a High Priest or
Primary Pres. that have messages about how great it is to live a good,
clean, moral life and watch out for evil lurking everywhere. They target
kids that are younger than the youth age group, typically Hannah Montana age
or younger. I LOL'd after we left the church and my kids were listening to a song saying basically "there's wolves out there/ dressed like sheep." I thought of GAs. Dads can find a good life lesson anywhere. |
| Subject: | Is this heart-sell? I kept waiting for the "fun" that was promised these poor kids, |
| Date: | Jan 03 04:46 |
| Author: | forestpal |
| who had probably been sitting for hours, on New Year's
Eve? It was all pretty lame. OMG--that woman in the Mormon pastel suit-- Words can't describe. Well, Vicarious Tool's second link caught the feeling pretty much. |
| Subject: | Oh my GOD |
| Date: | Jan 03 05:27 |
| Author: | Lavender |
| When I was a youth (ten years ago) we were taught that
churches that engage in this behavior were shallow, creepy jesus freaks who
didn't understand the "reverence" of the gospel. The church that my close
friends went to was a nondenominational church that engaged in a lot of sing
along youth ministries and christian rock bands and jesus praising. We were
taught the stay far awaaaay from that church. I went to one youth service
and was so shaken up and freaked out by their crying and praying and arms
raised and "we love you jesus!" screaming that I never ever wanted to go
back. My jaw hit the FLOOR when I watched these videos. It is so transparent that a marketing firm is behind this bullshit. As if there was a board meeting, in which they pitched their "cool hip, you can be awesome and still mormon!" idea to the suits, who sat there, in varying stages of atrophy, barely understanding what they said, but desperate to retain their youth numbers, because the church is bleeding out like a stuck pig, especially with the younger generations. I am shocked, and appalled. I seriously don't know what to say. It's like stumbling onto one of those late night Worship Together CD infomercials. *shudder* I need to go take a shower. |
| Subject: | Bingo. I was brought up on the idea that the only consultant GAs used was Jesus. n/t |
| Subject: | Great. Now I don't know... |
| Date: | Jan 03 12:14 |
| Author: | flattopSF |
| ...whether to holler "SIEG HEIL!" ...or "We-ee Thank Thee O Ga-awd ferra Praaaaw-fit!" Life is so confusing...NOT. The only thing missing in those Mor[m]on videos were the jackboots and armbands (but Mor[m]ons never did have much of a sense of style). Thanks for the post, Uncle Mo! 8^D |
| Subject: | Same stuff they do in Communist China. nt |
| Subject: | Why can't I get the LDS video to load/play? Nazi one is fine. n/t |
| Subject: | "Please believe we know what we're talking about" |
| Date: | Jan 03 14:20 |
| Author: | Beavis Christ |
| Line from Holland's 16-minute "fun" intro speech. The desperation is thick enough to cut with a knife. |
| Subject: | What does it mean when a demagogue pleads for credibility? |
| Date: | Jan 03 14:25 |
| Author: | flattopSF |
| It means he's desperate. Their 3rd and 4th quarter 2008 financial returns must be awful! 8^D |
| Subject: | Hollands talk was what they showed as the New Years Eve Devotional at |
| Date: | Jan 03 14:33 |
| Author: | Primus |
| the LAME New Years Eve Party I went to. It would have
been fine if they hadn't shown this barf fest. My kids slept right through it. |
| Subject: | Good grief |
| Date: | Jan 03 14:35 |
| Author: | NoToJoe |
| Baaaarrrrrrrrffffffffff.................. Kids these days don't buy this cheese-ball goofy sh^t. The cult is trying to polish its gospel turd. Why does everyone have such a big sh&t-eating grin? This does not come off sincere. This does not come off fun. This does not even come of interesting. If you want to keep the attention of today's teenagers this is NOT the way to do it. |
| Subject: | Cox Communications cable internet |
| Date: | Jan 03 16:55 |
| Author: | PtLoma |
| The standard speed is about 15 Mbs downstream, and you
can pay extra (I don't) for even faster speed. I have the basic service for
$44 per month. There is no DSL where I live, so it's either cable or dialup.
