It is currently Thu May 23, 2013 8:41 pm

All times are UTC - 7 hours [ DST ]




Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 89 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5  Next
Author Message
 Post subject: Are Europeans too smug, condescending and secular...
PostPosted: Mon Jun 18, 2012 5:08 am 
God

Joined: Thu Oct 27, 2011 4:52 am
Posts: 7308
...to understand Mormonism?

Michael Otterson, the Church's Chief Spokesperson, says "yes"...

Quote:
The bulk of European coverage, by contrast, remains cynical if not outright mocking, says Otterson. “Lots of Europeans, especially the British—and I can say this because I’m British—have smug, condescending attitudes toward Americans anyway. So do many French and Germans. Mix into that this idea of religion and the fact that many of them come from a completely secular background, and it’s really hard for them to understand the depths of American pluralism.”


http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2 ... light.html

_________________
“We look to not only the spiritual but also the temporal, and we believe that a person who is impoverished temporally cannot blossom spiritually.”
Keith McMullin - Counsellor in Presiding Bishopric

"One, two, three...let's go shopping!"
Thomas S Monson - Prophet, Seer, Revelator


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Are Europeans too smug, condescending and secular...
PostPosted: Mon Jun 18, 2012 5:39 am 
Elder
User avatar

Joined: Sat Nov 06, 2010 9:14 am
Posts: 332
Location: Sweden
That's outrageous! We are not smug and conscending. We are just better educated, safer in our homes and cities, more democratic in our govenings, more secure in our work and pensions, more equitable with our hospitals and care of the elderly and, in general, better looking, not as fat and smarter.

_________________
”So why should non Americans bother about the American constitution?[/quote]
non American non-mormons = because it is just the better wager, globally speaking.(Thankyou, Subgenius)


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Are Europeans too smug, condescending and secular...
PostPosted: Mon Jun 18, 2012 5:42 am 
God

Joined: Wed Jun 06, 2012 11:49 am
Posts: 1322
Sounds worldly and not spiritual ---- temporal and not eternal.


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Are Europeans too smug, condescending and secular...
PostPosted: Mon Jun 18, 2012 5:53 am 
God
User avatar

Joined: Thu Sep 01, 2011 6:50 am
Posts: 2889
Location: Your mother's purse
bcuzbcuz wrote:
That's outrageous! We are not smug and conscending. We are just better educated, safer in our homes and cities, more democratic in our govenings, more secure in our work and pensions, more equitable with our hospitals and care of the elderly and, in general, better looking, not as fat and smarter.

case in point.
:cool:

_________________
Stated simply and crassly, by law, preservation of life is foremost. Rational, reasonable, logical and emotional plays no part. I simply did my part. - bcuzbcuz

"Science is the belief in the ignorance of the experts" Richard_Feynman


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Are Europeans too smug, condescending and secular...
PostPosted: Mon Jun 18, 2012 9:40 am 
God
User avatar

Joined: Tue Dec 04, 2007 7:18 am
Posts: 1702
subgenius wrote:
bcuzbcuz wrote:
That's outrageous! We are not smug and conscending. We are just better educated, safer in our homes and cities, more democratic in our govenings, more secure in our work and pensions, more equitable with our hospitals and care of the elderly and, in general, better looking, not as fat and smarter.

case in point.

That does sound smug, but leaving out the subjective personal preference "better looking," and the unmeasurable "smarter" (better educated, yes; smarter, unlikely), I don't see anything in that list that isn't demonstrably true.

And on the other hand, I don't think there is anything in the world that matches the smugness inherent in the jingoistic drumbeat of "American Exceptionalism."

_________________
“There is no reason why on the street today a citizen should be carrying loaded weapons.” - Ronald Reagan


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Are Europeans too smug, condescending and secular...
PostPosted: Mon Jun 18, 2012 11:12 am 
Elder
User avatar

Joined: Tue Jan 17, 2012 3:53 pm
Posts: 333
Location: The Great Expanse of the Magical Net
You mean Europeans find the idea that the Garden of Eden is in Missouri to be ridiculous?

SHOCKING!!!


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Are Europeans too smug, condescending and secular...
PostPosted: Mon Jun 18, 2012 11:23 am 
Nursery

Joined: Mon Feb 27, 2012 4:44 pm
Posts: 8
He sounds like those middle-aged men you see in bars complaining to younger women way out of their league that their wives don't understand them. Usually, what they mean is that their wives see right through them.

Look here, Otterson: normal, educated people all over the world don't buy into the mormon magical mindset. Boohoo. It's called rational thinking, not condescension.

What a cry-baby.


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Are Europeans too smug, condescending and secular...
PostPosted: Mon Jun 18, 2012 12:32 pm 
God
User avatar

Joined: Tue Dec 04, 2007 7:18 am
Posts: 1702
From the article:
With foreign and domestic media alike, a key church goal is to drive home “the fact of our political neutrality,” says Otterson.


