I am a Mormon!

[Jessica]

I totally decided to stop lurking and create an account just to post this silly response...

I've refreshed FJ several times today which is nothing new because I <3 you guys. Each time I did I've noticed this thread's title and have found myself thinking (in song a la "I am the Walrus" by The Beatles) "I am a Mormon... goo goo g'joob!"

:clap:

[Lostie]

And also at least one couple who'd each been divorced previously. I thought you were sealed to your first spouse for all eternity?

edited to put the [ in the right place.

I haven't seen these commercials and I'm not Mormon, but is it possible the divorcees were not sealed to their first spouses the first time around? Maybe one of them was not a Mormon or they weren't active? Also, I thought I heard that you could get unsealed, but that it's really difficult (although I may be remembering wrong) - so that could be an explanation as well.

[treemom]

I haven't seen these commercials and I'm not Mormon, but is it possible the divorcees were not sealed to their first spouses the first time around? Maybe one of them was not a Mormon or they weren't active? Also, I thought I heard that you could get unsealed, but that it's really difficult (although I may be remembering wrong) - so that could be an explanation as well.

Men can be sealed to multiple women. A woman could be sealed to current spouse if she wasn't sealed to her first or if she was unsealed.

[SweetTexasCrude]

Can I just say that the idea of having television adverts for any religion seems incredibly strange to me? Is this something that only happens in the US?

I remember these LDS ads from Texas in the '80s: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2_FRnkmh5M

I like that they're about being a good parent and not so much about the church or 'convert or burn!!!!!'

[ceg045]

...and a Mormon just believes!

vA1IMSRN2Xk

[ADoyle90815]

I think Muffy is a nickname for Margaret.

Either that, or Maureen, as a childhood friend's mom had a nickname like that, but her real name was Maureen. This family wasn't Mormon at all, but she did go by that nickname more than her real name.

[Shina]

Bahaha! ceg, you read my mind!

[liveonradio]

Hee, I clicked this topic fully expecting it to be a Book of Mormon singalong... I have a couple of friends on another board who, like me, know every word of the soundtrack. "I am a mormon... and a mormon just BELIEEEEEVES!!!" :lol:

...of course then it quickly deteriorates into repeating all the juicy bits. "Briiiiigham Young, hisnosewasaclitoris! - What will you do, Joseph? Will you fight the clitoris-man?" :dance:

This has been your pointless comment of the day.

[mirele]

Ok, seriously...the I am a Mormon campaign started before the "Book of Mormon" musical. It was initially YouTube only, then rolled out via billboards and radio/tv commercials to a handful of cities (Rochester, NY and Pittsburgh, PA come to mind because a friend of mine who traveled between the two for her job asked me wtf was up). Last week I got an e-mail saying that the campaign was rolling out to 12 more cities, but now I'm wondering if it's not more.

Another person on the e-mail list chimed in that in her area (which has a significant percentage of Mormons) everyone above age 14 was being asked to write a profile and upload it to mormon.org and then tell their church leader when it was done. The goal was 100 percent participation, but my friend was refusing to participate because she would not own the profile and she couldn't get it taken down if she asked. This reminded me of a campaign run by the "church" of $cientology in the late 1990s, where "Hi, my name is XXXXXX and I'm a $cientologist" websites were set up by $cientology as an early attempt at search engine optimization. (It didn't work.) I sent a follow-up e-mail pointing out that these websites were embarrassing when certain $cientologists got in trouble with the law or were in the news for embarrassing reasons and this was going to happen sooner or later with the profiles on mormon.org. A guy responded that it'd already happened, a church member had put up an "I'm a Mormon" profile that sounded good for three or four paragraphs but then segued into "but I decided it wasn't for me." Apparently the profile remained up for more than a day before it was hastily yanked down. There are a lot more Mormons than Scientologists and the chances a future axe murderer or scam artist will have a profile on mormon.org are exponentially greater.

[pomology]

:lol: Too true! But it isn't any worse than NEWT, or a vice- presidential adviser named SCOOTER.

What is it with Republicans and their WASP-y nicknames? I'm surprised none of these guys has a wife named Muffy.

