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Last week we attended the FAIR Conference. Among my favorite talks were the conference opener by Mike Ash and the conference closer by Dan Peterson.

Mike Ash presented concepts from his new book, Shaken Faith Syndrome. He explained the idea of “inoculation” — introducing members to doctrinal or historical points that might be unsettling if received from unfaithful sources which intend to shock or confuse. For example, we might better inoculate Church members by linking to the relevant FAIR Wiki article on Joseph Smith and polygamy when discussing Joseph Smith or polygamy.

Dan Peterson spoke of softening and broadening the field of apologetics. Apologetics is meant to provide plausibility for faith, not prove anything. We need not debate. If our faith is rational, or based in things we consider plausible, the Spirit can testify of truths. Apologetics can help provide this plausibility, for those who want it, by clearing the thorns so the seeds of faith can grow.

Dan’s vision for broadened apologetics is making the Gospel more “attractive” (or more remarkable) by sharing our experiences, telling our stories, and encouraging others to experiment for themselves. This kind of sharing of beliefs is central to the mission of the More Good Foundation and seems to be what Elder Ballard has asked for.

Earlier this year, Dave Keller suggested that Church members who participate on the Internet should engage in a “vigorous self study program” so they’re prepared to discuss any issue that might arise online. Here I see an interesting convergence: Dan and Dave seem to be implying, respectively, that the apologist and the online member missionary ought to be more like each other.

See also: Dan Peterson on Humble Apologetics at MormonTimes.com.

Today Elder Ballard spoke at the BYU-Hawaii graduation and urged graduates to use the Internet to share the Gospel. He mentioned blogging, podcasts, Facebook, video-sharing sites, and “people using … search engines to hunt for topics about the Church.” Here are selected portions:

The emergence of New Media is facilitating a world-wide conversation on almost every subject including religion, and nearly everyone can participate.
…
Conversations will continue whether or not we choose to participate in them. But we cannot stand on the sidelines while others, including our critics, attempt to define what the Church teaches.
…
The challenge is that there are too many people participating in conversation about the Church for our Church personnel to converse with and respond to individually. We cannot answer every question, satisfy every inquiry, and respond to every inaccuracy that exists. …some who seek answers want them to come directly from a member of the Church, like each one of you.
…
May I ask that you join the conversation by participating on the Internet, particularly the New Media, to share the gospel and to explain in simple and clear terms the message of the Restoration. Most of you already know that if you have access to the Internet you can start a blog in minutes and begin sharing what you know to be true. You can download videos from Church and other appropriate sites, including Newsroom at LDS.org, and send them to your friends. You can write to media sites on the Internet that report on the Church, and voice your views as to the accuracy of the reports.
…
Others have recorded and posted their testimonies of the Restoration, the teachings of the Book of Mormon, and other gospel subjects on popular video-sharing sites. You, too, can tell your story to nonmembers in this way.
…
Use stories and words that they will understand.

Elder Ballard also cited the Indy Books blog, where Bookslinger chronicles his daily missionary work.

I think this will prove to be a landmark talk.

Full transcript: Using New Media to Support the Work of the Church

Press release: Apostle Urges Students to Use New Media

(Thanks to several people who sent me this.)

Online missionary work can be like fishing or like hunting.

Sometimes we cast our line and then wait for someone to come along. For example, our website about Mormon beliefs sits idly until someone types “Mormon beliefs” into Google, and then it is found. Other fishermen are there too.

18 And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.
19 And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.
(Matthew 4:18-19)

Other times we hunt; we seek out people interested in learning more about the Church. If you want a missionary opportunity right now, visit Yahoo Answers and type in “Mormon” or join the forums at LDSForums.com. You’ll find plenty of people with questions about the Church.

16 Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the LORD, and they shall fish them; and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks.
(Jeremiah 16:16)

Among the most recurring themes in scripture is “seek and ye shall find“. We should make that true for people searching online.

