Maybe someone has already posted this but I just got this e-mail:

I just saw this on lds.org. The full length Joseph Smith movie produced by the church is now available on hulu. The church is asking that we do the following:

"Members who watch, leave comments, and rate the movie on Hulu make it more visible and findable for nonmembers, Shelley explained. “We hope members will make the movie part of their personal and family worship as well as part of their missionary efforts. Watch and rate the movie on Hulu, share the trailer on Facebook, and encourage friends and family to learn more about the founder of our faith by watching it.”"




Here is the link to the article on LDS.org
http://www.lds.org/church/news/church-hopes-to-expand-reach-of-joseph-smith-movie-on-hulu? cid=HPWE011514351&im=true&lang=eng



Surprise, surprise, the TSCC is all about IMAGE. So maybe we all can go on Hulu and create some balance in the reviews.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/543302

This it?

I believe we are a little late here.
342 comments largely pummeling the cult so-called church.

Of course, it would be harmless amusement to "put your shoulder to the wheel, push along."

Rose2008 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> "We hope members will make the movie part of their personal
> and family worship..."


Wait, wha???? I thought TBMs vociferously denied "worshipping" Joseph Smith.

How, then, can a Joseph Smith movie be made part of worship?

exactly what I was thinking!

Make it part of your "family worship"? So a movie is now considered doctrinal like the scriptures? This is bizarre. Guess it's right up there with Disney movies. lol

I read the response to the CES letter last night and they pretty much confirm every damming part of the letter through they don't like the tone.

The collapse is hastening. The hilarity which is the Mormon history has become common knowledge. Romney running, South Park and the Musical have opened the gates which will never be closed.

The pro LDS posters on Hulu sound desperate.

Man. You actually read all of those links? I read all that crap back when I was still a TBM. Do I really have to go read them again? Hahaha.

Ugh. They just regurgitate the same old talking points. What stinks is members who don't use their brain just say "fair debunked all that" when they haven't even read any of it!!

No you have it wrong. The new answer we want given out is:

"The church has always confirmed all these items and has never hidden them. The church has acknowledged that Smith had 11 - 14 wives married to other men at the same time, that Smith married mothers and daughters and children. That Smith used the peep stone and hat to have the BoM reveled to him and did not use the plates, that the witnesses stated they the plates only with their spiritual eyes. etc..."

Then post the links to FAIR. As you said, "What stinks is members who don't use their brain just say "fair debunked all that" when they haven't even read any of it!!"

Make it easy for them. Let them know that the church has acknowledged all these issues through FAIR. Remember FAIR was not designed to be looked at by members but to be an answer they can give to others. Once you tell them that FAIR confirms it all they may just look to see and they will be shocked. As has been repeatedly said, FAIR is more faith destroying than Mormonthink for current members. It is a great resource with the CES letter response because it shows that they have acknowledged these items with references going back decades. The trick is to get them to look at their own site. This is how we need to approach attacks from the still deluded.

I've tried everything you've described and it never works. They literally ask not to be told any more and that I must be mistaken because they have never heard about i or I got it from "anti" sites. I've even sent them fair links.

I've found the best way to approach it is not give any info but ask them questions. "Oh you know about some historical problems? Like what for example?"

I let them take the ball and explain what they know. Then I begin to expand upon what they know and I refer them to FAIR. "Oh you know all about polygamy? Did you know that on fair they talk a lot about Joseph's wives and his polyandry. What's polyandry? Oh you should go to fair and check it out."

I am referring to posts such as on the Hulu comment section.

"Yea the church acknowledges this is not historically accurate, that he did have 14 year old wives, married 14 other members wives, translated the BoM using a peep stone in a hat etc... so what, they have acknowledged these criticism for decades. See for yourself?"

Then put the fairmormon links in. Make it look like you are trying to take the wind out of the sails of the critics by saying, yea you are right, the church already said you are right. This will drive the TBMs batty because they don't even realize this has happened.

