One of the Reply Posts to Monson's NY Times Obituary

[_Meadowchik]

Wow, I finally read it. Is this really the cause of a hubbub of 20k+ signatures? Good grief. It is pretty good, with the expected summary but also personal details I hadn't heard and a rather rounded perspective of his life. Well done.

Signers should be ashamed of themselves. Perhaps they should spend that signature on the petition against sexually-oriented bishop interviews of minors. Change your church first, if you want to change how people perceive you.

[_cinepro]

Wow, I finally read it. Is this really the cause of a hubbub of 20k+ signatures? Good grief. It is pretty good, with the expected summary but also personal details I hadn't heard and a rather rounded perspective of his life. Well done.

Signers should be ashamed of themselves. Perhaps they should spend that signature on the petition against sexually-oriented bishop interviews of minors. Change your church first, if you want to change how people perceive you.

The biggest indictment against the NYT is the comparison between their Monson obituary and their write-ups on Fidel Castro and Hugh Hefner. It's obvious the writer of the Monson obit was more focused on being "fair and balanced" than those other two.

[_Res Ipsa]

I read the obituary and was a little put off by the tone and emphasis. It just seemed jarring to me in contrast with obits of other public figures. I can understand the reaction to it by many faithful LDS folks.

[_Morley]

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/03/obituaries/thomas-monson-dies.html

I don't think the newspaper needs to worry. The type of person who would petition the NYTimes to apologize for this obit is not the kind of person who would be subscribing to the Times in the first place.

[_cwald]

It just has to sting many of the devout that they cited Kate Kelley in his obituary. Ouch.

[_Tator]

The obit seemed like an accurate and truthful countdown of events and issues that occured under his watch. I would also add that the reporter, Robert McFadden, was either very well versed in the issues surrounding the church or spent a few minutes on the internet or has read the CES letter and the church doesn't like that.

[_Dr Exiled]

It seemed fine to me and truthful as well. Maybe the positive could have been first instead of at the end. Otherwise, it isn't much to be upset about. Should it have been a fluff piece emphasizing Monson's humble superiority as the one true leader of the world? Maybe the faithful ought to be thankful because such opposition only shows how true the church really is?

[_cwald]

Tator, I couldn't find anything that was not factually correct.

[_I have a question]

Justin United Kingdom 4 minutes ago
Wow, so you are taking a lifetime of humanitarian service (billions of dollars of aid under Monson) and just throwing it out the window and instead are publishing a hit piece against a church's policies disguised as an obituary. Your contempt for the LDS church is obvious.

One for Justin...

1.89 billion: The Church has provided $1.89 billion (year ending 2016) in humanitarian aid in 189 countries since 1985, the same year Monson was called into the First Presidency.

http://kutv.com/news/local/service-by-t ... ent-monson

For an organisation that receives an estimated $2 - $5 billion a year in donations, I’d say that’s a pretty pathetic track record under Monson.

[_Polygamy-Porter]

The total 1,000 paying subscribers who are TBMs should just cancel their subscription.

I'm sure NYTimes is worried.