Fair Dinkum’s thread on the MD&D Board mentioned three instances of over-the-line embellishment for which Russell M. Nelson has been called to account. Bro. Dinkum’s thread is now up to nine pages and continues to provide great examples of magical thinking, willful ignorance, and denial of reality on the part of many posters there. Dr. Moore has just listed a set of rules at MD&D for the exercise of this delusional groupthink.
The fact checking of Russell M. Nelson’s "Doors of Death" story on this board provided much of the material for the RFM video, which video seems to be the source of consternation on Bro. Dinkum's thread over on the MD&D board. One assumes that MD&D members (e.g. Smac 97), who claim to be open minded to learning the truth, might venture over here for a quick look ("haram" as that may be). Research to find the facts, however, does not appear to be in the cards, at least not for folks like Helix.
Here is a link to the version of the Russell M. Nelson “Doors of Death” story that has been made into a faith promoting video by the LDS Church and appears to be referred to as the "true" version of events over at MD&D:
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/ins ... 1?lang=eng
In an attempt to defend Russell M. Nelson against charges of embellishment and dishonesty, Helix poses the following question:
Helix from MD&D wrote:
What is more likely?
(1) Nelson told the truth. Nelson experienced an in-flight engine fire. Nelson, whose scientific background trained him to observe and trust professionals, credits the pilot and watches carefully the procedure used for putting out an engine fire. Still, he and another passenger felt alarmed. The very short report in the 1970s neglected many details and only reported the engine was damaged. Not long after, Nelson repeated this story to large public audiences while acting in capacity as an apostle.
(2) Nelson deliberately lied. Nelson heard a pilot tell a step-by-step process how he or she dealt with an in-flight engine fire. Later, Nelson experienced a boring emergency landing with no steep descent or fire. Then Nelson maliciously took the other pilot's story of an engine fire, repurposed it into his own emergency landing incident, then repeated it to large public audiences while acting in capacity as an apostle, all while the other passenger and pilot are presumably still alive.
For the perpetual cynic, #2 is the easy choice.
For the rest of us, #1 is just fine.
Here is a link to that post:
https://www.mormondialogue.org/topic/73 ... on/page/8/
The issue of which option (1 or 2) reflects reality never seems to come up in his thinking. Helix seems perfectly willing to assume that the CAB lied about there being no fire in the official report to protect a struggling airline (as Smac suggested) and that the trip unfolded pretty much as Russell M. Nelson stated.
Helix seems unbothered by the FAA finding, reported by the CAB, that Nelson's aircraft was capable of safely continuing on to St. George or returning to SLC, making it clear that there was no engine fire. Reality does not seem to matter to Helix, as long as he can be comfortable in his unfounded belief and feel that he is contributing to the comfort of his tribe on this issue.
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Elsewhere on Fair Dinkum’s thread, Smac 97 warned the posters there against what I’m about to do. I apologize to those offended in advance, but the
type and shadow, of what Smac warned against is too obvious to ignore, especially today.
The type here is not Russell M. Nelson, it is Joseph Smith Jr., the 19th century conman that Russell M. Nelson represents and defends. And the shadow (fulfillment in the latter days), in the 21st century is Donald J. Trump, a criminal responsible for more deaths among Americans and damage to American democracy than any other man or woman, alive or dead.
History has clearly shown that Smith and Trump, were and are, world class conmen guilty of lying, adultery, fraud, and theft - pretending to be something they are not, and enabled by the unfounded believe (faith) that others placed in their words, even when their actions were contradictory to those words.
Using delusional rationalization, or doublethink at best, followers sustained them nonetheless. Fruits of this blind faith in the 19th century included the Kirkland Safety Society failure, and the Mountain Meadow Massacre, dozens of abandoned and shamed sexual conquests, and the death of Smith in a sordid jailhouse shootout. In the 21st century the fruits of unfounded belief, coupled with willful ignorance and delusional rationalization, included hundreds of thousands of unnecessary deaths from corona virus, insurrection, and the near dismantling of American democracy. No wonder Smac warned MD&D posters not to go there.
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In contrast to many of those on the MD&D Board, it seems clear from attendance records and other evidence (some of which can be found on this board) that the majority of Mormons (active and inactive) no longer believe the truth claims of Joseph Smith, nor do they agree with much of what the Church leadership says or does. They were raised as Mormons and many remain active or semi-active in the LDS Church for what they see as the community and cultural benefits - some of which are undeniable.