Should I Correct An Urban Legend Read In Ph?

[Guest Stray Pooch]

Hello: I am new to the forum so I will give a brief "Is there anyone here for the first time?" intro.

I am a middle age man, married for 27 years with five children (three grown and two in HS). I teach Gospel Essentials in my ward. I am a retired soldier, former music major (who writes LDS songs among others, though I have had nothing published) and joined the church in 1975.

Here is a request for feedback to the members in general. Yesterday in our Mel. PH group the instructor read a report which I suspected (and have since confirmed) is a typical urban legend. It had to do with the FCC banning religious broadcasts and "Touched by an Angel" being cancelled due to religious content (both things are untrue). Now I am not one to introduce a spirit of contention in church, though I will speak up if I hear KNOWN false doctrine. But in this case, the UL is relatively harmless doctrinally. Yet I do feel that we ought to be sure that what we relate in our church meetings is true and accurate as far as possible.

So the question is, do you think I ought to raise the issue next week? As it happens, the instructor is leaving town for a few months so he will not be around to defend himself (or take offense) which is actually a bit of a plus. I have no desire to hurt any feelings. If I let this slide, its just another "caveat emptor" bit of disinformation. We're not rewriting the scriptures or anything. But then we also have people getting information from a presumed reliable source which isn't particularly reliable. So what do ya all think? Feedback is appreciated.

Pooch

[Maureen]

Hi Pooch - My advice would be to talk to the instructor first and inform him of the what you have discovered regarding this urban legend and give him the chance to pass on this correction to the class.

Welcome to the board!!

M.

[Guest bat]

I like Maureen's idea.

Welcome to the board, I think that you and I will be best friends.

[Snow]

Originally posted by Maureen@Aug 23 2004, 08:41 AM

Hi Pooch - My advice would be to talk to the instructor first and inform him of the what you have discovered

Bad idea.

If you warn him before hand your attempt at public humiliation will undoubtedly suffer.

[Guest Stray Pooch]

Maureen: Good advice, but he will not be here for quite a while. Bat: You gotta get better friends, man. Well, at any rate, better standards Snow: Yeah, that does kinda spoil the fun of a surprise attack, doesn't it? I could just go ahead and post it on the ward bulletin board anonymously. That way I get the thrill of the kill and no threat of a counterstrike . . . Thanks for the feedback, folks.

[Guest bat]

This one time a person that works in our office pinned up an email the she had received saying that we should boycott certain gas stations or something like that. I looked it up on Snopes and found that it was a hoax and pinned that up over the one that she put up with the note from me: "This is a hoax, please do not perpetuate hoaxes at work." She took hers down and I don't think that she was mad at me.

[Guest Stray Pooch]

The commissary at Fort Devens (May God bless it's deactivated soil) once posted a huge poster appealing to send "get well" cards to some kid in England with cancer. Turns out the kid had survived, was an adult, and the hoax (which actually started out real) was so bad an entire post office was kept busy processing cards for this kid. C'est la vie.

btw. love the Doug Adams quote. My favorite line of his (for the sheer joy of witty word placement) is (and I quote loosely):

"The flying saucers hung in the air in exactly the way that bricks don't."

[Lindy]

Originally posted by Stray Pooch@Aug 23 2004, 09:15 PM

Bat: You gotta get better friends, man. Well, at any rate, better standards

HEY!!!!

What do you say Jenifer? Should we take the new guy down?

Better standards my ...hiney

BTW "Pooch" Welcome to the board! :)

Lindy

[Guest Stray Pooch]

Hey Lindy. That's OK, I've been down before - lol! This morning I had to get up at 5 AM to get the kids off to seminary, and I am NOT a morning person!! So getting up is the issue!!!. Thanks for the welcome!

Pooch

[srm]

Originally posted by Stray Pooch@Aug 23 2004, 12:41 AM

So the question is, do you think I ought to raise the issue next week? As it happens, the instructor is leaving town for a few months so he will not be around to defend himself (or take offense) which is actually a bit of a plus. I have no desire to hurt any feelings. If I let this slide, its just another "caveat emptor" bit of disinformation. We're not rewriting the scriptures or anything. But then we also have people getting information from a presumed reliable source which isn't particularly reliable. So what do ya all think? Feedback is appreciated.

