Observations of a Critic's View of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Building projects and Public Image

As an ongoing effort to inform myself about my own faith and that of other Christian believers I evaluate some of the discussions that take place online in forums. 

This post comes from  Mormons and Biblical Discussion  Group  https://www.facebook.com/groups/659429537470202

Here is the post as written by a person that says they were a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for over 40 years.

"I wonder if any of our Mormon friends can shed some light on the reasons behind this....

Here are my observations.

More ways the #Mormon church aka #TheChurchOfJesusChristOfLatterDaySaints is working to rebrand itself (spending some of it BILLIONS of dollars).

Why?

Say you were a church with a fraudulent history and a body of scripture written by a conman; a history you need to bury under the rug, what do you do? 

1. Rebrand. Tell members of said church and the whole world to stop referring to it by a nickname that refers back to a false book. Direct them to call it by it’s really long and awkward - but less contraversial name...

2. Gut your biggest tourist attraction; replace with a more apologetic history that is easier to swallow.

3. Attempt to rebrand your leader as a worldwide religious leader.

In other words... Get rid of the name of a fictional prophet (Mormon), tear up Temple Square and all of its visitors centers, stop pageants, make members use social media to spread a more appealing story (#givethanks #LightTheWorld).

Just rewrite the narrative to fit the times.

Got it. 👍🏻

#DontBeDeceived #FollowTheRealJesus #JesusIsEnough #TheTruthShallSetYouFree"

The comments in black are the observations of the author of the Facebook post.

\\ I wonder if any of our Mormon friends can shed some light on the reasons behind this....//

The “This” in the above sentence is a picture of some demolition work on the Temple Square visitor center.

The statement is posed as a question. It is an intellectually dishonest question because they answer it themself with unsubstantiated premises and cliches?

\\Here are my observations.//

What will follow are allegations not founded on anything other than biased speculation, spin, opinion and innuendo.

\\More ways the #Mormon church aka #TheChurchOfJesusChristOfLatterDaySaints is working to rebrand itself (spending some of it BILLIONS of dollars).//

The Church doesn’t need to be rebranded. Any speculation as to how much is spent is just conjecture. This author wants to sensationalize the situation. What does it matter how much the church spends on its assets?  They are all owned and remodeled without debt.

The “Mormon” title has always been a nickname.  Its use by the church was not acknowledging that the name of the church had ever changed.  It was a decision to use what the church was widely known for, The Book of Mormon. Changing the focus is a sign of inspired leadership. It has obviously irked the critics and they want to make it into a controversy.

The story the church shares with the world will not change. The author just needs to contrive a controversy that somehow ties the church's past history to its current undertakings and both are somehow linked by operations of corruption and continuation of a 200-year con started by Jospeh Smith in 1820 as a 14 year-old boy.

These types of allegations have endured some 200 years over which time they have been made by dozens of critics, all without success. They have been demonstrated to be false and yet the critics hold to them since the facts and history do not support their allegations.

\\Why?// Here is a false premise.

Say you were a church with a fraudulent history and a body of scripture written by a conman; a history you need to bury under the rug, what do you do? 

Such allegations are unfounded and are cliches that do not have a basis in fact. Joseph Smith didn’t claim to write the Book of Mormon, there is no evidence that he was some kind of “conman”. This is an example of cliche and bias. What has been buried under the rug? More cliche and vague allegation. If Joseph is a conman as she implies, when did it begin and how has he managed to carry it out for 200 years? It is a preposterous allegation on its face.

\\1. Rebrand. Tell members of said church and the whole world to stop referring to it by a nickname that refers back to a false book. Direct them to call it by it’s really long and awkward - but less (contraversial(spelling) name…//  The person writing this OP is either ignorant of history or simply chooses to misinform people.  They acknowledge that the nickname was created by detractors to foment controversy against the church and Joseph Smith, and that somehow changing it implies a coverup .

\\2. Gut your biggest tourist attraction; replace with a more apologetic history that is easier to swallow.//  The church has regularly updated its historical sights and buildings. This has nothing to do with history and nothing is being changed so it is “easier to swallow.”  It seems like this person can’t write a sentence without making a cliche. Since when does remodeling buildings demonstrate a "rebranding" of the church?

\\3. Attempt to rebrand your leader as a worldwide religious leader.//

The prophet has always been the leader of a worldwide church and therefore a worldwide religious leader. This statement demonstrates ignorance of the facts. The church has been successful in expanding around the globe in all countries that allow freedom of religion.

\\In other words... Get rid of the name of a fictional prophet (Mormon), tear up Temple Square and all of its visitors centers, stop pageants, make members use social media to spread a more appealing story (#givethanks #LightTheWorld).//

The opinion piece closes with this mocking tone, to sum up, the false premises. Members aren’t made to do anything they don’t want to. Referring to Church beliefs as "fictional" is again opinion. The Book of Mormon has been accused of being fictional for some 190 years but never been proven to not be what it claims. It is another Testament of Jesus Christ.

Temple square and any visitor centers that have been remodeled will all be reopened for the most part.

Using social media in the church is done by invitation based on the faith of members.  Critics like to spin a false narrative that church leaders somehow have this power to force members to do something against their will.

What does stopping pageants have to do with anything?

\\Just rewrite the narrative to fit the times.//

Which narrative is being rewritten?  The critics of the church have their own narrative that they disseminate. The church has shared its history and continues to share more.  Just because some critic doesn’t like the narrative the church uses doesn’t mean it isn’t correct. Likewise, historical facts are never completely known or perfectly compared in the context in which they occurred. Historical narratives are created to introduce people to what occurred and to encourage study.

Got it. 👍🏻

A final demonstration "thumbs up" that the person assumes that what is being said actually makes sense.  It is a declaration of arrogance.

#DontBeDeceived #FollowTheRealJesus #JesusIsEnough #TheTruthShallSetYouFree