Sure. No matter how much they insist that the church is officially neutral regarding parties and candidates, the fact remains that Mormons have voted for Romney at a nearly 90% rate.

_________________
“There is no reason why on the street today a citizen should be carrying loaded weapons.” - Ronald Reagan


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Are Europeans too smug, condescending and secular...
PostPosted: Mon Jun 18, 2012 2:16 pm 
2nd Quorum of Seventy

Joined: Sat Nov 18, 2006 3:22 pm
Posts: 710
Americans are supposed to have an obesity problem. An interesting book to read is Why French Women Don't Get Fat. Refillable drink and popcorn won't help. How many Americans read philosophy? Did the see the series The Consolations of Philosophy? A friend of mine went to America and was suprised how much food was on her plate. It was enough for two people.

_________________
John Stewart - Bill O'Reilly could be a candidate for Pope - He is Catholic and he believes he is infallible.


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Are Europeans too smug, condescending and secular...
PostPosted: Mon Jun 18, 2012 2:22 pm 
First Presidency
User avatar

Joined: Fri May 11, 2012 7:46 pm
Posts: 802
Location: Somewhere on the ocean with know-it-all control freak Nephi
aussieguy55 wrote:
Why French Women Don't Get Fat.




Chain smoking?

_________________
I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use. - Galileo


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Are Europeans too smug, condescending and secular...
PostPosted: Mon Jun 18, 2012 4:04 pm 
Elder
User avatar

Joined: Sat Nov 06, 2010 9:14 am
Posts: 332
Location: Sweden
aussieguy55 wrote:
Why French Women Don't Get Fat.


The dictionary, surprisingly, provides the answer. The verb "taste", transitive form, means: to eat or drink a small quantity of. The verb "taste", intransitive form, means: to have distinct flavour. The noun "taste" means: the sense that distinguishes the sweet, sour, salty and bitter qualities of a substance.

When food lacks 'taste' people try to compensate with quantity. Eventually all the "I'm full" receptors in the brain get turned off and gourmet becomes gourmand.

_________________
”So why should non Americans bother about the American constitution?[/quote]
non American non-mormons = because it is just the better wager, globally speaking.(Thankyou, Subgenius)


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Are Europeans too smug, condescending and secular...
PostPosted: Mon Jun 18, 2012 4:55 pm 
2nd Quorum of Seventy

Joined: Sat Nov 18, 2006 3:22 pm
Posts: 710
French women do not get fate because they eat good food in small portions more frequently

France gave us Satre

Germany - Bach

UK - C S Lewis, Tolkin etc

_________________
John Stewart - Bill O'Reilly could be a candidate for Pope - He is Catholic and he believes he is infallible.


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Are Europeans too smug, condescending and secular...
PostPosted: Mon Jun 18, 2012 6:19 pm 
God
User avatar

Joined: Fri Oct 27, 2006 2:42 pm
Posts: 12069
Location: Koloburbia
What an outrageous generalization to attribute French smugness to all Europeans.

_________________
Cry Heaven and let loose the Penguins of Peace


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Are Europeans too smug, condescending and secular...
PostPosted: Mon Jun 18, 2012 6:28 pm 
First Presidency
User avatar

Joined: Fri May 11, 2012 7:46 pm
Posts: 802
Location: Somewhere on the ocean with know-it-all control freak Nephi
aussieguy55 wrote:
French women do not get fate because they eat good food in small portions more frequently

France gave us Satre

Germany - Bach

UK - C S Lewis, Tolkin etc




Don't forget that the UK also gave us Monty Python too.

_________________
I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use. - Galileo


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Are Europeans too smug, condescending and secular...
PostPosted: Mon Jun 18, 2012 9:05 pm 
God
User avatar

Joined: Thu Sep 01, 2011 6:50 am
Posts: 2889
Location: Your mother's purse
krose wrote:
That does sound smug,

because it was
krose wrote:
but leaving out the subjective personal preference "better looking," and the unmeasurable "smarter" (better educated, yes; smarter, unlikely), I don't see anything in that list that isn't demonstrably true.

the entire list was 'subjective'

krose wrote:
And on the other hand, I don't think there is anything in the world that matches the smugness inherent in the jingoistic drumbeat of "American Exceptionalism."


