RFM tackles President Nelson’s seeming embellishment of his life and role as LDS President and Prophet. RFm uses three examples from recent history and shows that Nelson has little issue with adding extra details or removing others in order to add a “miracle-like” perception to his life and experiences.
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I like to listen to your episodes as a potential juror might. Is the evidence you present enough to prove a civil case, which is preponderance of evidence or even enough for a criminal case, beyond a reasonable doubt? I think you always do a good enough job doing the former. However in this case it’s the latter, especially with your second example. Of course there’s no defense to counter your argument since the LDS church is unlikely to respond to your allegations. But maybe you can goad “Tapir” Dan Peterson into doing it!
Great job and I love the AC/DC sign off
What a bright additional to Second Saturday! This was really entertaining and reminds us of a fine tradition that has been going on in the LDS church for a long time. Pioneer Day anyone? Seriously though, it’s is scary to think that it only takes a few years for these stories to be spun to such an extent. I was left wondering a bit about what seems to be a sort of collusion between RMN and Wendy N.
What the heck? The gun to the head? So does that mean there possibly was a gun to the head and THAT news was suppressed?
I mean, that’s not just spinning, that’s making stuff up out of whole cloth. And if it was suppressed, then they should at least mention it, like, “we didn’t want to scare you before but we are now going to tell you the “rest of the story” of what REALLY happened in Mozambique. I would not mind a follow up to this. Really good.
This episode is mind-boggling on so many levels. Most of us listening here recognize that there has been a great deal of dishonesty in Mormonism’s early history. But if you’re like me, you generally give current LDS leaders the benefit of the doubt- they’ve just been deceived by a cult like we all were. This episode, combined with others like the “Liar Liar Pants on Fire” about Jeff Holland, turns that thinking on its head. The preponderance of evidence suggests that the brethren are not men of integrity, but just as willing to lie to promote the church as early church leaders were.
This begs many questions. What is going through President Nelson’s head when he inserts details into his stories (like the woman in the hat who never wore hats to church), or bigger stuff like claiming a spiritual dream for another person, or even bigger stuff like claiming that a man had a gun to his head? Does he recognize he’s lying? How does he justify it? And how far down the chain does dishonesty go? Many members are genuinely honest people that couldn’t fathom that their leaders are regularly lying to them. And yet…I suspect based on my own experience that there is more dishonesty at all levels of the church than we generally recognize.
It’s as if there are two churches operating within the same church. The church filled with the gullible and naive yet pure in heart, and the church with the ambitious grifters, willing to say or do anything to advance themselves and the church with which they are associated. I think that for the people who lack integrity, like President Nelson, there is never any personal acknowledgment that they are in any way wrong or dishonest, because they are just as dishonest with themselves as they are with everyone else. The culture of LDS dishonesty would be a fascinating topic to explore more deeply. Thank you Radio Free Mormon for this excellent podcast!
Great presentation. I’m sure there are more examples of RMN exaggerating in the public domain, which haven’t yet been brought to light.
Also great closing hymn choice.
Chasing down Mormon myths? Next you’ll be handing out speeding tickets at the indy 500.
And this is a perfect example of how miracles evolve over time in the LDS church.
Remember, LDS Living is in fact a division of Deseret Book (which is CEO’d by Sheri Dew and of course is owned by the LDS Church).
The story about Maputo was particularly challenging to me. All the major details of the story published in Pres Nelson’s book seems at odds with what the Mission President said in this KSL article. https://www.ksl.com/article/6679683/mission-president-and-wife-describe-weekend-attack-and-robbery
Hi RFM!! I’ve enjoyed you on Mormon Stories so many times. This lovely cyber Monday, I decided I needed to check into your podcast while I participate in some online retail therapy *wink*. This episode did not disappoint! I consider podcasts and videos by exmos’ my therapy, helping me to deconstruct 35 of my 52 years of consistently being fed misinformation by TSCC. Thank you for everything you do! If you’re ever in Denver, let’s grab a non-approved Mormon beverage.