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He (Jesus) who must not be named

Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2022 2:59 pm
by lostinmiddlemormonism
So I conducted a little experiment this conference. It is possible that I might have missed some references from time to time but I recorded each time a speaker used the following words:
Jesus Christ, Jesus, Christ, Lord, Savior, and Russel M Nelson.

As an added bonus I counted how many times Jesus was actually quoted as well. as how many times Joseph Smith and President Nelson were quoted. While not entirely scientific are you ready for the results?

Jesus Christ - 137 mentions
Savior - 91 mentions
Christ - 77 mentions
Lord - 70 mentions
Russel M Nelson - 54 mentions
Jesus* - 13 mentions

* Jesus was mentioned 22 additional times but all in one talk by Elder Mckonkie.

Which begs the question...why are the church and its leaders so scared of referring to Jesus as "Jesus"? This is part of the reason why mainstream Christians think we don't worship the same Jesus...

Joseph Smith was quoted 11 times
Jesus was quoted. 17 times
Russel M Nelson was quoted 23 times

This is my report.

-lost

Re: He (Jesus) who must not be named

Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2022 4:28 pm
by Just This Guy
Does your numbers include mentions of Jesus in closing a prayer or talk?

Re: He (Jesus) who must not be named

Posted: Mon Oct 03, 2022 3:08 am
by lostinmiddlemormonism
No. I did not count closing “in the name of Jesus Christ, amen” kinds of things nor in references to the church. Only in conversational references to the Person.

Re: He (Jesus) who must not be named

Posted: Mon Oct 03, 2022 9:24 am
by Hagoth
Valiant work, Lost!

Three more things that would be interesting to track:

1-How many of the times Jesus is mentioned when they are talking about things like what Jesus would have us do, our relationship with Jesus, obeying words of Jesus, etc. when they are using Jesus as a symbol for themselves and the church. These can be very subtle and make it sound like they're actually talking about Jesus when they are really using him as a puppet.

2-How many times they talk about the Devil, Satan, the Adversary, and other concepts of a personal Satan or literal, unseen dark forces.

3-The number of derogatory comments about The World, The Arm of Flesh, etc. This would include the veiled references to the increasing evil in the world used as a dogwhistle for LGTBQ rights, womens' rights, liberal political ideas, and activities to support the separation of church and state disguised as attacks on religious freedoms.