NOM

I work in healthcare. My primary job at a nursing home/rehab facility was hit with covid a few weeks ago, so it's been rough time for all. We have a great activities director who is openly gay. (Hang in there--this is relevant) When she took down the activities wall calendar because they were no longer allowed, she posted a ton of inspirational quotes on the wall that I'm sure she just found on pinterest or whatever. One is the a printable of "Find joy in the journey--Thomas S. Monson."

The first day I saw it, I was honestly irritated. It was a raw, emotional week for many reasons and I almost asked her if I could find a replacement because looking at it just bugged me. I didn't. As time has gone on, it just humors me to see it hanging there and think of an extremely outspoken, feminist lesbian co-opting it from Monson who took it from someone else in the first place.

(I live in the midwest, and I seriously doubt she has any idea who he is. It does kind of make me wonder the background of all of the other people quoted on the wall, though.)

That's funny. It sounds like something that might just as likely to be attributed to the Dhali Lama or Joseph Campbell, or maybe the Hang In There Baby cat.

Please stay safe, GS!!

A supermarket that I drive by frequently has an electronic sign that rotates through specials on produce and inspirational quotes. A few years ago, there was a Neal A. Maxwell quote in the rotation. I don't remember what it was. Some kind of general encouraging sentiment.

Editing to add that I just realized this means very little without mentioning that I live far from any significant Mormon population. There is very little chance that anyone associated with that supermarket has any idea who Maxwell was.

We have an inspirational quote wall with quotes from various world influencers (Anne Frank, Dhali Lama, etc) where I work in SLC and there is a quote from Gordon Hinckley up there and it makes me mad when I see it. I try to talk myself out of the anger, but it just bugs me that he gets credited for doing good, when he hurt so many by leading a false church.

Linked wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 17, 2020 12:23 pm

We have an inspirational quote wall with quotes from various world influencers (Anne Frank, Dhali Lama, etc) where I work in SLC and there is a quote from Gordon Hinckley up there and it makes me mad when I see it. I try to talk myself out of the anger, but it just bugs me that he gets credited for doing good, when he hurt so many by leading a false church.

Totally get it. I think some people view him as a Yoda-like, and I view him as a disney-fied cult leader.

He certainly did a lot to clean up Mormonism's image, but I wish he'd used that PR/marketing gift for a better cause like cancer fundraising. Sigh.

I know exactly what it is that bothers you!

The middle initial!

Just reprint the same quote and attribute it to Tommy Monson, or Tom Monson.

It won’t bother you have that.

Red Ryder wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 17, 2020 2:50 pm

I know exactly what it is that bothers you!

The middle initial!

Just reprint the same quote and attribute it to Tommy Monson, or Tom Monson.

It won’t bother you have that.

They could keep a different sacred initial and obscure the LDS origins. Attribute the quote to T. Spencer Monson and virtually no temple recommend holder will recognize their favorite ear-wiggling leader.

Red Ryder wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 17, 2020 2:50 pm

I know exactly what it is that bothers you!

The middle initial!

Just reprint the same quote and attribute it to Tommy Monson, or Tom Monson.

It won’t bother you have that.

lol

I think it's actually the pure Mormony-ness of it. Fonts, design, all of it in addition to the "author." Flashbacks to too many RS nights I wasted my energy on perhaps?

I mean, could definitely be a saying on lolcat meme, so it's not the saying itself. It's the rest. And maybe all the baggage that comes with the constant pressure to be a perfect Mormon and be happy no matter how sucky the situation is?

glass shelf wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 17, 2020 2:46 pm

Linked wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 17, 2020 12:23 pm

We have an inspirational quote wall with quotes from various world influencers (Anne Frank, Dhali Lama, etc) where I work in SLC and there is a quote from Gordon Hinckley up there and it makes me mad when I see it. I try to talk myself out of the anger, but it just bugs me that he gets credited for doing good, when he hurt so many by leading a false church.

Totally get it. I think some people view him as a Yoda-like, and I view him as a disney-fied cult leader.

He certainly did a lot to clean up Mormonism's image, but I wish he'd used that PR/marketing gift for a better cause like cancer fundraising. Sigh.

I grew up under Hinckley's reign and I really liked him. I still have fond memories of him, though my faith transition casts him in a very bad light. You are right, he really could have done some good in a different path; too bad he was stuck in the mormon leadership one.

Having him on that quote board feels like it legitimizes the church as something important and respectable, and that gets under my skin.