[Portrayal of Diety](https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/general-handbook/20-activities?lang=eng) Section 20.5.6
This does not sound appropriate. The handbook agrees.
Edit to add the section number.
I'm always happy to find something in the handbook to criticize the church about, but this section explicitly says that people CAN cosplay as Jesus, but he can't dance!!
"God the Father and the Holy Ghost are not to be portrayed in meetings, dramas, or musicals.
If the Savior is portrayed, it must be with reverence and dignity. Only men of wholesome personal character should be considered for the part. The person who portrays the Savior should not sing or dance. When speaking, he should use only direct quotations of scriptures spoken by the Savior. At the end of the performance, he should change immediately into regular clothes.
The Savior should not be portrayed by children in dramatization except in a Nativity scene."
Yeah one of Bruce McConkie’s “7 DeADlY HerEsIEs” is directly a result of JCS, wouldn’t be surprised at all if this section is also from that.
Great musical by the way.
At least Godspell and Jesus Christ Superstar weren’t pretending to be something that they weren’t and they had great music too. Having the SP dress up as Jesus screams “leader worship” to me.
When my son was a ballet student in his teens, the husband of one of his teachers was at the time, or had in the past, performed the role ofJesus in a stage version of Jesus Christ Superstar. Naturally, those irreverent wise guy dance students referred to her as "Mrs. Jesus".🙄
Hey, Brother Doe. Whatcha doing next week?
Brother Doe: i'm tryin' out for Jesus.
This whole topic is exactly why we do NOT, Sorry THEY do NOT need grown adult men serving in such roles with youth. I get that Jesus loves the little children, but not THAT way!
My daughter, 35, converted to LDS about a year and a half ago, and was "called" to work with a primary group. She's on the up and up, and is a certified, working public school teacher, So has been thoroughly background checked. HOWEVER , she hasn't gotten around to doing the LDS church's (or is it just her ward???) Online child abuse prevention training that's allegedly required for those working with youth. I have no concerns about my daughter doing anything inappropriate with a child, I have plenty of concerns that no one is monitoring this, and that they are allowing her to continue without having completedthe training. An organization worth $250 billion ought to be protecting its children and covering its ass better than that!
The organization isn't following up on it because protecting children isn't a priority. It never has been. If church leaders could shift blame for all abuse onto the parents and victims ("Well, you let little Johnny go to camp and he chose to hang out with El Creepo, so, really, you only have yourselves to blame"), they would. But they know they can't, which is why they offer massive settlements with strict NDAs to victims who have a good case.
I did the youth protection training for the cub scouts, I had a partner that frequently no showed to teach the Webelos. The response from another leader was “just leave the door open”. I was like WTF no! I just had two deep leadership pounded into my head and learned about grooming. Also the kids had no concept of personal boundaries and would walk up to me and talk like two inches from my face. That shit protects me as much as the kids.
The church does not enforce what it most likely is required to teach.
Just like Joseph smith could marry and fuck all those women including 14 yr olds but we weren’t allowed to date until 16, same reason we were shamed for masturbation and anything else we did.
Rules for thee but not for me.
The way I’m interpreting it is it’s ok if it’s part of a performance. Performance is over, the man immediately changes and cosplay is over. Don’t think walking around hugging youth fits the handbook.
I can see that interpretation. I think the organizers of this event are considering the faith walk event (or whatever OP said it was) to be a type of performance
Well and with the SP being the one portraying Jesus, he can easily say it’s ok. As long as he’s only quoting scriptures as he walks around. The dressing up as Jesus does not bother me. The manipulative emotional tactic, targeting youth, and claiming is the spirit is upsetting.
Absolutely. I agree it's totally upsetting and inappropriate. I thought the church had made a weak effort to put a stop to these types of emotionally manipulative activities. Looks like it didn't stick.
I really like the idea of Jesus playing castanets as Peter James and John form the rest of the mariachi quartet, but Mormons and their handbook stole this opportunity from me.
Imagine the fish are maracas and you’ll understand my dream.
>Only men of wholesome personal character should be considered for the part.
**Uh oh!** I played Cheezes during a musical at the stake center. Many choir members stopped singing when I walked in and I could actually hear many in the congregation gasp! Even the choir director could see the expression from the choir members and she turned around as I walked in.
I was told "it was such a special spiritual moment" from several people. When I reached down to "heal" the blind man, he started crying - and so did many people in the audience.
