Our Jeopardy thread has gone to RfM heaven. I didn't realize we yakked about it so much we closed down a thread. :)

I can't let this pass though - tonight's clue, under the category 'Congress', was about Utah but didn't name-check Mormonism, although the correct response was 'polygamy'.

I'm waiting for the category, sure to be featured soon, on Anglicanism.

Or not. :P

How many Anglicans does it take to screw in light bulb?

Americans won’t even call it that. They call it Episcopalian, which sounds like some sort of hygiene accident.

My all-time favorite niche Canadian church was right at the south end of Winnipeg, on the Pembina Highway, the highway to Winnipeg from North Dakota.

The Chinese Mennonite Church.

You can’t make this stuff up.

I’ll be damned. I just looked it up and it is still there. I apparently changed hands in 2008, but I know it was there at least back to the early 1980s. Yeah, I’m that old.

https://mbcm.ca/about-us/churchplanting-projects/south-winnipeg-chinese-mennonite-brethren-church/

Oh yeah, good point about Episcopalian. Yes, it's a funny-sounding word, especially with the emphasis on the 2nd syllable.

Here's some more info about who all are counted among Mennonites. They do have an interesting history.

"Historically, there are two basic strains of Mennonites in Canada: the Swiss-South German Mennonites came via Pennsylvania, and the Dutch-North German Mennonites came via Russia (Ukraine). In the late 1700s and early 1800s “Swiss” Mennonites from Pennsylvania settled in southern Ontario. In the 1870s, a large group of “Russian” Mennonites from Ukraine moved to southern Manitoba. Further waves of “Russian” Mennonites came to Canada in the 1920s and 1940s.

"Especially in the last 50 years many people have chosen to join Mennonite churches, although this is rare in the traditionalist churches. Some Canadian Mennonite congregations are predominantly made up of immigrants from another culture such as Chinese, Hmong, Hispanic, or Ethiopian, and they worship in languages other than English."


The Ethiopian congregation would be an interesting visit too. Hmong I've never heard of.

I was friends with a Mennonite pastor who worked in pastoral care at a hospital where I worked. I was so glad to know him when we needed a good officiant at my SIL's funeral, because neither she nor my brother were religious in any way, at all, and I could trust him to respect that in his remarks. Sure enough, no preaching. And all still went as well as possible in the circumstances.


https://canadianmennonite.org/stories/10-things-know-about-mennonites-canada

The Hmong are a people originally from south central China. They were squeezed out of the region as the Han moved south; Hmong communities are now scattered through parts of south and southwest China (many live near the bat caves in Yunnan) as well as scattered through Indo-China and even India.

During the Vietnam War, the US developed cooperative ties with the Hmong communities in the mountainous west of that country and in Laos, where they helped combat the Vietcong. When the war ended, the Vietnamese wanted vengeance, which forced many of the Hmong to seek homes abroad. There are now large communities in Michigan, Wisconsin and California as well as Canada and elsewhere.

And then there are the Hutterian Brethren or Hutterittes. I had to explain to cousins from W Virginia that they were like Amish but with electricity and the best agricultural technology money could by. I can see 5 colonies from my farm.

BofJ said:
------------------------
>
> I’ll be damned. I just
> looked it up and it is
> still there.


With anything involving the
Chinese, it's not hard to
imagination that they are
not going away!

Misplaced



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/17/2023 06:40PM by Brother Of Jerry.

Also misplaced. Slow learner



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/18/2023 01:37AM by Brother Of Jerry.

LOL! I saw it. I was tempted to open a thread to you but was too chicken.

Ken made a big point to word the answer "polygamy" as something that was discontinued and illegal.

Plus did you see the contestant from SLC too? She was a character. She hates Valentine's Day and enjoys throwing axes. If I had to guess, she wasn't LDS!

(Edited to correct pronoun spelling error.)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/08/2023 10:48PM by dagny.

