More Mormon Idiocy

[_Dad of a Mormon]

Dan,

I do not understand the relationship between your thread title and the utube video. Unless I am mistaken the girl in the video was Catholic.

She was an entertaining poe for a long time. A troll. And she was pretty good, but I thought that the Japan video went too far, as did many other people. But she had others such as:

* A "Sunday School" song about people burning in hell.

* A head-scratcher asking atheists if God doesn't exist, who wrote the Bible?

I don't understand the point of Dan posting it either.

[_Ray A]

The girl is American. I wonder if she's praying for an earthquake in America? Prayer might not even be necessary, and it doesn't take a prophet to foresee this.

Hunters Woods Elementary, Reston, Va: 1. Is seismic activity on the rise? 2. Will there be a great quake in the USA anytime soon? 3. How would seismic activity be on the rise if tectonic plates are basically floating on the magma?

Dr. Michael Blanpied: Seismic activity, in general, isn't going up or down. We get a lot of big quakes every year, and occasionally those hit near population and cause damage--it's mostly a matter of chance.

There could be a big quake in the US any time, we can't tell in advance! It could be a minute from now, or next week, or next year, or later. We do know they're coming, just not when.

(Emphasis added)

Seismic Science: Is number of earthquakes on the rise?.

As to whether her comments were "ill-founded", well she was going on what scripture says, and what she believes:

18 And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. (Rev.16:8)

6 Thou shalt be visited of the Lord of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire. (Isa. 29:6)

7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. (Matt. 24:7)

11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven. (Luke 21:11)

12 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; (Rev. 6:12)

Especially for Mormons:

25 How oft have I called upon you by the mouth of my servants, and by the ministering of angels, and by mine own voice, and by the voice of thunderings, and by the voice of lightnings, and by the voice of tempests, and by the voice of earthquakes, and great hailstorms, and by the voice of famines and pestilences of every kind, and by the great sound of a Trump, and by the voice of judgment, and by the voice of mercy all the day long, and by the voice of glory and honor and the riches of eternal life, and would have saved you with an everlasting salvation, but ye would not! (D&C: 43:25)

33 And there shall be earthquakes also in divers places, and many desolations; yet men will harden their hearts against me, and they will take up the sword, one against another, and they will kill one another. (D&C 45:33)

6 And thus, with the sword and by bloodshed the inhabitants of the earth shall mourn; and with famine, and plague, and earthquake, and the thunder of heaven, and the fierce and vivid lightning also, shall the inhabitants of the earth be made to feel the wrath, and indignation, and chastening hand of an Almighty God, until the consumption decreed hath made a full end of all nations; (D&C 87:6)

89 For after your testimony cometh the testimony of earthquakes, that shall cause groanings in the midst of her, and men shall fall upon the ground and shall not be able to stand. (D&C 88:89)

There's certainly no need to "rejoice" about this, but from a believer's perspective that God will intervene through such disasters - is she wrong?

[_Ray A]

Not only is she almost certainly not a Mormon, but, in my judgment, she's almost certainly not a Christian, or any other kind of believer in God.

In fact, I am almost certain that this is intended as a mockery of people who are inclined to think that God produces natural disasters in order to punish the wicked. Such thinking is not rare enough, from what I have seen. One of my wife's fellow workers (a Latter-day Saint) expressed similar sentiments last week, prompting me to set apart 5 minutes at the start of my gospel doctrine lesson to debunk such notions.

I guess you've repented of your prophecies of my demise and death, Will.

In any case, I hope things are well with you and your kin.

[_Daniel Peterson]

What do you think your ratio is of substantive posts dealing with real issues related to Mormonism to personal attack posts?

Enormously high.

But, alas, if you factor in responding-to-personal-attack posts, the ratio would be very, very low.

I am, you see, a target. A very popular one.

Even if we assume that most of the personal attacks are true, don't you think providing a positive case and defending Mormonism are more important objectives?

Far more. Which is why I spend the vast majority of my (relevant) time providing a positive case for, and defending Mormonism. I do that almost entirely elsewhere, including books, essays, journals, firesides, newspaper columns, lectures, videos, audiotapes, and etc.

Here in the "Celestial Forum," I've been calling attention to things that I and others have written, to conferences and symposia, to films, to new books, and many other such things.

Down in the "Terrestrial Forum," where I've made an unscheduled stop over the past few days, I've been defending myself and certain things with which I'm involved against baseless attacks. That will end fairly soon, and I'll go back solely to posting announcements here in the "Celestial Forum."

