Joseph Smith's Personal Claim to Fame.

[_mentalgymnast]

The vast majority of the inhabitants of this planet have never heard of Joseph Smith. Heck, the vast majority of inhabitants of my TOWN have never heard of him.

This presidential election cycle has indirectly acted as another "engine" to get his name out there. Things are moving along.

by the way, according to teachings of Joseph Smith himself, it doesn't really matter if all the inhabitants of the planet hear his name.

How do you know how many in your own hometown have heard of Joseph Smith? You've done a controlled study or survey?

What's the margin of error we may expect from your results?

Regards,
MG

[_beastie]

This presidential election cycle has indirectly acted as another "engine" to get his name out there. Things are moving along.

by the way, according to teachings of Joseph Smith himself, it doesn't really matter if all the inhabitants of the planet hear his name.

How do you know how many in your own hometown have heard of Joseph Smith? You've done a controlled study or survey?

What's the margin of error we may expect from your results?

Regards,
MG

Oh, please. I live in a small southern town. Most of them have heard of Mormons. That doesn't mean they'd attach the name Joseph Smith to Mormons. When I joined the LDS church, I vaguely had heard of Mormons, but confused them with other odd sects. I vaguely knew they were associated with polygamy, and the name Brigham Young was familiar from history. That was it. When I was going through spiritual turmoil, losing my faith, I got the courage to talk about it with several of my "gentile" friends. Not a single one of them knew any more than I had as a young convert. None of them knew who Joseph Smith was. Brigham Young has far more name recognition.

If you seriously think that most of the people in the US know who Joseph Smith is, you've lived out west too long. In my experience, LDS who live out west get a distorted perception of just how well Mormonism is generally known.

It is true that, if Romney gets nominated, Mormonism will be under a microscope. I doubt most of the faithful will enjoy the results. But that still leaves the rest of the world who will never have heard of the man.

[_Rambo]

This presidential election cycle has indirectly acted as another "engine" to get his name out there. Things are moving along.

by the way, according to teachings of Joseph Smith himself, it doesn't really matter if all the inhabitants of the planet hear his name.

How do you know how many in your own hometown have heard of Joseph Smith? You've done a controlled study or survey?

What's the margin of error we may expect from your results?

You don't have to do a survey! Most non Mormons I talk to have no clue who Joseph Smith is. Sure they have heard of Mormons but most have no freakin clue who Joseph Smith is. If I was going to guess it would probably be around 90%.

[_mentalgymnast]

This presidential election cycle has indirectly acted as another "engine" to get his name out there. Things are moving along.

by the way, according to teachings of Joseph Smith himself, it doesn't really matter if all the inhabitants of the planet hear his name.

How do you know how many in your own hometown have heard of Joseph Smith? You've done a controlled study or survey?

What's the margin of error we may expect from your results?

You don't have to do a survey! Most non Mormons I talk to have no clue who Joseph Smith is. Sure they have heard of Mormons but most have no freakin clue who Joseph Smith is. If I was going to guess it would probably be around 90%.

Once people have heard of or had exposure to the Mormon church, whether it be through political races or some other way, it's just a hop, skip, and a jump to get to Joseph Smith.

http://Mormon.org/joseph-smith/

Think social media, blogs, etc.

As I said, things are moving along. His name and fame are gradually getting out there.

For good and evil. You guys are helping out with the latter. Your work is important in the eternal scheme of things if one looks at opposition being a necessary part of life/growth/experience.

Regards,
MG

[_mentalgymnast]

On the link that I posted above, go to "Who Was Joseph Smith?" and "Mike answered..."

Germane to this discussion.

Regards,
MG

[_mentalgymnast]

Think social media, blogs, etc.

http://www.mormonperspectives.com/2011/ ... the-media/

http://www.davidarchuletamormon.com/

http://famousmormons.net/snowboarding.html

Random links (found within a minute) via Google search by simply typing in "notoriety of the Mormon church". There's just a LOT of stuff out there that directly or indirectly leads to information regarding the church. I think you guys are down playing it a bit. No?

At this juncture, it probably isn't necessary to point out that from your perspective and in conjunction with this particular thread, it is important to downplay the notoriety of either the church and/or of Joseph Smith.

Regards,
MG

[_mentalgymnast]

When I joined the LDS church, I vaguely had heard of Mormons, but confused them with other odd sects. I vaguely knew they were associated with polygamy, and the name Brigham Young was familiar from history. That was it.

Things have changed since then, haven't they?

Regards,
MG

[_beastie]

Things have changed since then, haven't they?

Regards,
MG

For some. Not for others. You're taking a very western-centric view of this prophecy. And while the internet may have expanded a few people's awareness of Mormonism, they still remain in the minority. Outside of a few western states in the US, Mormonism is a very minor concern.

[_MrStakhanovite]

Outside of a few western states in the US, Mormonism is a very minor concern.

Just imagine how minor in countries with millions plus size population like China or India? Or in other large areas in the East? How many people in Saudia Arabia or Syria even aware that Mormons exist?

The OP is a great example of what I call folk apologetics.

[_Morley]

I was in Islamabad and Lahore a few years ago. They'd have been surprised to learn that Westerners don't know who Ismāʿīl ibn Jaʿfar is, since the Nizari sect of Ismai'li Muslims trace their religion to him. And they might have a point: Ismāʿīl ibn Jaʿfar has had a much greater impact on world history and theology than Joseph Smith.

edited to add: Most of the rest of the world's 'nations, kindred, and tongues' don't know (or give a flying fig) who Mormons are.