The LDS/Facebook Rumor Didn't Pass the Common Sense Test

In the absence of news, there's nothing the blogosphere loves more than an unfounded, nonsensical rumor, especially if two visible, but often misunderstood, parties are involved. I was amusingly dumbfounded this afternoon to find that today's rumor du jour settled on the idea that the LDS (or Mormon) Church had made an offer to acquire the hot social networking site, Facebook. While some, knowing only a mote of data about the church, suggested Facebook's strong database of familial interconnects would fall in line with the Mormon's well-known efforts in family history, the rumor was laughable on its face, which had me going from blog to blog saying it was complete bunk - which it of course, turned out to be.

See the nonsense here:

The Industry Standard:
LDS church rumored to have offered for Facebook
Venture Beat:
Rumor from the news doldrums of August: Mormon church trying to buy Facebook
WinExtra: The Mormon Church Looking To Buy Facebook?

As a life-long Mormon, I've grown used to people coming to conclusions about what the church does, stands for, or how its members behave. And despite the church being more open and active on the Web than almost any other faith out there, that I can think of, there are still pieces that remain mysterious, leading people to speculate well beyond reality. And today's rumor was just too juicy for people to pass up - and was more reminiscent of the Twitter-fed rumor that Subway's Jared had died than anything smacking of real journalism.

Whether it's a religious group, a person's country of origin, their race, their age or their gender, people have a tendency to make generalizations based on what they've seen through interacting with others, through what they've learned through the media and books, or been told about from friends or family.

When I tell people I'm Mormon, I'm often assumed to have a short haircut, wear a white shirt and tie, avoid cigarettes, coffee, tea, alcohol, drugs, and caffeine. Taking it a step further, people guess I probably spent good time in Utah, that I probably have 8 to 12 brothers and sisters, that I served a two year mission, that I likely graduated from BYU, married early and would have more than one wife if the laws were just a little more flexible.

At other times, I'll get the "You're Mormon? Really? But you're so normal!", which both gives me a sense of relief, but makes me feel somewhat guilty that I wasn't so exemplary a church member that it would have been obvious.

But while I can take the one by one issues with people who are ignorant, or just curious, today's rumor that the church would use a good portion of its estimated $30 billion cash horde to acquire a social networking site best known for poking and sending zombies to bite you was completely off the wall, and anybody who had any real knowledge about the church's mission had to have been giggling, knowing it had no basis whatsoever.

As a tithe-paying member, 10% of my total take-home income is donated to the church. While I don't dictate how the church uses my money, any more than I tell the government how to spend my tax dollars, I know that the funds are used to build new chapels and temples worldwide, to support the church's extensive welfare program that helps families in need, and to provide service in times of disaster. The church was extremely visible in aiding victims of the 2001 terrorist attacks, in responding to the South Pacific tsunami, and was instrumental in responding to Hurricane Katrina. In fact, the church's well-orchestrated service arm is so strong, that other faiths will often work with the LDS church while encouraging their own members to provide donations in times of strife.

And this has nothing to do with buying any social network.

In regards to the intimations by some that this was some scheme to lop a massive database into the church's genealogical archives, that too made no sense. As members, we are encouraged to pursue our family history and look backward to our ancestors, but we can only submit names of those with whom we are relatives. We don't submit friends' or celebrities' data, and we're certainly not out there buying lists to do a mass import.

But, clearly, not everybody knows this, and that can only be due to a lack of trying to understand.

The LDS church, whether you believe their doctrine or not, has done an amazing job at providing materials for visitors to understand their goals, their current events and their curriculum. Not only do they provide every word of their scriptures, including Book of Mormon, the Bible and all cross-references and footnotes online, and make them searchable, but they stream their semi-annual meetings online, they provide all church magazines going back to 1971, in full text, online, and all curriculum materials. This means any Web surfer can know this week's Sunday School lessons or see the church leadership's comments on world events. And all texts available to rank and file church members are visible to any site visitor.

Yet somehow, the church is seen as mysterious. Even though the church is among the fastest growing worldwide, and all these resources are available, the fact there are denominational differences and behavioral differences between the church and its members, makes people wonder if there's more to the story. That's partly why today's rumor took off like it did. Eric Eldon of VentureBeat wrote, "It got legs because it was so ridiculous, yet intriguing."

