Missing Gospel Topics Essays

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moksha
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Re: Missing Gospel Topics Essays

Post by moksha » Fri Sep 24, 2021 3:52 am

Research Bird wrote:
Mon Sep 20, 2021 9:09 pm
Urim and Thummim
Overview
An ancient instrument or tool prepared by God and used by Joseph Smith to aid in the translation of the Book of Mormon.
They've never looked this up in the Bible, The Anchor Bible Dictionary, or Wikipedia.
Good faith does not require evidence, but it also does not turn a blind eye to that evidence. Otherwise, it becomes misplaced faith.
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Hagoth
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Re: Missing Gospel Topics Essays

Post by Hagoth » Fri Sep 24, 2021 7:06 am

moksha wrote:
Fri Sep 24, 2021 3:52 am
Research Bird wrote:
Mon Sep 20, 2021 9:09 pm
Urim and Thummim
Overview
An ancient instrument or tool prepared by God and used by Joseph Smith to aid in the translation of the Book of Mormon.
They've never looked this up in the Bible, The Anchor Bible Dictionary, or Wikipedia.
Now you've got me wanting to talk about this topic, Moksha, so I'm going to start a new thread.
“The easy confidence with which I know another man's religion is folly teaches me to suspect that my own is also.” -Mark Twain

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Hagoth
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Re: Missing Gospel Topics Essays

Post by Hagoth » Fri Sep 24, 2021 8:00 am

Palerider wrote:
Thu Sep 23, 2021 7:29 pm
So after visiting the LDS site this evening I see that the First Vision, BofM translation and DNA Studies essays are not available.

So even I, your very own personal COB spie sent to return and report on NOM activities cannot access those Essays.

I feel SO betrayed by my own managers.....

Secretly when I grow up to be a really big person I want to be just like you Fluff.
For all we know, they reappeared and vanished again in that much time, Palerider. They're slipperier than Nephite treasure.
“The easy confidence with which I know another man's religion is folly teaches me to suspect that my own is also.” -Mark Twain

Jesus: "The Kingdom of God is within you." The Buddha: "Be your own light."

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deacon blues
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Re: Missing Gospel Topics Essays

Post by deacon blues » Fri Sep 24, 2021 3:20 pm

Maybe I'm not supposed to do it this way, but when I google "Gospel topic essays" it comes up about 8 items down: I get the whole list, They're all available. :o Whoops, no they're not. :shock: I got BOM DNA, but not BOM translation! "Peace and Violence" is also unavailable. :lol: :x :P :cry: :evil: :twisted: :roll:
God is Love. God is Truth. The greatest problem with organized religion is that the organization becomes god, rather than a means of serving God.

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Hagoth
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Re: Missing Gospel Topics Essays

Post by Hagoth » Tue Sep 28, 2021 10:09 am

OK, I have a hypothesis.

Problem: the most problematic essays vanish from time to time for various amounts of time, while the less problematic ones (and everything else on the church website) do not suffer from this problem. The common answer, "it's just a glitch," simply does not hold water. If so, it is a glitch that is supernaturally targeted to very specific content; a glitch with an agenda.

I believe the SCMC is keeping track of when attention gets drawn to the essays by way of popular podcasts and/or articles, and correlating that with peaks in the numbers of people accessing the essays. Since they can't make the essays better they just make them unavailable until activity drops back to background levels, and then they pop back up as mysteriously as they vanished with no explanation. Personally, I think the DNA article is one of the heaviest hitters, so why did it come back before the others? It is also the longest and most technical, and very few people will stick with it for more than a paragraph or two. So that works with my hypothesis too. They are also able to monitor how long a reader is actively scrolling through an article, so they can produce per-essay/per-user activity levels.

The problem for the church is that the more people know that the essays have gone MIA the more they will be returning to look for them, and in the long run, the more likely they are to be read by people who just started by wondering wassup.
“The easy confidence with which I know another man's religion is folly teaches me to suspect that my own is also.” -Mark Twain

Jesus: "The Kingdom of God is within you." The Buddha: "Be your own light."

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Red Ryder
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Re: Missing Gospel Topics Essays

Post by Red Ryder » Tue Sep 28, 2021 10:23 am

Hagoth,

Do you think they are that savvy enough to play hide and seek?

I mean they did write the essays so why hide?

I think this warrants an investigation.

