This article was published yesterday: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/31/us/for-some-the-path-to-navajo-values-weaves-through-the-mormon-church.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

There are so many things about this story that bother me. Curious if anyone else is bothered as well.

Here's a gem from the story: “There’s this paradoxical sense in which the Lamanites are both a rebellious and wicked people, but they’re also key to the consummation of history and they’re central actors in the Mormon scriptural drama,” said Peter J. Thuesen, the chairman of the department of religious studies at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/31/2013 01:55PM by redpillswallowed.

The article reads like a total puff piece form the Morg PR department. Anyone know if she has LDS connections?

My guess is yeah, that it is at least a PR piece masquerading as news (that's very common). Note that there is no opportunity for comments.

I live near the Rez and unfortunately TSCC has made an its impact around here. It's sickening.

The Rez is saturated with physical and sexual violence, poverty, addiction, and corruption in the government. Hell, many of the villages don't even have running water. It's like going to a third world country whenever I need to travel west.

I'm guessing the mishies downplay some of the racism and the Dine who convert feel they have nothing else to lose. When you feel hopeless, trapped, and vulnerable, it's easy to prey on your weakness.

+1000 Itzpapalotl

It's good that the church can help with the gardening, but why can't they just help with the gardening without the bullsh¡t strings attached?

And then there's this:

“In Navajo culture, the most important things we have are life and our family....(Converting) wasn’t about turning away and embracing an entirely different tradition; it was about reconnecting.”

Every damn culture on the planet embraces life and family as the most important thing!!! It disgusts me the way mormonism thinks it has the right to "trademark" the most basic concepts of human nature as if it were their own original and unique truth.

I live very close to the navajo nation, and our ward has ward missionaries specifically called to serve the lamanites. I know many navajos, and they have a rich culture and history. It bothers me that tscc tries to supplant their real history with make believe stories from the BoM.

I hope the native americans see the truth someday, and rise up and put a stop to the mormons invading their culture.

The mormons are trying to implant a false history into their culture. That should enrage the native americans. They need to put a stop to the cancer called mormonism. It isn't worth the price they will pay.

The most telling part of the story is at the beginning of this article, where the woman who had lost children says that she was attracted to the sense of community. That's it in a nutshell: The church offers people the promise of community and sustenance, spiritual and physical, at a time when they need it desperately. And then, instead of feeding them, it feeds OFF them.

When I lived in Utah I knew several TBMs who had served missions to the Navajo reservation. They really loved the people and kept in touch with them after their missions ended. One ended up going back as a school principal. They did acknowledge that the church didn't help the people as much as it could, and that there were major strings attached.\

Edited to add: The article stated that the church was expanding in some parts of Asia? Really?!?!? What parts of Asia would these be?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/31/2013 09:48PM by stbleaving.

For a while, at least, the church was succeeding well in Mongolia. Yeah. Mongolia. They didn't perform too badly in Cambodia. Maybe they mean India. With all the people who are off the grid, uneducated, and without access to information, the church has a potential to gain converts there.

That article seems like Mormon propaganda. The Navajo nation is beginning to thrive and build independence so the LDS church wants to take credit.

Navajo Nation Economic Growth Creating Jobs and True Independence
http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/08/28/navajo-nation-economic-growth-leading-red-tape-freedom-151046