For Whom Moroni's Trumpet Blows
Posted: Fri Dec 20, 2024 7:50 pm
From the Annals of the Turley J. Hinton Institute....
For Whom Moroni's Trumpet Blows
“Anger may in time change to gladness; vexation may be succeeded by content. But a kingdom that has once been destroyed can never come again into being; nor can the dead ever be brought back to life.”
--Sun Tzu, The Art of War
Part I: A New Dispensation
When the lights dimmed, the murmuring in the room stopped, and all eyes turned to the image projected on the far end of the room. Nephi Clark, who was manning the laptop, hit "Play" and the YouTube video commenced. On the screen was a young man who looked to be in his mid-twenties. He was boyishly handsome and still had a bit of baby fat in his cheeks. It looked he was standing in a park somewhere in suburban Salt Lake, as you could see the familiar mountains in background.
Greetings, Brothers and Sisters. My name is Nathan Travers. I'm a 5th generation Latter-day Saint on both sides. I served a mission in Australia. I was married in the temple. And I've been a faithful Latter-day Saint my entire life.
His brow furrowed and he looked down at the ground and began to walk, and the camera followed him.
A few years ago, though, I began to have questions about the Church. Searching on the Internet turned up a lot of troubling information: information about Joseph Smith's plural wives. Information about the location of the Hill Cumorah. Information about how there is no historical evidence to support a literal Book of Mormon.
He started directly into the camera: These things shook me to the core. I didn't know where to turn. I went to my bishop, and was referred to the STAAM website, but the answers there, to be honest, sounded more like excuses. And I didn't like their tendency to attack people with sincere questions. So next I turned to BYU's Church Studies Department.
I arranged to have a meeting with someone there: I'll call him Professor A. He was kind enough to meet with me and answer my questions, and he even agreed to allow the entire meeting to be filmed. He requested, though, that we blur his image and mask his voice to protect his identity. That is the only alterations that I made to the recording. Apart from that, everything you're about to see is presented in its entirety.
This, Brothers and Sisters, is the Interview with a Church Studies Professor.
The screen faded to black and just as it began to transition into the blurred image of the Professor, Nephi paused the video and the lights came up.
"So, that's the set-up," he said. "Though I know that just about everyone has already seen this at least once all the way through."
"It's obviously disingenuous," said Herb McConkie. "It's like we've said all along, once a person is on their way out, there's not convincing him. This interview was pure set-up. This video is designed to lure people out of the Church."
"And it's having an effect," Jon Trout said. It already has over half a million views on YouTube. And we can't forget that Elder Boudreaux has commanded us to use social media to spread the Gospel."
"Also to counter critics," added Merlyn. "Let's not forget the directive we were given by Elder Hinton himself." Everyone in the room turned to look at Merlyn, who was dressed in a collared shirt and tie, and had his thick arms crossed. He was perspiring lightly and the beads of sweat were visible on his high forehead. "'To fail to address criticism is like the goalie abandoning his post,'" quoted Merlyn. "That's what he said, and I, at least, take that charge very seriously."
Tanner Oswald, near the corner of the room, had been twisting a paperclip over and over until it finally snapped, and now he dropped the pieces of it onto the table, where they made a slightly jingling noise. "Travers clearly needs to be countered," he said.
"The trouble," Nephi said, "is the sheer volume of questions he poses. And it doesn't help us that this 'Professor' gets flustered."
"Do we even know who it was?"
"There are rumors, but we don't know for certain."
"The guy needs a swift kick in the butt, is what he needs," Herb said.
"I'm troubled by the fact of how fundamentally wrong the whole thing is," said Merlyn. "How much time are we supposed to waste countering every dumb thing this guy says?"
"I know that STAAM is preparing to launch a counter-website sometime in the coming days," said Trout.
Merlyn frowned and leaned forward and rested his hands on the table. "I can't escape the idea that the presentation is key here. I have a passionate distaste for Mr. Marshall McLuhan, but in this instance, 'the medium is the message' would seem to be on target."
"What are you thinking, Merlyn?" said Nephi.
"I'm thinking that we may want to consider a broadening of our approach. There is a lot that a scholarly journal can accomplish, but I've always admired the scope that cinema is able to have."
"You propose that we make a YouTube video in response?"
"No, not quite," Merlyn said. He had hand up by his chin, lost in thought. "I'm merely saying that the filmic medium has great power, and the potential to reach audiences that might not be as receptive to something like the Journal of HIDM. Howell used to always say that our aim was to appeal to everyone from the professor at Oxford to the widowed sister in American Fork. Mr. Travers has accumulated over half a million views with his disingenuous video. If we could get those same 500,000 sets of eyes to watch an inspiring and faith-promoting film of our own...."
"I like the way you're thinking, Merlyn," said Oswald.
Just then, the door opened and Paul Fredrickson, Director of the Hinton Institute, came into the room. "Terribly sorry to be late," he said. "I got stuck on a phone call with the Provost's office." He offered up a pale smile and took a seat at the head of the table, oblivious to the fact that he was in the way of the projector. "So," he said. "What did I miss?"
