lagarthaaz

What do you mean we don't have horns? I do think the idea of making the film available to a broader audience through various outlets is a practical one in many ways. And of course these businesses would have to cover their distribution costs. It's the making money off the 'non-profit' church production that bothers me. I contacted our local bookstore and they said that once the product has been passed on to them, they can then charge what they like and benefit from any resulting profits. They are good people and are trying to keep their costs down while running a business, but to make any kind of profit their mark-ups are really quite high. My concern here is what happens to the church's status as a 'non-profit' organization if an official church product becomes a profit-making venture? Maybe once the church passes the product on at cost to non-church distributors, then it can say it no longer has control over who makes a profit from this product? I'm sure they had expert legal and financial advice on this when they agreed to finance the film, but it all seems a bit of a grey area to me. I took my non-member husband to see 'Meet the Mormons' too, and he enjoyed it (or as much as he could... ), but I probably won't buy any further copies.

The logic that people shouldn't make money off the backs of church members?

Since when do we do anything because 'every other religion' is doing it?

I love it. *tears*

Hi Ryan, first of all, I am a convert who was baptized at the age of 16, close to your age (I'm much older now) - congratulations and I hope your baptism day is wonderful :) I hear you about the tea and coffee thing - it was hard for me to understand too. But, we are not the experts on what we need to do in order to live righteously in these latter-days - God is. What is important is that to commit to living the gospel fully, we have been asked by our Heavenly Father (though his prophets) to do certain things. One of those things is to abstain from tea and coffee. I wouldn't say that coffee, tea or caffeine are not harmful substances - they most definitely can be, even if in moderation they probably don't hurt anyone too much. If you do a google search on 'coffee/tea/caffeine addiction', you will find that dependency on these substances has become a worldwide epidemic. Caffeine is most definitely a harmful psychoactive substance - do a search on that one too if you are curious. All of that is just information though - at the end of the day we keep commandments because they come from God, not because there is research to back them up :)

Thank you for your replies everyone, I do appreciate reading them. While I don't really think I feel any differently about this issue, it's been good to look at it through a different lens. Maybe I'm just tired of seeing church members (especially overpriced bookstores) use the gospel to make money in so many different ways and that has colored my perspective.

And I already said it's great that the box office proceeds were donated to the Red Cross. What do you know about any 'agreement' the church made with regard to what happens to ALL profit? I haven't found it online, perhaps you can enlighten me. Theaters would have expected to make a profit from showing the film - they surely wouldn't bother showing a religious film unless there was something in it for them. I had no intention of going to see the documentary until my local leadership 'encouraged' us all to do so. I was ok with paying to see a church produced film in a commercial theater because everything I read pointed to the fact that any profits would go to the Red Cross. Now this official, church financed documentary is being sold (to church members for the most part, I'm sure) by independent distributors/businesses for a profit, and not to help any charity, but to help themselves. Would it be ok for businesses to sell the church made The Life of Jesus Christ Bible Videos? Or copies of General Conference dvds? I think selling 'Meet the Mormons' is the same thing because it too is a church made and financed film.

I'm not against 'profit' per-se. Is it a form of priestcraft for private businesses to take a church produced film and sell if for a profit? I don't really understand the concept of 'priestcraft' enough to answer that. If we're talking about preaching to 'get gain' as discussed in 2 Nephi 26:29, then yes, I suppose private lds business ventures taking an official church-made film and selling it to make a few bucks might qualify for that description. Again though, my understanding of the meaning of priestcraft is superficial. As for putting the film out there for independent distributors to reach a broader audience - I don't really think that most people will be exposed to it except by accidentally stumbling across it while searching for other things. For example I don't ever see anything about Zoroastrianism if I go to Amazon.com, and am unlikely to find any books on the subject unless I go specifically looking for it. I'd fathom a not-so-wild-guess that the majority of people who went to see the film are LDS, and the majority of people wanting to purchase their own copies are those same LDS. It's most likely that only LDS will go searching on Amazon or other sites looking for this film - especially considering that it's LDS members who bought out the majority of the movie theater screenings (myself included). And as for the Holy Spirit moving people to find out about the gospel, that's gonna happen regardless of whether Amazon.com or independent church bookstores sell 'Meet the Mormons' or not.

Yes, in fact I do have a problem with the movie theaters making money off this film. Unless they were on board with the church's original premise that all profits would be donated to charity. I have not suggested that this was about making money for any 'church leaders' at all - I know that is absolutely not the case. I'm strictly referring to private enterprise/businesses now pocketing profits from a church financed production. If the original premise of the film was to promote the church and donate any proceeds to charity - then surely that needs to apply no matter who sells it.