Replying to Joey hasn't even been a blip on the radar screen in my posting history here -- though I will admit that my rather stern comment to him earlier this evening may be one of the harshest things I've ever written.

***

Incidentally, the reference to Mormonism in this thread title was a very slight ironic joke. I failed to reckon with the apparent humorlessness of a number of people here, though, so it evidently didn't succeed.

I'm pleased to hear that this young women is evidently a poseur. I was blissfully unaware of her until just before I launched this thread, and I didn't know that, though the thought occurred to me shortly afterwards.

[_Ray A]

I'm pleased to hear that this young women is evidently a poseur. I was blissfully unaware of her until just before I launched this thread, and I didn't know that, though the thought occurred to me shortly afterwards.

I'm still unable to decide. From what I've learned, she's been a long time critic of atheists, and has posted on Christian forums. She has received death threats because of her latest You Tube post:

Track this bitch down, and her account is now closed. That I find even more disturbing in a country that prides itself on "free speech".

Glenn Beck is not a troll, though:

Glenn Beck’s Japan Earthquake Rant Puts Him on The Fox News Fault Line.

Beck said, “We can’t see the connections here. Now look, I’m not saying God is, you know, causing earthquakes. Well — I’m not saying that he — I’m not not saying that either. God — what God does is God’s business, I have no idea. But I’ll tell you this: whether you call it Gaia or whether you call it Jesus — there’s a message being sent.

[_moksha]

Glenn Beck’s Japan Earthquake Rant Puts Him on The Fox News Fault Line.

Beck said, “We can’t see the connections here. Now look, I’m not saying God is, you know, causing earthquakes. Well — I’m not saying that he — I’m not not saying that either. God — what God does is God’s business, I have no idea. But I’ll tell you this: whether you call it Gaia or whether you call it Jesus — there’s a message being sent.

By the hoary host of Brother Skousen, Glenn Beck and Fox New were meant for one another. Ray, maybe next time you run into Rupert Murdoch you could pass this thought along to him.

[_Fence Sitter]

Incidentally, the reference to Mormonism in this thread title was a very slight ironic joke. I failed to reckon with the apparent humorlessness of a number of people here, though, so it evidently didn't succeed.

Except the girl indicated she was Catholic (Lent reference) which made seeing it as a joke difficult given the thread title. If the title had been "More Religious Idiocy" you would have a point. Maybe you missed the part about Lent? In this case I blame the messenger. I would suggest the usual punishment.

[_stemelbow]

Except the girl indicated she was Catholic (Lent reference) which made seeing it as a joke difficult given the thread title. If the title had been "More Religious Idiocy" you would have a point. Maybe you missed the part about Lent? In this case I blame the messenger. I would suggest the usual punishment.

I got the joke. Funny enough to offer a hearty pep pep.

So are you really complaining about his joke here, Fence Sitter? I had you pegged for a reasonable dude. What happened?

[_Fence Sitter]

Except the girl indicated she was Catholic (Lent reference) which made seeing it as a joke difficult given the thread title. If the title had been "More Religious Idiocy" you would have a point. Maybe you missed the part about Lent? In this case I blame the messenger. I would suggest the usual punishment.

I got the joke. Funny enough to offer a hearty pep pep.

So are you really complaining about his joke here, Fence Sitter? I had you pegged for a reasonable dude. What happened?

Maybe I am just slow today. Explain the joke to me if you would. How does a Catholic girl ranting about atheists connect to Mormon idiocy at all? (And yes I know she was just being a troll.)

By the way, as with most threads, I do not see this as important or proof of anything. Frankly I think Dan just missed the Lent part and was trying to take a shot at some people who would use a rant like that against the LDS, which would have made sense if the rant had omitted the Catholic reference. Or I could be wrong.

ETA. I am a huge supporter of Dan's unique brand of humor. I do this by providing my own 'humor' in some of his threads. The clearly inferior quality of my humor gives a stark contrast to Dan's more sophisticated offerings, thus elevating his humor even more. I am not paid for these efforts.

[_Daniel Peterson]

Except the girl indicated she was Catholic (Lent reference) which made seeing it as a joke difficult given the thread title. If the title had been "More Religious Idiocy" you would have a point. Maybe you missed the part about Lent?

Nope. I didn't.

In this case I blame the messenger. I would suggest the usual punishment.

That seems the most reasonable course.