It is striking how the new essays so consistently concede what "anti-Mormons" (otherwise known as "people who tell the truth") have been saying for decades. As a close read, and a bit of thinking, will confirm, the essays essentially concede that Mormonism cannot be what it claims.

But maybe the most striking - and telling - thing of all is that they are anonymous. No authors are listed. No party, or parties, can be held accountable. They appear under the aegis of Mormonism. They're on the "official website", after all. And yet, if at any time, the church wants to change some spin again, or some leader or other realizes just what these essays concede, they can be withdrawn instantly and replaced by some new spin job "explaining" that "the essays were written by historians, and do not necessarily represent the official policies or doctrines of the church". "Providing clarity" was touted as the reason for the essays; but "maintaining deniability" and "avoiding accountability" appear to be more important considerations than clarification.

How can that be in a church which claim to be run by a "prophet, seer, and revelator" - the only man authorized to receive revelations from God for the whole world, on questions of Truth and Doctrine? Thomas Monson is supposed be someone like Moses, who came down from Mt. Sinai holding two stone tablets on which ten commanments were written. He's supposed to be someone like Samuel the Lamanite, who stood on the wall shouting his message. Or like Stephen, who was stoned to death while boldly preaching Christ's message to angry Jews.

But Monson is just another worm of a man, nothing at all like the men (fictional or otherwise) he is supposed to be like. He himself will make no clarification, in his role as "prophet", on things like "The Book of Abraham", Mormonism's legacy of racism, the Book of Mormon's mistaken identification of Native Americans as "Israelites", or a dozen other issues. Instead, he hides behind essays composed anonymously by (I presume) Church Office Building pencil pushers and Mormon historians and spin doctors.

I submit that there is simply no way to reconcile the truth and authority claims the Mormon Church makes for itself, with its actual behaviour. At some level, the leaders must already know - or are increasingly becoming aware - that those claims just don't hold water.

Just my two cents,

T.

They are like the last page editorials in the Church News. There is never a byline.
Some thought that Mark E Peterson wrote them for decades, but no one seemed to know.
Don't know who is writing them now.

They know that...And they will hang on to power as long as any faithful is willing to follow these old tyrants.

And if the issues presented in the essays are so important (there must be significant evidence that many of the 'elect' are falling away precisely due to BoA and other essay topics), why is TSCC doing so little to get the information out to the general membership?

No mention in general conference or ensigns, nothing quickly introduced into the Sunday school curriculum or as a 5th Sunday joint PH/RS lesson, not even an official first Presdency letter to be read in every ward etc. So you have to ask why?

If the worth of souls is so great, if Jesus is guiding this church and he wants the leadership to publish responses to troubling questions, why are they not more widely proclaiming such?

On the other hand, if the church was false, if leaders had a pretty good idea of this being the case, if they knew answers were lacking and were scared for members to find out, research further and potentially recognise the church wasn't what it claimed to be...... you'd release these essays anonymously in a fairly well hidden section of a website.

Their fruits and actions condemn them as usual.

sherlock Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> And if the issues presented in the essays are so
> important... why is TSCC doing
> so little to get the information out to the
> general membership?


Because the brethren don't want to point out problems to members who don't know they exist. The essays are intended only for that tiny segment of Mormons who are already aware of the problems and who need some sort of bullsh!t answer that will let them keep on believing. It's the same purpose mopologists have always served.

Hinckley quote from January 2007:


"Well, it's either true or false. If it's false, we're engaged in a great fraud. If it's true, it's the most important thing in the world. Now, that's the whole picture. It is either right or wrong, true or false, fraudulent or true. And that's exactly where we stand, with a conviction in our hearts that it is true: that Joseph went into the [Sacred] Grove; that he saw the Father and the Son; that he talked with them; that Moroni came; that the Book of Mormon was translated from the plates; that the priesthood was restored by those who held it anciently. That's our claim. That's where we stand, and that's where we fall, if we fall. But we don't. We just stand secure in that faith."

---------


"And that's where we fall" was one of my eye opening moments. Everything after was a great big uuuuuuuuuummmmmm? Did he just say that out loud?

Now that Hinckley is dead anything he said is now categorized as speaking as a man or speaking as a prophet. "As" a TBM you can now put this portion of his statement and place it on your shelf of cognitive dissonance so TSCC can be true.

And here is the rub, place any item on the shelf, according to Hinckley's "no middle ground theory" makes the church a fraud.

The essays are the attempt to pull the Bull Sh*t off the shelf. But that's where they fall...because it still smells like Bull Sh*t

Ahh... the Hinckley quote. Those claims are well visualized in South Park's "All About Mormons," and I always challenge testimony-bearing mormons to watch it... so they can see how non-mormons perceive the stories/quote as dumb dumb dumb dumb dumb.