Sorry, I should have been clearer, I was only commenting on the sale of Distribution Center items with that comment, not all the other LDS products sold at Des Books.

I don't know where the money came from either, and definitely have NO problem with the church funding a film that is made as a missionary tool with the proceeds or any 'profit' being donated to charity. So when the Deseret News wrote an article saying the church had funded the film, I was fine with it. Though the film was financed by the church, its net proceeds will be donated to charity... Charged with producing the film for the Legacy Theater in Salt Lake City and for visitors’ centers across the globe, Treu pitched the project to the LDS Church’s First Presidency in late 2010. After the project was finished, church leaders decided to expand the film's release due to the positive response from both LDS and non-LDS sample audiences. Treu said the objective was to give the film broader reach, making it available to members and their friends on the big screen — in their own cities and towns — and then on cable TV, Internet streaming and in the Legacy Theater and visitors' centers. http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865609123/LDS-Church-announces-feature-length-documentary-Meet-the-Mormons.html?pg=all So, if the purpose is for the documentary to be a missionary tool that becomes widely available, and an opportunity to donate to charity, then private enterprise has no business putting profits in their own pocket in my opinion.

What's not true? That Deseret Book merged with the church to sell Distribution Center items? Yes D.Books is a money-making venture, but the church is now using it to sell DC products for the same price to church members. So when we see the items in their catalogue, we are getting them at Distribution Center prices. Their other non-DC products though, are sold for a profit. Six Deseret Book stores have been selling Church-produced materials and products since late 2009. Under the new agreement, Deseret Book will serve as an agent for Distribution Services and offer these materials at additional Deseret Book store locations according to prices and policies established by the Church. Both parties say the agreement will create a convenient shopping experience for customers and allow a more efficient use of Church resources. (bold print, mine). See this link from lds newsroom: http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/distribution-stores-to-be-consolidated-with-deseret-book

I wouldn't care if it were sold on a non-profit basis as a missionary tool. But this was a church production - made, promoted and distributed by the church (from, I assume, church funds that come from all of us). Churches are supposed to be non-profit organizations for tax purposes aren't they? In Australia, the official membership stands at 143,891 (http://www.mormonnewsroom.org.au/facts-and-statistics/). Even if only half of that number are active, and half of that number again buy the dvd or download, it could be quite profitable for a small business. Businesses need to make a profit to survive of course, but this particular production being used to make money just doesn't sit well with me.

Yes, but I was under the impression that Deseret Books identifies the product as originating from the Distribution Centre products, and passes them on at the same price? An interesting article in the following link on how the church closed up to a dozen distribution centers in 2011 and consolidated with Deseret Books to take over selling these items at cost. Deseret Books maintains it makes no profit from this venture: http://www.motleyvision.org/2011/distinguishing-between-distribution-and-deseret-book/

It's not on the DC website - I have been looking for a while. I'm not saying the church is making a 'profit' for any spurious reasons. My guess is that they are passing on the product to independent distributors at cost, as a missionary tool. But it does seem wrong to me that secondary distributors are now making a profit (no matter how small) from the sale of the dvd or download. Add up the 'small' profit by thousands and it can be quite lucrative for a small business. It's kind of like taking the products from lds.org Distribution Center (made at cost and passed on to church members as cheaply as possible) and then selling them off for a few dollars extra. There are businesses that do this too. If 'Meet the Mormons' was made as a commercial venture, I wouldn't even question how it's being sold. It's just that my initial impression was that this was a church made production, with the aim of any surplus proceeds being donated to charity.

Thanks Pam, yes I do get it that the box office proceeds went to charity and that's all great. But isn't the doco officially produced by the church? If so, then why would they let private enterprise sell copies of this missionary/charity tool? I thought they would make it available from the Distribution Centre for a minimal cost, not sell it to private businesses to profit from.

I'm having a bit of a discussion with a local LDS bookstore that is now selling 'Meet the Mormons' for around $20AU a copy - the profits of which go to their business. I checked and people can also download a copy from Amazon for under $5. This confuses me a bit - as I was under the impression that the documentary was produced officially by the church, and was meant to be a missionary tool with any surplus 'profit' or 'proceeds' being donated to the Red Cross. I got this impression from the official 'Meet the Mormons' website which states: In the latest example in a long history of working together, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) has donated all net proceeds* from the theatrical release of Meet the Mormons, totalling $1.8 million, to the American Red Cross. Ok, great - our ticket money went towards the Red Cross donation. So now what happens with all of the dvd and download releases? How does a venture that was supposed to be for a non-profit church organization, become a venture where the church supplies private businesses with copies of the dvd to sell for profit? I feel quite miffed that private businesses are trying to make a buck from what was meant to be a missionary/charity tool - if feels very wrong to me. I'm just trying to understand what's happening...perhaps someone who is more savvy about such things can enlighten me?