I had forgotten about this but I believe that outfit is still in storage somewhere, probably in the basement, which is awesome because now I know who I'm gonna be this Halloween!
Ding dong
OMG, it's Jesus!
Just shut up and gimmie your candy!
It's explicitly allowed in the latest handbook!
"God the Father and the Holy Ghost are not to be portrayed in meetings, dramas, or musicals.
If the Savior is portrayed, it must be with reverence and dignity. Only men of wholesome personal character should be considered for the part. The person who portrays the Savior should not sing or dance. When speaking, he should use only direct quotations of scriptures spoken by the Savior. At the end of the performance, he should change immediately into regular clothes.
The Savior should not be portrayed by children in dramatization except in a Nativity scene."
I guess after signing the agreement with the Dept. of Justice in which the 1st presidency admitted to willfully being part of the Ensign Peak fraud and paid a $5 million dollar fine, they would not be considered of wholesome personal character.
Who decides if the man is "of wholesome personal character"? Does holding a TR automatically qualify a man?
There are clergy of various face who have molested children. Generally speaking, in clergy persons are generally thought to be people of wholesome personal character.
I once worked for an interfaith organization whose board chair was a Baptist minister who was groping female employees and other nasty stuff. I'm not LDS, but I am a different Christian faith. My father was agnostic. I complained to him once about the goings on among the pro men on the board of directors, that one in particular, and the others who were sweeping his actions under the rug. My father's response was, "These are men of the cloth!?!?" when I replied he said, "more like men of the dirty old rag to me."
The whole jesus cosplay thing is strange to those from mormonism, but lots of christian sects do it all the time. It's just more of the mormons trying to prove their jesus loving cred.
Are you talking about random people dressing up for some sort of informal lesson, or are you talking about passion plays? Passion plays are common for many Christian denominations, and Mormons have been doing one since I think the 1930s.
But I think most Christians would also find dressing up as Jesus with stigmata for your local congregation kind of weird.
Regardless of whether it is allowed by the handbook, this is inappropriate. It is an effort to emotionally manipulate the youth into seeing their SP as deity. It reinforces that leadership is not to be questioned. It is not right.
Dressing up as Jesus and hugging all the youth at a stake camp seems pretty unusual and potentially inappropriate. For one, having the Stake President dress up as Jesus with fake crucifixion marks could come off as disrespectful or even sacrilegious to many members of the Church and other Christians. It also feels like it could be emotionally manipulative, encouraging young people to cry and hug someone pretending to be Jesus, which might not be the best approach for their emotional well-being.
yes, it's very weird
Message to the TBM lurkers who are thinking, "This is fine, you just have a sick mind!"
No, your leadership is doing highly inappropriate things.
Now, you are probably going to say, "It's no different than getting a hug from Mickey Mouse at Disneyland."
Here's the difference. Mickey Mouse isn't in a leadership position in an organization with a confirmed history of covering up sexual abuse and other inappropriate behavior, including the pedophilia of it's revered founder and prophet.
There's no pressure from parents to give Mickey a hug. There's no religious connotation, like thinking that somehow hugging this character is tied to your religious standing or salvation, or has some kind of deep meaning.
An older man hugging children while dressed as Jesus is very much inappropriate, regardless of the context. Especially one in a leadership position.
I have experienced this twice. Once as a youth, age 16, at a Book of Mormon quest. They woke us up in the middle of the night, separated us from our friends/families, loud chaotic sounds, then finally reconnected with my quest family and then Jesus came. He came up to each youth and held their hands and looked deeply into your soul. It was very emotional and became one of the cornerstones of my testimony.
Also experienced as an adult at a similar event. I have Jesus a hug and felt peace.
Looking back at it it feels very manipulative. Using high emotion to craft a moment.
I hope my children don’t have to experience this (they are with their Mormon dad 50% of the time).
I had this too!
BoM Trek.
Get woken up around 2am to loud and creepy sounds. Herded around until we’re all brought together, look up into the sky to see the stake president cosplaying Jesus in a cable TV van's picker basket. He walks through the crowd so we can feel his crucifixion 'wounds' (bits of silicone glued to his palm). He had to stop multiple times to fix/adjust his horrible wig and fake beard (think closer to dollar store Hagrid than 'Jesus').
