Mormons Will the revealing of a magic rock help in the recruitment of new members? Will it help keep old members in the organization?

Most mormons had no idea that it even existed, or that their church had it all these many years, let alone they have consistently denied its very existence in the meantime. Many of them are reeling just from those facts alone.

All the many formerly languishing LDS apologists will most likely now be asking for that long overdue raise with all the renewed activity on their many websites from mormons all agog with questions. Each one must be hand fed. I'd ask for a raise if I were them, too, all things being considered. Being able to live with yourself while continually being forced to remain highly creative to hand-feed mormons what they want to hear costs money, you know. Mormon pharmacists don't hand out sleeping pills for nothing.

Considering that this instrument was claimed by all of the scribes to be the principal item in bringing about the translation of their sacred text that was pulled straight out of a hat, I'm surprised that we're even having this discussion right now. Instead, what the church wanted to do all these years was make up stories about Nephite Interpreters or use words like Urim and Thummim and illustrate a translation process that was nothing more than Joseph Smith reading directly from the plates with his fingers on the engravings. Because openly delivering to the membership that the official explanation that remains consistent between the scribes for the translation of the Book of Mormon states that it was a direct product of 1800s folk magic using a rock and hat, this is too embarrassing even for the mormons to openly admit. Too much meat before the milk.

It's embarrassing enough that they can't deny the rock in hat method. What's more outrageous, is the 1826 transcript proving Joseph Smith being dragged to court to have to admit that he was using this rock in hat method while he was employed to find lost items or treasures before the Book of Mormon ever came about.

It is damage control by the church. Many members are stumbling onto this and other lesser-known facts of their church's history on the internet and scratching their heads and asking, "Um...why didn't I ever hear about this in church? Why did I only hear about a breastplate and Urim and Thummim and never heard about a rock in a hat?" Then they start wondering, "Wonder what else they didn't tell me about...?"

Then they start digging into the details and they quickly realize the extent and depth of the institutional dishonesty of the Mormon church.

This is a pre-emptive strike by the church to diffuse this trend. Sort of like how a company comes right out and issues a press release about a problem with a product and issues a recall. Much better press than having it blow up as a scandal because they tried to cover it up.

Now all the Y!A Mormon defenders will jump all over me and tell me I'm ignorant and didn't pay attention in Sunday School, because they know all about it and so do all the other Mormons. Just not true. At all.

So you think the rock is magic? That anyone can look at in and know the mysteries of God? By all accounts, Joseph Smith had a rare gift. Looking at the rock, he once read from a book that was several feet away. He also described a farm he had never visited, down to the white hand painted on a tree. He even told someone where to find their lost horse. Those were nothing, compared to the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon is nothing short of amazing. A thousand years of culture, religion, wars and politics, all dictated in the span of 3 months by a man with a rock. Truly, God has produced a marvelous work and a wonder, to increase the faith of men.

Willard Chase's posterity want the stone back. It's THEIRS.

what? it's fake. And I havent' even seen the news. Was that the same rock he used to Translate the famous Egyptian Papyre? Oh. It was very useful if so

it s a rock. not a "magic rock". and I don't think it will help recruit or keep members in any way. why do you think it might?

I know you are smarter than that. Or have you, too, joined the ranks of Y!A trolls? This question is not worthy of an answer.