Fact Checking Nelson's "Doors Of Death" light aircraft near death experience

[IHAQ]

I'd like to remind current Prophet Russell M. Nelson of the following Gospel Principle...

Lying is intentionally deceiving others. Bearing false witness is one form of lying. The Lord gave this commandment to the children of Israel: “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour” (Exodus 20:16). Jesus also taught this when He was on earth (see Matthew 19:18). There are many other forms of lying. When we speak untruths, we are guilty of lying. We can also intentionally deceive others by a gesture or a look, by silence, or by telling only part of the truth. Whenever we lead people in any way to believe something that is not true, we are not being honest.

The Lord is not pleased with such dishonesty, and we will have to account for our lies. Satan would have us believe it is all right to lie. He says, “Yea, lie a little; … there is no harm in this” (2 Nephi 28:8). Satan encourages us to justify our lies to ourselves. Honest people will recognize Satan’s temptations and will speak the whole truth, even if it seems to be to their disadvantage.

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/stu ... y?lang=eng

Are you a narcissist Russell?

I'm surprised that with such clear evidence that the current leader of the LDS Church has been lying to people for nearly 50 years, no serious journalist has taken up the story and publicly challenged the Church/Nelson to provide clarification on the matter. A lot of money has been received on the back of exhortations from the likes of Nelson. What else is he lying about?

[Gabriel]

Condie’s biography purports to quote from Heart’s discussion of Nelson’s time in Korea, citing pages 76-77.

This would have been in the summer of 1951, Russell left for Korea in June to inspect the U.S. MASH units. He returned back to DC sometime before December.

Russell claims to have spent the night in a foxhole during an air raid. He is sketchy on the details and doesn't mention where this event occurred. If need be, I will post his account on a separate thread by the end of the week. I don't have time to type it up at the moment. However, here is a photo of the pages:

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I have a little bit of a "Six Degrees of Separation" with Russell in this matter. The book that I purchased was inscribed to a "Bishop L. Blaine Liljenquist and family" in the front cover. Russell was called to be his second counselor in the bishopric in December of '51.



It reads as follows:

To Bishop L. Blaine Liljenquist and family, with our deepest admiration and affection and everlasting gratitude.

Love,

Dantzel and Russell
December 1979

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The book that I purchased has no markings in it, and it appears to have been either unread or if so, very carefully handled. I am not sure if this copy actually made it to its intended recipient.

Note: I had to drastically compress the file size of the photos in order to post them on this thread. I apologize for the blurriness.

[Gabriel]

I keep forgetting to thank you Gabriel for taking one for the team and getting this book.

The pleasure is all mine. Thank You!

It's been pretty fascinating thus far. The notes on the near plane crash (cough) match up with the first accounts, although as I somewhat suspected, it doesn't flesh it out much.

You are correct: There's no loose change on the floor. However, we do have Russell's written admission that he has kept journals (at least since his college days).

The rafting episode is pretty damning. That one of his kids also fell out (it wasn't all about him) was a calculated omission. Plus, it's not really consistent with pulling over for a family huddle and lesson on symbolism.

I agree. Here is the table of contents for Russell's book:

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It is the chapters dealing with the children which bother me the most. I don't mean to put this out as a tease, but in this matter, where value judgments as to his character are concerned, I would rather let Russell do most of the talking. I will definitely explore this on another thread as soon as I can.

[Gabriel]

One more expression of thanks to you, Gabriel. The quote in the book you found makes a nice baseline from which to determine the amount of embellishment Russell M. Nelson added to the story over the years.

More significantly, it makes absolutely clear that Nelson had his own initial written description of the event to refer to and takes away any excuse of "aging memory" as a reason for his gross misrepresentation of the facts.

Failure to at least try to make his faith-promoting tall tale consistent with his earlier account also reflects a level of disrespect, or even disdain, for his audience (as in a Trumpian, "They will believe anything I tell them!" approach in attempting to create an alternate reality.)

There could hardly be a better example of one being hoisted with one's own petard.

My pleasure, Good Doctor W!

It might interest you to know that Russell had his own Professor Moriarty figure (whom he refers to mysteriously as "Dr. W"):

Compress_20210823_034819_9802.jpg

[Gabriel]

Are you a narcissist Russell?

There's an interesting passage in Russell's autobiography where he compares himself to the prophet Abraham. I will post it Friday. In fact, I think I will post a new thread each Friday. Not forever. I think that I will just limit myself to a few articles. I don't know. 23 seems like a nice round number.