Last week at the Utah Open Source Conference, Tom Welch, Technology Community Manager for the Church, spoke about his work as CTO of Linspire. While at Linspire, they created a tool called IRMA, by which volunteers could participate in the translation of their software. For example, a volunteer with a few minutes on her hands might visit IRMA to translate text like “Your file was not found” into Spanish, Arabic, or Swahili. The IRMA project resulted in the full or partial translation of their software into 59 languages. Instead of paying for the work, the company was able to harness the collective intelligence of the community to get the work done:

• 59 languages
• 3,246 translators
• 2.6 million translations
• top translator completed over 13,800 message translations

This is precisely the type of project that would be interesting for sharing the Gospel. The Church member might visit a website and be presented with a few options:

• Will you please translate the phrase “Joseph Smith is a prophet of God” into Portuguese?
• Will you please write a paragraph about what it’s like to visit a Mormon temple?
• Someone at Yahoo Answers has a question about the Book of Mormon. Please follow this link to answer his question.
• Will you please hit record and look into your web cam as you explain how you gained a testimony of the principle of tithing?

The work produced by volunteers would be published where persons of other faiths could find it. The site would have to be as accessible and easy to use as FamilySearchIndexing.org. There would be plenty of work, and this would make sharing the Gospel easier for Church members.

A recent Times and Seasons blog post suggested that the Mormon Church’s recently published article on the Mountain Meadows Massacre represented “new openness” on the part of the Church. The Church replied that it’s simply a response to the Internet and and “social media” formats that have brought “new communication opportunities to the Church through its Web sites.”

The Internet and social media allow fast, authentic, many-to-many communication, quite different from the few-to-many, broadcast media formats from just a few years ago. By posting the Mountain Meadows Massacre article on its website, the Church allows the “most thorough scholarship on the topic” to reach a wide audience in a way that sound bites cannot.

What’s more, Church members like us can participate!

While Church websites provide the official voice, we members can participate online to share our beliefs, opinions, and faith and dispel misinformation:

Many Church members on their own initiative take part in sharing their beliefs and opinions on the Internet. Thoughtful expressions of their personal faith and experiences with the Church help dispel stereotypes and misinformation.

If you would like to share your faith online, here are 12 ways. There are dozens more.

Source: The Church and New Media: Clarity, Context, and Official Voice

BYU professor Phil Windley points out that the United Methodist Church has an online social network. He makes a good point that “you have to wonder how you can manage the content so that it’s consistent with the religious principles espoused by the UMC.” That’s a big question for all of us at the intersection of religion and social networks.

Collective intelligence is pretty good, but revelation is better. How do you bring them together?

GetReligion.org recently linked to a fantastic interview with Richard Bushman. Mr. Bushman fielded questions from some of the nation’s top media outlets, discussing Mormon church history, the implications of Mitt Romney’s presidential candidacy on the Church, and the public’s perception of Mormons. I thought it was an awesome read. GetReligion.org has highlights.

Near the end of the interview, Sally Quinn of the Washington Post said it has been difficult to find Mormon bloggers for the On Faith blog. So far, all the weight has fallen on Michael Otterson’s shoulders. Quinn commented to Bushman, “[M]aybe you have an answer to why people have been so reluctant to speak out and to talk about it.” Bushman replied:

I don’t know; Mormons are very talky about their faith. I think it may be a kind of defensiveness; they don’t know whether they can trust you, whether it is a trap. I think I could easily find well-spoken Mormons who would be very pleased to take part in an operation of that sort.

If, as Mr. Bushman says, Mormons are “very talky about their faith,” is there a hesitancy to participate online? How can we make participation on the Internet more appealing and “safer” for a greater number of Church members?

Second Life is the online virtual world where thousands of people connect and millions of dollars are transacted. GetReligion.org recently ran an article on churches in Second Life, mentioning that Mormons were among the varied communities that meet regularly in this virtual world.

Last night, the organizers of the Mormon island in Second Life held a social. As far as I could tell, about 30 people came, from a variety of countries.