Satellite dish connection won't work because I am on the north side of a
steep hill and you need 30 degrees unobstructed view above the horizon. Using the Flash version, it's crystal clear. But I agree with you, most of the country doesn't have fast enough service to stream it down smoothly, and the only alternative is to download each 100 MB segment and save it as a .qt or .wmv file. Ick. PS to Uncle Mo: yes, the 2nd YW counsellor is Anne Monson Dibb, daughter of Tommy Monson The Living Prophet. |
| Subject: | Scary Stuff - An observer from the audience during the filming of the Mormon video writes |
| Date: | Jan 03 16:44 |
| Author: | Teddy McFluffins |
| I was actually one of the youth in the audience for
the filming of this. I have been a 'non-believer' for sometime now but I go
to church most weeks and appear to be a TBM [True believing Mormon]. All of my TBM friends in my ward were creeped out by this though. The first thing this reminded me of, while I was there, was the Hitler Youth actually. My TBM friends might not have been able to connect the dots and see that this came directly from the G.A.s but they did not like it. I also found it amusing that there was such a number of dark skinned youth on stage, while it was quite a challenge to find one in the audience lol. That caught my attention pretty fast. FYI, they shot this two times on two nights with two sets of youth, so they could splice the best parts together. Oh, and they teleprompters were giant ones probably 200 feet away, not 20. Every word the G.A.s and announcers spoke came DIRECTLY from the prompters (and it was entertaining to read along out loud with them). The little gospel circle they got going in the show was mostly unprompted, but the difficulty they had speaking in public made for a good, awkward show. I don't know how much of this they showed on the broadcast, but it reminded me of late night infomercials testifying of how large your penis can be for just $$$ (10 % perhaps?). I didn't actually watch the broadcast on New Years, but the second I got out of the filming of this, I was wishing I had recorded it so I could share it with you guys. While this was meant to keep the youth in line for New Years (good luck ha ha ha), it was interesting how bad of a reception it got from almost all of the youth in my ward. |
| Subject: | A few questions |
| Date: | Jan 03 17:24 |
| Author: | Tyson Dunn |
| I was wondering when they filmed this and what wards
they had involved. I assumed it was just youth from Salt Lake wards in the
audience. Also, the kids in the production - BYU students? EFYers? a mix of both? Anyway, the propaganda machine is fascinating to watch. Tyson |
| Subject: | Re: A few questions |
| Date: | Jan 03 18:01 |
| Author: | Teddy McFluffins |
| I am sure that a large chunk of the audience was Salt
Lake city wards, my ward is from north Utah County however. And I know that
something like half of the wards at my school were invited to attend. The conference center is a big building and the amount of youth needed to fill that building twice is quite large. At the session I attended, they showed us some 'behind the scenes' type stuff such as the audition process to get into the performance. I believe that most of the kids in the production were from the Salt Lake City area but I could be wrong. It was also interesting to find out that they issued more tickets than they had seats, so you had to get there early enough to get a seat. I had friends from other wards in my area later tell me that they drove all the way there, just to be denied entry at the door. I assume this was just to guarantee that they had a full audience for the video, but this seemed very wrong to me. And thanks for the question! If there are any more questions I can answer I would be happy to. |
| Subject: | Thanks for the answers! |
| Date: | Jan 03 18:17 |
| Author: | Tyson Dunn |
| I'm watching the end of it now, and I keep holding
back my need to hurl. I'm loving the silliness of the redwood analogy, which if you play it out amounts to "Have shallow roots and depend on others", which is hardly the message that they used to give about getting your own testimony. I'm also all agog at the ridiculously stylish center-peaked haircuts and jewel-toned shirts which none of the young men could wear during sacrament meeting. (Of course, it would be great if they relaxed on either of those for the young men or the missionaries.) Tyson |
| Subject: | Is this the first time Tommy Monson claims to have saved a life??? |
| Date: | Jan 03 18:24 |
| Author: | Tyson Dunn |
| I'm sure I've NEVER heard this story before, and with
it being a random Greek immigrant family - probably a non-member one - the
story is fully unverifiable. I suspect this is like the countless widows that Tommy supposedly helped - all dead, none verifiable. What a racket! Tyson |
| Subject: | Monson? |
| Date: | Jan 03 18:32 |
| Author: | Teddy McFluffins |
| Was Monson one of the speakers in the video??? In the
performance I went to he wasn't there. I can see how holding two
