Multi-part Podcast/Articles about the Church in New Zealand

[smac97]

Boy, the New Zealand Herald went on something of a tear this morning.  One of its reporters, Murray Jones, is apparently releasing a six-part podcast about the Church:

• Episode 1: The Business of Saving Souls (podcast) / Heaven's Helpline: The secret lives of Mormon bishops, lawyers – and abusers (associated article)
• Episode 2: This Changes Everything (podcast) / Heaven’s Helpline podcast: Ex-Mormon reveals heartbreaking story of abuse (associated article)
• Episode 3: The Bishop's Tale (podcast) (forthcoming)
• Episode 4: The Helpline (podcast) (forthcoming)
• Episode 5: Another Helpline (podcast) (forthcoming)
• Episode 6: Breaking the Shelf (podcast) (forthcoming)

Here is the article from Episode 1: Heaven’s Helpline: The secret lives of Mormon bishops, lawyers – and abusers

"{S}ecret lives."  Sheesh.

Quote

A podcast investigation into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) reveals how credible reports of child sexual abuse and domestic violence vanish into a system of church leaders, lawyers and secret courts. For journalist Murray Jones, it all began with some simple questions about how the LDS church got so rich – and why it keeps on building vast, expensive temples.

You may know them as earnest young men on bikes, wearing crisp white shirts and ties, going door to door as missionaries in the suburbs.

Or perhaps you’re familiar with the hit musical The Book of Mormon or the TV and social media sensation The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives.

In New Zealand, the general impression of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) – commonly known as the Mormon church – is slightly more low-key than these irreverent depictions in pop culture.

 

They’re polite, family focused and rather good at basketball. They’re stringent about pre-marital sex and drinking alcohol or coffee. Sure, there was polygamy back in the early days of the church, but they don’t believe in that any more.

But what many don’t realise is that they’ve been part of New Zealand’s national furniture for over 150 years, producing All Blacks and even a Prime Minister.

When I first began looking into the Mormon church, it was for an investigative project on the richest registered charities in the country for NZME’s BusinessDesk.

Those early questions about tithes, tax exemptions and temples developed into a two-year investigation and a six-part podcast into how the LDS built a system that protects the church’s wealth and reputation – and helps shield sexual predators from the law.

It left me asking: how far has the Mormon church gone to cover up abuse?

Not sure what the connection is between the Church's finances and allegations that it "helps shield sexual predators from the law."

This has a "throw everything at the wall and see how much of its sticks"-sort of vibe to it.

Here is the article from Episode 2: Heaven’s Helpline podcast: Ex-Mormon reveals heartbreaking story of abuse

Quote

After publishing a series of stories about the wealth of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) for NZME’s BusinessDesk in 2022, investigative reporter Murray Jones was hit by a flood of much darker stories.

Hmm.

Quote

After publishing a series of stories about the wealth of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) for NZME’s BusinessDesk in 2022, investigative reporter Murray Jones was hit by a flood of much darker stories. In episode two of Heaven’s Helpline, a six-part investigation into the LDS church, he speaks to Caroline* about her experience.

Caroline’s parents were converted by Mormon missionaries in Australia when she was 5. It led to a few sudden changes in the household.

Her alcoholic father got sober and her parents decided to move over to New Zealand so they could be married, or sealed, in the temple at Hamilton - as there wasn’t one in Australia at the time. Sealing is very important for LDS members as it ensures families can live together for eternity in the afterlife.

Caroline was extremely shy and didn’t mix much with the other children attending Church College, the church-run high school in the Mormon-dominated suburb of Temple View.

 

She had other things to worry about. Her father was incredibly violent and controlling towards Caroline and her siblings.

These behaviors are not compatible with the teachings of the Church.

Quote

“One minute he could be very cheerful and happy and you could be his favourite child. And the next, it could suddenly switch. So you’re just constantly on the edge of your seat,” recalled Caroline.