Forgot to say what the clue was - it made me laugh and groan at the same time:

"Love & marriage changed in Utah after the Edmunds Act of 1882 said anyone guilty of this could go to jail for 5 years"

Love & marriage: Yes, that totally makes me think of polygamy.

Not!

What's evident on Jeopardy (at least to me - who knows what most nevermos know about the game) is that Utah and polygamy are inextricably intertwined, despite the fact that church reps are at pains to ensure everybody knows "We don't do that any more".


I can't decide the following:

1. Does Ken have a hand in choosing the subjects/clues.

2. Besides #1, does Ken approve of mo-related clues beforehand.

3. Does Ken (or somebody) think that it doesn't matter what negatives people learn about Mormonism - the important thing is just to keep Mormonism in the forefront.


Maybe it's more in the forefront in the USA. I don't hear much about it up here in The Frozen North.

Except something the other day, somewhere, maybe not even within Canada, suggesting those massive green lawns at many stake centres are wasting resources - water to keep it green for instance.

Not good publicity to waste water.

again.
Such good names--been around for a long time.
I haven't been here for a while, but I remember the good old times.
:)

It's nice to see you around, dimmesdale! I always enjoy your posts. Keep out of trouble!

Thank you, dimmesdale, for your kind words. It's always lovely to "see" you. You're very quiet but I always notice your name. Hope all is going well.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/10/2023 01:56PM by Nightingale.

Un

Be

Liev

Able


Literally.


And the lady who responded correctly is from Pocatello. I wonder if she has ever been to the temple.

Yes, my local news had a story about the Pocatello woman on the show. She's doing fairly well. I missed a lot of it tonight.
She is an ISU grad (Pocatello school). It isn't obvious if she happens to be LDS but a good possibility.

I forget already what the clue was. I think it could have been about the temple. So I thought maybe only a Mormon would know the answer.

Yikes. I just found it. It was blatant this time.

Category was "Happened on Valentines Day"

Clue: 1835: Formation of the first LDS (written out as the full name on that tiny square of course) leadership group known as "quorum of the 12" these.

Answer: apostles.

Yep. She knew it and I'm guessing she is LDS like you suspected.

Doesn't it seem a little bit of a coincidence to put a question like that in the game that happens to have a Mormon champ? I noticed there is a picture on the Google of her and Ken all buddy like. NO ONE but an LDS person would think the Mormon "apostles" are actual apostles of anything.

Honestly, that question is right up there with asking what color undies Einstein wore. You'd have to be the Cat to care or know something so obscure!

Oh yeah, that is what it was. How soon I forget.

Exactly - who would know the answer is apostle.

And if she knows Ken off set is that not some kind of conflict of interest I wonder. Maybe not.

When was the last time they had a Catholic clue I wonder. Or a Presbyterian one.

What is that old saying: Something is rotten in Denmark. Sheesh. Blatant now.

Jeopardy fact: These pre-Columbians conquerers were originally from Israel.

Who are the Lamanites?

Not fair. The Nephites, Mulekites, and Jaredites are all equally valid answers.

It's not like the New World was empty when you Lamanites arrived.

Again!

Clue: "..scenic road in Utah with the alliterative name 'Patchwork ___________' after the quilts the pioneers used."

None of the (very well informed, by definition) contestants knew the answer, even with the big 'Patchwork' helper clue.

Are there not 49 other states in the US of A?

Prospective contestants are going to have to start studying up on Utah, if not Mormonism. Maybe that's the idea.

I also wonder who the contestants and viewers alike thought the "pioneers" were.

I only heard the word "pioneer" because my dog was barking at something. I wondered if it was going to be another with Utah ties! Groan!

Geez! They seriously need more diversity in their writing pool or something. I wonder if part of the reason I watch is so that I can complain to Nighty for fun! LOL.

A group of white Christian nationalists who came to power when they plotted to overthrown the results of a democratic election, and swore a loyalty oath that they would all stick to the same story, so they would not get caught.

