The rapid advancement of technology in the last twenty years has brought with it instant and near-total access to information about nearly everything and everybody. These days, when people need information, they go to the internet, a source that giveth to everyone liberally and upbraideth not. So you should be able to get the lowdown on any company, organization, church or club.

You know where this is going. The church has been able to hide information that reveals the imaginary nature of its founding events for decades, but now, all of this information is published widely on the web. All one has to do is look. For example, Joseph Smith originally made the claim that an angel of light named Nephi appeared to him in a dream. This was published in the Palmyra Freeman in August, 1829, and in a letter of testimony of Parley Pratt in Amherst Ohio in November 1830, more than a year later. This story was later revised to say that Nephi appeared to Joseph Smith in his bedroom while Joseph was wide awake. The new version was published in the 1842 Millennial Star (vol. 3, pg. 53), the 1842 Times and Seasons(vol. 3 pg. 753) and the 1851 edition of the Pearl of Great Price (pg. 41), nine years apart. After Joseph Smith’s death, the story underwent another minor revision: the angel’s name was changed to Moroni. Joseph Smith never claimed that the angel Moroni appeared to him. That is a church claim, which is still taught, and accepted as completely historically accurate by believing Mormons. A statue of the ‘Angel Moroni’ tops every temple the church builds.

The church cannot withstand the onslaught of accurate, historical information being published on the internet. Today, most ten year olds can easily surf the web without much help. The church would love to bring in lots of intelligent, savvy young people. The trouble is, they’re well informed, and not as easy to dupe as they were twenty years ago. Church leaders underestimate today’s computer-savvy youngsters. When they push the same old story on them, they’re often met by a tidal wave of indifference.

So to survive intact, the mo-church will have to build walls around its members to insulate them from the real world. This is no small task. It means ever more persistent warnings about satanic influences in movies, books, magazines and especially the internet. It means an increase in fear-based propaganda to scare members into retreating further into the church. It means increased homophobia and more effort to beat back gays. It means building paranoid little morgbots, afraid to do anything not sanctioned by the church for fear of being overcome by ‘the adversary.’ It means forsaking good science when it casts doubt on the bible or the historicity of the Book of Mormon.
Truth is the church’s biggest enemy, its own history its Achilles heel. Their choice is either change with the times or build bigger, stronger walls to keep the world out

The church has always has this attitude that you either love it or you hate it and, influenced by the devil, work against it. You are absolutely right about the tidal wave of indifference. And that is what is going to be hard to combat. Getting them to care. The ones that are already in - way in - are imprisoned by their own minds. Or, better said, imprisoned by their own fears and needs. Like me, so obsessed with the idea of the ideal family I couldn't look around long enough to see that Mormonism wasn't the way to get it. That was just the carrot they used to manipulate me. Or a friend of mine who stays in Mormonism and a loveless marriage because the fear of losing their family is too horrendous to look at the facts of their life. Their childhood was too chaotic and cannot be relived, no matter the price. And so on.

Controlling the information flow is vital but if you know what sorts of buttons to push with your followers, they will control the information for you, rather than face painful facts.

My mom recently asked me how it is that I have studied the church so much and still not believe anymore.

That's easy mom, I read what the church wrote, and compared it to what it says it wrote. Would you like a photocopy?

First time poster, hello! ;)

I think that the church is going to rely heavily on members recruiting their friends using their example of what a "perfect family" looks like as bait for new members. And as for keeping their existing members, I believe they are going to start pushing their members to stay away from the internet, citing all the evil that can invade the home as a reason. A TBM friend of mine recently blogged about being challenged by Stake Leaders to turn off the tv, computers and video games for a week. They plan to implement future "media fasts" as they were soooo blessed for that week. I think this is the wave of Mormon future, they will be made even more (self)righteous for avoiding the evils that can be found online, on tv, etc. Just another transparent attempt by the Mormon leadership to control the actions and minds of unsuspecting members under the guise of righteousness.

Most of us could manage--sort of--to find transport other than our own car (even if bumming a ride from a co-worker) if we were TBMs and "challenged" by Church leadership to do so (and if we felt we had to to show our "worthiness.") But if the leadership said, in effect, "If you are really worthy, you will give up driving altogether," even the sheeple would "just say no!"

Same with the Internet. Going without for a week...o - kay, sort of. But permanently without? <Hahahahahahaha> Even the sheeple (ESPECIALLY the youth)--would see the nonsense of that idea!

The Internet and the Google God are here to stay. Yay for anyone seeking to "read what the church wrote, and [compare] it to what it says it wrote" (to quote from JoD's post above) and to learn the truth!

They will be stepping it up atlest the church has encoraged that since I was little as some families didnt watch TV on a sunday.

Now they will step up thair effort massivly. They found out what happens when they encorage it slightly yet safely.

I think after the current guard of old geezers kick the bucket and the church continues to become unpopular and dated, they will mainstream. The Catholic church did. They got wore down by the times and it will be no different for the Mormon church.

I live in Utah County and a few new ways to "one-up" the neighbors on the righteousness scale is to extremely limit tv and computer time. The other has been to bring the computer out into a main, open, high traffic area of the house. I hadn't been to my TBM brother's house for a few months, but last week when I went to visit, his computer had been moved from their "office" in the basement to their living room! Either he got busted for looking at soft porn or there was some talk in their ward about this... I am not sure. An uncle of mine has the same setup - walk into their front room with nice paintings and leather couches only to see a mess of computer cables completely out of place in a room designed to look spotless for the VT and HT's to come over. The internet will be the new badge of honor just like double piercings, flip flops, and sleep over parties. "You have the internet?" they will gasp in hushed whispers, "Didn't you hear Uchdorf's talk?"

Talking about an angel named Nephi appeared to Smith vs Moroni in later statements. Smith's mother also said it was Nephi. She even said she've seen him as well. When I find the link I'll post it. No wonder Briggy was ticked at Pratt for publishing her first edition of her memorial, as it had not been 'approved' by him yet.

The church does not want young smart people. It wants young people it can use in the future as a revenue base.

Make no mistake.

True. They don't like "smart" or "intellectual" or any of that stuff. They want docile people who will pay tithing and have lots of kids to become future tithepayers. That's about it.

The mormon church will not be able to survive the age of the internet and the explosion of information that is occurring. What we see now is really just the beginning, as undoubtedly the search engines and inexpensive computers will make it even easier down the road to get to the truth. Everyone in school at every level will have a lightweight computer. Everyone at work will have access to a computer.

The mormon church could not have known it at the time, but the enormous amount of source documentation they left behind that proves the church a lie will be easily knowable to everyone.

Keeping the genie in the bottle is ultimately hopeless for them, and I suspect many of the morman power brokers know it and are already crafting a new strategy to deal with it. That they actually admit the truth is probably their least favorite option but perhaps the only only one that prevents the whole house of cards from crashing down.

With that said, the only believing mormons in 20 years (at least in the US and first world countries) will be the future grandmas and grandpas that were not influenced by the internet, those that are either mentally ill, or those that are the devious purveyors of a known lie.

Information and the ever larger number that leave the church after finding out the truth will turn a big cult with tremendous central control into a miniscule splintered cult. In the end, I would not be surprised if every little splinter group tries to grab hold of a local temple and tries to call itself the remnant of the one true church! Stranger things have happened.