Recently FairMormon released a new set of videos titled “This is The Show” on our YouTube channel. These videos use comedy and caricature to address criticisms of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They are intended for a youth and young adult audience as part of our efforts to provide accurate, well-documented answers to criticisms of the doctrine, practice and history of the Church.
In response to these videos, some individuals have made incorrect claims and accusations we wish to address.
First, some have claimed that other groups collaborated with FairMormon on these videos. This is false. FairMormon commissioned the production of “This is The Show” videos without prompting, input, suggestion or direction from any other entity or individual. No other group has contributed to the content, style, performance, production, or distribution of our videos. FairMormon alone is responsible for the content shared on the videos, and our websites.
Second, some have accused FairMormon of distributing a meme with intent to incite violence. This is also false. We did not create or distribute the meme in question, nor did we ask anyone (directly or indirectly) to create or distribute such a meme. We do not know the individual who created the meme. We have nothing whatever to do with the meme, and we do not condone it in any way. FairMormon abhors violence in all of its forms and condemns anything that would invite or incite violence towards anyone—including our critics. We regret that any personalities associated with FairMormon may have shared such content. We will review our social media policy with our FairMormon associates and contractors.
FairMormon is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing well-documented, accurate, authoritative, and complete answers to criticisms of and questions on the doctrine, policies, practices, and history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The overwhelming bulk of our work is set forward in well-documented articles and lectures. “This is The Show” video series isn’t a change in our course; it’s our first attempt to support young people—using means, methods, and media commonly familiar to them—in their efforts to understand and defend sincere and insincere questions or attacks on their faith and beliefs. For further information, please visit our FAQ page.
Hanna Seariac is a MA student in Greek and Latin at Brigham Young University. She is currently writing a book on Latter-day Saint approach to theological stances as well as shorter pieces on prayers in scripture. She works as a research assistant on a biblical commentary and as a research assistant at the Neal A. Maxwell Institute. She values Jesus Christ, family, friends, hiking, baking, and good ice cream.
Mark Ashurst-McGee is a senior historian in the Church History Department and the senior research and review editor for the Joseph Smith Papers, where he also serves as a specialist in document analysis and documentary editing methodology. He holds a PhD in history from Arizona State University and has trained at the Institute for the Editing of Historical Documents. He has coedited several volumes of The Joseph Smith Papers and is also coeditor of Foundational Texts of Mormonism: Examining Major Early Sources (Oxford University Press, 2018). He is also the author of several articles on Joseph Smith and early Latter-day Saint history published in scholarly journals and popular venues.