I'm sorry, no, the correct answer is "Who are the Gadianton Robbers."

Oh, that is good.

Well done!

LOL. That's a hoot!

4.on to bless the bulb, one to hold the ladder, one to replace the bulb,and one to break out the bubbly.

Maybe the number of mormon clues will go down now that Jennings isn't hosting for awhile

https://www.deseret.com/2023/2/17/23604330/jeopardy-host-schedule-mayim-bialik-hosting-now

Hmmmm. I guess we'll see if that makes any difference.

It's weird that he needs a break after only 5 months. Maybe he's got another project or something.

Earlier in the thread, I mentioned a Chinese Mennonite church which I found to be pretty funny. I mean, how many Chinese Mennonites can there be?

Seeing as we have Menno Simons, founder of the Mennonites, posting on RFM today, I thought I'd pass along some statistics about Mennonites in Canada.

Yes, satire.

https://www.ungerreview.com/10-amazing-facts-about-mennonites-according-to-the-2021-census/

Statistics Canada has just released the results of the 2021 census and there are many startling revelations about the country’s Mennonite population. Let’s have a look!

Average Mennonite net worth: 73 acres of flax and 302 chickens.

Average baptism age: 18 years and one month.

Average marriage age: 18 years and two months.

Education level of Canadian Mennonites:

18% Conrad Grebel University College
16% high school
12% Columbia Bible College
9% Canadian Mennonite University
7% Steinbach Bible College
7% Menno Simons College
5% Winkler Bible Institute
3% Bethany College
the rest: PragerU
Largest population centre: Vanapag, MB

Smallest population centre: Neudyckfeld, SK

Ethnic makeup: diverse, but all are partial to Welch’s grape juice.

Top 5 most common languages spoken by Canadian Mennonites at home:

English
Mandarin
Pennsylvania Dutch
Vietnamese
some strange blend of English and Plautdietsch with a sprinkling of High German on Sundays

Average Mennonite family size: 11.6 (falsely claimed as 9 to fit under pandemic restrictions)

Sex: yes (but we don’t talk about it)

Denominational affiliation:

16% ones that pour
14% ones that dunk
2% ones that’ll let you choose
10% ones that drive horse and buggy
7% ones that drive cars but still make women wear dresses and cover their heads
11% ones that have dropped the Mennonite label but not the theology
13% ones that have dropped the Mennonite theology but not the label
27% sketchy cults

Total Mennonite population: 233,112 plus 78,003 in the womb

So prospective Mennonite wives are valued in chickens and not in cows?

How very strange.

Salt Lake City was in one of the clues tonight. And Ken wasn't even there. It's getting to be once or twice a month now.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/20/2023 11:14PM by Nightingale.

By now the LDS proportion of the total viewership must be north of 80% or even 90%. There's no way this stuff would not offend a truly representative audience.

Do you think nevermos would notice?

Absolutely. And I think they'd roll their eyes and change the channel.

I'm guessing here: I'm sure I saw the show when I was a child but have not seen it for three decades, so this is sheer speculation. But I'll bet the show appealed to a broad swathe of American society at some point in the past.

Then the percentage of non-Mormons gradually started to decline and Mormons conversely became a more important portion of the audience. Was it during the time when Jennings was a star? Was his overt Mormonism irritating to other market segments? Anyway, at some point the balance tipped and Mormons became a majority. So the show increasingly focused on keeping that important demographic happy.

What Dagny says suggests that the producers wanted hosts who understood Mormonism, for even "Mayim" has experience with the religion. Could she and Jennings be a coincidence? Perhaps. But I think understanding, and appealing to, Mormons was by this point a commercial imperative.

The producers surely chart changes in their audience. That information is not publicly available, but perspicacious viewers should be able to infer some of that from the advertisements that accompany the show. What age group are the sponsors targeting? What products are they selling? Do they market things to liberals? Minorities? Non-Christians? Are they selling goods and services that are more attractive to conservative Westerners in the Jello Belt?

