What's up with all the Mormon commercials?

[mrmpa]

I've been seeing these ads for the past few weeks. Where all these people with great professions profess that they are also a Mormon. Is the church trying to recruit? Is this just a foray of ads before the elections? Or what? What do you think?

[Sapphocrat]

1. Damage control. n/t

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. If you give DU a little money...

Those pesky ads disappear...

[mrmpa]

5. No, not DU ads- Television commercials

[CaliforniaPeggy]

7. Ah, sorry, I misunderstood. nt.

[mrmpa]

27. No need to apologize

[glinda]

3. To lay the ground for Mitt Romney's run for President. Did you know

that they add people's names to their "converted" list after they die? They will claim you as Mormon after you die especially if you are a professional. My husband's father was a minister of another Religion and they converted him after he was dead. As so they did to my uncle also.

[glinda]

4. Oh and I forgot to add that they will build the new Israel on American soil.

[arbusto_baboso]

11. And they don't remove resigned or excommunicated member's names...

from their "official numbers" until the individual in question celebrates their 110th birthday. Most are too dead to care by then. But it allows them to claim greater numbers, and therefore more political clout.

[Sheepshank]

14. the only way (other than turning 110 and be dead) to get off the list

is to formally apply to have your name removed from all records. They hold a meeting and invite you to explain yourself. of course by that point hardly anyonw shows up to the 'hearing'...but yeah, theres a process and still once it gets to the main admin building, it may take time. Although I've heard that Greg Dodge has done a good job of speeding uyp the process once he gets the requests.

Back in the old days they would excommunicate you to get you off the rolls. Since so many people threatened law suits with such a disparaging lable being added, I think they may not do that any more. But still, it's the only way not to have your latent membership used to inflate attendance numbers.

[arbusto_baboso]

16. They still keep your name on the official "count list".

You can resign (the preferred term to name removal, incidentally), but it literally doesn't matter to the big wigs in Salt Lake.

[FreeState]

21. That is not true - by law they have to remove your name as a member

See: http://www.exmormon.org/remove.htm

and

http://packham.n4m.org/leaving.htm

Until a few years ago, the only way to leave the church was to be excommunicated. That changed when one man, Norman Hancock of Mesa, Arizona, brought an $18 million lawsuit against the church in 1985 for refusing to let him withdraw voluntarily. The church settled the case before trial, and the next edition of the General Handbook of Instructions after the resolution of the Hancock case included provisions for voluntary withdrawal without the stigma of excommunication. But the authorities still make it difficult. The procedures are found officially only in the church's handbook of instructions for local church leaders, which is not generally available to members; only church leaders have copies, and those copies are carefully guarded. (For a detailed discussion of the Hancock case, see the long article in "Reports of the Mormon Alliance", which also discusses the importance of resigning rather than requesting "name removal.")

[arbusto_baboso]

22. "Officially", yes.

You are no longer considered a member for purposes of ward records, tithing, etc.

But when they brag about their membership numbers (i.e., the "fastest growing church on Earth"; another mormon lie, btw) they still include you in the count.

Oh, and don't quote Richard Packham at me. I know the guy. And he will readily acknowledge that the theory and reality don't necessarily coincide in this instance.

[glinda]

25. Makes me angry that they took my relatives against their will and included them.

They had nothing to do with the Mormon Church. It should be illegal to do this.

[glinda]

24. It allows them to claim "diversity". LOL!

[Boojatta]

6. Advertising is good.

It might motivate you to learn something about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which is an important institution. You could begin with the founder: Joseph Smith.

[Sebastian Doyle]

8. All you need to know about "The Prophet" Joseph Smith can be found

right here.

[Ezlivin]

9. They are fun to watch with your wives

Several of my wives enjoy watching television in the evening while the rest tend to the home and garden.

Later I pick the choicest of them to join me in bed.

My Life As a Mormon. Soon to be a major motion picture.

[arbusto_baboso]

10. All the Prop 8 fol-de-rol was an effort by mos to look "mainstream christian".

And why? So Mitt actually stands a chance for the Repub nomination in 2012. Won't happen, of course, since most southerners (rightly, it turns out) think of mormonism as nothing but a bizarre mind-control cult.

[Lance_Boyle]

12. The 'Free Personality Test' marketing gimmick was already taken. n/t

[EC]

13. Romney's running

and it's a subliminal ad...

[glinda]

26. THAT is exactly why those ads are up on tv. They are political.

[Realityhack]

15. They are always trying to recruit.

It is a full time church activity.
However the tone of these particular commercials may be a form of damage control.

Look at their commercials as just that... commercials. They are trying to get people to buy their product. If people have a negative view based in the idea that Mormons are not represented in interesting or high paying jobs... the PR guys do a commercial to address that.

[Ikonoklast]

17. Are they having a special on Magic Underwear?

[Blue Owl]

18. Oh those Fundies and their Undies!

[Kat45]

19. There have always been Mormon ads here and there

Are there a lot more now?

[GoldenOldie]

23. Mormonism is more like a cult than a religion yet..........

it is the Islamic religion began over a 1,000 years ago which practiced their faith beside their Christian friends and neighbors, that is now being constantly and sometimes savagely attacked. I sense that the majority of Islamic haters base their hatred on 9-11, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Islamic attire and just plain lack of knowledge of the Quron and Allah(God). Yet they readily accept the Mormon faith and they haven't a clue about their cult-like practices and their goal of gaining power through proselytizing and taking control of local governments. Ignorance is not pretty and can be very dangerous.

[mrmpa]

28. Yep, at least here in western PA

There will be a run of 3-4, right after each other. They are annoying to me and my 80 year old mother.

[rox63]

20. They've appeared on and off for decades

I remember seeing them when I was a child. (a long time ago) They are always trying to get new converts. Why do you think they send their teenage missionaries door-to-door?

[AlinPA]

29. One reason. They think it will hep Romney be accepted.