Oh. Gotcha. I thought you meant in general conversation. Didn't realize you were referring to the hulu page.

That's a whole different ball of wax. But I like your approach to it.

The image on the site shows Joe "reading" directly from the plates. I thought a church historian pretty much said that this was indeed a false interpretation. Confused at the all the Mitt-flops!

There is a problem with the way this is being responded to by the truth tellers. You must remember that 99% of the time people believe what people say is on a site without checking. The defenders say go to FAIR or LDS.org. I doubt any of them have read FAIR other than being told the answers are there.

Fair actually acknowledges almost every issue and the proper response should be to say yes the church acknowledges Smith married 14 woman who already had living husbands including members of the church who were on missions

http://www.fairmormon.org/perspectives/fair-conferences/2012-fair-conference/2012-joseph-smiths-sexual-polyandry-and-the-emperors-new-clothes-on-closer-inspection-what-do-we-find

From the link - "My research supports that fourteen of Joseph Smith’s plural wives had legal husbands."

Fair acknowledges he had dozens of wives including a 14 year old http://en.fairmormon.org/Joseph_Smith/Polygamy/Plural_wives/Helen_Mar_Kimball

Fair acknowledges that he did not translate the BoM from golden plates but by using a peep stone and a hat http://en.fairmormon.org/Joseph_Smith/Seer_stones

Fair acknowledges that Smith was a treasure seeker Smith's treasure hunting http://en.fairmormon.org/Joseph_Smith/Money_digging

Fair acknowledges that Smith was arrested for supernatural looking glass before he founded the church http://en.fairmormon.org/Joseph_Smith/Legal_issues/Trials/1826_glasslooking_trial

Fair acknowledges Smith had and used a gun in his final shootout http://en.fairmormon.org/Joseph_Smith/Martyrdom/Hiding_Joseph's_gun

Etc...

I'm definitely saving this on my computer and so should anyone who's ever asked themselves what they could possibly say that TBM family member's wouldn't say came from "enemies of the church."

Thanks!

Anagrammy

Every response should be, "These are old issues which the church has never hidden. The church has acknowledged Joesph Smith's gun, multiple wives, child brides, Book of Abraham translation issues, that the BOM was reveilved in a hat not translated from plates, arrest for fraud, treasure hunting, attempted copyright sale of the BOM etc... Then link to the responses


The best document may be their response to the CES letter http://en.fairmormon.org/Criticism_of_Mormonism/Online_documents/Letter_to_a_CES_Director

All responses should include sources from FAIR at this point. MormonThink is great as it made the Church address these issues but now that they have, all current entrenched members should be presented with the items directly from FAIR. The circle is now complete.

They confirm most things but basically say that they use loaded language or aren't looking at it in the contex of its time.

Kind of like

Yes Hitler lead Germany during the holocaust but what the critic fails to realize is that anti-Semitism was very common during this period and there is no direct evidence that the Fuerur knew that the gassings were taking place. The critic makes the mistake of using loaded language and presentism. Presentism is a mode of literary or historical analysis in which present-day ideas and perspectives are anachronistically introduced into depictions or interpretations of the past. Some modern historians seek to avoid presentism in their work because they believe it creates a distorted understanding of their subject matter. The mass murder of ethnic jews and gypsies was not an uncommon practice in the day and it is a mistake to put present day morals on people of the past.

+100

Except if they really believed the LDS cult was inspired of God they couldn't use the argument that the prophets were a product of their times. Surely a "church" led by an all knowing God could would be on the forefront of empathy and the fight for human rights.

Look at their response to almost that exact question. It is a classic. Attack the critic

http://en.fairmormon.org/Criticism_of_Mormonism/Online_documents/Letter_to_a_CES_Director/Prophets_Concerns_%26_Questions#.22Why_would_I_want_them_following_the_prophet_when_a_prophet_is_just_a_man_of_his_time.3F.22

Blacks Ban

From "A Letter to a CES Director"
Regarding the priesthood ban that was lifted in 1978, the author notes, "As a believing member, I had no idea that Joseph Smith gave the priesthood to black men. I’m supposed to go to the drawing board now and believe in a god who is not only a schizophrenic racist but who is inconsistent as well?"