Meanwhile we're all being FEASTED on by clouds of mosquitoes. Tinny music is underscoring the whole act, and the music BARELY drowns out the generator in the distance that is powering the spotlight and speakers. We're also blinded by the spotlight as 'Jesus' comes near us. Did I mention mosquitoes?
This goes on for about an hour, 'Jesus' then gives us Sermon one the Mount II: Electric Boogaloo. We're all exhausted at this point. They send the girls back to bed. The boys then had to huddle in close to one of the other stake leaders who proceeded to give us a long lecture on the SACRED FLUID in our penis holding bodies and that choking the chicken was basically a mortal sin. He did make sure to mention that spilling SACRED FLUID from a wet dream was permissible... Did I mention mosquitoes?
The Jesus cosplay was probably about an hour and the SACRED FLUID talk was another hour, so it's close to 4-4:30am by the time the boys are allowed to go to bed. Did I mention mosquitoes?
The next morning, the girls were woken up first and had to prepare the camp and make the boys breakfast because we were kept up late making sure that we weren't going to spill our SACRED FLUID outside of sex with our temple wives (and extra feeding of the mosquitoes).
When the boys were woken up, we had to sit at our camp spots and the girls had to bring us our breakfasts. We weren't to lift a finger because we'd been up late hearing about our SACRED FLUID.
Oh I can so jump on this. We had a guy in our ward (total weirdo), dress up like Joseph Smith and came riding up on a horse to our youth potluck at our local pool/park.
And everyone just loved it.
I haven’t cringed so hard for someone else.
Ugh, this pedo stake president is giving the rest of us a bad name.
It's not ***weird*** to be turned on by people touching the piercings that you got over a wild weekend for everyone's sins! Hell, it's just fine if you want to consensually touch adult strangers in the Sure Place through a glory hole.
We need to take the stigma out of stigmata.
However, it ***is*** wildly inappropriate to abuse your office as stake president, to compel a bunch of kids whom you've dragged out into the woods, to hug you and touch you in your special places
a friend dressed up as Jesus at a Halloween party he didn't hung anyone thought. The guy that dressed as a centurion did pretend to crucify him. The best part was it wasn't planned, they guys didn't even know each other y
Like the photo-op of the dude who dressed up as jesus and went to third world countries/poor areas dressed up as jesus to meet all those kids?
I always thought that was pretty fucked up, even as a TBM.
For my former born-again days, not at all. Very ordinary. But in LDS circles, hell yes!
Edit: this is what happens when you signal to the troops to embrace mainstream evangelicals… you get this result.
This would be great to do for someone protesting general conference maybe with a big sign pointing out how antichrist the church really is.. OR as a joke at a Halloween party
This situation, yes, very much weird
I agree. My youth lds experience was far more sacred than it's become. The book of mormon actually has a verse about in the last days the fall of the lds church will be due to the people lifting up their rich to leadership offices in the church, and pride will destroy it. They always skip over these verses. ;)
MORmONs play a lot of weird dress-up games. Temple, Trek... hell even Sunday meetings are a weird dress-up event.
Worst. Cosplay. LARP. Whatever-you-want-to-call-it. EVER.
There is a picture of a man dressed up as Jesus wandering the Pride parade route hugging people. I think it is totally appropriate in that circumstance
Cosplay Jesus loves everyone. I think cosplay Jesus should have a cage match with cosplay Joe Smith to decide once and for all who Mormons really worship.
Even as a Mormon I would have found that disrespectful.
Now as a exmormon, I find blurring the lines between Jesus and clergy problematic, maybe even manipulative.
I remember one camp with an "iron rod" activity. There were angels and tempers for participants following rope/string paths while blindfolded. Bishops were not allowed to be tempers, as that could send the wrong message. Ick.
Okay. Alternative view here. All of it is weird. And it is all so boring! I can see wanting to make an activity less boring and doing something like this. Not saying it is okay, but it is less boring than the usual bla bla bla.
Regardless of whether or not it's permitted by the handbook - yes, that is weird. I mean, even from a religious perspective ... what's the long game (eternal perspective)? We want you to have a personal relationship with Jesus, so let's pretend I'm Jesus? Seems oddly self-serving. And since it's looking self-serving, now that raises concerns about what other ways (if any) this is self-serving.
Yeah, it's weird.
