- Jonathan Green on Public service announcements: election edition: “Roger, “heavily Republican county votes Republican” is not an interesting observation. You really need to come up with some evidence for what you’re claiming. Early exit polls are not reliable, especially for small subgroups. It’s the same problem with the stories claiming that two thirds of Native voters went for Trump based on an early exit poll. The members are not bifurcating, because the number of progressives remains small, just as the number of progressives in the overall population is small. Trump has not changed the Church. Please, read the news and see what has happened in other churches. The Church does not need to join in on it. What an odd thing to say. You know where there is bifurcation? Online. As everyone in politics has come to realize, online is not real life.” Nov 20, 17:26
- on The war hymns bring me solace and comfort: “I think your final paragraph hits on the themes that make the “war-like” hymns so valuable–to me at least. We moderns live in (comparatively) very comfortable circumstances–and we wouldn’t be were it not for the blood, sweat, and tears of our forebears.” Nov 20, 16:10
- on The Cinematic Sexualization and Romanticization of Missionaries: “The lives of missionaries brings speculation because you have 2 men (or women) living together 24-hrs a day. No dating the opposite sex. The missionaries hormones are running. Plus, they live a cult-like existence. Most parts of their existence is centered on obedience. The “white” book gives them their marching order. The ramifications of this live-style is ripe for interpretation and speculation.” Nov 20, 14:44
- on The Cinematic Sexualization and Romanticization of Missionaries: “My guess is the opening scene was an attempt to try to make the sisters more complex and fleshed out than they would appear from doing basic missionary work and teaching a standard lesson. In teaching a lesson, missionaries are playing a pretty standard role with a standard script (they do so) which does lend the characters to seeming pretty one-dimensional. I think the opening scene was trying to make them more complex. Truthfully, I quite liked the sisters and they came across as pretty authentic to me (lots of people disagree). That opening conversation was really weird but other than that they seemed pretty real to me (again lots of disagreements). I put up a little review on Facebook. For me, the movie fell apart in the basement with the pie-lady especially. But I liked the movie before that (while overlooking the first conversation).” Nov 20, 13:08
- on The Cinematic Sexualization and Romanticization of Missionaries: “I’ll defer to you all about it not being particularly prurient. Famously, you know something is erotic when you see it, and I haven’t seen it… I didn’t know about the axe commercial, but just looked it up. That is weird, but, sure, my high school self would have found it kind of funny.” Nov 20, 12:20
- on Public service announcements: election edition: “Jonathan, you are arguing to delay the obvious. Sort of an apologist strategy. A lot of Mormons voted for Trump. I live in Utah County, a lot of my neighbors voted for Trump. We need to deal with the bifurcation of the members: conservative and progressives. If there is no room for progressives, then the Church needs to join the so-called Christian Right. And the progressives need to move past Church membership. Trump has altered the Church. Hopefully not irretrievably. But the future doesn’t look bright with the current elderly Church leadership. They seem attached to JFS and BRM version of Mormonism. Which doesn’t well with moderate and progressives members.” Nov 20, 12:09
- on The Cinematic Sexualization and Romanticization of Missionaries: “True. It actually made me laugh. She found her testimony watching a porn film.” Nov 20, 11:11
- on The Cinematic Sexualization and Romanticization of Missionaries: “I certainly except that Mormon girls talk about sex including sister missionaries, but I’m skeptical that anything like that PARTICULAR opening conversation in Heretic has ever occurred between two sister missionaries. It’s pretty strange: I know the church is true because of a theological interpretation I have of a porn video. Again, skeptical of that concept being shared by sister missionaries. But what do I know?” Nov 20, 11:03
- on The Cinematic Sexualization and Romanticization of Missionaries: “People that are troubled by that openning conversation in Heretic should wake up. Yes, even good mormon girls are interested in and talk about sex.” Nov 20, 10:33
- on The Cinematic Sexualization and Romanticization of Missionaries: “My memory of what the one sister says about the other sister’s birth control in Heretic was that she would have wanted to have kept it quiet over fears of stigma and shame, but I don’t recall her saying the issue for worry about formal discipline. She did NOT say that Mormons aren’t allow to use birth control. If what I remember her saying is correct, it struck me as accurate: it would be deemed odd for a sister to be on birth control and such a sister would probably keep that quiet. Polygamy comes up too, but in the context of faith deconversion. The movie didn’t seem at all sexual to me, even the weird beginning conversation. That conversation was about belief and deception, big points of the movie. Weird, but certainly not erotic. But yes, I have heard about numerous references related to homosexuality and Mormon missionaries. Then there was that weird Axe cologne campaign of the hot missionaries showing up women’s doors. Also strange.” Nov 20, 09:40