“The reasoning that he gave for his control was that he was the priesthood leader, which is church teachings that the father is the leader of the home. He knows what’s best for the family and that’s his role and it mustn’t be questioned.”

But Caroline did have questions. Whilst her father was the leader in the home, she was also being taught by the church that women were equal partners in marriage and she just couldn’t see how these two things squared.

When she went to see her church leaders about this, they visited her parents to warn them about their daughter who had been asking awkward questions. To Caroline, everyone else in Temple View seemed to be totally on board with the status quo and so she felt the problem lay with her.

"{C}hurch leaders ... {warned her parents} about their daughter who had been asking awkward questions."

Sounds like a plotline from The Sopranos.

Quote

As a young adult, she was determined to resolve her theological questions but was struggling to find satisfactory answers. She had kept this internal battle private, so she was relieved and surprised when a young man approached her one day and asked her if she was having doubts about the church.

Very quickly, he set himself up as a teacher to Caroline - to provide spiritual instruction.

But this was not your typical study group. He would keep her up until the early hours of the morning, getting her to memorise vast quantities of scripture. He demanded that she fast and pray persistently.

Caroline was short of sleep. She was hungry. She was reading the same parts of scripture over and over again - attempting to humble herself in the service of God.

The Church does not support this stuff, either.

Quote

Three months passed in a blur until he told her: ’I want you to go to the temple, I want you to fast for this period of time, and I want you to pray about whether or not we should be married’.

Or this.

Quote

“And I’m like, what?! Because we weren’t dating, it wasn’t romance, it was scripture instruction. But I thought, okay, I need to be humble.

“This isn’t what I want, but I need to do what God wants. Lose myself in the service of God. All this stuff that my head was being filled with,” said Caroline.

So she prayed about it and when she returned, something happened.

“I can’t really explain this, but I felt this wave of spiritual energy. And he said to me - ‘Did you feel that?’ And I said yes. And he said, ‘That was the Holy Ghost telling you that you are commanded to marry me’.

“Which I believed. I didn’t like it. I wasn’t happy about it. He knew that I didn’t love him. He knew that I was just marrying him out of commandment to God. So that was the end of any leaving the church or getting a career or studying. I started on down the road of marriage and children.”

What happened next to Caroline shocked me to my core because it turned out that, just maybe, this could’ve been avoided.

It transpired that this man had practised his coercive tactics on other women in Temple View before; one woman even took out a protection order against him.

But no one had told Caroline.

Yet the true betrayal by her church leaders was still to come.

We sought comment from the church in response to the allegations discussed in this episode. The church did not address the allegations directly, but in a statement said: “As followers of Jesus Christ, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints abhor abuse of any kind. As a church, we invest heavily on prevention and response; and will continue to do so. Our priority is the welfare of the victim and following the law of the land with respect to the abuser facing the consequences of their actions.”

Not sure what the "betrayal{s}" referenced here are.

On a more refreshing note: Mormon helpline assists victims and makes abusers accountable, says church

Quote

The NZ Herald asked the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to respond to detailed questions about its alleged cover-up of abuse within the church and claims its helpline was used to shield the abusers, as detailed in podcast series, Heaven’s Helpline. This is the church’s full written response from Pacific area communication director Richard Hunter to reporter Murray Jones.

Well!  Kudos to Murray Jones for letting the Church speak for itself.

Quote

Dear Mr. Jones,

As followers of Jesus Christ, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints abhor abuse of any kind. As a church, we invest heavily on prevention and response; and will continue to do so.

Tragically, some individuals choose to abuse others across all parts of society. Jesus was unequivocal when it came to abusers. He said: “But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea,” (Matthew 18:6).

When the Prince of Peace is speaking in such a firm way, as followers of the Saviour, we are compelled to do all we can to prevent abuse and to support victims. Our priority is the welfare of the victim and following the law of the land with respect to the abuser facing the consequences of their actions.