Pooch

Talk to your quorum president/group leader and let him make the correction.

[Guest curvette]

Originally posted by Stray Pooch@Aug 23 2004, 12:41 AM

So the question is, do you think I ought to raise the issue next week? Pooch

Nonononononononononononononononononononononono!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Trust me on this one! I did it once in Relief Society and woohoo! Did I pay for it! Maybe men are more forgiving about such humiliations, but I've learned that church is NOT the proper forum for correcting erroneous information--even when you are dead on right. As long as it's not doctrinal, let it slide bro!

[Snow]

Originally posted by curvette@Aug 25 2004, 08:36 PM

Nonononononononononononononononononononononono!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Trust me on this one!

Again, this is bad advice. If you fail to call him on it, you will lose the opportunity to elevate yourself at his expense. Think carefully.

[Guest curvette]

Originally posted by Snow@Aug 26 2004, 08:26 AM

Again, this is bad advice. If you fail to call him on it, you will lose the opportunity to elevate yourself at his expense. Think carefully.

And the higher we climb, the greater we fall... :)

[Matt]

I think you should.

Lying for the Lord (or not bothering to check your sources) is bad. Stop him, before he does it again!

[Snow]

Originally posted by curvette+Aug 26 2004, 09:47 AM--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (curvette @ Aug 26 2004, 09:47 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin--Snow@Aug 26 2004, 08:26 AM

Again, this is bad advice. If you fail to call him on it, you will lose the opportunity to elevate yourself at his expense. Think carefully.

And the higher we climb, the greater we fall... :)

And yet the fall is cushioned by the bodies of those we have climbed over in our pursuit towards greatness.

[Guest curvette]

Originally posted by Snow+Aug 26 2004, 08:08 PM--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Snow @ Aug 26 2004, 08:08 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'>

Originally posted by -curvette@Aug 26 2004, 09:47 AM

<!--QuoteBegin--Snow@Aug 26 2004, 08:26 AM

Again, this is bad advice. If you fail to call him on it, you will lose the opportunity to elevate yourself at his expense. Think carefully.

And the higher we climb, the greater we fall... :)

And yet the fall is cushioned by the bodies of those we have climbed over in our pursuit towards greatness.

Oh Snow, you kill me! :) (another soft body to fall on!)

[Guest bizabra]

Please tell the man the truth. And if not him, since he will be gone, then the class that recieved this misinformation. Lies don't do anything to make anyone stronger or better, they simply keep folks misinformed and ignorant. Ignorance may be bliss, but it also affects the decisions people make.

I work in the TV industry, so know you to be correct. If you heard an untruth about any industry at all, say, that Wal-Mart fires people who get a DUI, or that the Forest Service is in the back pocket of the Timber industry (WAIT, THAT might be TRUE!) (LOL) Then you should clear that up right away.

I don't know why you didn't simply speak up at the time and contradict the fellow. At least you could have raised doubt in the minds of the others that what he was saying was TRUE. You could have offered to do some research on the topic and share your findings. Anything but sit there and let something you know to be false be put forward as the TRUTH.

[Nina]

Welcome to the board pooch...

I say call him on it or at least infom the class that the information is false ... people pass that stuff on. You don't have to do it in a mean, "I know better than you NaaNaaa" way (shame on you Snow ) you can be very nice about it and say you just happened to run into some information that disproved what was spoken about in class and just thought you'd make the correction for anyone interested.

[Helen Mar Kimball]

Some day, the kids will find out that it was indeed an Urban Legend.

Then, some of the kids will be over on That Message Board That We Do Not Discuss saying, "My leaders lied to me so I left."

And it will use up Eric & Susan's bandwidth & we won't have room to make fun of BYU football.

[Guest bat]

Originally posted by Helen Mar Kimball@Sep 5 2004, 09:04 PM

Some day, the kids will find out that it was indeed an Urban Legend.

