"I'm a Mormon" Facebook profile "Meet the Mormons"
Personally I hated wearing Mormonism on my sleeve even as a TBM, yet the church seems to be pushing this stuff hard. This kind of stuff would've annoyed the hell out of me.
There's the old phrase "it's not about the numbers" yet this whole Meet The Mormons is all about the numbers and they're not even trying to hide it. Jeffery R Hollands YouTube video is downright creepy and cultish, SPs are sending emails out telling TBMs to fill the theaters. How is this stuff not making TBMs second guess what the hell is going on within the church? The church is looking very desperate in my eyes, it's almost sad seeing my friends blindly posting stupid Mormon stuff all the time.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/13/2014 12:51AM by toast.
I hated it when the church tried to push me to make sure everyone I knew was also made aware of my religion. It's a personal thing. I seldom told anyone I was a mormon. It didn't matter if I was or wasn't. I didn't want people to think I was pushing religion on them.
I never participated in church campaigns that pushed members into uncomfortable social situations that pushed mormonism. The one that comes to mind is the BoM campaign where they wanted everyone to write down their testimony in a BoM and give one to their friends. I never would have done something like that.
If people want to know about your religion they'll ask. People resent it when people push religion them.
The leadership is so socially out of touch they don't know how annoying it is when people overstep their bounds. Especially around the topic of religion. The church seems oblivious to the bad reputation mormons have for being pushy about their religion.
I do agree with you that there are some members who will resent this very blatant push to wear Mormonism on their sleeve. I. like you, would have been one of those members.
If the Doofuses in downtown Salt Lake are so in need of things to do, as they appear to be, I have some suggestions for them. Downtown SL, with its homeless and down-and-out helping organizations always need willing helping hands.
Have your chauffeur's drive you over to that side of town.
My oldest TBM acquaintance that I only know thru FB now...made an aggressive "I'm a Mormon and if you do not like it, that is your problem" Post.
First time I ever saw him his entire life be defensive like that! Even on his mission, he was considered the gentler type.
I think pushing this generation to put themselves "out there" will backfire.
The Church Inc. has bounced around like a ping pong ball between "We are just like YOU" and "We are set apart"...for YEARS. They keep trying to find the trend line, so they keep growing.
So now, we get to see "The Faithful" put it out there, and possibly crumble under the pressure. Either they will alienate from Church Inc, or alienate Non Mos from their circle.
My experience has been that when people make it a point to tell you that they are a good mormon or christian, you had better have your hand on your wallet. But some of the conmen that run the church still think that it is good cammo.
As a teenager I was told "every member a missionary" etc.
I decided to try and do a little missionary work with a couple of friends of mine. When there was a lull in the conversation I brought up something about Mormonism--just a small aside about a positive aspect of the Church.
Their immediate reaction was, "oh no, that that again." They actually said that out loud. You see they had spent a few weeks during the summer working for a Mormon guy. He had also been in "every member a missionary mode," and they were sick of it.
He was their boss; they couldn't tell him, "oh no, not that again." But I was just one of the guys. They could tell me.
Having people advertise their Mormonism can also backfire when the people are not a very good example. As a convert, my cousins were horrified that I had joined TSCC, not because they knew much about doctrine or history but because the most horrible family on their block was a Mormon family. The kids were all in trouble with the law for vandalism of the neighborhood and the parents never paid their bills. But they wore their religion on their sleeves. They did not do a very good job of marketing TSCC.