{"id":31368,"date":"2016-03-01T14:43:51","date_gmt":"2016-03-01T21:43:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=31368"},"modified":"2016-03-01T14:43:51","modified_gmt":"2016-03-01T21:43:51","slug":"controversy-about-campaign-to-write-positive-book-of-mormon-reviews-on-amazon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/03\/controversy-about-campaign-to-write-positive-book-of-mormon-reviews-on-amazon.html","title":{"rendered":"Controversy about campaign to write positive Book of Mormon reviews on Amazon"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Squaw<\/a>
This Wikimedia CC photograph was taken in October 2012 from the Provo, Utah, campus of Brigham Young University, which is also known as \u201cthe focus of evil in the modern world.\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Forget the Syrian refugee crisis, the rise of Caesarotrumpism, famine in sub-Saharan Africa, the threat of worldwide pandemics, the possibility of a terrorist attack on American soil, and global warming. \u00a0There\u2019s a real<\/em> horror out there.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Go fetch your smelling salts before you read any further. \u00a0And be sure that you first surround yourself with pillows,\u00a0lest\u00a0you faint dead away and injure yourself.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

It seems that somebody connected with the Provo Utah Young Single Adult 9th Ward has encouraged members of that ward to go to Amazon.com and leave positive reviews there \u2014 effectively their testimonies \u2014 of the Book of Mormon:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

http:\/\/fox13now.com\/2016\/02\/29\/controversy-after-lds-church-members-told-to-give-book-of-mormon-5-stars-on-amazon\/<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Apparently, this is unprecedented. \u00a0(Although it must be admitted, contrary to the headline, that nothing in the sinister Mormon directive actually seems to expressly order its minions to post five-star reviews.)<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the history of Amazon.com reviews, which have always been posted according to the most rigorous scientific standards and methodology, nobody has ever encouraged people on a message board or a website or elsewhere to swarm in to Amazon and post negative or positive reviews of a new or controversial item. \u00a0No publisher or author or author\u2019s family has ever sought to boost ratings on Amazon.com.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Until this unethical campaign by LDS Inc., the Amazon.com ratings of the Book of Mormon<\/a>\u00a0were perfectly objective and precisely representative of global public attitudes on the subject. \u00a0Their even distribution \u2014 5 stars (53%), 4 stars (2%), 3 stars (1%), 2 stars (1%), and 1 star (43%) \u2014 reflects calm, reflective, dispassionate judgment entirely untainted by prejudice. \u00a0It would be simply absurd, in the light of those numbers, to suppose that critics of the Church might have sought to drag the numbers for the Book of Mormon down in any way remotely comparable to the criminal efforts of the Mormon cult.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Moreover, since this little campaign stems from the Provo YSA 9th Ward, it\u2019s a measured and appropriate response to file a complaint with Amazon.com against Brigham Young University and the world headquarters of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints<\/a>, and to treat this as a scandal of the first order.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I think I need to go lie down for a few minutes.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 Forget the Syrian refugee crisis, the rise of Caesarotrumpism, famine in sub-Saharan Africa, the threat of worldwide pandemics, the possibility of a terrorist attack on American soil, and global warming. \u00a0There\u2019s a real horror out there. \u00a0 Go fetch your smelling salts before you read any further. \u00a0And be sure that you first […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31368","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nControversy about campaign to write positive Book of Mormon reviews on Amazon<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"    Forget the Syrian refugee crisis, the rise of Caesarotrumpism, famine in sub-Saharan Africa, the threat of worldwide pandemics, the\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/03\/controversy-about-campaign-to-write-positive-book-of-mormon-reviews-on-amazon.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Controversy about campaign to write positive Book of Mormon reviews on Amazon\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"    Forget the Syrian refugee crisis, the rise of Caesarotrumpism, famine in sub-Saharan Africa, the threat of worldwide pandemics, the\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/03\/controversy-about-campaign-to-write-positive-book-of-mormon-reviews-on-amazon.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sic et Non\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-03-01T21:43:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/files\/2016\/03\/800px-Squaw_Peak_Provo_Utah-300x225.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dan Peterson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dan Peterson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/03\/controversy-about-campaign-to-write-positive-book-of-mormon-reviews-on-amazon.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/03\/controversy-about-campaign-to-write-positive-book-of-mormon-reviews-on-amazon.html\",\"name\":\"Controversy about campaign to write positive Book of Mormon reviews on Amazon\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-03-01T21:43:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-03-01T21:43:51+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045\"},\"description\":\"    Forget the Syrian refugee crisis, the rise of Caesarotrumpism, famine in sub-Saharan Africa, the threat of worldwide pandemics, the\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/03\/controversy-about-campaign-to-write-positive-book-of-mormon-reviews-on-amazon.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/03\/controversy-about-campaign-to-write-positive-book-of-mormon-reviews-on-amazon.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/03\/controversy-about-campaign-to-write-positive-book-of-mormon-reviews-on-amazon.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Controversy about campaign to write positive Book of Mormon reviews on Amazon\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/\",\"name\":\"Sic et Non\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045\",\"name\":\"Dan Peterson\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dan Peterson\"},\"description\":\"\\\"Life was very unsatisfying until I discovered Dan's blog, which gave me a reason to live.\\\" (gemli, 7 November 2019)\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/author\/danpeterson\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Controversy about campaign to write positive Book of Mormon reviews on Amazon","description":"    Forget the Syrian refugee crisis, the rise of Caesarotrumpism, famine in sub-Saharan Africa, the threat of worldwide pandemics, the","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/03\/controversy-about-campaign-to-write-positive-book-of-mormon-reviews-on-amazon.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Controversy about campaign to write positive Book of Mormon reviews on Amazon","og_description":"    Forget the Syrian refugee crisis, the rise of Caesarotrumpism, famine in sub-Saharan Africa, the threat of worldwide pandemics, the","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/03\/controversy-about-campaign-to-write-positive-book-of-mormon-reviews-on-amazon.html","og_site_name":"Sic et Non","article_published_time":"2016-03-01T21:43:51+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/files\/2016\/03\/800px-Squaw_Peak_Provo_Utah-300x225.jpg"}],"author":"Dan Peterson","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dan Peterson","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/03\/controversy-about-campaign-to-write-positive-book-of-mormon-reviews-on-amazon.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/03\/controversy-about-campaign-to-write-positive-book-of-mormon-reviews-on-amazon.html","name":"Controversy about campaign to write positive Book of Mormon reviews on Amazon","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-03-01T21:43:51+00:00","dateModified":"2016-03-01T21:43:51+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045"},"description":"    Forget the Syrian refugee crisis, the rise of Caesarotrumpism, famine in sub-Saharan Africa, the threat of worldwide pandemics, the","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/03\/controversy-about-campaign-to-write-positive-book-of-mormon-reviews-on-amazon.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/03\/controversy-about-campaign-to-write-positive-book-of-mormon-reviews-on-amazon.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/03\/controversy-about-campaign-to-write-positive-book-of-mormon-reviews-on-amazon.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Controversy about campaign to write positive Book of Mormon reviews on Amazon"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/","name":"Sic et Non","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045","name":"Dan Peterson","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Dan Peterson"},"description":"\"Life was very unsatisfying until I discovered Dan's blog, which gave me a reason to live.\" (gemli, 7 November 2019)","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/author\/danpeterson"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31368","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1019"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31368"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31368\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31368"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31368"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31368"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}