Don Bradley on MormonThink

[_Jaybear]

Maybe you didn't notice it the last couple of times I said it, but I have repeatedly stated that my problem with the site was the deception involved in its presentation as a merely informative site to help missionaries prepare for missions, when it appears to me to invite kids to disbelieve their religion and thus not serve a mission.

"invite kids to disbelieve" by presenting them with accurate information which might actually lead some young adults to question whether they have been mislead.

That doesn't sound so bad to me.

At least not compared to the leadership of the LDS Church, who not only lie about who they are, or fail to correct false beliefs of who they are ... prophets of God, ie a select few who speak to and for God as his sole and exclusive agents to the world, ...

but also present false, inaccurate, incomplete and misleading information about the LDS Church with the intent of encouraging members to part with their time, talent and lots and lots of money.

[_Stormy Waters]

but also present false, inaccurate, incomplete and misleading information about the LDS Church with the intent of encouraging members to part with their time, talent and lots and lots of money.

And then poison the well against people who would tell them the rest of the story...

[_cafe crema]

I will never get the idea that because the Church has acted inappropriately this justifies others acting inappropriately to combat them.
.

I can't come up with much sympathy for those who are all indignant because someone else is now using the same strategy that they have employed for years. Should others use the same bad tactics you have, no, but you really don't have any business claiming you've been treated outrageously if they do. If you want to claim outrage then you must grant that you have treated others equally outrageously.

[_Mayan Elephant]

Since Don is really concerned about the age of the web site's potential audience, didn't The Brethren create the issue when they lowered the missionary age requirement?

Yes. Don's concerns are unbalanced and misplaced IMNSHO.

[_malkie]

Since Don is really concerned about the age of the web site's potential audience, didn't The Brethren create the issue when they lowered the missionary age requirement?

Yes. Don's concerns are unbalanced and misplaced IMNSHO.

Perhaps the site owners would consider creating an intro page with a mandatory declaration that you are 18+ before you are allowed to see the rest of the content.

[_Stormy Waters]

Perhaps the site owners would consider creating an intro page with a mandatory declaration that you are 18+ before you are allowed to see the rest of the content.

[_Equality]

Maybe you didn't notice it the last couple of times I said it, but I have repeatedly stated that my problem with the site was the deception involved in its presentation as a merely informative site to help missionaries prepare for missions, when it appears to me to invite kids to disbelieve their religion and thus not serve a mission.

I didn't miss where you stated repeatedly that your problem was with the site's "deception." What I have missed is any reference to anything actually deceptive. What, specifically, on the site would cause someone to disbelieve the religion they adhere to so strongly that they plan to take two years out of their lives to cajole others into believing it, too? Can you point to the portion of the site where they invite kids not to believe their religion and not to serve a mission?

[_Kishkumen]

"invite kids to disbelieve" by presenting them with accurate information which might actually lead some young adults to question whether they have been mislead.

That doesn't sound so bad to me.

At least not compared to the leadership of the LDS Church, who not only lie about who they are, or fail to correct false beliefs of who they are ... prophets of God, ie a select few who speak to and for God as his sole and exclusive agents to the world, ...

but also present false, inaccurate, incomplete and misleading information about the LDS Church with the intent of encouraging members to part with their time, talent and lots and lots of money.

Yes, that is a popular justification here. "Well, the LDS Church has done something bad, so others should be able to do something bad to combat their bad." I am unimpressed with this argument, and I think it is a bad road to go down.

I would hope that we could all recognize that the our way of making sense of the world involves a lot more than "facts." We make sense of facts in different ways. People who do not believe in Mormonism will make sense of the facts regarding the faith in a way that is quite different from those who do believe. I have long maintained that the LDS Church was doing a poor job in educating its members. That does not mean that I think it is the non-believer's job to go teach Young Adult Sunday School. The authors of this site are deceptively using this front to provide their own presentation of the difficult aspects of Mormonism in order to dissuade teenagers from believing and from serving missions. I do think that is wrong.

[_Kishkumen]

What, specifically, on the site would cause someone to disbelieve the religion they adhere to so strongly that they plan to take two years out of their lives to cajole others into believing it, too? Can you point to the portion of the site where they invite kids not to believe their religion and not to serve a mission?

Unbelievable. It doesn't appear to me that you are even capable of being remotely objective about this. "Cajoling"? Excuse me, but I did not cajole people into joining the LDS Church. Maybe that's what you did on your mission, but speak for yourself. Don't paint me with that brush.

Obviously lots of people believe in Mormonism strongly enough to have their entire lives consumed with it and yet not know about the Egyptian Alphabet & Grammar and numerous other things this site raises. Some of them are, in fact, very happy being Mormons, and they would remain happy Mormons were it not for helpful people who take it upon themselves to introduce doubt regarding things that few people adequately understand.

It seems to me that the bedrock position here is that because religion is BS in the eyes of board participants and because the LDS Church is an imperfect organization that it is just ducky super to deconvert teenagers by leading them to consider all the most difficult questions regarding their religion before they are adults.

[_Kishkumen]

Perhaps the site owners would consider creating an intro page with a mandatory declaration that you are 18+ before you are allowed to see the rest of the content.

Maybe that isn't such a bad idea.