 

In 2022, President Russell M. Nelson, worldwide leader of the Church of Jesus Christ, said:

“Abuse constitutes the influence of the adversary, and it is a grievous sin. As President of the Church, I affirm the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ on this issue. Let me be perfectly clear: Any kind of abuse of women, children or anyone is an abomination to the Lord. He grieves and I grieve whenever anyone is harmed. He mourns, and we all mourn, for each person who has fallen victim to abuse of any kind. Those who perpetrate these hideous acts are not only accountable to the laws of man but will also face the wrath of Almighty God. For decades now, the Church has taken extensive measures to protect — in particular — children from abuse. There are many aids on the Church website, abuse.ChurchofJesusChrist.org on help, healing and protection from abuse. I invite you to study them. These guidelines are in place to protect the innocent. I urge each of us to be alert to anyone who might be in danger of being abused and to act promptly to protect them. The Saviour will not tolerate abuse, and as His disciples, neither can we.”

When a lay leader of one of our congregations learns of abuse, they are asked to immediately call a helpline to assist them to protect the victim to protect the victim Helpline and to ensure that perpetrators face the consequences of their actions. Most of the reports of abuse that come to the attention of Church leaders come from victims or their families and involve abuse away from Church buildings and Church activities. Helpline staff offer advice that is focused firstly on protecting and caring for the victim. Working with local Church leaders, the helpline ensures compliance with legal reporting obligations, encourages the victim or victim’s family to report the abuse to civil authorities, and helps connect victims with professionals who can provide counselling assistance.

This last paragraph is an excellent summary of the purpose and effect of the helpline.  I did not know that it is in place in New Zealand.

Quote

In the Church, any who serve as youth leaders or with children, need to complete child protection training to help them safeguard young people. This training includes instruction for those working with children to immediately report abuse to legal authorities and do all they can to assist victims of abuse.

Church leaders regularly speak out against the evils of abuse, encouraging Church leaders and members to do all they can to protect the innocent.

The Church has published numerous resources online to help lay leaders, members, victims and their families, such as the “Life Help” resources on ChurchofJesusChrist.org.

Over the coming months, the Church in New Zealand will study and implement relevant recommendations for churches from the Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry.

It seems, Mr. Jones, that you are focused on reporting on The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We welcome honest and balanced inquiries. To assist you to more fully and accurately understand The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its members, so your reporting can be balanced, honest, and respectful, we extend five invitations to you.

"It seems, Mr. Jones..."  How very cool.

Quote

First, come worship with members of the Church of Jesus Christ one Sunday. Ask Church members about the joy they experience as they strive to follow Jesus Christ.

Second, watch a session or sessions of the Church’s annual or semi-annual General Conference.

Third, study the Church materials addressing abuse in “Life Help” resources on ChurchofJesusChrist.org.

Fourth, read The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ. Along with the Bible, these scriptures are the foundation of Latter-day Saints’ faith and testimonies across the world.

And fifth, the next time you are travelling to the United States, allow us to host you at the Church’s headquarters in Salt Lake City. Many news media professionals from around the world have benefited from the opportunity to see first-hand the Church’s global headquarters, and its humanitarian, self-reliance and other welfare services which lift lives, fortify families, and contribute to caring communities.

We support free press and the right of all to express their views and opinions. We also encourage you to truly understand the Church and its members, so your reporting is balanced and representative of the experiences and testimonies of those who are striving to follow Jesus Christ and to do good in the world.

Sincerely,

Richard Hunter

Very well done, Bro. Hunter!

And again, I appreciate the reporter letting the Church speak for itself.

Thanks,

-Smac

Edited October 16, 2024 by smac97

[Calm]

The “New Zealand” what?

nvm…Herald

Edited October 16, 2024 by Calm

[LoudmouthMormon]

On 10/16/2024 at 10:51 AM, smac97 said:

Third, study the Church materials addressing abuse in “Life Help” resources on ChurchofJesusChrist.org.

This suggestion would seem to be a critical suggestion for anyone interested in how the church thinks/acts/teaches.