Scooter Libby is actually Jewish, not a WASP and apparently got his nickname from when he was a child and used to scoot around on his rear end.

Also I have it on very good authority that Scooter Libby slept in a crib until he was at least 3.

[emmiedahl]

Well, and there's Tipper Gore. Growing up I had a cat named Tipper, because it had too many toes and all of them had white tips.

[3 is enough]

Totally forgot about Tipper Gore. And let's not forget Lady Bird Johnson.

I guess silly names are not restricted to Republicans after all.

[mstee]

I remember these LDS ads from Texas in the '80s: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2_FRnkmh5M

I like that they're about being a good parent and not so much about the church or 'convert or burn!!!!!'

Go to 3:50 minutes in- the cutest kid ever!!

[Guest Anonymous]

The LDS church spends huge amounts of money on TV advertising. Their new adverts are appearing in 9 or 10 test markets only.

[FireIsCatching89]

Men can be sealed to multiple women. A woman could be sealed to current spouse if she wasn't sealed to her first or if she was unsealed.

This sincerely rubs me the wrong way. Just like women aren't allowed to hold the priesthood, but little boys of twelve can. I have a lot of beefs with Mormonism, just on the basis of their sexist doctrines.

[emmiedahl]

The reason that men can be sealed to multiple women is because they still believe in polygamy although they are not practicing it here and now (for the most part *ahem* Kody). Since you can have more than one wife, it's okay to be sealed to more than one. But women can only have one husband, so they can only be sealed once.

[Maul the Koala]

A woman can be 'divorced' from her temple marriage. Marie Osmond was one but it's pretty rare. There's a huge process involved in it and seems really humiliating.

http://www.exmormon.org/mormon/mormon359.htm

I think in addition to that Marie had to be accompanied everywhere by someone affiliated with the Church until she was in good standing again.

[PennySycamore]

Totally forgot about Tipper Gore. And let's not forget Lady Bird Johnson.

I guess silly names are not restricted to Republicans after all.

IIRC, Lady Bird got that nickname from her nursemaid who said that baby Claudia Alta Taylor was as "purty as a ladybird". The nickname stuck. Tipper Gore's first and middle names are Mary Elizabeth; Tipper came from a lullaby "Tippi Tippi Tin" introduced in an Our Gang short.

Ladybird, the bloodhound on King of the Hill was named after Lady Bird Johnson.

There was a Muffy in my field hockey class at UGA in the fall of '73 and my sister-in-law is nicknamed Muffin

[treemom]

People in the south really love nicknames.

[Rachel333]

The rich girl (well, monkey, I think) on Arthur is named Muffy, and that's the only time I've ever encountered that name. I always thought it was weird.

Also, I assumed the show ended long ago, but I just found out that Arthur is still airing new episodes, which makes me happy. I loved that show. (Though if there have been 14 seasons, why have I seen so many reruns?)

[Deleted12]

Can you imagine if teh gayz did a similar stunt?

My name is Doug. My favorite activities are hunting for anacondas, organizing my massive collection of tweed separates, and "mentoring" clean-cut white men between the ages of 18 and 25... and I'm a Mormon.

[Kelya]

Can you imagine if teh gayz did a similar stunt?

Generally my entire life reminds me of this campaign on some days! "Yes, I go to church with my entire extended family, even though the church hates me. Its because I love my family and our traditions. I can't wait to have kids, and I'm a firm believer in family values- that kids need good role models, and that families are a building block of society. Oh- and I'm a lesbian! :) *smile with good teeth.*"

[PennySycamore]

Yep, the rich girl monkey on Arthur is named Muffy; I think Muffy Crosswire is her full name.

Muffy in my field hockey class was definitely a preppie. Back in the 70s, southern public high schools didn't have girl's field hockey teams. Some of them might now though. My mom played field hockey in college and said it was the most fun. It is a grand way to spend a beautiful autumn afternoon, but I digress...

[Kitty]

What is Muffy short for? It sounds like a pet form of a longer name.

It actually sounds like a vulgar term for a vagina to me. No offense to whoever's great-aunt was named Muffy.

[MaroonMandy]

When I got older I realized how creepy/dirty Muffy sounded and my mom said she always hated calling her that, too. No offense taken.