performances could be even more beneficial now, though: instead of just
splicing the best parts together, they could take completely different
footage and make one video out of it. And I have not heard that story before either, but I can't claim to have read all of Tommy's great works. |
| Subject: | Yeah, he wasn't present but they have footage of him in a video on the site. |
| Date: | Jan 03 18:38 |
| Author: | Tyson Dunn |
| And they are all talking about this wonderful prophet
blah-blah-blah. I suspect that they may have done different things each
night to have a lot of material to choose from. Tyson |
| Subject: | Oh yes, those sweet shirts... |
| Date: | Jan 03 18:27 |
| Author: | Teddy Mcfluffins |
| Yes, I too wish they were a little more relaxed about
what you wear to church. I particularly love the fact that white shirts are
required for deacons and priests, but not teachers. That always gets me. On a more serious note- the way they tried to mix the testimonies and spirituality with the fun of singing, dancing, and colored shirts- was confusing and repulsive to me. When I think about it in that way though, I can see how it might attract today's younger crowd. |
| Subject: | I'm more than 2x their age and I've been out of the Church for 4 years, and I'm still jealous. :) |
| Date: | Jan 03 18:36 |
| Author: | Tyson Dunn |
| I was a bit of a dumpy teenager and missionary (read:
chubby), and white shirts always looked like sh&t on me. At least with a
colored shirt, I would have looked more presentable. I accommodated (read:hid)
my problem with always wearing a jacket or a sweater vest. Of course now I've fixed the problem by losing weight and by not holding a job that requires me to wear a white shirt. :) Tyson |
| Subject: | Hopefully none, but I can't understand these people |
| Date: | Jan 03 16:57 |
| Author: | Teddy McFluffins |
| As I said, this 'thing' scared even my TBM friends, and I can't see it influencing any of them in a pro-mormon way. However, I am looking at it from a different perspective than most other kids in the church and can't possibly understand their mindset. |
| Subject: | Re: Za Propaganda for da Youth Program is in full sving. |
| Date: | Jan 03 16:53 |
| Author: | mind-goebbeled |
| Thanks for the insider's view McFluffins - interesting
stuff. And a big congrats for figuring it out so early. this is seriously CREEPY!! WTF was the morg thinking? this can't come across as genuine or "spirachul" or fun or kewl or anything can it? like someone said, even in my rabid tbm days as a teenager i would've been weirded out by the scripted cultish forced stilted awkward cheesy manufactured cultish syrupy cultish quality of it all. *shuddering* |
| Subject: | I wonder how long until they pull the plug on this type of activity. |
| Date: | Jan 03 17:14 |
| Author: | Borgeson |
| Even during something as benign as Super Saturday we
had youth slipping out for a drink in the parking lot, the occasional bout
of fornication, etc. As an example of the potential of leaders to overreact
we had a local leader slam the lid on a Super Saturday because several of
the boys showed up without a tie. These more serious "infractions" never
came to the attention of the chaperons. Get a bigger group together and get them wound up and you will have *gasp* even more of this "immoral" behavior. When they find that it does not increase the amount of control they have and in some regards even reduces it they will put an end to this. They may have even decided after this effort that it is not going to achieve their nefarious objectives. |
| Subject: | Re: Za Propaganda for da Youth Program is in full sving. |
| Date: | Jan 03 17:51 |
| Author: | smlybright |
| Let me tell ya... I'm so glad I was forced to go to early morning seminary... because the kids there are so "kewl". And you get in trouble for asking questions the teacher doesn't know the answer to. |
| Subject: | I would love to be at one of these things, to start a riot. |
| Date: | Jan 03 18:09 |
| Author: | My Name is Joseph |
| Ever Seen the movie "Hot Rod" where they are all
walking positively towards the stadium and a riot start! I know for sure older member seeing this would have some kind of emotional dissonance and they would HATE it. The youth would see this a change they have been waiting for and now they can stop wearing ties, shirts, shoes and shorts! I would love to turn up in mormon garb and as they night wore on I would slowly undress to a rainbow tshirt and throw a vibrating dildo into the crowd, smear ky jelly on toilet seats, leave opened condoms (unused ones) in the toilets, Man I could have some fun |
| Subject: | Sorry, I ought to liveblog this or something, but I can't get over it. |
| Date: | Jan 03 18:29 |
| Author: | Tyson Dunn |
| "Shine the Light" is SO much like a megachurch
pentecostal production. I halfway expect Amy Grant to come strolling out and
start leading them in "Shout to the Lord". Ackkk. Tyson |
| Subject: | Tips and links for watching the videos |
| Date: | Jan 03, 2009 |
| Author: | Uncle Mo |