Image

Image

_________________
Stated simply and crassly, by law, preservation of life is foremost. Rational, reasonable, logical and emotional plays no part. I simply did my part. - bcuzbcuz

"Science is the belief in the ignorance of the experts" Richard_Feynman


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Are Europeans too smug, condescending and secular...
PostPosted: Mon Jun 18, 2012 9:07 pm 
God
User avatar

Joined: Thu Sep 01, 2011 6:50 am
Posts: 2889
Location: Your mother's purse
aussieguy55 wrote:
Americans are supposed to have an obesity problem. An interesting book to read is Why French Women Don't Get Fat. Refillable drink and popcorn won't help. How many Americans read philosophy? Did the see the series The Consolations of Philosophy? A friend of mine went to America and was suprised how much food was on her plate. It was enough for two people.

two freedom loving people

_________________
Stated simply and crassly, by law, preservation of life is foremost. Rational, reasonable, logical and emotional plays no part. I simply did my part. - bcuzbcuz

"Science is the belief in the ignorance of the experts" Richard_Feynman


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Are Europeans too smug, condescending and secular...
PostPosted: Mon Jun 18, 2012 10:09 pm 
tired, less active investigator
User avatar

Joined: Thu Oct 18, 2007 2:07 am
Posts: 4163
Location: Hungary
moksha wrote:
What an outrageous generalization to attribute French smugness to all Europeans.

Europe is a country:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THyTnt00b5I

_________________
- Whenever a poet or preacher, chief or wizard spouts gibberish, the human race spends centuries deciphering the message. - Umberto Eco
- To assert that the earth revolves around the sun is as erroneous as to claim that Jesus was not born of a virgin. - Cardinal Bellarmine at the trial of Galilei


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Are Europeans too smug, condescending and secular...
PostPosted: Tue Jun 19, 2012 11:35 am 
God
User avatar

Joined: Tue Dec 04, 2007 7:18 am
Posts: 1702
subgenius wrote:
krose wrote:
but leaving out the subjective personal preference "better looking," and the unmeasurable "smarter" (better educated, yes; smarter, unlikely), I don't see anything in that list that isn't demonstrably true.

the entire list was 'subjective'

No. Compared to the USA, Europeans in general have much better health care and education, and much less violence. And they are definitely thinner.

All of that is measurable.

_________________
“There is no reason why on the street today a citizen should be carrying loaded weapons.” - Ronald Reagan


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Are Europeans too smug, condescending and secular...
PostPosted: Tue Jun 19, 2012 1:47 pm 
God
User avatar

Joined: Sat Oct 23, 2010 7:11 pm
Posts: 4814
Location: Notre-Dame de Paris (bell tower)
Imagine that there is a house on your street with peeling paint and an untended lawn out front. The grass is overgrown in some spots and dead in others due to under watering.

The children in the house are dressed poorly and one boy is involved with a street gang. One of the teenage girls is on her second pregnancy (by a different father) and still unmarried. A rusting, unrunning car sits against the curb.

Every morning the father of this family knocks on your door and tells you he has the best house (designed by God), the best family (loved by God above all others in the neighborhood) and lives the best lifestyle.

American exceptionalism.

No wonder people in other counties feel a bit put off.

_________________
"Sanctuary!"
"Faith is believing what you know ain't true" Twain.


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Are Europeans too smug, condescending and secular...
PostPosted: Tue Jun 19, 2012 1:56 pm 
tired, less active investigator
User avatar

Joined: Thu Oct 18, 2007 2:07 am
Posts: 4163
Location: Hungary
krose wrote:
... And they are definitely thinner...

Image

_________________
- Whenever a poet or preacher, chief or wizard spouts gibberish, the human race spends centuries deciphering the message. - Umberto Eco
- To assert that the earth revolves around the sun is as erroneous as to claim that Jesus was not born of a virgin. - Cardinal Bellarmine at the trial of Galilei


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Are Europeans too smug, condescending and secular...
PostPosted: Tue Jun 19, 2012 2:13 pm 
First Presidency
User avatar

Joined: Fri May 11, 2012 7:46 pm
Posts: 802
Location: Somewhere on the ocean with know-it-all control freak Nephi
Quasimodo wrote:
Imagine that there is a house on your street with peeling paint and an untended lawn out front. The grass is overgrown in some spots and dead in others due to under watering.

The children in the house are dressed poorly and one boy is involved with a street gang. One of the teenage girls is on her second pregnancy (by a different father) and still unmarried. A rusting, unrunning car sits against the curb.

Every morning the father of this family knocks on your door and tells you he has the best house (designed by God), the best family (loved by God above all others in the neighborhood) and lives the best lifestyle.

American exceptionalism.

No wonder people in other counties feel a bit put off.



Have you been driving in my neighborhood? And by the way, that car does run.

_________________
I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use. - Galileo


Top
 Profile  
 
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 89 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5  Next

All times are UTC - 7 hours [ DST ]


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 4 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum

Jump to:  
Revival Theme By Brandon Designs By B.Design-Studio © 2007-2008 Brandon
Revival Theme Based off SubLite By Echo © 2007-2008 Echo
Powered by phpBB © 2000, 2002, 2005, 2007 phpBB Group