Yes, that is very strange!! Reminds me of when I did trek, and they just randomly started picking off people and saying "your dead now, you can't help pull the cart." I think it came down to about two people pulling each cart when all the kitchen staff dressed in white, like angels, came over the hill to help push the carts. It was supposed to be a very spiritual and emotional moment, but most people were trying not to laugh. Seeing the kitchen staff we came to know over the week, dressed up in basically just their garments, staged as angels, was so funny to me. Coming over the hill to save the day!! Even my TBM mom, who was one of the angels, thought it was ridiculously funny. Idk if that is a stunt they pull at every trek or if it was just our group, but I laugh out loud every time I think about it.
> While gathering in activities can be a blessing, members should not be made to feel obligated to attend every activity. Activities should not put undue burdens on leaders and members.
Interesting.
Even as a believer years ago I found this practice to be very ... cringy. Almost to the point of straight up sacrilege.
My mom wanted to have a photo of my kids with a Jesus actor and I immediately told her no way, that's wrong.
So, I didn’t check the sub, and I kinda assumed we were talking about like at pride based on the title alone? You know the “free mom/dad/parent/etc hugs” kind of deal? Because gay Jesus giving out hugs (to those who want it!!!) at pride wouldn’t be the worst.
So, we don’t wear the cross or display the cross because it’s morbid and focuses on His death. But we dress up as Him with mortal wounds and creep on all the youth.
Got it. Seems legit.
Ok, look up 18 Lives and the Book of Mormon on YouTube. I was a missionary during this time and volunteered at this event. I just rewatched it high with my husband since I found it on YouTube. They literally paid an actor to come and portray Jesus in this. And the scene where he is hugging everyone drags on so long and it is just so bizarre watching it back. A stake president is even weirder though… Mormons are just weird.
As a parent of four adult children but I myself, had all the callings in primary multiple times as well as callings in YW, this is quite disturbing to me!
Yes. It's weird. I second your observation. Even stake presidents are wrong at times. If I were you, I'd kindly call him out on it in a private letter. In kind words, so there isn't any negative feelings or leadership shunning of your family to follow.
[Portrayal of Diety](https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/general-handbook/20-activities?lang=eng) Section 20.5.6 This does not sound appropriate. The handbook agrees. Edit to add the section number.
I'm always happy to find something in the handbook to criticize the church about, but this section explicitly says that people CAN cosplay as Jesus, but he can't dance!! "God the Father and the Holy Ghost are not to be portrayed in meetings, dramas, or musicals. If the Savior is portrayed, it must be with reverence and dignity. Only men of wholesome personal character should be considered for the part. The person who portrays the Savior should not sing or dance. When speaking, he should use only direct quotations of scriptures spoken by the Savior. At the end of the performance, he should change immediately into regular clothes. The Savior should not be portrayed by children in dramatization except in a Nativity scene."
Sounds like they’re reacting to Jesus Christ Superstar and Godspell lol
Yeah one of Bruce McConkie’s “7 DeADlY HerEsIEs” is directly a result of JCS, wouldn’t be surprised at all if this section is also from that. Great musical by the way.
I’ve never seen it because I was told growing up that it was irreverent and such. I loved Godspell back in the day though. Lol
At least Godspell and Jesus Christ Superstar weren’t pretending to be something that they weren’t and they had great music too. Having the SP dress up as Jesus screams “leader worship” to me.
When my son was a ballet student in his teens, the husband of one of his teachers was at the time, or had in the past, performed the role ofJesus in a stage version of Jesus Christ Superstar. Naturally, those irreverent wise guy dance students referred to her as "Mrs. Jesus".🙄 Hey, Brother Doe. Whatcha doing next week? Brother Doe: i'm tryin' out for Jesus. This whole topic is exactly why we do NOT, Sorry THEY do NOT need grown adult men serving in such roles with youth. I get that Jesus loves the little children, but not THAT way! My daughter, 35, converted to LDS about a year and a half ago, and was "called" to work with a primary group. She's on the up and up, and is a certified, working public school teacher, So has been thoroughly background checked. HOWEVER , she hasn't gotten around to doing the LDS church's (or is it just her ward???) Online child abuse prevention training that's allegedly required for those working with youth. I have no concerns about my daughter doing anything inappropriate with a child, I have plenty of concerns that no one is monitoring this, and that they are allowing her to continue without having completedthe training. An organization worth $250 billion ought to be protecting its children and covering its ass better than that!
