Donny on "anti-Mormon" stories

[_Darth J]

I think it's quite ironic for Donny Osmond to fancy himself a defender of the faith when he has done so much work in the service of Satan.

Like this.

Or this.

[Guest]

Donny has lived in a bubble and as such his knowledge of the Church has not progressed beyond Primary. Hardly surprise=ing when you consider he chose celebrity over missionary service...

Like the rest of his family, he is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In retrospect, he has written, "It would have been nice to be able to have served a regular full-time mission, but when I was of that age, my career was such that everyone, including my parents and the leaders of the church, thought that I could do a lot of good in the world by continuing being in the public eye, by living an exemplary life and sharing my beliefs in every way that I could".[24] He continues sharing his beliefs in an extensive letters-and-comments portion of his website.[25]

And from Donny's website:

I've always felt that it would have been great to serve a full time mission, but circumstances as they were, I never was able to. My parents and church leaders at the time all believed that I was able to do much more good if I remained in the public eye, so to speak, and lived the standards of our religion.

He claims Church leaders advised him not to go on a mission. I'm calling BS on that one...

Also from his blog:

I do look forward to the time when my wife, Debbie and I can serve a full time mission for the Church.

And when will that be Donny...when will that be...?

[_Darth J]

Is there any historical evidence to support the facts of what Donny is claiming about the treasure seeking incident?

You know, it's just a funny thing, but what Donny is forgetting to mention is that the "survey" consisted of Joseph Smith purporting to scry the area with his peep stone.

[_Drifting]

Is there any historical evidence to support the facts of what Donny is claiming about the treasure seeking incident?

You know, it's just a funny thing, but what Donny is forgetting to mention is that the "survey" consisted of Joseph Smith purporting to scry the area with his peep stone.

This omission either makes him 'dumb' because he doesn't know, or 'deceitful' because he does know and doesn't want his 'fans' to find out.

[_Darth J]

Incidentally, here's some wonderful defense of the Prophet Joseph Smith (peace be upon him) from that FAIR wiki link I imbedded above:

http://en.fairmormon.org/Joseph_Smith/L ... king_trial

Gordon Madsen summarized:
"The evidence thus far available about the 1826 trial before Justice Neely leads to the inescapable conclusion that Joseph Smith was acquitted."

But the FAIRies also state that:

Wesley P. Walters has demonstrated that this is not a trial.

If this proceeding was not a trial, then Joseph Smith was not acquitted by definition. An acquittal means that a defendant was found not guilty AT THE END OF A TRIAL.

[_Darth J]

Is there any historical evidence to support the facts of what Donny is claiming about the treasure seeking incident?

You know, it's just a funny thing, but what Donny is forgetting to mention is that the "survey" consisted of Joseph Smith purporting to scry the area with his peep stone.

This omission either makes him 'dumb' because he doesn't know, or 'deceitful' because he does know and doesn't want his 'fans' to find out.

Or, thirdly, he is both. Dumb because he doesn't know, and deceitful because he is purporting to know what he is talking about.

[_confuzzled]

the two eldest brothers served deaf missions for the Church. It is fairly well documented that when it came time for Alan to serve, the brothers asked for a meeting with the First Presidency and were 'absolved' from serving full time two year missions but were called to lifelong missions instead through their music and accompanying fame.

Also, Merrill wrote that when The Plan (part of the aforementioned 'lifelong mission' ) was released there was widespread concern in the Church at the 'hard rock' style of the album. Merrill then wrote :

"To top off our feeling of disappointment, along with the release of The Plan came a surprisingly negative reaction within our church. Some voiced their concern that the Osmonds had taken a sacred gospel message and put it to inappropriate music. Because of this feeling of opposition, an interesting meeting occurred which was later recounted by one who was in attendance.

As a direct result of the new album and the unfavorable response to it from some people in our church, President Harold B Lee called a special meeting in the Salt Lake Temple where he had arranged for our album to be on a stereo system to the assembled authorities. Halfway through hearing "Before The Beginning", President Lee stopped the record and announced that he wanted all negative comments regarding the Osmond Brothers and their new album to cease. To our relief he had received a spiritual confirmation that our music was acceptable to Heavenly Father and therefore would be a positive influence in the world".
- from "The Plan Revealed" by Merrill Osmond.