And being a fraud? Yes. A great fraud? Not really... mormonism is insignificant from a world point of view. He flatters himself.

Yeah, the self-flattery. The most important thing in the world! or the greatest deception in the world!

Yes, if it were true, it might be the most important thing in the world; but, because it's a fraud, it's not the greatest deception in the world, it's just another one among many.

Tal...That is the best point anyone has made in the whole truthfulness of LDS.Inc discussion. If the church is based on the primitive Christian Church and has restored prophets to the earth, then why don't these prophets act like prophets?

For years they said nothing about the mountains of evidence disproving Mormonism. Now instead of a addressing the problems head on, they hide behind an anonymous essay writer and FAIR. Excellent point!

Tal Bachman Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> But maybe the most striking - and telling - thing
> of all is that they are anonymous. No authors are
> listed. No party, or parties, can be held
> accountable. They appear under the aegis of
> Mormonism. They're on the "official website",
> after all. And yet, if at any time, the church
> wants to change some spin again, or some leader or
> other realizes just what these essays concede,
> they can be withdrawn instantly and replaced by
> some new spin job "explaining" that "the essays
> were written by historians, and do not necessarily
> represent the official policies or doctrines of
> the church". "Providing clarity" was touted as the
> reason for the essays; but "maintaining
> deniability" and "avoiding accountability" appear
> to be more important considerations than
> clarification.

It's faceless, nameless Big Brother. Everywhere yet nowhere.

The prophets do not prophesy, the seers do not see and the revelators have abdicated their responsibility to an unknown, faceless entity.

If they were honest men, they would let their light shine instead of sticking it under the digital equivalent of a bushel.

Excellent post, Tal. Thanks! Glad you're here!

And I love this!
"They know that...And they will hang on to power as long as any faithful is willing to follow these old tyrants."

Hurry and copy then save Snow's explanation of the essays, still up on lds.org. He says specifically the first presidency and quorum of 12 "approve" the essays. Of course there is nothing in writing, and it's only his words, and he could be put out to pasture if the 15 change their minds, but it's still there (for now).

Where can I find Snow's explanation? I'll save it if I can find it.

Finally found it after some digging around. Here is the link, for anyone else who might be having trouble finding it:

https://www.lds.org/topics?lang=eng#media=11373505780672488714-eng

I have it saved now, and I watched the whole thing. He does specifically say that the essays are approved by the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve. If that doesn't make them official, I don't know what does. The only way they could be more official is if they were canonized.

It is striking they concede so much anti-Mormon propaganda. If only I could transport myself back to the 80's with the essays. I might have been able to convince my Mormon fiancé and family and friends I didn't have horns.

And unfortunately the essays barely dip their toes in the issues they are are addressing. They only acknowledge the main issue but don't delve into ALL the facts of the issue at hand. Its VERY deceptive because TBM's can go away thinking they "know all about that" problem when in fact they don't.

I agree, what they do, and don't do gives it away.

While still TBM I used to watch conference year after year hoping for some prophecy or revelation. 30+ years of that, and nothing...

The history is bad, but they don't deliver on the claim that they are in direct contact with God.

I could (almost) forgive the great many historical issues IF they were acting like prophets and apostles of old -- Actually prophecying and bringing people to Jesus (not just into a "Church").

Instead, they appear as successful businessmen, who run a huge corporation, who stick Christ in wherever they can to help with their slick product branding and promotional material.

Prophets of old stood for something. They DIED for what they believed in. Instead ours hide behind anonymous essay writers. Pathetic.

hfo Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Prophets of old stood for something. They DIED
> for what they believed in. Instead ours hide
> behind anonymous essay writers. Pathetic.


But what they stood for was still bull$hit...

Yes, lots of crazy stuff for sure.

But the point I was trying to make is that in ancient times they actually stood for something (right or wrong, made sense or not). I don't see anyone standing for church doctrine in a meaningful way here now. Probably because they know it's all made up.

hfo Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Yes, lots of crazy stuff for sure.
>
> But the point I was trying to make is that in
> ancient times they actually stood for something
> (right or wrong, made sense or not). I don't see
> anyone standing for church doctrine in a
> meaningful way here now. Probably because they
> know it's all made up.

I see your point.
Now they are afraid to take a concrete stand on anything.

Yeah, right. What they stood for was bullshit, and whom they stood in front of were ignorant and superstitious.

A modern prophet can't stand in front of a packed house and make prophecies. They would be shown to be false right off. It's hard to convincingly pull a rabbit out of a hat when anyone who wants to can look up a diagram of the hat and see where the rabbit goes; and when they do look it up they'll be solicited to buy a hat exactly like the one the magician used so they can fool their own friends and family too!