Maybe you addicts have, or can develop, some insights on this topic?

All that makes sense. I have no information about their audience. I'm full of hot air speculation for sure.

I think there is a good chance I single out Mormon stuff disproportionality because I like to bitch about it. It's fun to have Nighty for a J pal here!

I think it's clear that Mormonism is treated disproportionately well.

Can you imagine how strange it would be to have an equal number of question about any other group whose active adherents represent 1% of the United States or 0.0008% of the global population?

I caught that. It had to do with Utah: Housewives of SLC. Out of all the TV shows, they pick one about Utah.

There was one clue about Jesus going to synagogues. As an aside, Mayim is some variety of modern orthodox Jewish religion. Apparently her first husband was Mormon who converted to her religion for her. The marriage didn't work out. She does an OK job on the show I think.

Last week, one contestant told Ken she was a limerick writer. She wrote one about Ken and read it to him. He thanked her for keeping it clean. He's such a dork. LOL.

That's a funny coincidence that she married a Mormon.

As for the limerick, I must have missed that. But the contestant would have to keep it clean or they wouldn't have let her say it on the show. Maybe that's all that Ken meant. But he gets our antennae twitching so it's harder to give him any benefit of the doubt. He's kind of not offensive as a person so I'm not really criticizing him. Just like everybody he can't help it if he's brought up in a certain religion that not everyone is fond of.

Saying that, I'll likely be irked this time next week if there's another mo clue on again. They don't often ask about Seventh Day Adventists, for instance. Or JWs - ever. Maybe a bridge too far. Either that or they know that nobody outside the group would be likely to know the answers. JWs don't care if they don't get a lot of exposure. In fact, that's their MO. Stay on the down low. Other than when they're knocking on strangers' doors, lol.

I think I'm getting over the J show anyway, finally. I used to watch it with my mum and we had fun "keeping score" (not that I could ever amass more points than my very knowledgeable mother always did). I only kept watching it after she wasn't here any more just to keep the faith, so to speak. I think she wouldn't mind if I switched the channel now. It would be breaking long tradition though, often a challenge to do it the first time.

Too, I've got a whole shelf full of good books I should be paying more attention to so maybe I'll switch over to those from now on. I don't get enough time to read, not like I used to. My sweet little bookshop is missing me. :)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/21/2023 12:18AM by Nightingale.

I can't believe I'm posting this. I have zero willpower. ]

So, Nighty. Here we go. Tonight Miyam was hosting some college version of the game.

Of course there was your usual Bible type stuff, this time some such about beatitudes an sermon on the mount.

Then they had some question about people who visited Sundance - Utah in the winter. Utah. Check.

Then they had a clue about LDS university BYU attended by Stephanie Meyer under some kind of college category. At least she said LDS instead of the whole darn name.

Bible, Utah, LDS. Check.

I haven't watched it yet, dagny. It's not on here for another 33 minutes. I swore I wasn't going to post about it again even if Utah or Mormonism comes up. I have noticed too, as you say, an increase in Bible clues lately as well. I think it's definitely not by accident at this point, if it even started out that way. I'm positive they don't repeat categories or themes that soon on any other topics. They may have a general religion category every once in a great while in which we learn there is actually more than one type of faith in this world.

Someone mentioned recently that it could be due to the fact that Mormonism is uniquely American and that Utah, of course, is an American state. That's understandable except they don't give any other state or US topic that much leg room, only Utah and Mormonism or so it sure as heck seems. Of course, the host being Mormon could also be a major factor. Maybe it's part of his contract, lol.

I thought I wasn't that interested in the college tournament so I could quit my habit these two weeks. But - habit - so I keep going back. My mum and I used to have fun trying to answer more clues than each other. Now it's not as much fun and gets less interesting. I'm used to Ken now but he's not exciting or too interesting at all. Sorry Ken. No offence intended. Basically I liked Alex Trebek because he was Canadian and nice-looking and intelligent and he could always pronounce all the words and with the right accents when necessary.

