Comments on: The Covenant: A Mormon Mission Tool?

By: Matt Cooper

Matt Cooper — Wed, 30 May 2018 19:00:12 +0000

Everything about what I just read was incredibly asinine. I lived down the road from Tim Ballard for several years, and have had the chance to interact with Tim and his family. He loves his family, his faith, and his country. In fact, he is employed by the federal government. Unlike many, he has and is frequently risking everything to keep this country safe and free.
As for the claim that the the intent of this book was sneak mormonism into the mainstream makes no sense AT ALL. The mormon church is a multi multi billion dollar operation. Are we to believe such a massive machine has put its hopes for future converts one little author who barely sold over 10,000 books? So the mormons are hoping 10,000 people who have bought the book and hopefully read it magically or somehow make an intellectual leap to mormonism, and join their ranks….? This is there plan?? If so, a multi multi billion dollar church has just become very silly and petty indeed. No, you sir are the one who is petty.
The mormon church has a huge missionary operation and it is very successful. Look out, because the Mormon church continues to be among the fastest growing churches in the USA and the world about 300,000 new mormons worldwide every year. I assure you these 300,000 are not coming from covert operations but a consistent full time missionary force above 50,000 strong. You can verify these facts at lds.org.
Who ever claimed to be Tim’s friend and know something of a “secret meeting” is a liar. Tim told me Mr. Ballard congratulated him on a job well done and thought his book was very appropriate because of the times of moral decay in America is in. But to make the leap that it must have been a secret meeting with the intent of infiltrating unsuspecting readers demonstrates a huge lack of understanding of Mormon theology, and ignorance the already successful operations the church has in growing the faith. Not mention a hint of paranoia. I’ve studied Joseph Smith and it used to be said he wanted to take over the world by the sword….. still waiting for that to happen. Mormons in general have a deep love for this land, and many leaders of the faith have been very outspoken in defending the USA including its founder Joseph Smith and more recently Ezra Taft Benson, who served in the cabinet of Eisenhower and later became the highest ecclesiastical leader of the Mormon church before his death. You can hear Benson speak on America on youtube.

By: William Birch

William Birch — Wed, 30 May 2018 19:00:12 +0000

I am so appreciative for the work you produce, and to have found you on the web. My dad is a die-hard Glenn Beck, “Christian-American founders” radical. I warned him about Barton’s Jefferson book when he bought it, and he put it down and never opened it. I’m fairly certain dad, a Southern Baptist deacon, listens to Beck and company with an inerrant perspective — as in, they cannot err. So, I often look to you for your balanced insights.

By: Warren

Warren — Wed, 30 May 2018 19:00:12 +0000

William – Glad it is helpful, thanks.

By: Matt Cooper

Matt Cooper — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 00:04:55 +0000

By: Tim Ballard

Tim Ballard — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 19:59:41 +0000

Hello! Im the author of both books. I usually dont comment on these things but thought I should make something clear. Im not hiding anything. I tell whoever wants to listen that I have an LDS edition of the book and a non-denominational edition. If Im hiding that, why do I keep both books on the store bookshelves? Why do I write published articles about how these ideas connect with my LDS faith? If im trying to hide something, Im sure doing a poor job of it. America was created for all faiths to prosper. I hope a Catholic writes a book some day about how the covenant on this land has supported their faith, and a Baptist, and a Jew, etc, etc. It’s for everybody. I dont apologize for writing a book on this subject from the perspective of my LDS faith. Candice Salima mis-spoke about my LDS book being taken off the shelves. I have asked her to fix that, and she has not. I did ask her to take down my LDS interview for the launch of my new book “The Covenant” at the request of my publisher. My publisher was noting that people were accidently buying the LDS edition, when what they wanted was the non-denominational one. In an effort to limit the confusion, and keep happy customers, I asked Candice to take down the interview temporarily. It was that interview posted online that was causing some of the confusion. She was upset. I have apologized and she wont respond. Now that the confusion has abated a bit, I have told her that it would be great to put her original interview back up–she did such a great job putting it all together. She still refuses. As far as a visit with Elder Ballard goes, I can assure you that story cited in your blog is inaccurate. I dont know who that person is that posted it and I dont know where they got that story. I never received any such commission from any Church leader. Hope that helps clarify. Thanks!