It was at least ridiculous. The good news is that, as church members, we've seen this kind of annoying misunderstanding before. It's the same kind of herd mentality that associates the church with the HBO series "Big Love", the same ignorance that linked the church with the odd polygamist sect in Texas earlier this year, or those who forced Mitt Romney's hand, making him do a pronouncement on religion earlier this year. It seems that no matter how many questions we answer, or how open we are, people would prefer not to understand and recognize that the church and its members are not secretly plotting to buy out the Web, and we aren't trying to take over the world. While Duncan Riley of the Inquisitr was good enough to have a little fun with it, many of his sources were of course from anti-Mormon sites or incorrect material, which he's not faulted for finding. And others didn't even do the basics of a simple Web search to understand how to contact church authorities and find the truth.

As one fellow member wrote me on e-mail today, "These guys are not drunk, they are smoking something really strong. It may be a slow day, but that does not mean they need to break the word of wisdom. If they are not smoking it they should at least not inhale."

See Also:
Being Mac. Being Mormon. It's Quite Similar.
Mormon. Liberal. Not Conflicted.

LDS Prophet's Funeral Streamed On the Web Via BYU.TV

This morning, my wife and I watched the funeral ceremony for recently-deceased Mormon church leader Gordon B. Hinckley, live, streaming on the Web, via the church-affiliated broadcast network, BYU TV. While I've mentioned BYU TV a few times before, including in mentioning the church's semi-annual General Conference, this morning's experience was a very touching presentation, which showed where one era in the church was ending, and another was set to begin.

Having grown accustomed to the choppiness of Web video, graininess, or buffering, the contrast between that subpar experience and what BYU TV offers is worth the visit alone. At any point, I could pause the broadcast, hit the "Go Live" button to be fully caught up, or I could even click the schedule on the right side of the screen to see the programming leading into the funeral ceremony, or other content.

The way BYU TV handles television programming for the Web is the way all broadcast networks should, commercial or otherwise - giving the viewer both the option to watch live programming, or video on demand, with full start/stop functionality. That we could utilize such strong technology while also seeing a historic event was very fulfilling, knowing I wasn't compromising on the experience simply for convenience.

Hickley presided over the church for 15 years. In his time as church leader, 1/3rd of the church's current membership was baptized, and the number of temples on the Earth grew to 124, with #125, in Rexburg, Idaho, originally scheduled to be dedicated today, being delayed a week due to Hinckley's death.

As the church leaders noted in today's broadcast, there will be no jockeying for position as to who will assume the position of prophet, seer and revelator for the next era. There will be no back-room discussions or canvassing for support. The succession plans are dictated by scripture, and will follow as they have for centuries. While we're already amazed by the way the church has adapted to be on the cutting edge of today's technology, it's even more remarkable to think of where they will be at the end of the next era.

The event of president Hinckley's funeral is available to the world via BYU.tv. Go to www.byu.tv, and find the broadcast from 11 a.m. MST today.

Mormon Leader Gordon B. Hinckley Passes Away

Breaking away a bit from our usual technology coverage, we heard the sad news tonight that LDS church prophet Gordon B. Hinckley passed away at age 97, after leading the church for more than twelve years. Hinckley presided over the church in a time of significant growth, missionary outreach, and temple building world-wide. He also was easily the most visible Mormon prophet to date, showing incredible media poise, appearing on CNN's Larry King Live several times during his presidency.

(See transcripts from: 1998 and 2001 or the 2004 video from YouTube)

For those unfamiliar with the Mormon faith in general, Hinckley held the highest position in the church, behind only the Godhead, of course, and could be considered the equivalent of the pope for the Catholic church. Hinckley was a member of the First Presidency, with both a first and second counselor, heading the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, paralleling the organization of the New Testament times.

In my time as a member of the church, since birth in 1977, I've seen four prophets, starting with Spencer W. Kimball, Ezra Taft Benson, Howard W. Hunter, and Hinckley. While Hinckley was the oldest president in church history, he was well-known for his optimistic spirit and upbeat attitude, even as he was in his mid-90s. We will certainly miss him, even though we know the church remains in good hands.

For more information on Gordon B. Hinckley, see LDS.org or Wikipedia.

Being Mac. Being Mormon. It's Quite Similar.

If you found me in a crowd, your tendency would be to guess that as a white male, I've never dealt with being in a position as a minority, and could construe that, having lived a full life as part of the majority, I've always had a voice and never seen bias due to who I was. Yet that's not true.