The organization isn't following up on it because protecting children isn't a priority. It never has been. If church leaders could shift blame for all abuse onto the parents and victims ("Well, you let little Johnny go to camp and he chose to hang out with El Creepo, so, really, you only have yourselves to blame"), they would. But they know they can't, which is why they offer massive settlements with strict NDAs to victims who have a good case.
I did the youth protection training for the cub scouts, I had a partner that frequently no showed to teach the Webelos. The response from another leader was “just leave the door open”. I was like WTF no! I just had two deep leadership pounded into my head and learned about grooming. Also the kids had no concept of personal boundaries and would walk up to me and talk like two inches from my face. That shit protects me as much as the kids. The church does not enforce what it most likely is required to teach.
No Jesus tap-dancing Christ. Got it. Jesus fucking Christ it is.
How will Jesus masturbating be kosher with Mormons, but I mess with my little factory and I get chastised...
Just like Joseph smith could marry and fuck all those women including 14 yr olds but we weren’t allowed to date until 16, same reason we were shamed for masturbation and anything else we did. Rules for thee but not for me.
The way I’m interpreting it is it’s ok if it’s part of a performance. Performance is over, the man immediately changes and cosplay is over. Don’t think walking around hugging youth fits the handbook.
I can see that interpretation. I think the organizers of this event are considering the faith walk event (or whatever OP said it was) to be a type of performance
Well and with the SP being the one portraying Jesus, he can easily say it’s ok. As long as he’s only quoting scriptures as he walks around. The dressing up as Jesus does not bother me. The manipulative emotional tactic, targeting youth, and claiming is the spirit is upsetting.
Absolutely. I agree it's totally upsetting and inappropriate. I thought the church had made a weak effort to put a stop to these types of emotionally manipulative activities. Looks like it didn't stick.
I really like the idea of Jesus playing castanets as Peter James and John form the rest of the mariachi quartet, but Mormons and their handbook stole this opportunity from me.  Imagine the fish are maracas and you’ll understand my dream.
100% those are totally fish maracas 🪇🪇
"Cast a net"?! Brilliant pun!!
>Only men of wholesome personal character should be considered for the part. **Uh oh!** I played Cheezes during a musical at the stake center. Many choir members stopped singing when I walked in and I could actually hear many in the congregation gasp! Even the choir director could see the expression from the choir members and she turned around as I walked in. I was told "it was such a special spiritual moment" from several people. When I reached down to "heal" the blind man, he started crying - and so did many people in the audience. I had forgotten about this but I believe that outfit is still in storage somewhere, probably in the basement, which is awesome because now I know who I'm gonna be this Halloween! Ding dong OMG, it's Jesus! Just shut up and gimmie your candy!
Interesting- it doesn’t mention comedy.
No fans of "Hamlet 2" and its epic musical number "Rock Me Sexy Jesus?" No? Too bad.
I bought it for the title. I kept it for the content. I watch it repeatedly because I love it.
Is this new tho? I swear in the past the church said never to portray Deity ever.
I just checked the old handbook, and it’s the exact same. Which with the church pageants, they would need to say it’s ok, with stipulations.
The Codex Astartes does not support this action!
Heresy flows through idleness.
[удалено]
It was discouraged (maybe even prohibited) in the old handbook.
It's explicitly allowed in the latest handbook! "God the Father and the Holy Ghost are not to be portrayed in meetings, dramas, or musicals. If the Savior is portrayed, it must be with reverence and dignity. Only men of wholesome personal character should be considered for the part. The person who portrays the Savior should not sing or dance. When speaking, he should use only direct quotations of scriptures spoken by the Savior. At the end of the performance, he should change immediately into regular clothes. The Savior should not be portrayed by children in dramatization except in a Nativity scene."
I guess after signing the agreement with the Dept. of Justice in which the 1st presidency admitted to willfully being part of the Ensign Peak fraud and paid a $5 million dollar fine, they would not be considered of wholesome personal character.
Who decides if the man is "of wholesome personal character"? Does holding a TR automatically qualify a man? There are clergy of various face who have molested children. Generally speaking, in clergy persons are generally thought to be people of wholesome personal character. I once worked for an interfaith organization whose board chair was a Baptist minister who was groping female employees and other nasty stuff. I'm not LDS, but I am a different Christian faith. My father was agnostic. I complained to him once about the goings on among the pro men on the board of directors, that one in particular, and the others who were sweeping his actions under the rug. My father's response was, "These are men of the cloth!?!?" when I replied he said, "more like men of the dirty old rag to me."
