Did you hear it this morning? It was on pretty early. When I started on my way to work at 7:30 this morning, the "mormon" guy was on KROQ this morning explaining the church. The problem was, he was a former member of the church. A lot of his answers struck me as odd, and then after the interview they mentioned that he was a former member of the church and that's when it all started to make more sense.
What seemed the most unsettling about his interview was that Kevin and Bean and all the people on the morning show seemed to be more sympathetic to the church than this guy was. And it wasn't overt, but pretty subtle. For example, they asked him about black people in the church and whether or not they're allowed in the church, or to intermarry and he referenced some obscure Brigham Young quote (of course, right?), and then talked about how the revelation on the priesthood came about only because of external cultural influences.
I know that as members often we are overly sensitive about people talking about the church in general as it is. However, that has to just be the result of many slanted, and unflattering perspectives and ideas that people get from biased sources. I just hate that.
There is something about people who operate on the fringe that just doesn't sit right with me. Especially when it comes to things about the church. When a person starts referencing obscure and asynchronous quotes and teachings, then that should be a warning flag that what they have to say is out of the mainstream thought, and therefore, irrelevant. I think I should write a letter. Check out the podcast by going to KROQ, Kevin and Bean, then podcasts for the show for today, November 16th, when they post it.
***UPDATE***
I caught the end of the show and they mentioned that many members responded, upset that they didn't ask a current member of the church. They deliberately sought out a non-member so that the person would be more willing to open up about the more "secretive" stuff. At that point I realized that you can't really get too upset about something like this. It's a morning show whose main point is to try and draw in listeners and elicit responses from the people, so what can you really expect? And so much of what they do is irreverent and aimed at shock anyway, that you just can't expect to get some temple-worthy member who is going to properly defend and promote the church on that show.
4 comments:
oh man! I missed it. I'll have to check it out on their podcast -- even though I'm sure I'll be super annoyed listening to it since they had someone who wasn't even really a member. I knew that was going to happen. I think I'm going to email kevin and bean too.
Everything the guy said about the mormon church was true, so why would they get upset? Probably because he made them look bad. When you come down to it, the mormon church has some very strange beliefs and something has to be wrong with it's members to not question them or at least ask more about them.
Hi - total stranger but fellow member and I really appreciated your post I was very refreshed by about 96% of it. But I have to disagree with you one little thing. Opinions on the fringe aren't wrong because they're not mainstream. If they were wrong or right it would't matter what side of the stream they were on. They're wrong because they're wrong or they're right because they're right. I think its the mainstream mentality that ignites all the canker sores of Mormon Culture that we end up "explaining" to people on the radio or off.
Thanks for speaking up though. I called in too and they were very nice but not to compliant. Typical PR people I'd assume.
I agree. I didn't take as much time writing that post as I would have liked to. For some reason I feel a certain amount of pressure to publish posts daily, or soon after the relevant occurs for the benefit of the 5 or 6 loyal readers I have. Because of that sometimes I don't fully clarify myself.
I didn't mean to suggest that people operating on the fringe are not right because they are not mainstream. Also, I didn't mean for that to be something that applies to every situation.
What I meant to imply was that people who deal almost exclusively with fringe ideas or practices generally are misguided. It becomes a sort of way that they can find to justify whatever incorrect belief they currently hold. A sort of, I do this or think that way because Joseph Smith once said so in a sermon to to some guys he was clearing fields with that was referenced in some obscure book that is out of print, kind of a thing. I don't know if that makes any more sense.
If something is deemed wrong or right, it has to do with its own inherent correctness or lack thereof. It has nothing to do with whether or not it adheres to or deviates from the norm. However, often (but not always) there is safety in the middle of the road, particularly when it comes to church doctrines.
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