Miracle of the Seagulls: Lowering another fantastic faith promoting trope

[Poly G Porter]

Old DesNewz gently lowering another fantastic faith promoting trope.

LDS Inc doesn't need another member leaving because they found out there wasn't very many seagulls!!

How seagulls saved the pioneers from Mormon crickets

John Smith wrote that the gulls came every day for three weeks, per LDS Living. This event became known as the Miracle of the Gulls. During General Conference in September 1853, Orson Hyde referenced this miracle and said, “the gulls had been agents prepared by the hands of providence.”

About the veracity of this miracle, historian Casey Griffiths said to LDS Living, “The gulls did appear, on a smaller scale than we sometimes envision, and that was a miracle to many of the early pioneers.

Ya ya ya there wasn't thousands of seagull eating and barfing the crickets for three weeks, but it was still a miracle to see a bunch of hungry seagulls doing what they have been doing for a very long time.

In other words, the story is true, but the seagulls didn’t intervene as much as we may imagine them to have done.

But it still was a miracle to those pioneers who experienced it.

OH MY GOSH! The Church® is still TRUE!!!

[Moksha]

Is there any evidence that their swarming behavior was not in retaliation to Mormon doctrine?

The Seagull story could have been a ruse, and the Mormon Crickets (call them Saint Katydids in accordance with President Nelson's new camouflage revelation) actually fled at the thought of future apologists appearing in Utah County.

Hope that helps.

[Wonhyo]

The miracle of the gulls was the first faith-promoting story (a.k.a. Mormon urban legend) that I recall in my life. (Well, besides the whole First Vision and Book of Mormon translation shenanigans, but you get my drift.)

There are dozens and dozens of Mormon urban legends that could use a nice, gentle, public debunking in a publication as trusted as the Deseret News.

[Alphus and Omegus]

call them Saint Katydids in accordance with President Nelson's new camouflage revelation

"Latter-Day Saint Orthopterans" is in the stylebook, last time I didn't check.

[drumdude]

“The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints Orthopterans”


Please don’t let Satan win.