I choose to wear a mask when in public. I feel like it is a small gesture to reduce a potentially large risk.

My wife wears a mask when she goes out. This is partially to placate me and partially to protect her mom, who is in her mid 80's and makes shoes from banana peels.

However, most of the family feels like the covid virus is a huge conspiracy designed to take away our freedom. I guess lots of things are possible, but I had to laugh when I heard my uber TBM BIL say, "They expect us to just take their word that this is real!"

No kidding.

It blows my mind.

When did he start demanding proof?

I had to seriously hold my tongue.

Do you all have any similar examples?



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 05/18/2020 06:04PM by Lowpriest.

If it wasn't serious why would the prophet ask for church wide fasting and prayers?

If it was a hoax why was general conference only televised? With social distancing?

So the Prophet is either inspired to follow CDC guidelines or..... he's in on the scam.

Right?

The weirdest thing about “plandemic” types is the incongruity of their two beliefs:

1. That the “Agenda” is real

and

2. That the virus is fake.

Surely any entity able and willing to pull off 1 is also willing and able to release a real virus.

Agenda Minion: shall we release the dangerous virus now?

Agenda Master: Nay, let’s instead see if we can get every political and healthcare and media jurisdiction in the world to just *pretend* there is a dangerous virus.


To my chagrin, embarrassment even, I now have family and friends expressing these kinds of opinions (they didn’t start out that way). I ask, “but why wouldn’t the bad guys simplify things by releasing a real virus?” The attempts to answer the question are painful to witness.

Mormonism has depths of stupidity that astound the mind.

Actually, these are very smart and capable people. They just tend to make up their minds first based on doctrine and then find facts that support their views.

Believing such nonsense is stupid, regardless of I.Q. In fact, the higher the IQ, the more deliberately stupid the believer. My father had an EdD from Columbia University, and he was the most deliberately stupid man I have ever known--he was a devout Mormon.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/18/2020 06:31PM by donbagley.

I think people choose to believe obviously stupid things in spite of their IQ.

It's weird, but some folks seem to have more than one behavioral driver.

What's more, some people like my DW are very devout, yet never do missionary work or share testimony. I don't think she is shy. I think it is social conversion or family tradition that is never questioned.

Yet they cannot see that Mormonism is a huge conspiracy to take their money??????

They get hurt and angry when this possibility is even discussed.

has the virus or that the reaction to it by the media and government is overblown?

I would be surprised if they actually are claiming that no one has it.

And they know that people die from it. However, they feel like it is being misrepresented.

For example, my BIL says:

Deaths are being counted when people died from something else but had covid, too.

Old people would have died anyway.

The number of deaths is less than it is for the regular flu.

Wait for it....

The number if deaths is less than the number if deaths caused by drunk driving.

Vivid death numbers by 25 percent. Haven't some states adjusted the numbers down dramatically.

If so...your families concerns may be partially valid.

However, my family seems to think that the entire thing is fake.

That's fine by me. I say question everything. Things that are real can be validated and false things can be disproven.

My family does not take this approach with respect to their favorite fables.

They question, distrust, disbelieve, and disambiguate every othe claim.

But they simply find reasons to accept that Joseph Smith saw the creator of everything and that everything that the mormon overlords say about the claim is true. No questions, just exercising faith, they say.

The books were audited by in house auditors and found to be in order.
Lift your right arm to the square and say amen
AMEN!!

Most everyone accepts that it's real, but maybe your family is frustrated that the government is overreacting spending 2.5 trillion dollars of money that we just don't have. The family is likely thinking that it's not the governments job to be passing out the bucks to everyone. Saddly the folks in power who are trying to be popular may have the perspective of "never let a good crises go to waste."