So, really, what would you have a prophet do. Stand up there and admit the fraud. Did Madoff do that? Does the dictator ruling a kleptocracy announce he was just kidding. Does he ever refuse to stand for "re-election?" Of course not. You're asking the impossible. "I want the true prophet to act like a prophet and prophesize!" There is no such thing as what you want. The status of "prophet" is not handed down based on seniority in a made-up spirchul organization. It doesn't matter how many people believe in it or how many people stake their lives and the lives of their families on it. That doesn't make it real. That corrupt authorities rip people off and sustain their own authority is no surprise. It's perennial.

The whole notion of a magic person who's talking to the Christ on demand is stupid by itself. People've got to get that. Believing in that is like believing in any other superstition, it's not real. It's an imaginary, fairy-story. But so long as this belief persists, there will be people stepping forward to take advantage of it.

I was on youtube listening to stories of former Mormons. There's a guy talking about how his family gathered at a mortuary for a blessing on their younger brother, a suicide, and they really believed that they could call him back from the dead. Just like Jesus. With the power of the restored priesthood. The depth of that self-deception is simply staggering, and heart-breaking when they discover what non-cultists already know: it doesn't work.

That adults actually believed they could raise a man from the dead, and that they belong to an organization that stimulates them to believe that for its own gain. It's revolting. No wonder Christopher Hitchins had nothing good whatsoever to say about institutions like Mormonism. He had a conscience; and he was appalled at powerful people who don't, and who would take advantage of ordinary people by filling their lives with lies like that.

Common structure/themes of the essays:

-Discuss some (but not all) controversies about the topic
-Concede several important points previously denied by TSCC
-Misstate other opposing arguments and then refute in detail
-Say the overall evidence is inconclusive no matter the reality
-State that the Mormon Church is true based on faith

The essays are dishonest, illogical, and lack academic credibility. But would would you really expect from the Mormon Church?

But they have caused lots of people to leave the church. Because of that, I support the essays, and I'm glad the church is publishing them.

We need to archive these essays NOW! Because the church will likely (yes, I say likely) make subtle alterations over time as circustance dictates. (Book of Mormon Intro, anyone?)

Despite all of Mormonism's massive pronouncements, and books, and talks, and films, and essays -- there are four simple words that it can't bring itself to say:

..... "THUS SAITH THE LORD!" .....

For a church that claims to be led by "Prophets, Seers and Revelators" that's a profoundly significant silence.

One thing that has had me scratching my head it that they do not attribute authorship to one (particularly elderly) author whether he wrote the essay or not.

That leaves them with no one to sacrifice with the perennial claim that he was "speaking as a man" and now we know better.

For example, in the racist apology, they throw Brigham under the bus.

Their collective insulation removes one of their classic plausible deniability escape hatches.

He boldly proclaimed that the LDS, Inc. Mall was for shopping!

They are business men trying to hold a company together. They dictate to the lesser flock as to what they want done without putting their name on anything. This is to save their ass incase it goes south and to change any of it in the future as they see fit. This allows them to throw the expendable under the bus as deemed necessary.

Everything they do is for the business not the church. it's for profits not for souls. It has nothing to do with Christ. All that is just part of the scam. The main goal is money.

Faith in God is an illusion they perpetuate on the members that they are seers, revelators and prophets that speak directly to God, while they themselves have zero faith in God.

They are simply greedy, lying, manipulative businessmen running a multi billion dollar corporation.

The essays remind me of Banking CEO's stating they had nothing to do with the real estate collapse. We are still true! Now give us interest free bailouts (faith) and we'll get back to work fixing the economy (belief). BTW, keep paying taxes and financial fees so we can ge all the money back that we stole from you (and "lost").

The whole purpose of the "essays" is to be able to say, "see we
didn't hide this from you, it's right there on the website."

They found that the feeling of having been lied to was a major
factor in people deciding to jump ship. Their previous
strategy was to control information in an Orwellian fashion and
keep the members uninformed. But the information age (and the
internet) changed that. As current Church Historian (and
General Authority) Steven E. Snow said recently:

"I think in the past there was a tendency to keep a lot of the
records closed or at least not give access to information. But
the world has changed in the last generation — with the access
to information on the Internet, we can’t continue that pattern;
I think we need to continue to be more open."

"Truth in Church History: Excerpts from the Religious
Educator's Q&A with Elder Steven Snow"
http://maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/truth-in-church-history-excerpts-from-the-religious-educators-qa-with-elder-steven-snow/

Notice that the reason for being open and honest is not that
the principle of openness and honesty is right, but that the
strategy of hiding information is no longer effective. Were it
still effective they'd still be doing it.

What they are doing is what Nixon tried in the throes of the
Watergate scandal. They called it a "modified, limited
hangout."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limited_hangout

The PR Department.