[Morley]

Are you a narcissist Russell?

There's an interesting passage in Russell's autobiography where he compares himself to the prophet Abraham. I will post it Friday. In fact, I think I will post a new thread each Friday. Not forever. I think that I will just limit myself to a few articles. I don't know. 23 seems like a nice round number.

Indeed it does.

I'm very much looking forward to the serialization. Let me add my tub of gratitude to the thank you feast.
.

[Dr Moore]

From the bottom of page 376 to the top of 377, we get the money quote:

November 12 - Flew to St. George. When one of the small airplane's engines exploded, I expected to be killed. But after a precipitous dive in the disabled plane, the pilot made a safe emergency landing in Delta. I was going to St. George to give the opening prayer at the inaugural services at which Rolfe Kerr became president of Dixie College.

I notice two things from what seems to be Nelson's primary journal entry on the event.

1) Nelson dates the entry on Nov. 12. The flight was Nov. 11. Maybe he journaled in the morning on Nov. 12?

2) He expected to be killed "when" one of the engines exploded. In other words, it wasn't the spiral dive that scared him of dying, as in later accounts. He was thinking about that from the moment of engine failure.

[Lem]

From the bottom of page 376 to the top of 377, we get the money quote:

I notice two things from what seems to be Nelson's primary journal entry on the event.

1) Nelson dates the entry on Nov. 12. The flight was Nov. 11. Maybe he journaled in the morning on Nov. 12?

2) He expected to be killed "when" one of the engines exploded. In other words, it wasn't the spiral dive that scared him of dying, as in later accounts. He was thinking about that from the moment of engine failure.

I’ll have to find my source, but If I recall correctly the inauguration event occurred in the afternoon at 2 pm. It would make sense that a flight the day before might be necessary in order to be there for an early afternoon event.

[IHAQ]

It's interesting that he has felt the need to embellish the story from the start, and increasingly thereafter. The anecdote itself would have been a decent journal entry had it been exactly as we now know it was - "Flew to Dixie today, the plane I was on had a fault with one of the engines which caused me some anxiety. We had to divert to Delta as a precaution and I caught another flight and I got to Dixie on time. Whilst we were diverting to Delta and I was grappling with my anxiety, the rituals I had undertaken in the temple gave me some peace and acceptance of my situation should things turn catastrophic. I'm grateful for that peace during what was for me a frightening event. I'm also grateful for the training and competence of the pilot."

Decent story, same point made.

The embellishments must feed something other than the desire to have an anecdote about feeling grateful for temple covenants and family.

[Tom]

One more expression of thanks to you, Gabriel. The quote in the book you found makes a nice baseline from which to determine the amount of embellishment Russell M. Nelson added to the story over the years.

More significantly, it makes absolutely clear that Nelson had his own initial written description of the event to refer to and takes away any excuse of "aging memory" as a reason for his gross misrepresentation of the facts.

Failure to at least try to make his faith-promoting tall tale consistent with his earlier account also reflects a level of disrespect, or even disdain, for his audience (as in a Trumpian, "They will believe anything I tell them!" approach in attempting to create an alternate reality.)

There could hardly be a better example of one being hoisted with one's own petard.

My pleasure, Good Doctor W!

It might interest you to know that Russell had his own Professor Moriarty figure (whom he refers to mysteriously as "Dr. W"):


Compress_20210823_034819_9802.jpg

The following passage in Nelson's biography puzzled me a bit:

In recognition of Dr. Nelson's demonstrated competence and promise as a medical researcher, the John and Mary R. Markle Foundation in March 1957 awarded him a prestigious research grant of $6,000 annually for five years to support his continued cardiovascular research.

Not long afterward, the dean of the University of Utah College of Medicine resigned, and Russell's dear friend and mentor, Dr. Price, became the new dean. Dr. Nelson realized that Dr. Price's replacement as professor of surgery could have a significant impact on the development of his career. The man chosen to be the new professor and head of the department of surgery had long-range plans that did not include Russell's remaining in the department. Thus, after four rewarding years as a full-time member of the faculty at the University of Utah College of Medicine, Russell left his position on the faculty and released the Markle award after having held it for only two years.

I wonder why the long-range plans of the department of surgery chair did not include Nelson. The book cites Heart, p. 100.