Shame they didn't get as far as Crazy Horses rocking the SL Temple!

As for Donny and Debbie serving a mission, their youngest is still at home. Donny has served as a veil worker in the past, so I have no doubt than when they decide to 'serve', some sort of special mission will be devised to exploit their fame.

[_why me]

So a kid comes to donny's website and asks how to respond to anti-Mormon material--scroll down to the question and response when you click the link (it is all sort of mashed together, so look closely for the beginning of the response):

http://donny.com/my_beliefs/anti-mormon ... ll-i-do-2/

You judge the accuracy of Donny's response. It is a very good example of a common reaction by TBMs to difficult facts. They argue against the facts initially, seeming to indicate that they do, indeed, find the facts troubling. I understand that someone at RFM sent Donny a correction and I am not sure how he will respond, but if experience is any indicator, he will suddenly act like the facts are no longer troubling.

Perhaps there is some irony in Donny's comment, "I caution you not to be swayed by misguided souls..."

I judge the original post:

**Question:** I am a 13 year old LDS girl, recently baptized. This is all great but........ About a week and a half ago I stumbled onto an anti-mormon website. Some stuff they said was really confusing and scary. They said stuff like Joseph Smith was tried for money digging and that 8 years after his first vision, when GOD told him to join no church he joined the methodist church. I don't know if I want to be LDS anymore. I haven't told ANYONE not even the missionaries who taught me. I'm not sure what to do. I don't even feel like praying anymore

What is so scary about this information? Because of this, she doesn't know that she wants to be LDS anymore? Really? Don't feel like praying? Really? Sorry guys, I smell a fish here. Does she even know what the methodist church is?

How many 13 year olds know their church's details?

[_Drifting]

So a kid comes to donny's website and asks how to respond to anti-Mormon material--scroll down to the question and response when you click the link (it is all sort of mashed together, so look closely for the beginning of the response):

http://donny.com/my_beliefs/anti-mormon ... ll-i-do-2/

You judge the accuracy of Donny's response. It is a very good example of a common reaction by TBMs to difficult facts. They argue against the facts initially, seeming to indicate that they do, indeed, find the facts troubling. I understand that someone at RFM sent Donny a correction and I am not sure how he will respond, but if experience is any indicator, he will suddenly act like the facts are no longer troubling.

Perhaps there is some irony in Donny's comment, "I caution you not to be swayed by misguided souls..."

I judge the original post:

**Question:** I am a 13 year old LDS girl, recently baptized. This is all great but........ About a week and a half ago I stumbled onto an anti-mormon website. Some stuff they said was really confusing and scary. They said stuff like Joseph Smith was tried for money digging and that 8 years after his first vision, when GOD told him to join no church he joined the methodist church. I don't know if I want to be LDS anymore. I haven't told ANYONE not even the missionaries who taught me. I'm not sure what to do. I don't even feel like praying anymore

What is so scary about this information? Because of this, she doesn't know that she wants to be LDS anymore? Really? Don't feel like praying? Really? Sorry guys, I smell a fish here. Does she even know what the methodist church is?

How many 13 year olds know their church's details?

So, instead of addressing the substance of what Joseph did or didn't do you are having a pop at the person asking the question for having the temerity to ask the question. I myself have doubts over the genuineness of the questioner, however the question stands and Donny's answer is misleading and less than honest - deal with that.

(and it's "I smell a rat" or "there's something fishy")

[_why me]

So, instead of addressing the substance of what Joseph did or didn't do you are having a pop at the person asking the question for having the temerity to ask the question. I myself have doubts over the genuineness of the questioner, however the question stands and Donny's answer is misleading and less than honest - deal with that.

(and it's "I smell a rat" or "there's something fishy")

Donny did a good job. Of course, his answer was not comprehensive but Joseph did have a problem with silver mine digging and this was the cause of the trial of 1826. What else should be said to a 13 year old girl?

The 'girl' is the fish. I don't believe that she is 13. It is too 'conventional' and follows a standard storyline.