New RFM Podcast--A Whale of a Tale

[consiglieri]

This podcast deals with the phenomenon of faith promoting stories in the LDS Church, though it could apply to other religions as well.

https://mormondiscussionpodcast.org/201 ... of-a-tale/

It covers three examples of this in 2017, together with a recap of the Paul H. Dunn scandal, then segues into the story told by Elder Larry Wilson about Ensign Frank Blair in last General Conference.

Posters here helped with some of the details on that story, and for that I want to publicly express my gratitude!

All the Best!

--RFM

[Mankhoj]

Hi RFM,

Followed NOM for a while, first time posting (just registered on NOM). Great podcast as always - been following your podcasts since Rock referenced coup-d-etat (loved that one!). I'd be interested whether this kind of analysis on other LDS "faith promoting" stories would yield similar conclusions. My wife and I had a debate on the screws versus seeing in the dark during the audio clip!

I've enjoyed your past podcasts too. Had a SP use the new definition of "miracles" shortly after I listened to your podcast... I was grinning and rolling my eyes the whole time.

If you ever get up the land of the midnight sun, I'd enjoy a chat over a cup of "joe"!

~Mankhoj

[consiglieri]

Glad you liked it!

An interesting side-note is that Bill Reel personally emailed Elder Wilson yesterday morning and confronted him with the fact he told a fake story in General Conference and why it is so obviously fake.

He even sent Elder Wilson a link to the podcast with a suggestion he listen to it.

Elder Wilson hotly retorted he didn't have time to waste listening to podcasts.

Maybe Elder Wilson should have "wasted" some time verifying Ensign Blair's story before spouting it in General Conference.

Thar she blows!

[Just This Guy]

I really liked that one. Made for an hour of a long car trip that went pretty fast.

Edit: One problem. I have now had that "A Whale of a Tail" song stuck in my head for a day an a half now... aargh!

[slavereeno]

Awesome, loved it.

[consiglieri]

I really liked that one. Made for an hour of a long car trip that went pretty fast.

Edit: One problem. I have now had that "A Whale of a Tail" song stuck in my head for a day an a half now... aargh!

It is a catchy tune, isn't it?

Makes me want to do a hornpipe!

[Just This Guy]

I learned it as a kid. I was rather disappointed to realize how much of it I still remember 3 decades later.

[FiveFingerMnemonic]

Glad you liked it!

An interesting side-note is that Bill Reel personally emailed Elder Wilson yesterday morning and confronted him with the fact he told a fake story in General Conference and why it is so obviously fake.

He even sent Elder Wilson a link to the podcast with a suggestion he listen to it.

Elder Wilson hotly retorted he didn't have time to waste listening to podcasts.

Maybe Elder Wilson should have "wasted" some time verifying Ensign Blair's story before spouting it in General Conference.

Thar she blows!

This is hilarious! More members need to be brave enough to confront BS. I don't want to toot my own horn, but early in my faith transition I once confronted an area authority 70 after stake conference who had declared some unusual new doctrine about the atonement. I asked him if the correlation department had approved of his new information. He was pissed.

[1smartdodog]

Every story, every talk is all based on faith promoting fiction. But unlike Aesop's fables meant to convey a lessonn through allegory the church does the disservice of claiming it is all real. Thus creating a conflict with those who are fact checkers. But the leaders also know most die hard members never check facts.

[Archimedes]

Paul H Dunn took the cake though. He made a living off of the made-up stories he told.

[Hagoth]

Elder Wilson hotly retorted he didn't have time to waste listening to podcasts.

Love it! I also loved the podcast. Thanks again Consiglieri!

[FiveFingerMnemonic]

Looking over the plastic models of LST's I think it would be plausible to see the propellers from the rear side area. They have a metal cage frame protruding from the hull to protect them from above. However you would need to view them independently one at a time.

www.motionmodels.com/ships/amphib/lst459-5.jpg

Nevertheless, the other aspects of the story are clearly embellished.

[blazerb]

I think we should be gracious toward the former ensign. It is likely that if you talked to him, he would tell you the exact story that was shared in GC, not because he lies but because he remembers the story that way. Listen to Malcolm Gladwell's podcast "Revisionist History" season 3 episodes 3 and 4, entitled "A Polite Word for Liar" and "Free Brian Williams" respectively for a discussion of the phenomenon.

After 63 years and telling this story many times, the man involved would have changed his memory substantially. He is not a liar. He is reporting his experience as best he can. We all change our memories for a lot of reasons. This is another reason to be careful when sharing "faith-promoting stories."

ETA: We should also be gracious about whether or not he served in the Korean War. The Korean War ended in 1953 with a cease fire. That sort of ending is not much of an ending, in my opinion. I checked, the Korean War Veterans Association offers membership to anyone who served between June 25, 1950 to January 31, 1955 (or if you ever served in Korea from 1945 until the present). https://kwva.us/?page=mem_how_join This is not a stolen valor situation.