Leaked videos of meetings with the Q15

[_Analytics]

Anyway, does anybody know who this guy is that lectures the apostles and what these meetings are called? And how often these meetings are held?

According to the Trib, he's "LDS general authority Gerrit W. Gong, who is now a member of the presidency of the Seventy."

Ahh! I take some post-Mormon pride in not recognizing a member of the Presidency of the First Quorum of the Seventy, lol.

From his Wikipedia page, Gong is a Rhodes Scholar with a Ph.D. from Oxford, with a C.V. that lives up to that. e.g. "Gong was a professor at various times at Georgetown University and Johns Hopkins University. He later served as a special assistant in the United States State Department, as well as in the United States Embassy in China. He also served as China Chair and Asia Director of the Center for Strategic and International Studies." So he is arguably one of the most intelligent (or at least academically accomplished) members of the church.

If I'm putting the dates together correctly, in 2007 when he was giving some of the early lectures, he was an administrator at BYU. So even before being a G.A. he was recognized by the apostles as being one of the church's top thinkers about international affairs and such and received a ton of face time with the apostles.

In 2010 he joined the First Quorum of 70, and in 2015 joined the Presidency. Any bets on whether he'll be the next apostle?

[_moksha]

You're going to have to explain that one a bit more, Moksha!

He meant for members outside of the U.S.

Thanks, Analytics. That is exactly what I meant. That was from a chart displayed by Elder Gerrit W. Gong in the videos. The small percentage (7%) of members outside the United States, being married in the Temple, certainly stood out in a big way. Perhaps that percentage is due to members being asked to catch up on tithing and not being able to afford a good tithing attorney.

[_Analytics]

Another question about the title and OP. Are these meetings with the Q15 or the Q12?

From the videos I've seen, the President of the 12 is presiding and the First Presidency is absent. Is that true, or did I just miss them?

My hypothesis is that this meeting is just for the 12 and a few of the 70, and the implications of that is interesting. It seems that the purpose of this meeting is to deal with the theological issues facing the church, such as whether non-Mormons in California should be allowed to marry people of the same sex, or whether it is against the Word of Wisdom for people to use marijuana when their doctor prescribes it.

But the First Presidency isn't there. Does this imply they are too busy overseeing the corporate empire to attend these meetings? The distinction between the First Presidency and the 12 seems to be significant.

[_Kishkumen]

You may have thought there was something interesting here, but a certain Svengali disagrees.

They simply represent an attempt by the Brethren to keep up to speed on various topics that might be of interest to them in their callings (e.g., just as hypothetical illustrations, on epidemics in Africa, the economic prospects for China, European secularization, legal trends in France) but that are not directly germane to any particular day-to-day responsibility (such as keeping stake and mission presidencies staffed, overseeing Church welfare properties, and whether or not to build a temple in Winnemucca, Nevada). They bring in people with solid credentials — if you doubt that, see the backgrounds of Elder Gong and Professor Toronto as given in the links that I supply above — to talk about issues that might impact the Church and its members.

Elder Gong's presentation on cyber-security:

"We do known that Manning was homosexual and depressed that his boyfriend had left him."

Apostle:

"Did the media reveal that Manning is gay?"

Apostle:

"Yes, you know the media likes to suppress things of that nature because they support the homosexual agenda."

Apostle:

Is Julian Assange gay?

A briefing on CYBER-SECURITY.

[_James or Not]

You may have thought there was something interesting here, but a certain Svengali disagrees.

They simply represent an attempt by the Brethren to keep up to speed on various topics that might be of interest to them in their callings (e.g., just as hypothetical illustrations, on epidemics in Africa, the economic prospects for China, European secularization, legal trends in France) but that are not directly germane to any particular day-to-day responsibility (such as keeping stake and mission presidencies staffed, overseeing Church welfare properties, and whether or not to build a temple in Winnemucca, Nevada). They bring in people with solid credentials — if you doubt that, see the backgrounds of Elder Gong and Professor Toronto as given in the links that I supply above — to talk about issues that might impact the Church and its members.

Elder Gong's presentation on cyber-security:

"We do known that Manning was homosexual and depressed that his boyfriend had left him."

Apostle:

"Did the media reveal that Manning is gay?"

Apostle:

"Yes, you know the media likes to suppress things of that nature because they support the homosexual agenda."

Apostle:

Is Julian Assange gay?

A briefing on CYBER-SECURITY.

He truly is as predictable as the sunset.

"Nothing to see here, go home you lowly peasants. And don't think too much about it."

[_James or Not]

I think this is a little embarrassing for the church internally, but could be devastating to external relations with other faiths and governments they have to deal with regularly. The shocking nature of Smith's 'revelations' here are not that they are unexpected but that they are so blunt. Kind of like death - we all know it's coming some day but only whisper about it. When it does come the whispers turn to cries of shock and sorrow.

I think this is another small death for the church.

[_Hagoth]

These videos are absolutely devastating.

What do you think will happen as a result of the release of these videos?

Regards,
MG

As far as the general membership, very little. They're about as interested in these videos as they are in the essays. I was very interested to see how it was handled in the local TV news. KUTV covered the story last night and even showed a clip, but they picked something that was as far from controversial as possible. It made it look like like the apostles were just meeting to share their vast knowledge of current affairs with each other. That will be all the typical member needs to gain a testimony of the truthfulness of these meetings.

But I do hope someone is going to seriously look into these things, especially the one with the "church broke" senator.

[_I have a question]

While none of the videos seem to be especially explosive (casual homophobia aside), the release of the videos do put a dent in the image of the church’s impenetrable lack of transparency. The identity of the leaker remains unknown, and it remains to be seen whether more videos will emerge. But for now, the released videos stand as evidence of what many critics of the church already assumed, that the leadership is a lot of old men wringing their hands about the indecency of the youths.

http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/vi ... h-meetings

[_DarkHelmet]

I like this one, reported by the sltrib:

http://www.sltrib.com/news/LDS/4424105- ... t-whats-in

Piracy

Date: Dec. 3, 2008

Summary: LDS leaders are briefed about the increasing threat of piracy on the high seas and view a short clip from Disney's "Pirates of the Caribbean."

Quote: "I show [this clip]," says Gerrit W. Gong of the Seventy, "because, though meant in fun, Captain Jack [Sparrow] makes pirating appear good and traditional authority appear silly."

LOL. It must drive them crazy when fictional heroes are so frequently depicted as fighting against established authority figures.

[_Kishkumen]

I like this one, reported by the sltrib:

http://www.sltrib.com/news/LDS/4424105- ... t-whats-in

Piracy

Date: Dec. 3, 2008

Summary: LDS leaders are briefed about the increasing threat of piracy on the high seas and view a short clip from Disney's "Pirates of the Caribbean."

Quote: "I show [this clip]," says Gerrit W. Gong of the Seventy, "because, though meant in fun, Captain Jack [Sparrow] makes pirating appear good and traditional authority appear silly."

LOL. It must drive them crazy when fictional heroes are so frequently depicted as fighting against established authority figures.

That's hilarious! You know you're facing a group of stiffs if you have to worry about stuff like that.