Talk about wolf behavior while dressed in sheep's clothing. That is all kinds of wrong. How old are the youth?
Camp is 12-18 year olds, OP said they hugged all the youth, so I would assume every age in that range
With that age range, he should have been dressed as Joseph Smith.
Only slightly better than Bednar restraining a boy and [making him cry.](https://youtu.be/ftp4-kT9VSg?si=BAc_tKFuPC39FhIm)
I only recently saw that clip and holy shite
The Pope Benedict of Mormons
Or when he pulled the whole gotcha moment by telling the missionaries over then lecturing them about wasting time at members homes 😑😑😑😑
Yeah, weird.
Creepy and weird on so many levels. Manipulation of the spirit and trying to supercharge emotions. Gross!
He just wanted to wear a dress. /s
Yeah, doesn’t that count as a drag show?
The whole jesus cosplay thing is strange to those from mormonism, but lots of christian sects do it all the time. It's just more of the mormons trying to prove their jesus loving cred.
Are you talking about random people dressing up for some sort of informal lesson, or are you talking about passion plays? Passion plays are common for many Christian denominations, and Mormons have been doing one since I think the 1930s. But I think most Christians would also find dressing up as Jesus with stigmata for your local congregation kind of weird.
It’s cringey and weird in any religion.
YEP! Even if it happens in other Christian orgs, it’s still “skibidi AF” as my kids say
This is my favorite example of jesus cosplay. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOk3z4VyRbQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOk3z4VyRbQ)
Regardless of whether it is allowed by the handbook, this is inappropriate. It is an effort to emotionally manipulate the youth into seeing their SP as deity. It reinforces that leadership is not to be questioned. It is not right.
It's giving Pastor Glen vibes.
Oh my gourd!!!
I thought this was a big no-no in the big Mormon rule book.
Dressing up as Jesus and hugging all the youth at a stake camp seems pretty unusual and potentially inappropriate. For one, having the Stake President dress up as Jesus with fake crucifixion marks could come off as disrespectful or even sacrilegious to many members of the Church and other Christians. It also feels like it could be emotionally manipulative, encouraging young people to cry and hug someone pretending to be Jesus, which might not be the best approach for their emotional well-being. yes, it's very weird
Message to the TBM lurkers who are thinking, "This is fine, you just have a sick mind!" No, your leadership is doing highly inappropriate things. Now, you are probably going to say, "It's no different than getting a hug from Mickey Mouse at Disneyland." Here's the difference. Mickey Mouse isn't in a leadership position in an organization with a confirmed history of covering up sexual abuse and other inappropriate behavior, including the pedophilia of it's revered founder and prophet. There's no pressure from parents to give Mickey a hug. There's no religious connotation, like thinking that somehow hugging this character is tied to your religious standing or salvation, or has some kind of deep meaning. An older man hugging children while dressed as Jesus is very much inappropriate, regardless of the context. Especially one in a leadership position.
😨😨😨
Um, yea.
I have experienced this twice. Once as a youth, age 16, at a Book of Mormon quest. They woke us up in the middle of the night, separated us from our friends/families, loud chaotic sounds, then finally reconnected with my quest family and then Jesus came. He came up to each youth and held their hands and looked deeply into your soul. It was very emotional and became one of the cornerstones of my testimony. Also experienced as an adult at a similar event. I have Jesus a hug and felt peace. Looking back at it it feels very manipulative. Using high emotion to craft a moment. I hope my children don’t have to experience this (they are with their Mormon dad 50% of the time).