I mean, unless we want to return to the bland and silly antimormon crap of 20 years ago.  I remember claims "of course Mormons say the opposite of what they think - that's how you know they're so eeeeeeevil!"

[OGHoosier]

Oh dear, another "breaking the shelf" reference. Drink!

Dr. Pepper, of course.

We've seen this one before.

[smac97]

57 minutes ago, OGHoosier said:

Oh dear, another "breaking the shelf" reference. Drink!

Dr. Pepper, of course.

We've seen this one before.

I'll never understand why some news outlets find this or that private individual's "Why I Left My Religion" narrative to be newsworthy.

Thanks,

-Smac

[OGHoosier]

33 minutes ago, smac97 said:

I'll never understand why some news outlets find this or that private individual's "Why I Left My Religion" narrative to be newsworthy.

Thanks,

-Smac

Because human beings are social beings with largely pre-rational instincts when it comes to the opinions and affiliations of others. These sorts of stories are both directionally affirming for those who disagree with the religion, and discouraging for those who believe it.  

It's gratifying. That's why the demand exists.

[smac97]

1 hour ago, OGHoosier said:

Quote

I'll never understand why some news outlets find this or that private individual's "Why I Left My Religion" narrative to be newsworthy.

Because human beings are social beings with largely pre-rational instincts when it comes to the opinions and affiliations of others. These sorts of stories are both directionally affirming for those who disagree with the religion, and discouraging for those who believe it.  

It's gratifying. That's why the demand exists.

Okay.  But how does this make these narratives "newsworthy"? 

From Wikipedia:

Quote

News values are "criteria that influence the selection and presentation of events as published news." These values help explain what makes something "newsworthy."^[1]
...

List of news values

A variety of external and internal pressures influence journalistic decisions during the news-making process, which can sometimes lead to bias or unethical reporting. Many different factors have the potential to influence whether an event is first noticed by a news organisation, second whether a story will be written about that event, third, how that story is written, and fourth whether this story will end up being published as news and if so, where it is placed. Therefore, "there is no end to lists of news criteria."^[9] There are multiple competing lists of news values (including Galtung & Ruge's news factors, and others put forward by Schlesinger,^[10] Bell,^[11] Bednarek & Caple^[4]), with considerable overlap but also disagreement as to what should be included.^[12]

News values can relate to aspects of events and actors, or to aspects of news gathering and processing:^[11]

Values in news actors and events:

• Frequency: Events that occur suddenly and fit well with the news organization's schedule are more likely to be reported than those that occur gradually or at inconvenient times of day or night. Long-term trends are not likely to receive much coverage.
• Timeliness: Events that have only just happened, are current, ongoing, or are about to happen are newsworthy.^[4]
• Familiarity: To do with people or places close to the target audience. Others prefer the term Proximity for this news value, which includes geographical and cultural proximity (see "meaningfulness").^[4]
• Negativity: Bad news is more newsworthy than good news. Sometimes described as "the basic news value."^[11] Conversely, it has also been suggested that Positivity is a news value in certain cases (such as sports news, science news, feel-good tabloid stories).
• Conflict: Opposition of people or forces resulting in a dramatic effect. Events with conflict are often quite newsworthy. Sometimes included in Negativity rather than listed as a separate news value.^[4]
• Unexpectedness: Events that are out of the ordinary, unexpected, or rare are more newsworthy than routine, unsurprising events.^[11][4]
• Unambiguity: Events whose implications are clear make for better copy than those that are open to more than one interpretation, or where any understanding of the implications depends on first understanding the complex background in which the events take place.^[11]
• Personalization: Events that can be portrayed as the actions of individuals will be more attractive than one in which there is no such "human interest." Personalization is about whether an event can be contextualised in personal terms (affecting or involving specific, "ordinary" people, not the generalised masses).
• Meaningfulness: This relates to the sense of identification the audience has with the topic. "Cultural proximity" is a factor here—events concerned with people who speak the same language, look the same, and share the same preoccupations as the audience receive more coverage than those concerned with people who speak different languages, look different and have different preoccupations. A related term is Relevance, which is about the relevance of the event as regards the target readers/viewers own lives or how close it is to their experiences. Impact refers more generally to an event's impact, on the target audience, or on others. An event with significant consequences (high impact) is newsworthy.^[4]
• Eliteness: Events concerned with global powers receive more attention than those concerned with less influential nations. Events concerned with the rich, powerful, famous and infamous get more coverage. Also includes the eliteness of sources – sometimes called Attribution.^[11]
• Superlativeness: Events with a large scale or scope or with high intensity are newsworthy.^[11][4]
• Consonance: Events that fit with the media's expectations and preconceptions receive more coverage than those that defy them (and for which they are thus unprepared). Note this appears to conflict with unexpectedness above. However, consonance really refers to the media's readiness to report an item. Consonance has also been defined as relating to editors' stereotypes and their mental scripts for how events typically proceed.^[11]