Both as a Mormon (common name for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) and as a Mac user, I've always identified myself with a small minority of the population, a visible minority, commonly misunderstood, and all too often, dismissed or even despised.In both cases, the experience from one aids the other, as our community can both try to help others understand why we are the way we are, that we're not as "strange" as believed from the outside, and we're both aided by a vocal, evangelizing base.Below's one take on how my two "religions" match up, by no means complete:

Topic	Apple	LDS/Mormon
U.S. Marketshare:	6.1% (IDC)	2-3% (Mormon.org/US Census)
Large Installed Base:	22 million (est.)	13 million members
Growing Membership	37% growth y/y	Cited as 2nd-fastest growing religion in the U.S.
Worldwide Translation	18 Mac OS X Languages	Church materials in 178 languages
Focus on Conversion	Get A Mac Campaign	50,000 active missionaries
Monotheistic Culture	Steve Jobs	Jesus Christ
Corporate Face	Steve Jobs	Gordon B. Hinckley
Extended Leadership	Board of Directors	The 12 Apostles
Retail Locations	More than 200 Apple stores	More than 120 LDS temples
Annual Meetings	2 (MWSF & WWDC)	2 (Semi-Annual General Conference)
Second Coming	Steve Jobs (1997)	Jesus Christ (still waiting)
Some Think It's a Cult	Wired: Cult of Mac	Mormoncult.org
Vocal Detractors	Microsoft, Linux	Southern Baptists, Evangelicals, Fundamentalist Christians
Standard Uniform	Black Turtleneck, Blue Jeans	White Shirt and Tie
The Color White	Mac Books, iPods, etc.	White Shirts, Temples, etc.
Music Sources	iTunes	Mormon Tabernacle Choir
Youthful Actors	Justin Long	Jon Heder
Presidential Candidates	Steve Jobs (unofficial)	Mitt Romney (not church-endorsed)
Large Cash Reserves	$15.4 billion	$30+ billion (estimated)
Controversial History	The Newton, Apple III, Licensing	Polygamy, Priesthood, Martyrdom
Stance on Cloning	Against	No position on stem-cell research
Stance on Tithing	One new OS X Release a Year ($129)	Members pledge 10% of income
Ongoing Revelation	Next Macworld!	General Conference, Doctrine & Covenants
Common Misconceptions	No Microsoft Office, Lacks Software, Not Good for Business	Plural Marriage, Not Christian, Book of Mormon Used Instead of the Bible
Actual Reality	15 Reasons You'll Love a Mac	The Articles of Faith

Mac users are misunderstood. People assume what choosing Mac over Windows means for us as people, just as people even more often have a belief in their mind about what it means to be Mormon. I am just as passionate about being Mormon as I am about being Mac (although you don't hear it as often). And there are people out there who are extremely opposed to the church and my OS. I've accepted that. I've seen misinformation campaigns for both. I've had to take a deep breath and explain the truths of both, and I know it will always be this way. But I will always answer questions and try to help. That's part of being Mormon and it's part of being a Mac fan. Who knew they were so similar!

LDS Church Streaming Conference Live Via the Web

The LDS Church, commonly known as the "Mormon" church, has long been an adopter of technology to further the religion's message. Now with 15 million members worldwide in 176 countries, the church is the 4th largest Christian demonination, and among the fastest-growing worldwide. One of the vehicles for the church's growth has been openness. This weekend, the church's twice-annual general conference is streamed over the Web to viewers around the globe, to their homes and meetinghouses.

Available free to all via the church's university TV network, on BYU.tv, the conference's proceedings are streamed seamlessly with some of the clearest video I've ever encountered. No buffering, no jerkiness, and crisp sound.


Click to Enlarge Each Image
I get questions all the time about the church - whether at work, or from friends and acquaintances. While I can try and give my responses to the best of my ability, I am elated to see the church's adoption of new technology to embrace transparency and bring the message to all who care to hear. For a religion commonly dismissed as a cult by people who don't understand, it sure is open, available and inviting.

Previous Post: BYU TV Is Great Web Video Resource

Mobsters and Mormons: The Movie

In the last five years or so, a subculture of independent Mormon-themed films has sprung up, with a certain amount of success. (I hesitate to say they've become cult favorites, thanks to some ill-mannered folks still in denial about the church's openness.)

