Don't ask me why I'm watching/reading all these.

Leave me alone; you don't know my life.

Irregardlessnessively, here is an interesting and specific example of self-plagiarism by Thomas S. Monson.

And if you don't want to go that far - ok. Whatever. Just know that these guys don't have a lot of original ideas.

They have to crib - a lot. Even from themselves. And I should know, just having topped two of my own threads from years past.

You'd think that they'd get more inspiration being on all those business boards. Or having all those ghost writers.

Whatever, here's the specifics.

Monson's talk, "To the Rescue" from April, 2001:

"Another principle of truth which will guide us in our determination is that boys and men can change. I’m reminded of the words of a prison warden who taught this fact. A critic who knew of Warden Duffy’s efforts to rehabilitate men said, 'Don’t you know that leopards can’t change their spots?'

Warden Duffy responded, 'You should know I don’t work with leopards. I work with men, and men change every day.'"

"See Others as They May Become," from October 2012.

"After the meeting, President Tanner and I had the opportunity to congratulate these four brethren. They had demonstrated that men can change.

During the 1940s and 1950s, an American prison warden, Clinton Duffy, was well known for his efforts to rehabilitate the men in his prison. Said one critic, “You should know that leopards don’t change their spots!”

Replied Warden Duffy, “You should know I don’t work with leopards. I work with men, and men change every day.”

You would think that with someone as spiritually prolific as the prophet, that a lot of things would happen within that decade that he would, maybe, have different stories to tell.

But, again, those Boards of Directors aren't going to run themselves.

Yeah, but Raptor, don't you feel a bit sorry for them? Think of having to promote and defend the daily shit that's produced by LD$ inc. Things you and I get to do as normal guys:

Drink beer

Flirt with beautiful women

Shop on Sundays

Say "fuck that shit" as many times as we want

Wear boxer-briefs or free-ball depending on our moods

Talk about sports rather than church talks

Watch r-rated movies

Enjoy a good wank

Wear jeans and tee-shirts

Enjoy loud laughing

Imagine not being able to do any of the above! Poor Tommy, I wouldn't trade him his role or multi-million dollar condo!

PS laughed my ass off when reading your Amazon book. Keep up the writing!

In April 2001, Elder Ballard gave a speech entitled "His Word Ye Shall Receive." In this talk, he referenced Gordon B. Hinckley's "Six B's" so much that Gordon ribbed Ballard afterwards.

He specifically joked before giving his own talk entitled "The Miracle of Faith," by saying, "Thank you, Brother Ballard, for giving my talk again."

This isn't the only time this has happened.

Steven Benson has asserted several times that his grandfather's watermark talk on pride was heavily plagiarized. Here is the link to the talk:

http://youtu.be/jcle5-m81-0

Here is C.S. Lewis' chapter in "Mere Christianity" that lays the groundwork for this talk:

http://www.fellowshipofthemartyrs.com/articles/60-spiritual-tuneup/191-mere-christianity-chapter-8-qthe-great-sinq-cs-lewis

And here is a talk by Silverfox, Uchtdorf that references incredibly heavily on that plagiarized talk by Benson.

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2010/10/pride-and-the-priesthood?lang=eng

Again, why do they have to keep borrowing so heavily on each other? Don't they have anything new to say?

I know that the TBM response would be, "Because we as members need to hear it over again."

Ok, fair enough, but why is THAT the case?

Why are Mormons so dumb that they have to hear the same things over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over again?

I don't believe that "self-plagiarism" is a problem. I tell the same stories over and over to friends, family, colleagues, and friends again. A good story or example may bear repeating. . And as far as academic self-plagiarism, I don't believe such a thing exists. I can quote myself as many times as I want to without giving credit.

And they keep plagiarizing from the scriptures, too.

Men can change, unless they're GAs.

Religion is old news EXCEPT for anyone claiming "modern" revelation, that God still talks to man, and ESPECIALLY if you have left those that follow with the idea that one of the people at the board of directors is wearing a robe and sandals.

Pastors, priests and ministers recycle talks in an endless loop and the reason is so that you hear it frequently enough that it sticks.

True believers like I used to be and like many lurking here on RfM have high expectations that they will get a news blast from the Big Three. Maybe some commentary on the news or a major change, like the inclusion of Virgin Mary into the big leagues (like that would ever happen...her name STARTS with virgin...)

High expectations lead to disappointment. The entire world snoozes through church and anything more exciting ends up a megachurch like Joel Osteen. How many times do you think that dude has smiled directly into the camera and said "Whatever you've done, friend, God still loves you."

You'll never hear that at any Mormon meeting and if I believed in God, I could never hear it enough to soothe my guilt over how I behaved towards others when I was a Mormon.



Kathleen Waters