Response

Mocking language and hyperbole —The critic intentionally exaggerates claims in order to mock believers.
Latter-day Saints do not believe in a God who is a "schizophrenic racist."

Wow. That response was so scholarly.

This is why true academics and scholars laugh at Mormon apologists.

I agree. As much as people hate FAIR, I think it's actually a brilliant website to refer mormons to. It's decidedly pro-mormon, but also acknowledges every issue. A mormon won't be able to deny these issues after reading the FAIR articles on them. They can't use the "It's just anti-mormon propaganda" excuse, since there is no way anybody can say FAIR is anti-mormon.

The same with the recent essays published on the church website. People might not like them, but at least they're admitting some of the issues with the church's history, so they're brilliant to refer a mormon to.

Scientologists did the same thing with Dianetics -- the church made members buy copies of the book to keep it on the best seller list.

How much did this little production cost, I wonder?

Shocking that members never really reflect on how the TSCC spends their money.

This will not be part of my family worship.

"Thanks to the Internet and modern communications, we can rearrange deck chairs faster than would have been possible just a few years ago. The work is indeed hastening.

The deck appears to be tilting more than usual, so we are instituting a deck chair retention program. Missionaries and members will be issued duck tape, to hold the chairs in their proper, authorized arrangement."

People need to thumbs up feuerbereich's comment so it can be the top comment imo.

Wouldn't the ' founder of our faith ' be Jesus Christ ? More of the Joe worshipping here ?

Is this the one I saw at that big building across from TS that used to be a hotel? If so, after being dragged to it while on vacation, I asked my BIL why there was nothing about his other 33 wives in the movie. He said there wasn't time to put that in. heehee [Too much bed-hopping takes a lot of time, I reckon]

Along with demanding the members view the JS movie and then give it reviews full of accolades (the full of accolades implied), it is a wonder the church/cult did not then demand the members send in $10 for the privilege.

OK guys, quit Ragging on FAIR.

Any outfit that can mistake Tapirs for horses deserves to be listened to, don't they? After all, with reasoning like that they are probably overseas negotiating for Yugo dealerships these days...

Wow, just watched that movie. Lord of the Rings wasn't as far-fetched and fantastical. And I felt the spirit stronger during Lord of the Rings than that thing. Does that mean Frodo is true?

Isn't that what all the web-based missionaries are for?

Too bad they don't have a comment section for the temple movies.

Odd thought that I had last week: Are the actors in those movies allowed to list them on their resume? Show a little sample of their work? LOL.

More on topic (though slightly off): I'd be more impressed if the church gave members a little more direction on how to not be a dick on youtube comments and whatnot. I mean, there are enough a-hole "Mormons" saying a lot of a-holey things on youtube and KSL and whatnot. Geez, tell your members to be nice on the internet. (Or don't. Anything that makes Mos look bad is alright by me, especially when they are genuinely doing the work themselves.)

"We hope members will make the movie part of their personal and family worship as well as part of their missionary efforts." - they have ALWAYS worshiped JS ever since JS told them to. Remember JS is the first TBM god - they have pictures of him everywhere in the ward buildings. Count the pictures of Jesus and those of JS - easy to see who they worship. DUH!

And of course FRODO is true. So is BILBO (one of my favorites!) and watch out for GOLLUM! He's comin to getcha!

"Wouldn't the ' founder of our faith ' be Jesus Christ ?" - see my comments above.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/27/2014 05:16PM by verilyverily.

Re the mormon postings on Hulu...

Mormons naively believe that bearing testimony to people outside of their church meetings is a good thing. They might as well be talking about their belief in Scientology, or Heaven's Gate, or Jonestown, or handing out Watchtowers/Awakes... because that's how most nonmormon readers will interpret it.