From "The Other Side of Heaven" to "The Singles Ward" and "The R.M.", members of the LDS church have turned the other cheek, mocking themselves and a myriad of stereotypes, ranging from their puritanical avoidance of drugs, alcohol and gambling, to traditional approaches to dating, and a regimented schedule which includes three hours of church services each Sunday, home teaching throughout the month, and countless service projects. Throwing a wrinkle into this formula is a film, which we saw on DVD from Netflix last night, called "Mobsters and Mormons", where a mob-affiliated stool pigeon is relocated via the FBI's Witness Protection Program to friendly Salt Lake City, and the worldly family tries to adapt to an unfamiliar straight-laced neighborhood, complete with area gossip queen, aggressively helpful neighbors, and the local bishop, who finds the father a job in his hardware supply store.

To say the film featured top-notch world-class actors and a prize-winning script would be a lie, but it was certainly entertaining. The family, in a "fish out of water" scenario, finds the Mormon differences very odd. The fact the Mormons don't drink alcohol or coffee draws comparisons to the Amish, and the visitors haven't been in Utah for more than a minute before asking a gentleman at the airport if he has multiple wives. (He doesn't, and explains the church's 100-plus year ban on the practice, in vain.)

While one would expect a film about Mormons, in Utah, produced by an LDS producer and featuring a largely Mormon cast, to always show the church in a good light, it does speak to those who might be watching where it says that while the church may be true, not all its members are. In a show where the outsiders are embraced by some, they are also shunned by others. They feel out of place, exacerbated by shut doors and closed window blinds. Yet, somehow, they get by.

If you're looking for a film likely to be toasted with multiple Academy Award nominations, this isn't your show. Some of the acting is amateurish, and stereotypical, not just of the Utah Mormons, but of the New Jersey-based Italian mobsters. The plotline is funny, but easily anticipated. If you want to laugh and can relax about those things, feel free to pick it up. You might be surprised.

Mormon. Liberal. Not Conflicted.

Cross-posted at Daily Kos

In the left wing blogosphere, it seems there is one religious group that does not receive the same welcomes, the same understanding, the same care that others do - apparently being Mormon (common slang for a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) is a key delimiter that defines people based on their single characteristic. I don't see that any other religion, be you Muslim, Jewish, Presbyterian or Catholic, raises the ire of the left's community with such clarity - and any politician who happens to be Mormon cannot act independent of their faith without being constantly reminded of it, whether it be Harry Reid, Orrin Hatch or Mitt Romney.

As a viewer of many left-leaning political blogs, from DailyKos to MyDD and AmericaBlog for the last few years, I have been very impressed with the great variety of people who post their views, actions, frustrations and plans to push the Democratic party forward, or in many cases, finding the many wrongs in today's political sphere. As Democrats, we have always been the advocates for diversity, understanding of other viewpoints, and champions for the disenfranchised or those outside the majority.

When John F. Kennedy was elected president in 1960, it was remarkable that a Catholic would have ascended to the highest post in the country - and countless people were afraid that he would "answer to the Pope". Now, a politician being Catholic hardly raises an eyebrow. Yet, we are all very familiar with the religious affiliations of Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney (Mormon), Utah senator Orrin Hatch (Mormon) and Nevada Senator Harry Reid (Mormon). When each of these political leaders is written of or spoken of, it is done so through the lens of their religion.

I have been Mormon my whole life.

This to you probably means I lived in Utah, have eight brothers and sisters, got married at eighteen, attended BYU, hate homosexuals, am anti-abortion, and would vote for a moldy lettuce leaf if it had the word "Republican" stamped on it. (A phrase I picked up when a fellow Mormon complained about her father's voting preferences...)

Wrong.

I went to the "non-conservative" UC Berkeley, got married after completing college, and have always voted Democrat. I am pro-choice. I am pro-environment. My three best male friends are gay - two of whom I've known since junior high school, and both of whom have been invited and come with me to church services on more than one occasion. In fact, for a church so widely considered a "cult", the LDS church is one of the most open out there - period. Everybody is invited to every meeting. Heck, we even run commercials and offer free Bibles and Book of Mormons!

One of the major tenets of the church is a belief in free agency - that everybody has the opportunity to select between right and wrong, or when it comes to earthly affairs, the church pretty much stays out of it. Every year around election time, the church makes it a point to proclaim their neutrality, without bias toward any specific party, proposition or individual. And while Utah and Idaho (where many Mormons reside) can be counted on to vote Republican, there is no political litmus test to be an active member of the church. Reid is a fantastic example of a Democrat who happens to be Mormon, without conflict. That is his agency, as much as it is the agency of those who choose to consistently vote Republican.

