Fair In The News

[Calm]

Here are some ideas for FAIR:

Add color to the website.

Create sections for links to specific information that are noticeable.

Add videos that can help people with their questions on their home page.

Here is a good example of a colorful and easy site to navigate:

http://www.catholic.com/

When was the last time you used FAIR. Pointing to specific examples of where you think they lack (page link with area of page) would be helpful.

Have you checked out the wiki? Have you checked out our videos we have? (Good vids take time and money, there are those working hard at getting them out)

Would you like to volunteer for helping update the wiki, fixing links, etc.? We can always use editors.

add-on: If it is an issue of privacy where you don't want to share your email, I can understand that, but if not, I don't understand the reluctance to contact directly the person who deals with this stuff (which is not Scott Gordon) but the webmaster who I never see on this site these days.

Edited May 4, 2012 by calmoriah

[Wiki Wonka]

When was the last time you used FAIR. Pointing to specific examples of where you think they lack (page link with area of page) would be helpful.

Have you checked out the wiki? Have you checked out our videos we have? (Good vids take time and money, there are those working hard at getting them out)

Would you like to volunteer for helping update the wiki, fixing links, etc.? We can always use editors.

add-on: If it is an issue of privacy where you don't want to share your email, I can understand that, but if not, I don't understand the reluctance to contact directly the person who deals with this stuff (which is not Scott Gordon) but the webmaster who I never see on this site these days.

The FAIR Website just underwent a major port over to Wordpress. There are some new pages there that weren't there before, such as an index of authors:

http://www.fairlds.org/authors

and a complete, up-to-date FAIR Journal Archive

http://www.fairlds.org/pubs/fair-journals

The FAIR Wiki just underwent a color renovation and a major restructuring. All of the conclusions have been moved to the top of each article rather than leaving them at the bottom, and the rest of the text has been relabeled as "Supporting Data." All of the "Further Reading" (which often cluttered the pages), has been moved to a subarticle of each topic article. The Wiki has also been restructured to be completely hierarchical, with Summary Pages clearly indicated and a short summary of each of the Topic articles.

WW

[rameumptom]

"For such a time as these." IMO, FAIR, Sunstone, etc. should not exist, the LDS church should have been transparent long ago, like most churches are with their finances and history.

most churches are transparent with their history???? Huh? So the Southern Baptist clearly note that they had a pro-slavery platform when they started in 1840? Or that they were very supportive of the KKK and Jim Crow Laws?

Or the Catholic church, which spent centuries on the Inquisition, and attempting to control history, by even preventing common people from reading the Bible? Of course, we could say the same about the Anglican Church, which sought to slay Tyndale and others for translating the Bible into English and then sell it to the common folk.

We can see how evangelicals swept almost everything under the rug that Newt Gingrich has done (including adultery), just to keep a Mormon from getting the nomination.

So, do we really want to go there with this statement?

[rameumptom]

While it is sometimes hard to find some articles, I find the FAIR website and wiki to be very useful. I often link to articles there when I'm discussing LDS concepts with others on my blogs, etc. That FAIR is not sponsored by the Church means we have leeway on the things we discuss and say. It does not make any official statements for the Church, so the Church is not bound by any of its concepts, and FAIR is free to speculate or discuss the difficult issues without worrying about stepping on official toes.

That said, I think it does a marvelous job, given the few donations and few workers it has. I applaud Scott and the others for their great work over the last many years. What I would propose, is if someone here really hates the colors and makeup of the site, then donate a few thousands of dollars, so they can focus on making such changes. Put your money where your mouth is.

[Scott Lloyd]

So we keep hearing, mostly from critics who should be pleased about it if so. One FAIR member says donations from that part of the demographic would be rolling in if they were that convinced of our ability to drive faithful members away.

Feedback from those who actually come to us to discuss or ask for help tends to tell us something different though and that is pretty much the best measurement we have available to judge our work at this time.

When vitriolic anti-Mormons make claims that FAIR and other such ventures drive more people away from the Church than they save, I think it well to consider the source.

One of the aims of propaganda in wartime is to demoralize the warriors of the other side by doing such things as trying to convince them they are losing the war. Hence, we have the classic examples of Tokyo Rose, Axis Sally and Hanoi Hannah.

So long as it's the adversaries of Mormonism who are saying that FAIR does more harm than good, I worry not in the least and can even take a measure of amusement in it.

Edited May 7, 2012 by Scott Lloyd