I had this too! BoM Trek. Get woken up around 2am to loud and creepy sounds. Herded around until we’re all brought together, look up into the sky to see the stake president cosplaying Jesus in a cable TV van's picker basket. He walks through the crowd so we can feel his crucifixion 'wounds' (bits of silicone glued to his palm). He had to stop multiple times to fix/adjust his horrible wig and fake beard (think closer to dollar store Hagrid than 'Jesus'). Meanwhile we're all being FEASTED on by clouds of mosquitoes. Tinny music is underscoring the whole act, and the music BARELY drowns out the generator in the distance that is powering the spotlight and speakers. We're also blinded by the spotlight as 'Jesus' comes near us. Did I mention mosquitoes? This goes on for about an hour, 'Jesus' then gives us Sermon one the Mount II: Electric Boogaloo. We're all exhausted at this point. They send the girls back to bed. The boys then had to huddle in close to one of the other stake leaders who proceeded to give us a long lecture on the SACRED FLUID in our penis holding bodies and that choking the chicken was basically a mortal sin. He did make sure to mention that spilling SACRED FLUID from a wet dream was permissible... Did I mention mosquitoes? The Jesus cosplay was probably about an hour and the SACRED FLUID talk was another hour, so it's close to 4-4:30am by the time the boys are allowed to go to bed. Did I mention mosquitoes? The next morning, the girls were woken up first and had to prepare the camp and make the boys breakfast because we were kept up late making sure that we weren't going to spill our SACRED FLUID outside of sex with our temple wives (and extra feeding of the mosquitoes). When the boys were woken up, we had to sit at our camp spots and the girls had to bring us our breakfasts. We weren't to lift a finger because we'd been up late hearing about our SACRED FLUID.
Wowwowwowwow
Oh I can so jump on this. We had a guy in our ward (total weirdo), dress up like Joseph Smith and came riding up on a horse to our youth potluck at our local pool/park. And everyone just loved it. I haven’t cringed so hard for someone else.
Ugh, this pedo stake president is giving the rest of us a bad name. It's not ***weird*** to be turned on by people touching the piercings that you got over a wild weekend for everyone's sins! Hell, it's just fine if you want to consensually touch adult strangers in the Sure Place through a glory hole. We need to take the stigma out of stigmata. However, it ***is*** wildly inappropriate to abuse your office as stake president, to compel a bunch of kids whom you've dragged out into the woods, to hug you and touch you in your special places
Why am I not surprised a Mormon dude would do this. It’s so wrong!
Oh yeah, that is weird. It also seems to go against Mormon cultural rules and norms as well.
Creepy.
a friend dressed up as Jesus at a Halloween party he didn't hung anyone thought. The guy that dressed as a centurion did pretend to crucify him. The best part was it wasn't planned, they guys didn't even know each other y
Like the photo-op of the dude who dressed up as jesus and went to third world countries/poor areas dressed up as jesus to meet all those kids? I always thought that was pretty fucked up, even as a TBM.
This literally happened this weekend here in Alberta.
Lemme guess.. moronis quest
It’s not called Moroni’s quest anymore. Just “My Quest”
Of fuckin course. Tscc and their name changes
For my former born-again days, not at all. Very ordinary. But in LDS circles, hell yes! Edit: this is what happens when you signal to the troops to embrace mainstream evangelicals… you get this result.
Please tell me this really didn't happen.
Weird, and gross.
This would be great to do for someone protesting general conference maybe with a big sign pointing out how antichrist the church really is.. OR as a joke at a Halloween party This situation, yes, very much weird
Was this in Utah?
Mormons trying to become Christian.
TBH, it's not as weird as a guy claiming to actually *see* Jesus out in the forest and starting a religion to get chicks.
Nevermo here: Don’t they hate crosses? Isn’t this in kind of the same vein (buh-dum-tss)?
It didn't work for Michael Scott either.
As a nevermo, all I can say is that there is nothing done in TSCC that is not weird.
😳
Growing up I swear this would’ve been seen as sacreligious and so offensive… why is it an entirely different church now???
I agree. My youth lds experience was far more sacred than it's become. The book of mormon actually has a verse about in the last days the fall of the lds church will be due to the people lifting up their rich to leadership offices in the church, and pride will destroy it. They always skip over these verses. ;)
MORmONs play a lot of weird dress-up games. Temple, Trek... hell even Sunday meetings are a weird dress-up event. Worst. Cosplay. LARP. Whatever-you-want-to-call-it. EVER.
I’d go beyond weird yo downright creepy.
Just when you think it can’t get weirder, it gets weirder.
Super weird, but I also super want to see it play out…
Something js would do
Yeah that's crazy. Please tell me you took a picture. Was he wearing a wig?
wtf?! Yeah.
What. The. Hell.
I don't think it's really any more weird than the Temple ceremonies.
Cosplay Jesus.... And I thought we were "peculiar" in the 90s. Jesus...