| Subject: | More on the teenage New Year's Eve fireside propaganda crap |
| Date: | Jan 03 19:17 |
| Author: | Tyson Dunn |
| I just got done listening to one of their songs: --------------------- The clock is ticking And our lives are passing by No time to sit on fences No time to question why The future beckons us To come and see No question who we are Or who we'll be --------------------- SAD, SAD, SAD. They're TEENAGERS! Lives are passing by?!?! WTF?! Don't question. Don't question! Just obey. Awful. Tyson |
| Subject: | And some people say the Morg doesn't brainwash anyone... HA! |
| Date: | Jan 03 19:29 |
| Author: | Tiphanie |
| This is just SICK! But not surprising - the more the
truth about the cult is revealed to the whole world, the more brainwashing
is required to keep the drones trapped in the Morg. Consequence is that the more the sicko leaders perp this crap, the more people whose eyes will be opened to what a sick cult the Morg really is. |
| Subject: | Re: More on the teenage New Year's Eve fireside propaganda crap |
| Date: | Jan 03 19:40 |
| Author: | Hap E. Heretic |
| I'm still so blown away by the fact that the church
would hold a fireside on New Year's Eve---a night that's meant for FUN, not
SERMONS. I guess the powers that be were afraid some of the "flock" would actually go out and have a nice time or something if they didn't do something quick like cook up a mass morality lecture and make sure the youth attended. And then they make a DVD of it, so everyone can replay it for many New Year's Eves to come, lest they contemplate having a party or something. Leave it to TSSC to be the ultimate killjoy. Oh, brother! |
| Subject: | Re: More on the teenage New Year's Eve fireside propaganda crap |
| Date: | Jan 03 19:45 |
| Author: | Matt |
| >No time to question? Great. Just great. Or maybe it is? Does it mean too many of them ARE asking questions? |
| Subject: | Horrible brainwashing. I think the Morg just might have killed it. |
| Date: | Jan 03 19:50 |
| Author: | forestpal |
| The youth is being offered this--and on New
Year's--instead of our old fun ski trips, youth conferences, camping trips,
tennis tournaments, bicyle outing, beach parties, the annual luau, the
Halloween hayride, the summer Ward Picnic near the water? Where was the fun they kids were promised? They were sitting in chairs, after getting rides, parking, getting there early and waiting for hours for the good seats, all to just sit there, be preached to by fogies, watch other people having fun, and endure it. The whole extravaganza reminded me of those BYU Program Bureau shows that just made you want to leave. I hope they had plenty of guards and supervision in the parking lots! |
| Subject: | The irony is, as was noted in the other thread, the whole thing was prerecorded. n/t |
| Subject: | "Our lives are passing by..." |
| Date: | Jan 03 20:21 |
| Author: | Tahoe Girl |
| Yep. That's exactly what happened to me because I
bought into the mormon propaganda crap (as you so aptly call it). I wasn't
sitting on fences nor did I question why. After all, I was part of the
CHOSEN GENERATION!!! That was drilled into us over and over. How BLESSED we
were to know who we were and who we'll be, and we were saved to come forth
now blah, blah, blah. Glad I was able to rescue my children from such a life. TG |
| Subject: | Yep, they're still playing on that chosen generation nonsense. |
| Date: | Jan 03 20:29 |
| Author: | Tyson Dunn |
| A few years ago, I met a fresh RM who told me that the
Church's teaching standards were different now because the missionaries
weren't teaching rote discussions, but were teaching by the Spirit. I tore him a new one, laying hard into him, asking him where he got the impression that we weren't supposed to teach with the Spirit. Then I pressed further and asked him where those memorized discussions supposedly came from - the missionaries? And if the Church were so inspired shouldn't they have known how to have the missionaries teach in the first place? I explained to him that the Church's missionary pedagogical approaches are cyclical, and that each generation of missionaries is told that they are the best, the brightest, and the most spiritual. He didn't have anything to say, though I suppose he thought I was "of teh debbil". The Church can sell the same crap to generation after generation, because the kiddies don't know that their forebears have heard the same shtick before again and again. Tyson |
| Subject: | Exactly!! "the kiddies don't know that their forebears have... |
| Date: | Jan 03 20:37 |
| Author: | Tiphanie |
| ... have heard the same shtick before again and
again." Because the morg families are *permitted* NO time to talk about the things that really matter, like how the SAME shtick is repeated generation after generation, with each generation sold the same crock of crap labeled "Brand New and Improved!" We can see it all so clearly now that we're out of the fray, but wasn't it tragic being caught up in the craziness for so long? |
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