Let’s start calling the correlation department and asking the tough questions.

We want answers!

Here’s a list of record keeping contacts for their site. Anyone know what Thrasher Research is? Down towards the bottom of the list... edited to add google brings up this site.

https://www.thrasherresearch.org/

Found this.

In 1972, Mr. E. W. "Al" Thrasher donated 2,034 acres of second-growth redwood timber property, with the intent that the proceeds from its sale would support pediatric medical research. In 1977, this timber tract was sold for nearly $14 million, leading to the establishment of the Thrasher Research Fund.
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Hagoth
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Re: Missing Gospel Topics Essays

Post by Hagoth » Wed Sep 29, 2021 6:02 am

Red Ryder wrote:
Tue Sep 28, 2021 10:23 am
Here’s a list of record keeping contacts for their site.
RR,
I don't understand what we're looking at here and whence it cometh.
“The easy confidence with which I know another man's religion is folly teaches me to suspect that my own is also.” -Mark Twain

Jesus: "The Kingdom of God is within you." The Buddha: "Be your own light."

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Red Ryder
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Re: Missing Gospel Topics Essays

Post by Red Ryder » Wed Sep 29, 2021 9:31 am

Hagoth wrote:
Wed Sep 29, 2021 6:02 am
Red Ryder wrote:
Tue Sep 28, 2021 10:23 am
Here’s a list of record keeping contacts for their site.
RR,
I don't understand what we're looking at here and whence it cometh.
Mostly tongue in cheek that we should contact the COB and inquire about the missing essays. So my brain googles “Mormon correlation department contact info” and this page of record keeping contacts come up.

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/pa ... t?lang=eng

I got distracted by the “thrasher research” contact and googled that too.
“It always devolves to Pantaloons. Always.” ~ Fluffy

“I switched baristas” ~ Lady Gaga

“Those who do not move do not notice their chains.” ~Rosa Luxemburg

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deacon blues
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Re: Missing Gospel Topics Essays

Post by deacon blues » Wed Sep 29, 2021 2:24 pm

Looks like the missing topics are back up. All is well in Zion. :roll: ;)
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Hagoth
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Re: Missing Gospel Topics Essays

Post by Hagoth » Fri Oct 29, 2021 6:22 am

I'm convinced that there must be some explanation for the fact that the essays, certain essays, vanish periodically while the rest of the website remains stable.

Here's a new conspiracy theory that is pretty much the opposite of my previous conspiracy theory (welcome to my conspiracy of the month club). They take them down when there seems to be a lull in clicks, and then watch to see how many more hits the essay links get compared to when the essays were still up. That gives them a metric of how many people have noticed that the essays are gone and are checking for them to reappear. When that delta is no longer significant they will feel more comfortable about making a change or removal.

Next month: there is a secret basement room in the COB where church leaders are abusing pizzas.
“The easy confidence with which I know another man's religion is folly teaches me to suspect that my own is also.” -Mark Twain

Jesus: "The Kingdom of God is within you." The Buddha: "Be your own light."

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Just This Guy
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Re: Missing Gospel Topics Essays

Post by Just This Guy » Fri Oct 29, 2021 8:25 am


Hagoth wrote:Next month: there is a secret basement room in the COB where church leaders are abusing pizzas.

Ewwwwww........

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jfro18
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Re: Missing Gospel Topics Essays

Post by jfro18 » Fri Oct 29, 2021 8:54 am

Hagoth wrote:
Fri Oct 29, 2021 6:22 am
Next month: there is a secret basement room in the COB where church leaders are abusing pizzas.
I KNEW IT!

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moksha
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Re: Missing Gospel Topics Essays

Post by moksha » Fri Oct 29, 2021 8:39 pm

jfro18 wrote:
Fri Oct 29, 2021 8:54 am
Hagoth wrote:
Fri Oct 29, 2021 6:22 am
Next month: there is a secret basement room in the COB where church leaders are abusing pizzas.
I KNEW IT!
The sub-basements go down to level 17 before reaching the various cavern levels. One of the levels is a huge fallout shelter for the Brethren and their families. They have over 25 years worth of beluga caviar and tons of frozen A5 Waygu steaks.
Good faith does not require evidence, but it also does not turn a blind eye to that evidence. Otherwise, it becomes misplaced faith.
-- Moksha

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