Values in the news process:

• Continuity: A story that is already in the news gathers a kind of inertia. This is partly because the media organizations are already in place to report the story, and partly because previous reportage may have made the story more accessible to the public (making it less ambiguous).
• Composition: Stories must compete with one another for space in the media. For instance, editors may seek to provide a balance of different types of coverage, so that if there is an excess of foreign news for instance, the least important foreign story may have to make way for an item concerned with the domestic news. In this way the prominence given to a story depends not only on its own news values but also on those of competing stories.^[2]
• Competition: Commercial or professional competition between media may lead journalists to endorse the news value given to a story by a rival.
• Co-option: A story that is only marginally newsworthy in its own right may be covered if it is related to a major running story.^[11]
• Prefabrication: A story that is marginal in news terms but written and available may be selected ahead of a much more newsworthy story that must be researched and written from the ground up.^[11]
• Predictability: An event is more likely to be covered if it has been pre-scheduled.^[11]
• Story impact: The impact of a published story (not the event), for example whether it is being shared widely (sometimes called Shareability), read, liked, commented-on. To be qualified as shareable, a story arguably has to be simple, emotional, unexpected and triggered. Engaging with such analytics is now an important part of newsroom practice.
• Time constraints: Traditional news media such as radio, television and daily newspapers have strict deadlines and a short production cycle, which selects for items that can be researched and covered quickly.
• Logistics: Although eased by the availability of global communications even from remote regions, the ability to deploy and control production and reporting staff, and functionality of technical resources can determine whether a story is covered.^[10]
• Data: Media need to back up all of their stories with data in order to remain relevant and reliable. Reporters prefer to look at raw data in order to be able to take an unbiased perspective. An alternative term is Facticity – the favouring of facts and figures in hard news.^[11]

One of the key differences in relation to these news values is whether they relate to events or stories. For example, composition and co-option both relate to the published news story. These are news values that concern how news stories fit with the other stories around them. The aim here is to ensure a balanced spread of stories with minimal duplication across a news program or edition.^[13] Such news values are qualitatively different from news values that relate to aspects of events, such as Eliteness (the elite status of news actors or sources) or Proximity (the closeness of the event's location to the target audience).

Few, if any, of these factors seem to militate in favor of attributing newsworthiness to individual "Why I Left" narratives.

Thanks,

-Smac

[OGHoosier]

@smac97 

Do you believe journalists regularly assess their subjects based on that list of values?

I don't. 

[ZealouslyStriving]

 

 

[Calm]

39 minutes ago, OGHoosier said:

@smac97 

Do you believe journalists regularly assess their subjects based on that list of values?

I don't. 

I agree. I think a more realistic definition of “newsworthy” is what will get the news service attention, which means money in their pocket. 

[Calm]

According to an acquaintance from New Zealand, The Herald is their largest newspaper and she says it is seen as very trustworthy.  She is quite disappointed they went sensationalism this time.  I would love to see a before and after poll to see if the Church takes a hit or not. 

