FAIR trying to silence the critics on the web - Deseret News

[Guest]

Taken from the homepage of MormonThink.com

Deseret News article: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/7655 ... voice.html

A Deseret News Article by FAIR claims they want to correct the inaccuracies of Mormonism that are appearing in articles which are becoming more prevalent on the web. MormonThink supports this idea but we have different ideas of what this means.

The LDS organization FAIR (Foundation for Apologetic Information & Research) is making an organized effort to ensure that faith-promoting comments about the LDS church will drown out all other comments that are critical of the LDS church, regardless of whether or not they are true.

The article written by Mormon apologist Daniel Peterson, discusses his strategy of keeping people from learning the real hidden truths of Mormonism by trying to dominate the comment sections of Internet articles that discuss Mormonism. He claims they only want to correct misinformation. We at MormonThink totally agree with correcting misinformation and support a similar strategy by the MoreTruthFoundation started last year.

We agree that if someone says that Mormons don’t believe in Christ or are not Christian, we should correct that. Of course Mormons are Christian, although we have beliefs not shared by most other Christian churches such as the belief in the Book of Mormon as scripture.

HOWEVER, the problem is that FAIR wants to sugarcoat the answers and still keep the disturbing details of the church secret from the public. For example, go to their website called MormonVoices mentioned in the article. They discuss some of the issues so you can use information from their one-sided, incomplete, carefully-scripted commentary on selected issues that only support the church, even if they don’t really tell the true, complete story.

For example, look at their section on race. They do accurately provide recent statements that the modern Mormon church denounces racism. However, they don’t really address the concerns of those commenters that want to know why the blacks were denied the priesthood and the opportunity to have black families sealed in the LDS temples all the way up till 1978. Why on earth couldn’t a righteous black family be sealed to each other until 1978? Their site doesn’t even address that question, nor attempt to answer it.

The Mormonvoices site also totally disavows the belief that the ‘skin of blackness’ was a curse. They actually suggest the mark of Cain could have been a ‘tattoo’. This is total nonsense as shown by the Book of Mormon scriptures themselves:

2 Nephi 5: 21
And he had caused the cursing to come upon them, yea, even a sore cursing, because of their iniquity. For behold, they had hardened their hearts against him, that they had become like unto a flint; wherefore, as they were white, and exceedingly fair and delightsome, that they might not be enticing unto my people, the Lord God did cause a skin of blackness to come upon them.'

And then when the Lamanites repented their cursed black skin became white again:

3 Nephi 2:15
And their curse was taken from them, and their skin became white like unto the Nephites."

So how could a tattoo be the curse? This is sheer nonsense because FAIR doesn’t want nonmembers to know the details of how the Book of Mormon teaches that God cursed people with black skin when they were bad and made their skin white again when they were good.

The current LDS children’s book continues to promote this notion of equating dark-skin with a curse caused by wickedness:


“Laman and Lemuel’s followers called themselves Lamanites. They became a dark-skinned people. God cursed them because of their wickedness.”

How many other christian churches currently teach these racial attitudes to the children in their congregations?

And of course they don’t mention any of the racist quotes made by prophets and apostles of the church that equate dark skin with the curse:

John Taylor, President of the Church
"And after the flood we are told that the curse that had been pronounced upon Cain was continued through Ham's wife, as he had married a wife of that seed. And why did it pass through the flood? because it was necessary that the devil should have a representation upon the earth as well as God;..." Journal of Discourses, Vol. 22, page 304

President Brigham Young
"If the White man who belongs to the chosen seed mixes his blood with the seed of Cain (those with dark skin), the penalty, under the law of God, is death on the spot. This will always be so."

Apostle Mark E. Peterson
"If that Negro is faithful all his days, he can and will enter the Celestial Kingdom. He will go there as a servant, but he will get celestial glory.“ sermon to BYU students, 1954

To see the real, full story on Blacks & the Priesthood.
http://www.mormonthink.com/blackweb.htm

Of course FAIR would have you believe that the church leaders never said any of these things and many, many more. And every other issue they advise members on such as polygamy, Book of Mormon historicity, Book of Abraham, etc. has the same lack of detail which is what they want to promote to the world in an effort to keep the disturbing truths of Mormonism from nonmembers and members.

Another point to make is that FAIR is not endorsed by the LDS church, and everything they say is merely the opinions of average every day members that the church won’t officially support. So why isn’t the church providing answers to these questions that are popping up all over the Internet? Why won’t they officially endorse FAIR’s answers as correct? They won’t stand behind FAIR, however they will hide behind them. It appears they want FAIR to defend the church because if it backfires, they can always say “they weren’t officially speaking for the church”.

