Daniel Peterson wrote:Color me dubious.
I'll be interested to see what the statisticians and demographers who examine this study have to say.
(I hate to be the village atheist on this issue. But, well, there it is.)
It is hardly news that the Church's way of counting its members is a joke. For example, 80% of my own immediate family would never claim Mormonism, and have not for multiple decades. Yet, the Church continues to count them. Check out this press release from four years ago:
http://newsroom.LDS.org/ldsnewsroom/eng ... le-purpose
Here's the heading/title and beginning of the press release:
Over 12 Million Worldwide United in a Single Purpose--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Salt Lake City, UT 1 April 2005 A fledgling faith founded 175 years ago on 6 April 1830 by Joseph Smith and a handful of men in a log cabin in upstate New York has grown to a worldwide faith of over 12 million members in 170 countries and territories. Observers of American religious history and culture have described Mormonism as “the rise of a new world faith.”
In a dramatic demonstration of the reach of this global religion, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will gather this weekend in Salt Lake City, Utah, and across the world in Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia and South America to participate in the Church’s 175th Annual General Conference.
Are we really supposed to believe that the Church did not know that the title of this press release was entirely misleading or did the Church think that there were "Over 12 Million United" in the "Single Purpose" of that April Conference? Being perceived as a more significant religion than Mormonism actually is continues to be of enormous importance to the leaders (and members) of the Church. Thus, as the next Conference is upon us, are we now "Over 13 Million Worldwide United In A Single Purpose"--lol. At some point this ridiculousness needs to end and the Church needs to be more forthcoming about its true membership numbers.