Comedian Julia Sweeney's take on the Book of Mormon

[_Mercury]

Really? Sounded like they were teaching it the way it is. Or did you mean they weren't very good at separating the milk from the meat?

Well, that's an ironic statement. She said at one point that they should have held off on some of the stuff they were teaching till later. So an investigator believes in milk before meat.

I would add that the Nephites being totally good and the Lamanites being totally evil requires the reader to be clueless while reading the book or to have never read it at all. I'm hoping some of the way the conversation went was played up for comic reasons.

Do they? Nehor, I believe you do not see the very absolutist document that most see in the Book of Mormon.

[_Polygamy Porter]

Well, that's an ironic statement. She said at one point that they should have held off on some of the stuff they were teaching till later. So an investigator believes in milk before meat.

Nehor,
If you listen to her, she is stating that she could tell they were trying to sell her something as she noted their excitement when she answered several of the previous questions ... she was saying that if they really want to sell this tripe, to leave out the bizzaro crap.. like the most correct book on earth!

[_The Nehor]

Do they? Nehor, I believe you do not see the very absolutist document that most see in the Book of Mormon.

Yes, they do. People who actually read the book and move beyond a Primary-level understanding know this. Even in Primary I knew the Lamanites were sometimes more righteous than the Nephites.

The Book of Mormon is not absolutist. Nephi was too reliant on his own strength, Captain Moroni was a hothead, Alma was naïve, and Shiblon was prideful. The Lamanites had a good Mosaic case for being the rulers of the people. Sherem was trying to save the people from corruptions in the doctrine, Nehor was teaching religious capitalism, and Korihor was right on some points. The Nephites were endlessly told that they were much WORSE than the Lamanites. The book is about a people almost always on the verge of collapse from corruption. To read good and bad guys into the book is silly. There are people trying to do the best they can and usually trying to do it in the wrong way. It's a picture of people trying to do their best and generally failing. At the end the request is not to judge the writer or his people but to learn from them.

The Book is depressing. The good thing about it is God cared enough to give it to us and that's about it.

I agree that too many people are only taking the survey course.

[_The Nehor]

Well, that's an ironic statement. She said at one point that they should have held off on some of the stuff they were teaching till later. So an investigator believes in milk before meat.

Nehor,
If you listen to her, she is stating that she could tell they were trying to sell her something as she noted their excitement when she answered several of the previous questions ... she was saying that if they really want to sell this tripe, to leave out the bizzaro crap.. like the most correct book on earth!

I don't think they were selling it.

It's the enthusiasm that comes from sharing something that means a great deal to you and hoping it will touch a chord with them as well. Praise is rarely complete unless you share it with someone else. It's not like they're going to lose their job or a commission if the person says no.

[_Mercury]

People who actually read the book and move beyond a Primary-level understanding know this

And im sure that Tom Cruise sees past exploding volcanoes in Dianetics and actually perceives a "deeper meaning".

The good thing about it is God cared enough to give it to us and that's about it.

Does "God" speak through a stone in a hat?

I agree that too many people are only taking the survey course.

First impressions of the document show a sophomoric account of what a country bumpkin would write. I really don't know anyone besides Mormons that speak about the Book of Mormon being a powerful document.

just because you feel it has an engrossing story does not make it an important literary achievement. Pedantic, contrived and hacked off from the Bible, spelling mistakes and all. Its a sad assumption to believe otherwise.

[_Mercury]

I don't think they were selling it.

That is a poor assessment of the "commitment pattern", another phrase for "bait and switch".

[_The Nehor]

I don't think they were selling it.

That is a poor assessment of the "commitment pattern", another phrase for "bait and switch".

The commitment pattern is a method to get an investigator to take positive steps towards a decision by taking investigative action by reading, praying, and pondering. Where is the switch?

Edit: Oh, and still curious how you can class the Book of Mormon as absolutist.

[_Polygamy Porter]

I don't think they were selling it.

It's the enthusiasm that comes from sharing something that means a great deal to you and hoping it will touch a chord with them as well. Praise is rarely complete unless you share it with someone else. It's not like they're going to lose their job or a commission if the person says no.

Well, sorry to rain on your parade, but that is how people feel when you trot up to them or their door and start yammering about how special blah blah, oh neat blah blah, jesus blah blah..

Of course they were excited. They thought that they would get to eat dinner with the mission prez. The thought that they would get to tell their zone leader that they had a sucker.

Examine this as if she was talking about the JWs. Then you will understand how the rest of the world feels.

[_The Nehor]

Well, sorry to rain on your parade, but that is how people feel when you trot up to them or their door and start yammering about how special blah blah, oh neat blah blah, jesus blah blah..

Of course they were excited. They thought that they would get to eat dinner with the mission prez. The thought that they would get to tell their zone leader that they had a sucker.

Examine this as if she was talking about the JWs. Then you will understand how the rest of the world feels.

I invite JWs in every time they knock. Eat dinner with the President? Tell their Zone Leader they have a sucker? Do you honestly think that's how missionaries think?

[_Polygamy Porter]

I invite JWs in every time they knock. Eat dinner with the President? Tell their Zone Leader they have a sucker? Do you honestly think that's how missionaries think?

Let me soften it for your tender mind.

Missionaries are driven by the same high pressure sales tactics of door to door salesmen.

They are expected to do a daily and weekly quota of door knocks, Book of Mormon hand outs, approaches, discussions, and baptisms.

When they do not meet the quotas then their ZL will harass them with talk like, "Do I need to ask the president to speak with you about this?"

When they do meet or exceed their quotas, they are socially recognized and publicly rewarded.

If you tell me that your ZL did not care about quotas, then you are a liar.