The Mormon island is starting to grow. Several people have built houses there, as well as a chapel, visitors center, Relief Society building, Christus, and a replica of the Tabernacle. When you walk into the Tabernacle, the Saturday afternoon session of this past General Conference begins to play. You can read the Articles of Faith on the walls of the visitors center, and you’ll soon be able to read the Book of Mormon there.

The Mormon Second Lifers told me they know of at least one [real] baptism that has resulted from their efforts in Second Life. Skyler said that they’ve begun to receive lots of visitors.

Second Life won’t be for everyone, but as long as there are thousands of people involved, it makes sense to consider ways to reach out to them. I’m glad to report there are faithful Church members who are using Second Life as an honorable means for sharing our beliefs with others.

Whitney Johnson at Know Your Neighbor has an article in Meridian Magazine about reaching out to persons of other faiths by discussing religion over dinner. She calls the idea Dinner and a Mormon (a play on the TBS program Dinner and a Movie) and the idea is that we Mormons are less likely to be misunderstood and misjudged if we can help people get to know us. Sometimes we make it difficult by being exclusionary and cliquish.

Of the last five people/families that you spent time with socially, how many were not members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?

Can we each find someone in our neighborhood who might have questions about Mitt Romney, or the Book of Mormon, or “what’s this polygamy thing,” and take them to dinner? We may be able to clear up misconceptions, and in any case we can make a friend.

Read: Dinner and a Mormon

I recently met Whitney Johnson who serves in Church Public Affairs in Boston. She’s created a website called Know Your Neighbor which advocates kindness, service, neighborliness, and an “inclusionary” attitude as important elements of member missionary work. As the Prophet Joseph said, “friendship is one of the grand principles of Mormonism.” A friendly and kind disposition must be a part of who we are. It’s better to be a friend who doesn’t proselyte than a proselytizer who isn’t a friend.

Dr. Richard Bushman wrote about being “dedicated to blessing others”:

I wrote to Elder Holland about a rough patch ahead as animosity to religion keeps growing. I am coming to envision a new persona for the Church as humble followers of Jesus Christ. Instead of speaking triumphantly of the Gospel sweeping the earth, could we think of ourselves instead as the leaven in the lump, standing for righteousnesss and serving others? I wish we had a long record of kindness and friendship to fall back on, with less stress on proselyting. Then when the storms break around us, we would have friends to turn to. Our covenant with God is to bless the people of the earth. That should be our motto. Establishing Zion does not mean sweeping vast masses of people on to our membership records but creating a people of God dedicated to blessing others. Joseph and his early followers came forth with lots of triumphalist rhetoric, but I think we need a new voice, one of humility, friendship, and service. (via)

President Hinckley has repeatedly advocated friendship and kindness:

The true gospel of Jesus Christ never led to bigotry. It never led to self-righteousness. It never led to arrogance. The true gospel of Jesus Christ leads to brotherhood, to friendship, to appreciation of others, to respect and kindness and love.

There are other great quotes on Whitney’s website and blog. You can also download a PDF called “The Spirit of Ammon” which explains how Ammon’s service to King Lamoni set the stage for his gospel conversion.

We’ve previously mentioned ways to share the gospel on the Internet. Is it also possible to simply be a good neighbor on the Internet?

• The anonymous nature of the Internet often leads to “cyber-bullying,” extreme rudeness, and visceral attacks. (Blogging can be a lightning rod!) When we see such behavior, we can remain polite and collected, and we can be respectful even when we disagree. We can make encouraging comments to those who are attacked and improve the tone of the dialog.
• We don’t have to mention our “particular brand of faith” when writing about gospel truths. Pick a topic like honesty, chastity, or family and explain why it’s important to you.
• We can blog about our religion without being pushy. For example, mention that you learned Portuguese because you lived in Brazil for two years. Let the text “two years” be a link to something that explains why you were there. Those who are interested can follow the link.