As far as I know you don't have to quit any former church before being baptized into the LDS church. You can resign from the Catholic church if you so choose, though I don't think it's necessary. If you do go that route, then according to the following website (a Catholic missionary site) "You must file a copy of the "Defectio ab Ecclesia catholica actu formali," ("Defection from the Catholic Church by a Formal Act"), with the Office of the Bishop." http://www.catholicdoors.com/faq/qu286.htm The site also notes that if you resign, you won't be able to have a Catholic burial. But when that time comes, if you are LDS, you can have an LDS funeral held in an LDS chapel.

I would love to come a gathering when I get to Gen Conference in April next year...Chinese food, good company and Gen Conference - sounds awesome :)

Well, 'Meet the Mormons' finally made it to the cinemas here in my part of Australia. Like most people who posted in this thread so far, our Stake 'encouraged' us all to go and see it. Tickets were just $6, and the film was also advertised as a good 'family night' activity. They also dedicated last Sunday to a special fast day for members to pray about who we could invite to meet the missionaries. The plan goes something like this: Invite friends to "Meet the Mormons", fast and pray in the meantime, invite friends to meet the missionaries, bring said friends to view the General Conference videos in two weeks to hear from a living prophet. There are also wards that are following up with local 'Meet the Mormons' firesides and open days at meetinghouses. I took my non-member husband to see it with our children. He liked it, but he already knows that there are very nice Mormons out there, along with some not so nice ones. In fact, the documentary probably made us out to be way nicer than most of us actually are (speaking for myself here, really). I was pleasantly surprised that the film didn't come across as being too saccharine in its portrayal of regular LDS, and I also appreciated the multi-cultural focus of the featured individuals and families. I really liked that the church donated the proceeds of the film to date - $1.8 million dollars - to the Red Cross.

Oh you are missing out! Heinz baked beans in tomato sauce...yum! Really healthy and delicious cold or hot. When I was in the US I didn't really find a similar product to the one I know and love: http://www.amazon.com/Heinz-Beans-Tomato-Sauce-13-7-Ounce/dp/B001FA1L9I

Haha, haven't thought of that one for a long time

I love the rest of your suggestions, thank you! This one though... ugh. I grew up in England for the most part, and had many an overnight school trip where this was the only option for breakfast. Beans or marmalade on toast... never again lol. I'm a complete Anglophile, and wouldn't mind living my entire life in that "green and pleasant land" but the food is not among my top reasons why. I know lots of people love it though, I am sorry if this is a bit rude. You don't like beans on toast - oh the humanity! Did you feel the same about crumpets...surely you can't dislike hot toasted crumpets with oozing butter and honey? When I was in the States I was introduced to waffles and pancakes for breakfast, and not just pancakes, but pancakes with bacon and eggs - I thought I'd died and gone to heaven when I discovered I-Hop. Sad, I know!

I well remember the sugary cereals and fat-laden breakfasts considered normal fare when I lived in the U.S. Sooo delicious but soooo bad for you :) I'm not much of a breakfast eater so I usually just make a quick protein shake to sip on my 30 minute drive to work each morning. My family keeps chickens so we have plenty of eggs, and yet we hardly eat eggs so I end up giving them away to friends at work. Meanwhile, I like to eat toasted wholemeal muffin or toasted bread topped with any of the following: baked beansgrilled tomato and cheese (or whatever you like to have grilled with cheese)avocado mixed with a little lemon juice, salt and pepper and spread on toast is deliciousor...smoothies (as opposed to juices made with your choice of yoghurt and freshly blended fruit (eg. pineapple, orange, apple, or berries)smoothies made with your choice of veggies (you can also add in things like coconut milk, flax oil, chia seeds and such if you want to boost the nutrients of your smoothies - there's any number of things you can buy from any health food store)granola with dried nuts and nuts and fruityou've already discovered the joys of oatmeal - I love that stuff! Meanwhile, might be a good idea to keep away from those eggs :)

Sort of related: my non-member friend who committed suicide years ago had his funeral service in one of our chapels, and the branch president let us play the softer parts of 'Stairway to Heaven' as the coffin was wheeled out. It was my friend's favorite song. I don't think the BP knew the song...he also didn't know that along with an electric guitar, there was a bottle of Johnny Walker Whiskey in the coffin. It was still a beautiful service. Don't like Zeppelin's music much, but Robert Plant was and is a VERY sexy, charismatic man.