Fight Club was the beginning, now it’s moved out of the basement, it’s called Project Mayhem. — T. Durden
There is a concern that public affairs, or the urge to be attractive, goes too far toward assimilation. You strain out anything that would be unusual. And for many Mormons its the distinctive, far-out beliefs that are the most exciting part of their religion. — R. Bushman
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Im not so much interested in compiling a list of these underground doctrines, but Im very interested in hearing why you think they persist, why people insist on perpetuating them, and, more than anything, your suggestions for stamping them out, or at least firmly branding them as dead historical artifacts. — A. Parshall
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You know, any time somebody starts talking about “brackets” your first instinct needs to be to read between the bs and figure out what kind of racket they’re running. — G. Beck
Hardys bracketing of the historical question is neither caprice nor cowardice, as it often is in defensive treatments of the Book of Mormon. — R. Welch
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I caution against putting a copy under the tree for every LDS relative on your Christmas list as the books candid discussion of certain textual problems with the Book of Mormon is a bit much for the uninitiated. — D. Banack
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I can’t tell if Bushman is Brad Pitt and Parshall is Edward Norton, or the other way around, but Welch is clearly Tyler Durden as she urges courage on “The Narrator” in this outr scenario of mine in which I’m casting the contemporary Mormon commentariat as the split-personality protagonist(s) of Fight Club.
And since I’m already riffing on movies, I might as well mention that this latest from the Mormon blogs…
Sometimes I wish I was more ignorant and less conscious of the problems and questions related to the church so that I could function as a normal uncomplicated member. — Jake
…triggers a Tarantino flashback:
I don’t wanna be here. I wanna go home. I wish somebody would just come and get me ’cause I don’t like this. This is not what I thought it would be. And I wish somebody would just take me away. Just take me away. Come and get me. ‘Cause I don’t like this anymore. I can’t take this. I’m sorry but I just can’t. So, if somebody would just come to my rescue, everything would be alright. — Elliot
And for fans of The Office:
They used props and they used visual aids and they just made us look like dopes. — Michael
So, with no further ado, M. De Groote’s segment starts around 1:22 in this Deseret News “Daily Briefing”:
Hey MDG, here’s a better visual analogy for ya’ (not that I didn’t enjoy the hand puppet, that was awesome).
Does MDL really want to step into this hot mess of Mormonism’s own making?
P.S. Apparently, the folks who got a preview of this post on my Facebook page think it needs more analysis, less free association and none of the apoplexy. They’re probably right, but mostly I just wanted an excuse to post that Deseret News clip together with the animated GIF of Ed Norton punching himself in the face. But hey, admittedly, I’ve got nothing that tops De Groote’s props and I’d simply object that FAIR/MDL are the real prehistoric pugilistic puppets, not “the media” and certainly not me (or any exmos I know).
P.P.S. Internet-savvy BCC blogger Kyle M weighs in:
Ill join with the WaPo reporter in criticizing some of the churchs more brute-force online tactics …
Our marketing tactics need to reflect the core principles of our brand, especially because online, the marketing tactics largely ARE the brand. If we engage in shady astroturfing, link networks, comment wars, and an overall strategy of shouting down or burying every dissenting voice, thats what well be known for online. If we feel the need to lash out and defend ourselves against every silly criticism, we will be associated with defensiveness.