Then, some of the kids will be over on That Message Board That We Do Not Discuss saying, "My leaders lied to me so I left."

And it will use up Eric & Susan's bandwidth & we won't have room to make fun of BYU football.

We're not supposed to discuss RFM here? Weird.

Did anybody else catch Bob McCue's interview on Van Hale's radio show Mormon Miscellaneous this evening? I thought that the both of them did very well. It's good to see that mormons and exmormons can discuss things rationally and respectfully.

[Faerie]

I seriously doubt this teacher PURPOSEFULLY LIED...that's a little forceful...probably an innocent mistake..there are lots of people in my family who don't think about urban legends and tend to believe the "more believable" ones that come through the email chain....

[Cal]

Originally posted by curvette+Aug 25 2004, 08:36 PM--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (curvette @ Aug 25 2004, 08:36 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin--Stray Pooch@Aug 23 2004, 12:41 AM

So the question is, do you think I ought to raise the issue next week? Pooch

Nonononononononononononononononononononononono!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Trust me on this one! I did it once in Relief Society and woohoo! Did I pay for it! Maybe men are more forgiving about such humiliations, but I've learned that church is NOT the proper forum for correcting erroneous information--even when you are dead on right. As long as it's not doctrinal, let it slide bro!

Ahhh...a voice of wisdom and experience! We always seem to agree, Curvy.

Besides, if one were to go around correcting all the myths you hear in SS or PH, there wouldn't be much time left for the lessons!

[Cal]

Originally posted by Nina@Sep 5 2004, 07:00 PM

Welcome to the board pooch...

I say call him on it or at least infom the class that the information is false ... people pass that stuff on. You don't have to do it in a mean, "I know better than you NaaNaaa" way (shame on you Snow ) you can be very nice about it and say you just happened to run into some information that disproved what was spoken about in class and just thought you'd make the correction for anyone interested.

Nina---should we also bring up in the class on PoGP, that there is serious controversy about the origins of the Book of Abraham?

In lessons on the WoW should we point out that JS drank wine, and that BY and the Church ran a brewery not far from the Tempe in SL, and that the Salt Lake temple had spitoons (sp) for chewing tobacco?

In lessons on the fulfillment of revelations, should we point out the ones that were never fulfulled, and never can be?

My point: there are lots of things that defy logic and reason. If we are concerned about the existance of a few myths, then SS and PH classes are the wrong places to be.

Just enjoy the SPRIRIT of the lessons, not the rational content

[Nina]

"Nina---should we also bring up in the class on PoGP, that there is serious controversy about the origins of the Book of Abraham?

In lessons on the WoW should we point out that JS drank wine, and that BY and the Church ran a brewery not far from the Tempe in SL, and that the Salt Lake temple had spitoons (sp) for chewing tobacco?

In lessons on the fulfillment of revelations, should we point out the ones that were never fulfulled, and never can be?

My point: there are lots of things that defy logic and reason. If we are concerned about the existance of a few myths, then SS and PH classes are the wrong places to be.

Just enjoy the SPRIRIT of the lessons, not the rational content "

First ... did I imply any of that???? I just said that if you hear something that isn't true you should probably speak up. Certainly lots of truths defy logic and reason, I absolutely agree ... for instance reasonably I have a hard time with visions and things of that nature but the spirit has testified to me of the TRUTH of these things so I believe. However, if a person tells me something that is untrue and I know it is untrue I have a hard time just accepting it especially when they are passing it on to other people I know and care about ... even if it is essentially harmless ...

Second ... so you are saying that I should forget what is actually being said and just "enjoy" the spirit ????? I am not too sure the spirit is pleased with misinformation but I will give it a try . Uh, well, no ... on second thought I will probably not but thanks for the advice ...

and before I get jumped on let me clarify ... I do agree that if someone is giving a lesson or a talk and it is as boring as all get out or is badly worded or is a bit confusing or is less than stellar in it's syntax, grammer, creativity, delivery etc ... I WILL feel the spirit and ignore what is being said because that is when the spirit works ... when TRUTHS are being told no matter how badly they are being conveyed.