Edited October 18, 2024 by Calm

[Calm]

Jaw drop…the name correction is working.  I asked Alexa what percentage of New Zealand was Mormon, thinking there was more likely info with the nickname. It didn’t know. I, being savvy in the ways of search, then asked what percentage was Latter-day Saint.  3.9% (I doublechecked, it’s really 1.2%, it was relying in ChatGPT

Though I guess if I was truly savvy, I would have used “Latter-day Saint” the first time around, lol.
 

Edited October 18, 2024 by Calm

[Dario_M]

On 10/18/2024 at 3:29 AM, ZealouslyStriving said:

 

 

Oh my.... What is this for nonsense? Did i saw the word "porn" in the tittel? They talk super negative against the LDS community. It's clearly to me that those guys have no clue what they're talking about. 

Edited October 24, 2024 by Dario_M

[ZealouslyStriving]

6 hours ago, Dario_M said:

Oh my.... What is this for nonsense? Did i saw the word "porn" in the tittel? They talk super negative against the LDS community. It's clearly to me that those guys have no clue what they're talking about. 

Apparently, you didn't actually watch the video.

Ward Radio is very pro-Latter-day Saint. The "porn" in the title is in reference to the new wave of anti-Mormon garbage coming forward from our haters.

[Dario_M]

6 minutes ago, ZealouslyStriving said:

Apparently, you didn't actually watch the video.

I have watched the video. 

6 minutes ago, ZealouslyStriving said:

Ward Radio is very pro-Latter-day Saint.

It didn't come across that way to me. Forgive me.

6 minutes ago, ZealouslyStriving said:

The "porn" in the title is in reference to the new wave of anti-Mormon garbage coming forward from our haters.

From the people who hate on the Saints? 

Edited October 24, 2024 by Dario_M

[ZealouslyStriving]

34 minutes ago, Dario_M said:

I have watched the video. 

It didn't come across that way to me. Forgive me.

From the people who hate on the Saints? 

There is nothing to be forgiven 🙂 there must have been some sort of language barrier.

What did you believe they were saying in the video?

[Dario_M]

3 hours ago, ZealouslyStriving said:

There is nothing to be forgiven 🙂 there must have been some sort of language barrier.

What did you believe they were saying in the video?

I thought they where saying insulting things about us. And laughing at us as well. Maybe i need to watch the video again. 

[Calm]

6 hours ago, Dario_M said:

didn't come across that way to me. Forgive me.

They are very aggressive and sarcastic, so I think easily misunderstood when English isn’t your native language. 

[Calm]

1 hour ago, Dario_M said:

I thought they where saying insulting things about us. And laughing at us as well. Maybe i need to watch the video again. 

They are likely repeating what critics are saying and then laughing at the critics (I haven’t watched this video as I really don’t like the loud style, I base the above conclusion on their videos they have made).

Edited October 24, 2024 by Calm

[Calm]

6 hours ago, Dario_M said:

I have watched the video. 

It didn't come across that way to me. Forgive me.

From the people who hate on the Saints? 

People are now using “porn” for anything that goes to extremes to get attention that feeds the baser instincts…like someone watching disasters for entertainment.  

“Disaster porn” would be people who go in to document what happened and focus on the worst stuff and then even inflate it with drama and such…like asking someone looking at their house destroyed in a fire “tell us what you are feeling right now” as if they have a right to demand someone share their vulnerability for the public’s entertainment in their worst moments.  A lot of reality TV that creates conflict intentionally would fall into the new definition of “porn”.

So “Mormon porn” could be anything that focuses on the more sensational awful stuff that happened or happens in our Mormon community without providing a more realistic context….like taking the examples of murderers who were LDS at one time and acting like this level of violence is not that unusual among LDS, claims that the Church intentionally protects child abusers or even promotes child abuse by presenting twisted families as the norm and the abusers as if they are important leaders in the Church. 

