Hamilton Porter Posted May 13, 2013 Posted May 13, 2013 I'm not yet convinced the musical is a net positive on the Church. How many people would have joined, but did not because they thought we were nutjobs? It's impossible to tell.
smac97 Posted May 13, 2013 Author Posted May 13, 2013 I'm not yet convinced the musical is a net positive on the Church. How many people would have joined, but did not because they thought we were nutjobs? It's impossible to tell.That's a fair point. But our only option is to make lemons out of lemonade.Speaking of which, the former mayor of Culver City, CA also joined the Church because of this musical (sorta). Here's the link: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865579813/Inspired-question-Book-of-Mormon-musical-leads-to-former-California-mayors-conversion.html-Smac 1
Tyresias Posted May 14, 2013 Posted May 14, 2013 Question for former missionaires (or current, if they're on here, which I kinda doubt they have time for!)What factors led you to the decision to become a missionary?
NEDRA Posted May 14, 2013 Posted May 14, 2013 I saw it and can't believe too many active LDS think it's positive or complimentary, especially with sung lines such as "Jesus says, 'f** Mormons'"
grhammjr Posted May 15, 2013 Posted May 15, 2013 It reminds me a little of Saturday's Warrior with the two missionary compainions. I once stumbled across the whole play on Youtube but didn't watch it. I wonder if it's still available. Maybe it got pulled for pirating or something.I stumbled on it last year on youtube as well, I watched it. Well like you watch a 2 hour youtube video or tv show, I watched while i did other stuff. This was before I became an investigator. It did not lead me to call the church, but I recall it as funny and relatively positive portrayal of missionaries. This is the South Park guys, they always poke fun with a purpose, so nothing in it shocked me. I recall speaking with friends after seeing it, the conclusion was all religion seems absurd from the outsider view and cultures too, but just because it seems so doesn't make it something that is good. That is why I felt at the time it was a positive for the LDS church, if I saw it now after more knowledge about the church maybe I would be more defensive and offended, not sure and not planning to see it soon, But I still have to confess the songs are catchy.
Thinking Posted January 23, 2015 Posted January 23, 2015 Liza Morong is not a member anymore. Perhaps her profile should be deleted from mormon.org.
bluebell Posted January 23, 2015 Posted January 23, 2015 Liza Morong is not a member anymore. Perhaps her profile should be deleted from mormon.org.Yes, she should probably do that.
Duncan Posted January 23, 2015 Posted January 23, 2015 Liza Morong is not a member anymore. Perhaps her profile should be deleted from mormon.org. I wonder why she left the church?
Freedom Posted January 23, 2015 Posted January 23, 2015 Liza Morong is not a member anymore. Perhaps her profile should be deleted from mormon.org.Thats funny. two weeks of fame for the church over this music and now out like a light.
Stargazer Posted January 23, 2015 Posted January 23, 2015 Thats funny. two weeks of fame for the church over this music and now out like a light. Well, at least she still has a future with Ex-Mormons for Jesus. Yes, I know, that was a very funny joke, but the thing is, dear people, is that Jesus's parable of the sower clearly indicated that in addition to the seed that sprouted and grew to maturity until harvest, some of the seed would sprout up briefly and then die away. And all of us stand in danger of this. I feel sorry for the young woman, and hope that perhaps in the future the Spirit might be able to bring her back.
The Nehor Posted January 23, 2015 Posted January 23, 2015 I watched part of a pirate copy a friend had and while it was funny in a crass way it was offensive. While the mormons were caricatured and lampooned they were at least not portrayed as imbeciles. I am quite shocked that the NAACP and other organizations have not roasted this production as racist trash. Africans are treated as dim-witted gullible morons who rally around anything the "white man" brings. It harks back to Victorian colonialism with its paternal condescension. Maybe they meant to spoof works like "Heart of Darkness" but if so they went off the rails. 2
Kenngo1969 Posted January 23, 2015 Posted January 23, 2015 Blame The Church for All Your Troubles! I think it's interesting how Liza says she's "officially been out over a year now," which means her "outness" couldn't have started too long after she got publicity for joining after seeing the play. It's one of those things that make you go, "Hmmmmmm."
Thinking Posted January 23, 2015 Posted January 23, 2015 I think it's interesting how Liza says she's "officially been out over a year now," which means her "outness" couldn't have started too long after she got publicity for joining after seeing the play. It's one of those things that make you go, "Hmmmmmm." Are you suggesting that she joined the Church to get publicity?
canard78 Posted January 23, 2015 Posted January 23, 2015 Has there been much chatter about the representation of Ugandans over there?Sorry, missed this first time round. I've not seen much. If it's mentioned I think it's more seen as a commentary of the prejudices the West (USA/UK) have about Africa.
Ham Clam Posted January 23, 2015 Posted January 23, 2015 We never really know the hearts of new converts. You really have to get to know them to know what they're actually looking for. I've seen some converts be interested in Mormonism for reasons that I would have never thought of. Many don't know it deeply enough to know exactly what it all entails and assume that their already held briefs aren't that different from Mormonism.I wonder how Liza even got picked up for that story. I think she was just an excited girl that got some attention. I think her interviews let on her more liberal political views so that could be a large part of rub for her.