But we can't all be Alex. I know.

Question: What is the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?


YES!  We would have also accepted 'who are the mormons,' but you'd be going to hell...

AGAIN!!!

Utah got a mention again last night. I was only half paying attention so I missed whether it was in a clue or an answer - I just heard 'Utah'.

A lot of US states don't get a Jeopardy! shout-out ever. I never hear Connecticut or Maryland. Utah is showing up at least monthly, if not weekly.

I know it's a blip on the screen of life and it doesn't even really bug me all that much because meh, other than to see obvious influence from somewhere over what should be an objective zone, you'd think.

I'm not an avid viewer like I used to be when my mum and I competed along with the contestants, against each other (she always won more points than I ever could). In particular, during the current college games I know zero correct responses in most of the categories. It seems that the clues in these games are even more challenging than the ones in the regular games. The contestants are achieving high scores too. They are obviously bright just to get on the show (as former high achievers in previous J! matches) and they speedily answer before I've even digested the clues.

Good thing I don't take it personally. I've always known I'm never going to be the Brain of Britain. Fortunately, that doesn't bother me. :)

Yeah, I barely caught UTAH too. I think it had to do with the state where the transcontinental railroad was completed or some such. I didn't catch the category.

Oddly I can't remember having heard any clues about New Mexico or Arkansas ever. ;-/

Yeah, that was it - something about railway. I was distracted and not really into it. I might be finally over it. Soon. :)

Me too re Arkansas. Never heard it mentioned there. Not fair!

We used to pronounce it "R-Can-Sas" - didn't know it's "R-Can-Saw". Funny word.

I've been thinking that the clues for the college tourney are quite difficult in every category. At least as challenging as for regular games, if not more so. It's impressive how much the young contestants know about a lot of various stuff.

> A lot of US states don't get
> a Jeopardy! shout-out ever.


I grew up in Nevada, so it was pleasing to me when I saw this clue: "A state west of Utah."

Nevada is a state? Wow.

That probably pleases Mississippi.

I was just thinking I should think more carefully about my subject lines in future. Some don't age well. :P



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/02/2023 06:29PM by Nightingale.

Did you know that Nevada is a state?

Never heard of it. :p

The worst thing is hearing people who have not lived in Nevada call it NeVODa. I graduated from a Nevada high school and went to college in Nevada, and people who grew up there pronounced the first a like the a in "cat".

Say it with me. NeVAda. Not NeVODa. One more time. NeVAda.

Yes, I realize it's from Spanish but people who grew up in Nevada are the ones who say it right. The rest of the country is crazy.

Go Rancho Rams!!

Kelly green and white forever!

OK, so it's Saturday and maybe they show reruns on weekends. Whatever.

Ken was the host today and the category was Trails. They had to include the Mormon Pioneer Trail in the category. A contestant guessed "Mormon" trail when they showed the a map of a line going from Nauvoo to SLC. Ken made sure to repeat Mormon pioneer trail.

Out of all the important trails in the USA and world, of course something Mormon would be on the list. Eye roll.

Yes, I think the shows on weekends are all re-runs. I don't watch them. Partly because it's discouraging to me that even with re-runs I don't know the answers, haha. Also, busy. Also, out. Also, 5x/wk is already enough. :)

I might even recall that show where the Mormon Pioneer Trail was a correct response.

I think the evidence is in, Judge. Or it's the fix that's in. Maybe a Mormon mention a week is part of Ken's contract - somebody might have suggested that already. Oh well, it's settling in as just another fact of life. Barely newsworthy any more.

I haven't been that interested in the youth tournament so maybe I'm on the cusp of being an ex-viewer anyway.

Still, it's fun to have something less serious to pick apart about Mormonism (Mos taking over Jep) instead of some of the more unfortunate history.