LDS General Conference

The official text of the talks aren't being posted until Thursday, but until then, I have some quotes gleaned from various news articles about the conference.

Jeffery R. Holland (link): "For 179 years, this book has been examined and attacked, denied and deconstructed, targeted and torn apart like perhaps no other book in modern religious history -- perhaps like no other book in any religious history. And still it stands. If anyone is foolish enough or misled enough to reject 531 pages of a heretofore unknown text teeming with literary and Semitic complexity without honestly attempting to account for the origin of those pages ... such persons, elect or otherwise, have been deceived and, if they leave this church, they must do so by crawling over or around or under The Book of Mormon to make their exit."

Strange that he doesn't mention anything about the Book of Abraham, like that it's complete bullocks and demonstrably so, since we have the original papyrus Joseph Smith "translated" it from. (Also, I've seen this reported on various sites as being "stirring" or "passionate". Why can't we have a rational argument, rather than a happy-happy-feel-good-don't-notice-I'm-lying-to-you-because-I-can-manipulate-your-emotions argument?)

Thomas S. Monson (link): "Those who live only for themselves eventually shrivel up and, figuratively, lose their life, while those who lose themselves in service to others grow and flourish — and in effect save their life."

I'd be more impressed if this wasn't a blatant plea for church members to spend more time giving service to the church he leads.

"We are the Lord's hands here upon the earth, with the mandate to serve and to lift his children. He is dependent upon each of us."

So much for omnipotence...

Vicki F. Matsumori (link): "We can help others become more familiar with the promptings of the Spirit when we share our testimony of the influence of the Holy Ghost in our lives. By sharing testimony of the Spirit in our lives, those who are unfamiliar with these promptings are more likely to recognize when they have similar feelings."

Brainwashing! If enough people constantly tell someone how much they believe, they'll wear down their defenses! This works especially well on children, who are far more impressionable.

(Link) Speaking Saturday morning, [Russell T.] Osguthorpe compared how his son, a physician, saved lives by sharing his knowledge of medicine.

I wonder how much of that medical knowledge relies on evolution, which, although the LDS church doesn't officially deny at the highest levels (bishops and such seem to have no trouble denying it though), Mormons overwhelmingly reject.

D. Todd Christofferson (link): "[The recession] was brought on by multiple causes, but one of the major causes was widespread dishonest and unethical conduct, particularly in the U.S. housing and financial markets."

Yet your church actively works to support the conservative cause (despite your constant denials of such, and even if you usually phrase things to appeal more to social issues than economic), which includes deregulation of the markets, which led to the crash.