To be continued in Part II: Around the World in 20 Days
For Whom Moroni's Trumpet Blows
“Anger may in time change to gladness; vexation may be succeeded by content. But a kingdom that has once been destroyed can never come again into being; nor can the dead ever be brought back to life.”
--Sun Tzu, The Art of War
Part I: A New Dispensation
When the lights dimmed, the murmuring in the room stopped, and all eyes turned to the image projected on the far end of the room. Nephi Clark, who was manning the laptop, hit "Play" and the YouTube video commenced. On the screen was a young man who looked to be in his mid-twenties. He was boyishly handsome and still had a bit of baby fat in his cheeks. It looked he was standing in a park somewhere in suburban Salt Lake, as you could see the familiar mountains in background.
Greetings, Brothers and Sisters. My name is Nathan Travers. I'm a 5th generation Latter-day Saint on both sides. I served a mission in Australia. I was married in the temple. And I've been a faithful Latter-day Saint my entire life.
His brow furrowed and he looked down at the ground and began to walk, and the camera followed him.
A few years ago, though, I began to have questions about the Church. Searching on the Internet turned up a lot of troubling information: information about Joseph Smith's plural wives. Information about the location of the Hill Cumorah. Information about how there is no historical evidence to support a literal Book of Mormon.
He started directly into the camera: These things shook me to the core. I didn't know where to turn. I went to my bishop, and was referred to the STAAM website, but the answers there, to be honest, sounded more like excuses. And I didn't like their tendency to attack people with sincere questions. So next I turned to BYU's Church Studies Department.
I arranged to have a meeting with someone there: I'll call him Professor A. He was kind enough to meet with me and answer my questions, and he even agreed to allow the entire meeting to be filmed. He requested, though, that we blur his image and mask his voice to protect his identity. That is the only alterations that I made to the recording. Apart from that, everything you're about to see is presented in its entirety.
This, Brothers and Sisters, is the Interview with a Church Studies Professor.
The screen faded to black and just as it began to transition into the blurred image of the Professor, Nephi paused the video and the lights came up.
"So, that's the set-up," he said. "Though I know that just about everyone has already seen this at least once all the way through."
"It's obviously disingenuous," said Herb McConkie. "It's like we've said all along, once a person is on their way out, there's not convincing him. This interview was pure set-up. This video is designed to lure people out of the Church."
"And it's having an effect," Jon Trout said. It already has over half a million views on YouTube. And we can't forget that Elder Boudreaux has commanded us to use social media to spread the Gospel."
"Also to counter critics," added Merlyn. "Let's not forget the directive we were given by Elder Hinton himself." Everyone in the room turned to look at Merlyn, who was dressed in a collared shirt and tie, and had his thick arms crossed. He was perspiring lightly and the beads of sweat were visible on his high forehead. "'To fail to address criticism is like the goalie abandoning his post,'" quoted Merlyn. "That's what he said, and I, at least, take that charge very seriously."
Tanner Oswald, near the corner of the room, had been twisting a paperclip over and over until it finally snapped, and now he dropped the pieces of it onto the table, where they made a slightly jingling noise. "Travers clearly needs to be countered," he said.
"The trouble," Nephi said, "is the sheer volume of questions he poses. And it doesn't help us that this 'Professor' gets flustered."
"Do we even know who it was?"
"There are rumors, but we don't know for certain."
"The guy needs a swift kick in the butt, is what he needs," Herb said.
"I'm troubled by the fact of how fundamentally wrong the whole thing is," said Merlyn. "How much time are we supposed to waste countering every dumb thing this guy says?"
"I know that STAAM is preparing to launch a counter-website sometime in the coming days," said Trout.
Merlyn frowned and leaned forward and rested his hands on the table. "I can't escape the idea that the presentation is key here. I have a passionate distaste for Mr. Marshall McLuhan, but in this instance, 'the medium is the message' would seem to be on target."
"What are you thinking, Merlyn?" said Nephi.
"I'm thinking that we may want to consider a broadening of our approach. There is a lot that a scholarly journal can accomplish, but I've always admired the scope that cinema is able to have."
"You propose that we make a YouTube video in response?"
"No, not quite," Merlyn said. He had hand up by his chin, lost in thought. "I'm merely saying that the filmic medium has great power, and the potential to reach audiences that might not be as receptive to something like the Journal of HIDM. Howell used to always say that our aim was to appeal to everyone from the professor at Oxford to the widowed sister in American Fork. Mr. Travers has accumulated over half a million views with his disingenuous video. If we could get those same 500,000 sets of eyes to watch an inspiring and faith-promoting film of our own...."
"I like the way you're thinking, Merlyn," said Oswald.
Just then, the door opened and Paul Fredrickson, Director of the Hinton Institute, came into the room. "Terribly sorry to be late," he said. "I got stuck on a phone call with the Provost's office." He offered up a pale smile and took a seat at the head of the table, oblivious to the fact that he was in the way of the projector. "So," he said. "What did I miss?"
To be continued in Part II: Around the World in 20 Days
