Further Light and Knowledge

The Biggest Little Mormon Country in the World

I had not known about President Kimball's enthusiastic meeting with Pinochet.

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"You can only talk rubbish if you're aware of knowledge." --Karl Pilkington

Runtu's Rincon: http://runtu.wordpress.com

Yep, he flew in his helicopter to the presidential compound outside Santiago for a private meet.

I disagree with one point in the article: in terms of pure numbers, the numbers that began to pile up in the late 1980s--as the Pinochet regime began to weaken--were equalled in the first years of the democratic transition. I know Mormon leadership would like to believe that democracy killed their growth, as that would exempt them from any blame in the matter, but the truth is much different.

What killed growth and retention in Chile was the missionary program. Period. And had the 2002 census not shown such a gross difference between claimed and self-id'ing members, I haven't the slightest doubt but that the baptism carnival would still be happening today.

That point aside, do you think she's right in suggesting that the church still suffers some "guilt by association" from its coziness to the Pinochet regime?

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"You can only talk rubbish if you're aware of knowledge." --Karl Pilkington

Runtu's Rincon: http://runtu.wordpress.com

No, I don't. For the most part, Chilean society has moved on from the Pinochet years. If anything, the church suffers from its association with North America.

Click here for an Spanish-language article that illustrates that; the title is "The Church of White Underwear".

Looks like Hermano Cortez didn't get the memo:

That's awesome!

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The apple cannot be stuck back on the Tree of Knowledge; once we begin to see, we are doomed and challenged to seek the strength to see more, not less. ~ Arthur Miller

You say sagreto, I say sagrato.

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"The bird that would soar above the level plain of tradition and prejudice must have strong wings. It is a sad spectacle to see the weaklings bruised, exhausted, fluttering back to earth." ~Kate Chopin, "The Awakening"