It’s strange, but it happens a lot. The Easter pageant, and Moroni’s Quest (Nephite camp) come to mind.
THIS is why they tell the youth, NO PHONES.
Was it moroni's quest?
So weird. 🤮
So weird. Old man hugging a bunch of teens? Yeah.
That’s completely fcked up
Totally had this happen at a stake youth camp out
There is a picture of a man dressed up as Jesus wandering the Pride parade route hugging people. I think it is totally appropriate in that circumstance
Cosplay Jesus loves everyone. I think cosplay Jesus should have a cage match with cosplay Joe Smith to decide once and for all who Mormons really worship.
Not just weird but fucking creepy.
Even as a Mormon I would have found that disrespectful. Now as a exmormon, I find blurring the lines between Jesus and clergy problematic, maybe even manipulative. I remember one camp with an "iron rod" activity. There were angels and tempers for participants following rope/string paths while blindfolded. Bishops were not allowed to be tempers, as that could send the wrong message. Ick.
Yes Extremely
Okay. Alternative view here. All of it is weird. And it is all so boring! I can see wanting to make an activity less boring and doing something like this. Not saying it is okay, but it is less boring than the usual bla bla bla.
That is VERY strange behavior.
Regardless of whether or not it's permitted by the handbook - yes, that is weird. I mean, even from a religious perspective ... what's the long game (eternal perspective)? We want you to have a personal relationship with Jesus, so let's pretend I'm Jesus? Seems oddly self-serving. And since it's looking self-serving, now that raises concerns about what other ways (if any) this is self-serving. Yeah, it's weird.
Lol like that's legit blasphemy
Cree.pee.
Yes, that is very strange!! Reminds me of when I did trek, and they just randomly started picking off people and saying "your dead now, you can't help pull the cart." I think it came down to about two people pulling each cart when all the kitchen staff dressed in white, like angels, came over the hill to help push the carts. It was supposed to be a very spiritual and emotional moment, but most people were trying not to laugh. Seeing the kitchen staff we came to know over the week, dressed up in basically just their garments, staged as angels, was so funny to me. Coming over the hill to save the day!! Even my TBM mom, who was one of the angels, thought it was ridiculously funny. Idk if that is a stunt they pull at every trek or if it was just our group, but I laugh out loud every time I think about it.
Yes.
> While gathering in activities can be a blessing, members should not be made to feel obligated to attend every activity. Activities should not put undue burdens on leaders and members. Interesting.
Even as a believer years ago I found this practice to be very ... cringy. Almost to the point of straight up sacrilege. My mom wanted to have a photo of my kids with a Jesus actor and I immediately told her no way, that's wrong.
Yes lol I've seen people dressed up as Jesus at concerts and conventions but never doing anything untoward with youth.
Yes. That's weird AF.
That’s disturbing
Isn’t that blasphemous?
So, I didn’t check the sub, and I kinda assumed we were talking about like at pride based on the title alone? You know the “free mom/dad/parent/etc hugs” kind of deal? Because gay Jesus giving out hugs (to those who want it!!!) at pride wouldn’t be the worst.
So, we don’t wear the cross or display the cross because it’s morbid and focuses on His death. But we dress up as Him with mortal wounds and creep on all the youth. Got it. Seems legit.
Wait. Did this happen in your stake?! Not just weird but super weird.
um reeeeeal weird.
Really freaking weird....and disrespectful.
Yes.
Ok, look up 18 Lives and the Book of Mormon on YouTube. I was a missionary during this time and volunteered at this event. I just rewatched it high with my husband since I found it on YouTube. They literally paid an actor to come and portray Jesus in this. And the scene where he is hugging everyone drags on so long and it is just so bizarre watching it back. A stake president is even weirder though… Mormons are just weird.
I don't like this and do think it's weird but it's no different than what all the protestant churches do around here
Ew
Jesus wept
This isn’t weird it’s creepy.
As a parent of four adult children but I myself, had all the callings in primary multiple times as well as callings in YW, this is quite disturbing to me!
Yes. It's weird. I second your observation. Even stake presidents are wrong at times. If I were you, I'd kindly call him out on it in a private letter. In kind words, so there isn't any negative feelings or leadership shunning of your family to follow.
Not if you get your bishop's permission first.
Gotta love trauma bonding.
Creepy and weird
What stake was this? Was it Bozeman MT?