Popular Post canard78 Posted January 23, 2015 Popular Post Posted January 23, 2015 A girl joins the church and gets picked up in a media whirlwind (which I'm sure the church PR team were delighted by). The girl then does what many converts do and leaves within 2 years and now people here want to question her motives in the first place. Bleurgh. Get over it. The reality is that many (most, in my experience) converts join for genuine reasons and then leave for genuine reasons. It's rarely politics or history or doctrinal conflict. It just doesn't fit any more and they move on. 5
Stargazer Posted January 23, 2015 Posted January 23, 2015 A girl joins the church and gets picked up in a media whirlwind (which I'm sure the church PR team were delighted by).The girl then does what many converts do and leaves within 2 years and now people here want to question her motives in the first place. Bleurgh. Get over it. The reality is that many (most, in my experience) converts join for genuine reasons and then leave for genuine reasons. It's rarely politics or history or doctrinal conflict. It just doesn't fit any more and they move on. I don't think her motives were questionable at all. I think that her conversion was simply rather shallow, just like many other new converts, and that she didn't deepen it sufficiently to stay in. As I said earlier, that's a fate that all of us could suffer. And you never know -- she might be back one of these days. 1
Hamba Tuhan Posted January 23, 2015 Posted January 23, 2015 And you never know -- she might be back one of these days. I've seen it happen more than once, so one can certainly hope.
canard78 Posted January 23, 2015 Posted January 23, 2015 I don't think her motives were questionable at all. I think that her conversion was simply rather shallow, just like many other new converts, and that she didn't deepen it sufficiently to stay in. As I said earlier, that's a fate that all of us could suffer. And you never know -- she might be back one of these days. Were you saying her conversion was shallow at the time? That seems a fairly unfair judgement in hindsight.
Tacenda Posted January 23, 2015 Posted January 23, 2015 Were you saying her conversion was shallow at the time? That seems a fairly unfair judgement in hindsight.John Dehlin must have filled in some missing information for her, and I'm being serious. It really is a phenomenon going on in the church. And then again she may have no clue what Mormonstories is, but I doubt it. But still think the Missionaries probably have to teach a little differently now. Make converts aware of the meat in the gospel and our turbulent history leading up to what the current religion is, and emphasize that it is ever changing since we believe in current revelation. But there could be so many variables for sure. Btw, the BoM play is supposedly not too anti and shows a great side to Mormonism, at least I heard it has it's positives, never seen the play myself. Funnily enough the latest Mormonstories has John interviewing Clark Johnson one of the members of the cast in the BoM musical. He talks about himself as a gay Mormon who fulfilled a mission. The directors learned a lot from him by him showing and discussing his mission.
Stargazer Posted January 23, 2015 Posted January 23, 2015 Were you saying her conversion was shallow at the time? That seems a fairly unfair judgement in hindsight. What's unfair about it? It's not pejorative. I've seen shallow conversions, and I have seen deep conversions. And I've seen both kinds of converts fall away. I don't know what mine was. I suspect it was shallow. At the time. By shallow conversion I mean a conversion that was based upon inadequate personal revelation. She had warm chills and interpreted that as a sign from God. I don't know whether it was or not (see? I don't claim special powers), but I've felt positive emotional feelings over movies. For example, "You've Got Mail" has caused me to get teary-eyed over its sweet ending, even after having seen it many times -- but I don't interpret that as a spiritual revelation. I wasn't criticizing her.
Ham Clam Posted January 23, 2015 Posted January 23, 2015 A girl joins the church and gets picked up in a media whirlwind (which I'm sure the church PR team were delighted by).The girl then does what many converts do and leaves within 2 years and now people here want to question her motives in the first place. Bleurgh. Get over it. The reality is that many (most, in my experience) converts join for genuine reasons and then leave for genuine reasons. It's rarely politics or history or doctrinal conflict. It just doesn't fit any more and they move on.Reading that tweet again it seems like she had some kind of souring experience.
Mars Posted January 23, 2015 Posted January 23, 2015 I'm sorry to hear she left. I hope she comes back. 1
Boanerges Posted January 23, 2015 Posted January 23, 2015 (edited) John Dehlin must have filled in some missing information for her, and I'm being serious. It really is a phenomenon going on in the church. And then again she may have no clue what Mormonstories is, but I doubt it. But still think the Missionaries probably have to teach a little differently now. Make converts aware of the meat in the gospel and our turbulent history leading up to what the current religion is, and emphasize that it is ever changing since we believe in current revelation. But there could be so many variables for sure.Btw, the BoM play is supposedly not too anti and shows a great side to Mormonism, at least I heard it has it's positives, never seen the play myself. Funnily enough the latest Mormonstories has John interviewing Clark Johnson one of the members of the cast in the BoM musical. He talks about himself as a gay Mormon who fulfilled a mission. The directors learned a lot from him by him showing and discussing his mission.Wow, what a post. You have no evidence whatsoever that she has even heard of John Dehlin or Mormonstories (the vast majority of Mormons have not), yet it's his fault. Likewsie, you haven't see the musical but heard it was positive. Edited January 23, 2015 by Boanerges
Kenngo1969 Posted January 23, 2015 Posted January 23, 2015 Are you suggesting that she joined the Church to get publicity?I don't know. In any case, unfortunately, that seedling died not long after it sprouted.
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