# "I am a Morman" **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 19, 2011, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-morman/606709 "2011-12-19T03:43:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2011, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-morman/606709/41 "2011-12-20T01:10:37Z")
Between Romney’s adversaries in prior campaigns and the reality shows about the polygamists, I could fully understand the CJCLDS feeling the need to push back on the PR front, to say,\* “hey, being theologically badly at odds with mainstream Christianity doesn’t make us Bad People!” \* [aside] Y’know, no matter how many times I see it, spelling “proselytizing” with a “th” as in the OP still looks odd to me. Is it an accepted alternate spelling? I mean, there’s no theta in προσήλυτος But the misuse of “Morm **a** n” instead of Morm_ **O** _n just makes me think many people mostly only _hear_ the word in radio or TV but seldom actually _read_ it in print and if so they hardly notice… [/aside] ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2011, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-morman/606709/42 "2011-12-20T01:15:22Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > Y’know, no matter how many times I see it, spelling “proselytizing” with a “th” as in the OP still looks odd to me. Is it an accepted alternate spelling? I mean, there’s no theta in προσήλυτος I just assumed people were borrowing the h from prosthetic. ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2011, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-morman/606709/43 "2011-12-20T01:22:52Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > Y’know, no matter how many times I see it, spelling “proselytizing” with a “th” as in the OP still looks odd to me. Is it an accepted alternate spelling? I mean, there’s no theta in προσήλυτος I’m pretty sure “prosthelytizing” is actually selling artificial limbs door-to-door. ---
**Author:** ![Cryptic\_C62](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Cryptic\_C62](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cryptic_C62)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2011, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-morman/606709/44 "2011-12-20T01:25:59Z")
I found the segment about Alex Boye to be very interesting, so much so that I went back and watched it a second time. As an atheist and a musician, I think the ads do a really nice job of showing that Mormons are, in fact, real people, and that being Mormon is just one of the ways in which they identify themselves, not the only way. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2011, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-morman/606709/45 "2011-12-20T01:45:11Z")
Wasn’t Ernie Borgnine once married to Ethel Morman? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2011, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-morman/606709/46 "2011-12-20T04:32:53Z")
I’ve seen 2 or 3 “Come Back To The Catholic Church” ads tonight. I think they saw the “I’m A Mormon” ads and decided they better get it in gear. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2011, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-morman/606709/47 "2011-12-20T13:14:12Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > Its not hypocritical, people smartened up. Maybe in the future, gays will evolve into some kind of super gays. Then who would look like the backwards dinosaur? Certainly not me, cause I’ll be super gay! Let’s put it this way. Let’s suppose there was a _hypothetical_ new religion on the _fictional_ planet of Mon Calamari, called Latter Day Squids (or LDS.) They originally both practised polygamy and legally banned same-sex marriage, both sanctioned by their god. Then, in order to be part of the galactic alliance, their leaders conviently received a new “revelation” from their squid-god Cthulhu that polygamy was suddenly bad. But homosexuality, no, that’s still bad, because Cthulhu’s word is “eternal” and “unchangeable”. Of course most Mon Calamari are not a member of the Latter Day Squids and consider their change of viewpoint inconsistent. For instance, what would Admiral Ackbar think of their stance? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2011, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-morman/606709/48 "2011-12-20T13:47:15Z")
Don’t respond to that, Yog. It’s a trap! ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2011, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-morman/606709/49 "2011-12-20T14:01:57Z")
The funny thing about these ads is that it caught many of the church members by surprise. A number of years back, as part of the Mormon church efforts to become part of mainstream Christianity, the church dropped the use of the term “Mormon” and discouraged members from using it. This was really hard for many members, such as my elderly mother, because she had identified herself so strongly with that word for her entire life, that she would keep slipping up in conversations, and then having to correct herself. You can see it in past discussions where Dopers would use LDS instead of Mormon. Apparently God changed his mind after the big name ad agencies did the focus group, and the church decided to go back to owning the term. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2011, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-morman/606709/50 "2011-12-20T14:21:52Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > If everyone jumped off a cliff, would that make it a good idea? …they aren’t going to drag their wives off behind them like Picmin, are they? :eek: > [@Erdosain](#): > > I’m pretty sure “prosthelytizing” is actually selling artificial limbs door-to-door. The bright side being that if they don’t like your products, they can’t chase you very far? ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2011, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-morman/606709/51 "2011-12-20T18:39:54Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > Let’s put it this way. Let’s suppose there was a _hypothetical_ new religion on the _fictional_ planet of Mon Calamari, called Latter Day Squids (or LDS.) They originally both practised polygamy and legally banned same-sex marriage, both sanctioned by their god. Then, in order to be part of the galactic alliance, their leaders conviently received a new “revelation” from their squid-god Cthulhu that polygamy was suddenly bad. But homosexuality, no, that’s still bad, because Cthulhu’s word is “eternal” and “unchangeable”. > > Of course most Mon Calamari are not a member of the Latter Day Squids and consider their change of viewpoint inconsistent. For instance, what would Admiral Ackbar think of their stance? I know for a fact that Cthulhu doesn’t believe in that at all, he told me so himself. His views are > [@Acsenray](#): > > Don’t respond to that, Yog. It’s a trap! Nooooooooooooo! ---