We at MormonThink support the MoreTruthFoundation’s plan to spread the real, non-sugarcoated facts about the church. We do not want any critics to ever lie on these comments boards or to make the church’s history seem worse than it is, but we encourage everyone to not be shy in telling the real truth about the church and answering in detail the questions commenters really have about the church and its past. Since the church and FAIR won't tell the people what they really want to know about the church, it's up to us to speak the absolute truth. More information can be found at How To Help. http://www.moretruthfoundation.com/howtohelp.html

Again we will state that FAIR will only give a one-sided argument of the church. They never link to any critic’s site so you can’t see the full arguments that the critics make, which are much, much stronger than what FAIR purports them to be. FAIR only wants you to look at their point of view. However, MormonThink has over 300 links to FAIR, FARMS and LDS.org, etc so anyone can see exactly what the pro-side of any argument is in their own words as well as links to the best critics' sites so you can see those arguments also. Only by reading each side, from their own sites, can everyone get a complete viewpoint on every issue so then they can decide for themselves what makes the most sense.

[_bcspace]

The Mormonvoices site also totally disavows the belief that the ‘skin of blackness’ was a curse. They actually suggest the mark of Cain could have been a ‘tattoo’. This is total nonsense as shown by the Book of Mormon scriptures themselves:

While I think it is useful to compare the two, the fact of the matter is that the Priesthood ban from Adam's time and the Lamanite curse are not necessarily the same thing. For example, Lamanites who converted were not denied the priesthood. Therefore, other details might be different.

However, it is interesting to note that a tattoo for the mark on Cain is just as much speculation as any from Bott.

It is also useful to note that FAIR is not the Church and neither "Mormon Think" or the "More Truth Foundation" accurately present the Church's history and doctrine.

[_bcspace]

MormonVoices is intended to be a rallying point for those wishing to add their positive voices to the current conversation, to help create a chorus of faithful comments in critical online discussions. When public discussions on blogs, websites and news outlets begin to focus on issues directly relevant to Latter-day Saints, MormonVoices will send a brief message, via email or text, to those who've signed up on the site. This message will help volunteers know where conversations are surging and where their input might be most helpful. The project will also provide volunteers with links, recommendations to help them in educating themselves on the issues and suggestions for formulating replies. Those willing to join in the public conversation about Mormonism can then go online and, using their own words, help to further a positive image for the church and its doctrines.

Will we finally see a surge of believing Mormons to this site? I'm hopeful, but I kinda doubt it.

[_Kishkumen]

So I guess that ridiculous stupidity on the TIME Lightbox blog was a trial balloon and we can expect more annoying propaganda and misdirection in other comments sections. I thought the whole thing was a disaster for the church, but I guess these guys viewed it to be a real success.

[_MrStakhanovite]

Oh this is a great idea! Surely, this could never backfire.

[_moksha]

FAIR should become a sponsor of Rush Limbaugh. They could request that Rush refer to the writers of these inaccuracies as SLUTS.

Of course it might not do to actually use the name FAIR, lest it be traced back to the Church. How about a sponsor name specifically designed to entice Rush, like the OxyContin Express?

[_Quasimodo]

The opening paragraph:

Inspired by the "Book of Mormon" musical on Broadway but especially by the presidential candidacy of Mitt Romney, media coverage of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints continues to soar both nationally and internationally.

With Mitt's nomination virtually assured, DCP and his employers are starting to make a move, hoping to deflect the coming storm of LDS criticism. Fasten your seat belts. It's going to be a bumpy ride.

[_Doctor Scratch]

I hope that Mormon Voices gets a ton of media coverage. Hopefully, they'll converge on a story written by just the right person, and that person will start digging around, looking into other things that FAIR * Co. have been up to these past 10 years or so.

[_Quasimodo]

Just picked this up from Ex-Mormons.com:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/proginfo/2012/13/the-mormon-candidate.html

joseph's myth states that it airs on March 27th (thanks joseph's myth).

In America people don't criticise each other's religion, but that doesn't mean the voters don't hold it against them. According to a poll*, one in four Americans has said they would be less likely to vote for a Mormon. And as Sweeney follows the campaign trail he finds a Republican party dominated by white evangelicals who can't stand Mitt Romney.

I have to try and find this on local TV.

[_Kishkumen]

Oh this is a great idea! Surely, this could never backfire.

+1