The issue reared its ugly head again today on AmericaBlog, which I often find to have some of the best political news out there, but runs a serious mean streak when it comes to the Mormon church, one I've seen time and again, with frustration. In an article this morning around Romney's hire of an extremist ad consultant (according to the site), comments that raged against his religion were rampant.

Some excerpts:

"Jesus why are these pretty haired cons so obsessed with us? Mitty go back to Salt Lake and worship that idiotic cult of yours."

"Romney=Mormon Cultist"

"All you have to ask a christian republican is if they want their country run by someone who thinks he can have all the women he wants on his own planet. Watch their heads spin off into space when they get a real look at what the mormons believe."

Not-so-brilliant insight from people who are supposed to be among the most tolerant out there. Comments against blacks, Jews or Muslims would be uproarious, but Mormons continue to be fair game. And this is nothing new.

For example:DKos: Tag: Mormon

From:
Hinckley a Walking Corpse?

The President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, walking corpse Gordon B. Hinckley, wants to solve our "problem."

Utah and Idaho are worse than the South...

"Their guilt and inferiority complexes are infused with not just racism, but polygamy, incest, and in-breeding!"

It's hard to believe that a party or its followers wouldn't want me or my family to be a part of it because of the religion in which I was born. A religion which supports stem cell research, a religion which was one of the first to organize help and aid for victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and those affected by the 9/11 terrorist attacks. I hope that this bewildering response represents the lunatic fringe, and not the silent majority who understands that there are many of us who love the church and love the party. I'm not the only one (See: DKos and Bigotry)

They say to turn the other cheek and to take it. They say to pray for your those that persecuteth you. I hope that we can move beyond the times of ignorant, roving mobs that plagued the Mormons in the 1800s, and recognize that as our society has grown more enlightened to people of all colors and backgrounds, that there are no exceptions to the rule.

BYU TV Is Great Web Video Resource

I don't talk much about religion on the blog, but for introductory purposes, I'm LDS (Mormon), having been born into the church, raised in the church, and an active participant for the better part of my life, with a 4-year self-imposed sabbatical that overlapped my college years being the only exception. While I'm a typical Mormon in some ways, in that I don't drink, use drugs, don't swear often (that I know of), and attend services on Sunday, I'm also somewhat atypical in the way I vote, in that I don't exactly like Utah in any way, I didn't serve a full-time mission, and I don't have kids.

The church has been very impressive in the way that they have utilized new technology and especially the Internet. Unlike many churches, who preach from their meetinghouses and limit their sharing of the gospel with their attending members, the LDS church has a very-thorough Web site, targeting both members and non-members, with a fully searchable Gospel Library, including the scriptures (Bible and Book of Mormon), teaching guides and archived church magazines. While some non-LDS call the church a cult, the religion is in fact, the complete opposite, not hiding secrets within, but promoting openness and welcoming questions.

Beyond the centerpiece LDS.org Web site, the church operates sites for genealogy at www.familysearch.org, and a site for more curious visitors, at www.mormon.org. LDS.org also offers daily e-mails about church members in the news and streams the church's twice-annual general conference talks over the Web in a wide variety of languages. Additionally, the church-affiliated university system, BYU (Brigham Young University) also has adapted the Web, using some of the best streaming video technology I've ever encountered, on the university's BYU TV site, at www.byu.tv.

While for most, the world of online video is one full of stuttering stop-start performance, and inconsistent buffering, or small video windows, BYU TV offers visitors a rich, fast, streaming video experience for any operating system or browser, and lets people select not just from what's on the channel right then, but from a menu of the day's offerings, in addition to special features, including the aforementioned General Conference talks, where the church's leaders, including the prophet and apostles talk to its members. Just this morning, when we were looking at BYU TV, we were entertained to see a "classic" BYU football game against Oklahoma, or we could queue up aerobics videos, scrapbooking how-tos and gardening tips.

While the pedestrian content might not wow you, and trust me, I'm not bowled over by instructional sewing videos and arts and crafts, I was very impressed with the technology, and pleased to see the church and its affiliated university continuing to be on the cutting edge, taking advantage of what the Web has to offer. In an increasingly skeptical world, where many are either turning away from religion, or relying on religion as the basis to blame others or incite hatred, it's good to see a calm, consistent voice available to anybody at any time - and with good quality too.

Listening to ''Surrender'', by Depeche Mode (Play Count: 10)