Light the World

[I Have Questions]

...I don’t care who the church hires to do the work. If it is paying the bills, it gets to pick who it hires or contracts with...

According to Jana Reiss, the LDS church asks for volunteers to staff the machines, so it's not paying those bills, which I find a bit disingenuous, given the statement that they cover all administrative costs. For what it's worth, Reiss' assessment in 2023 was positive.

https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2023/12 ... -with-LDS/

It’s slightly misleading by Jana to suggest volunteers staff the machines. They’re vending machines, people know how to use them. The Church has local leaders roster people to stand with the machines primarily to use them to try and find investigators. It’s on the basis that the kind of person that uses the machines are maybe the kind of person that can be converted to Mormonism. The Church is using the associated charities as a Trojan horse to sell Mormonism.

[Marcus]

According to Jana Reiss, the LDS church asks for volunteers to staff the machines, so it's not paying those bills, which I find a bit disingenuous, given the statement that they cover all administrative costs. For what it's worth, Reiss' assessment in 2023 was positive.

https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2023/12 ... -with-LDS/

It’s slightly misleading by Jana to suggest volunteers staff the machines. They’re vending machines, people know how to use them. The Church has local leaders roster people to stand with the machines primarily to use them to try and find investigators. It’s on the basis that the kind of person that uses the machines are maybe the kind of person that can be converted to Mormonism. The Church is using the associated charities as a Trojan horse to sell Mormonism.

Ah, good point, that would explain why she noted that most users of the machine were LDS members. Not much for volunteer missionaries to do there.

I'm sure, however, that they added the dollar value of her volunteer time to the LDS church total of charitable donations that they trumpet to the ends of the earth. They are very proud of the miniscule amounts they give. Miniscule, that is, relative to their unnecessarily and obscenely gigantic hoard.

[Shulem]

No one is come back at you to criticize. Why is that?

Perhaps because I acknowledged that I was going against the grain. And I didn't try to guilt anyone into using the machines.

We appreciate not being judged as "grinches" just because we have personal/political reasons for not supporting Mormon giving machines. MG's trickery (trolling) was to guilt us for electing not to support the LDS charity program. I tend to think most Christians would find that kind of behavior off-putting. MG was just trying to start a fight and sow discord like the sneaky devil he is. Not very Christian! lol

On the flip side, we shouldn't judge Mormons as grinches just because they refuse to support LGBTQ rainbow giving machines set up for the same purpose. I can easily imagine many a Mormon would not touch those machines but would elect to pump their dollars into a different brand of charity; and that is their business.

Amen.

[Shulem]

The Church is using the associated charities as a Trojan horse to sell Mormonism.

That is exactly correct. It's always about proselyting! For them it's a numbers game.

[Shulem]

I'm sure, however, that they added the dollar value of her volunteer time to the LDS church total of charitable donations that they trumpet to the ends of the earth. They are very proud of the miniscule amounts they give. Miniscule, that is, relative to their unnecessarily and obscenely gigantic hoard.

You can bet the Church uses those numbers to advance their own cause and in so doing so they flatter themselves. The Church desperately wants to be accepted (image is everything) as a Christian religion by other churches who disagree with LDS core doctrines.

If I were the President of the Mormon church, I'd cut lots of checks in the billions and just send them to charities with as little fan fare as possible. That is what true Christianity is about!

[Morley]

The Church is using the associated charities as a Trojan horse to sell Mormonism.

As is MG. MG's not as interested in getting folks to donate to charity as he is in using this to sell Mormonism.

I say good for him. Hammer out the dents, give that old car a new paint job, and see if you can get someone to take her for a test drive. Just make sure the new buyer doesn't find out her history.

[Gadianton]

As is MG. MG's not as interested in getting folks to donate to charity as he is in using this to sell Mormonism.

I say good for him. Hammer out the dents, give that old car a new paint job, and see if you can get someone to take her for a test drive. Just make sure the new buyer doesn't find out her history.

You're more optimistic than I am. I see posts like this is outright trolling. He's not trying to sell Mormonism to anybody on this thread (the Church, of course, established the program to do nothing more than sell Mormonism). Who would be the target audience? The target is critics he's hoping to infuriate by over-enthusiastically promoting fluff. Trying to be like Ned Flanders. That doesn't mean all his posts are this way, though many or most of them lack effort, they aren't always insincere.

[Whiskey]

As is MG. MG's not as interested in getting folks to donate to charity as he is in using this to sell Mormonism.

I say good for him. Hammer out the dents, give that old car a new paint job, and see if you can get someone to take her for a test drive. Just make sure the new buyer doesn't find out her history.

You're more optimistic than I am. I see posts like this is outright trolling. He's not trying to sell Mormonism to anybody on this thread (the Church, of course, established the program to do nothing more than sell Mormonism). Who would be the target audience? The target is critics he's hoping to infuriate by over-enthusiastically promoting fluff. Trying to be like Ned Flanders. That doesn't mean all his posts are this way, though many or most of them lack effort, they aren't always insincere.

Morley wrote that. Not MG.

[Shulem]

Dearest brother MG,

I will gladly make a donation to the nearest Mormon giving machine if you will answer a single question to my satisfaction.

The founder of Mormonism said:

Thus I have given a brief history of the manner in which the writings of the Fathers, Abraham, and Joseph have been preserved and how I came into possession of the same, a correct translation of which I shall give in its proper place.

Fig. 2. King Pharaoh, whose name is given in the characters above his head.

QUESTION:

What is the "name" given in the characters?