**Author:** ![Rhodes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhodes/32/273_2.png) [@Rhodes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhodes)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2011, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-morman/606709/52 "2011-12-22T21:41:55Z")
> [@River\_Hippie](#): > > I’ve seen 2 or 3 “Come Back To The Catholic Church” ads tonight. I think they saw the “I’m A Mormon” ads and decided they better get it in gear. Heh. The Catholics may be imitating the Mormons. And the Mormon campaign is pretty much an exact copy of the [Meet a Scientologist](http://www.scientology.org/video/meet-a-scientologist.html) PR campaign. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2011, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-morman/606709/53 "2011-12-23T00:05:54Z")
Well, I’m not a Morman, I’m a Lessman. Not to be confused with a Yes Man, or Les Nessman. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2011, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-morman/606709/54 "2011-12-23T14:00:21Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > I don’t see why they should be seen as anti-gay. They are simply adhering to an inviolate religious proscription, and as such it should not be subject to trendy political correctness. What’s right is right and nothing can change God’s law. Just because they see it as God’s requirement for them to be anti-gay doesn’t mean they’re not anti-gay. Even if it’s right as rain for them to be anti-gay, they’re _still_ anti-gay. In WWII, we were anti-Hitler, and most people didn’t have a problem with that. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2011, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-morman/606709/55 "2011-12-23T15:31:38Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > In WWII, we were anti-Hitler, and most people didn’t have a problem with that. And it only took 54 posts to hit Godwin’s law. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2011, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-morman/606709/56 "2011-12-23T20:43:00Z")
> [@TokyoPlayer](#): > > And it only took 54 posts to hit Godwin’s law. Really? Who? Where? It takes a bit more than mentioning the existence of Hitler or the Nazis to constitute a Godwin violation, you know. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2011, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-morman/606709/57 "2011-12-24T00:27:29Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Just because they see it as God’s requirement for them to be anti-gay doesn’t mean they’re not anti-gay. Even if it’s right as rain for them to be anti-gay, they’re _still_ anti-gay. > > In WWII, we were anti-Hitler, and most people didn’t have a problem with that. I think you should stop talking about my views about the fact that Mormons have legitimate, non-hypocritical, views on gay marriage and polygamy (having ALWAYS been against both since both are the eternal unchangeable word of God) and focus more on the problem of Admiral Ackbar. ---
**Author:** ![Hbns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hbns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hbns)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2011, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-morman/606709/58 "2011-12-24T05:43:44Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > Well, I’m not a Morman, I’m a Lessman. Not to be confused with a Yes Man, or Les Nessman. Sounds like you have a fever. Better call a doctor. [paging] Dr. Johnny Fever to MPSIMS STAT! [/paging] ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2011, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-morman/606709/59 "2011-12-24T06:06:24Z")
> [@River\_Hippie](#): > > I’ve seen 2 or 3 “Come Back To The Catholic Church” ads tonight. I think they saw the “I’m A Mormon” ads and decided they better get it in gear. Is that shit still going on? Only the catholic church would think a pretty flyer and some ad spots would get ex-members back in the pews instead of actually addressing the issues that make people light out like the altar’s on fire. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2011, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-morman/606709/60 "2011-12-24T11:21:21Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > I think you should stop talking about my views about the fact that Mormons have legitimate, non-hypocritical, views on gay marriage and polygamy (having ALWAYS been against both since both are the eternal unchangeable word of God) and focus more on the problem of Admiral Ackbar. 😕 We don’t always agree on everything, but up to this point you’ve always made sense to me. But I confess I’ve got no idea what you mean by “the problem of Admiral Ackbar.” If I may clarify from earlier, though, my point was that being anti-something isn’t inherently a slur. The Ten Commandments are objectively anti-murder, anti-adultery, anti-coveting, anti-theft, anti-lying - _and there’s nothing wrong with that._ If Mormons believe that homosexuality has been, from the foundations of the universe per the decree of God, so wrong that not only must they not practice it, but they must place legal impediments in the way of others who would practice it, then Mormons are objectively anti-gay - and they should be willing to own, and own up to, this truth. It’s just that Mormons feel being anti-gay is a Good Thing, and increasingly, most others don’t. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-morman/606709.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-a-morman/606709.md?page=4)