..dag.. did i miss the memo about this being mormon monday on slog ?..

They believe gods and magic exist and that faith is a good way to understand reality. It doesn't matter how nice they smile or how wholesome their families, the core of their entire program is wrong. It's not the MISconceptions, Mormons, it's the conceptions.

This could actually be a great thing. Mormons need to get to know non-Mormons personally. Mormons need to know that there is hope, love, and life outside their church, so when their church kicks them (or their children) out, these people won't think that they've lost everything. That poor man in NC might still be alive if he had known more non-Mormons personally.

Bad religion and worse commercials.

Lemme know when they start handing out (or even selling) magic underpants.

They're trying to get evangelicals to vote for Romney.

To be fair, the Catholics did the "I'm a ..." rip off before they did.

Not to minimize the reactionary exceptionalness of our country's lil-theocracy-in-the-middle, but isn't every citizen of this country a member of a bigot empire? Their bigotry is how the Mormons find common cause with the rest of the country.
It's at best a difference in degree, not in kind.

@7, actually, it's the other way around. The Mormon's started rolling out those ads in select markets 3 years ago. The Catholic campaign, which didn't use that tactic nearly as effectively, started this past...it was either Advent (Dec) or Lent (Feb/March).

The Mormon campaign is/was more effective because they use actual interesting, attractive people talking about their everyday lives, whereas the Catholic campaign just had people talking about how supposedly miserable they were during their time away from the Holy Mother Church, and how wonderful traditional theology is.

hasa diga eebowai

You can't advertise your way into my heart, you creepy fucking cultists.

I grant that in person most of the Mormons I've ever met have been very polite, thoughtful people. That does not change my opinion of their church one bit. Most cultists - the followers, not the leaders - tend to be gentle, empathetic souls, or at least that's my impression at a remove. That's part of what makes them susceptible to cults.

But, yeah, this isn't aimed at me. It's aimed at Christians who think that Mormons aren't.

"members of a bigot empire" is a great way to put it. not all white people are racists, but all white people benefit from white privilege. not all christians/mormons/whatever are homophobic assholes, but all christians/mormons/whatever are a part of a system and culture that condones homophobic assholery.

@12: all white people ARE racists. i read it in the Stranger: http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/deepl…

There were a couple of Mormon kids on our old street going door to door a few months back. My boyfriend (who is black) was in the front yard doing some yard work and our El Salvadoran neighbor was out front BBQing. They went to the house that is two properties down (white couple but not home) and the house next to ours (white couple but inside) but took a look at my boyfriend and our neighbor and just walked right past. WTF?

Why do you think I gave up listening to the Killers' Brandon Flowers and watching movies with Jon Hedder in them? Both unapologetic mormons and you bet your ass their money tithes the church, yet they have no problem with the gay? Bull shit collaborators I say!

@9 I was mistaken in name, but .... is it really that different? http://www.catholicscomehome.org/

Either way, the Mormon one is lame to.

Seattle, where all good cults come to grow ... And then Die.

@8: "but isn't every citizen of this country a member of a bigot empire?"

Yes. That doesn't mean we're proud of our country's flaws and horrors.

"Their bigotry is how the Mormons find common cause with the rest of the country."

Not 100% of the country, again.

It's at best a difference in degree, not in kind."

What a pathetic attempt at equivalency. The ads indicate pride in their bigotry, we are not universally "proud" of the USA, only knuckledragging idiots are.

@16, no, they aren't that different at all. It was just the Catholics copying from the Mormons, not vice versa.

The Catholics big mistake was using extraordinarily boring people and having them talk about how much they have come to love the Blessed Mother, or how much the Eucharist has affected their lives.

The Mormons used people talking about how they are artists and Mormons, or surfers and Mormons. I didn't learn anything about Mormon theology, but I did learn that (some) Mormons are interesting people.

The Catholic ads just convinced me I made the right choice in leaving when I did.

(Not to become Mormon, though. I have Mormon friends, but their theology creeps me the hell out.)

At least you don't have to sit through all the lds singles commercials and the missionary suit shopping commercials and the bulk foods the-sky-is-falling commercials. Nor do you have to listen to the improper pronunciation of words like mail (mell) and jail (jell) and real (rill). The newscasters and the citizens they interview sound like uneducated rural yokels....oh wait.....

"...I'm Not a Witch"

Do the ads talk about how one of the temple prayers used to be for the destruction of the United States? (I read that in "Under The Banner of Heaven", which os a fascinating book)

Actually, come to think of it, I have no proof that they don't still say that prayer, and I can't look it up. I loaned my copy to a supposedly ex-Mormon, and never got it back. hmmmmmmm......

Not that I would advocate for any sort of Christianity, but I have to say the 4 Mormons I've known have been really normal, reasonable and even cool people. One was my favorite high school teacher (creative writing) one was a work colleague and the last two: a very cool couple of artists.

All Christians engage in magical thinking. The brand of it doesn't really matter as long as it isn't foisted on me. Other Christians don't think you come from bigot roots? Look up Manifest Destiny and its consequences. That's some stinky horse shit.

So now the troll is atheist, yet religiously sensitive? And he comes forward with tender concern for Mormons, because the same sort of insensitivity might be applied to Muslims?

Lord have Mercy......

@26 Their god is an alien. Lives on an exoplanet called Kolob.

I saw two of those ads last night back to back. One was a hispanic man and one was a black woman. Apparantly the only misconception they are trying to disprove is that all mormons are white. However, I stand by my belief that there are no self-respecting or intelligent black mormons; just some ignorant ones who were tricked into a religion they don't even understand...and possibly a few who were paid off.