A great example imo would be The Banner of Heaven (available on Hulu) with it presenting the Church’s teachings as the reason the Lafferty brothers killed their sister-in-law and her baby as it presented the family as Mormon royalty or at least well known figures when they were not known much outside their local community (I was in Utah when the murders happened.). Iirc one of their quotes was along the line as the Church breeds violent men, ignoring the data that Utah was less violent than the surrounding areas in its beginnings.

Edited October 24, 2024 by Calm

[Dario_M]

1 hour ago, Calm said:

They are very aggressive and sarcastic, so I think easily misunderstood when English isn’t your native language. 

Yes and i think that happend to me. I misunderstood those man. 

[Dario_M]

1 hour ago, Calm said:

They are likely repeating what critics are saying and then laughing at the critics (I haven’t watched this video as I really don’t like the loud style, I base the above conclusion on their videos they have made).

Yes. One big misunderstanding from my part haha. 

[Dario_M]

53 minutes ago, Calm said:

People are now using “porn” for anything that goes to extremes to get attention that feeds the baser instincts…like someone watching disasters for entertainment.  

Yeah i get that. I was reading the word porn on the video. 

53 minutes ago, Calm said:

“Disaster porn” would be people who go in to document what happened and focus on the worst stuff and then even inflate it with drama and such…like asking someone looking at their house destroyed in a fire “tell us what you are feeling right now” as if they have a right to demand someone share their vulnerability for the public’s entertainment in their worst moments.  A lot of reality TV that creates conflict intentionally would fall into the new definition of “porn”.

Ooh is that so. So the word porn has nothing to do with sex in this case? But only with sensation...for attention.

53 minutes ago, Calm said:

So “Mormon porn” could be anything that focuses on the more sensational awful stuff that happened or happens in our Mormon community without providing a more realistic context….like taking the examples of murderers who were LDS at one time and acting like this level of violence is not that unusual among LDS, claims that the Church intentionally protects child abusers or even promotes child abuse by presenting twisted families as the norm and the abusers as if they are important leaders in the Church. 

Omg that's so wrong. Every church has their dark side. Not only the LDS church. But odd enough the LDS community get's the most smac for it. 

 

[Calm]

17 minutes ago, Dario_M said:

So the word porn has nothing to do with sex in this case? But only with sensation...for attention.

Yes, it implies people are highly attracted to even addicted to following such things for less than admirable reasons, as “porn” in the US has a negative connotation.  So it’s similar to “clickbait” if you know what that means. 

It’s usually done to make money, imo, but it can be done for political or religious reasons…wanting to make the other guy look like trash and to get people supporting the cause, but it can be purely for attention as well.

I have also seen “porn” used for just something looking indulgent, such as calling something that looks really yummy “food porn”, but I don’t know how common that is and if it has the nuance of making the food look better than it really is or not, since I haven’t seen it used that way a lot.  Not everyone sees porn (actual porn) as a bad thing and so it perhaps it is also something that looks really good (like a high end car photographed really acttractively).  Would be interested to hear if others think “porn” is used that way as well or if the few examples I saw were just clumsy. 

[Rain]

4 minutes ago, Calm said:

Yes, it implies people are highly attracted to even addicted to following such things for less than admirable reasons, as “porn” in the US has a negative connotation.  So it’s similar to “clickbait” if you know what that means. 

It’s usually done to make money, imo, but it can be done for political or religious reasons…wanting to make the other guy look like trash and to get people supporting the cause, but it can be purely for attention as well.

I have also seen “porn” used for just something looking indulgent, such as calling something that looks really yummy “food porn”, but I don’t know how common that is and if it has the nuance of making the food look better than it really is or not, since I haven’t seen it used that way a lot.  Not everyone sees porn (actual porn) as a bad thing and so it perhaps it is also something that looks really good (like a high end car photographed really acttractively).  Would be interested to hear if others think “porn” is used that way as well or if the few examples I saw were just clumsy. 

It's getting common.  Reddit has a lot of subs with "porn" in the title, but the subject of the sub is pretty mild.  It's kind of like the idea of binging Netflix shows.