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A friend of mine sent me this video yesterday. Please go watch, then let’s discuss…

First, this video is a clown show. It’s so oversensationalized. Good heavens, an elder in the church is dealing! An ELDER! In other words, like pretty much any dude over 18? When you use the term ‘Elder’ in some Protestant faiths, it means something, a position of seniority. With Mormons, however, becoming an Elder is largely an expected rite of passage. Emphasizing the title as NatGeo does here is just a rhetorical ploy to make this drugslinger appear to be more involved in the Church than he probably really is. Dressing him in a white shirt and black tie, the repeated footage of his hollowed-out scriptures, it’s all intended to replicate towards non-members the common tropes of Mormonism, while displaying to members a near-total ignorance of the faith. (Mormons know it’s artificial because of the footage of the stained glass)

Then, towards the end, the video shifts from the scandal element of a Church Elder selling drugs towards a condemnation of the Church itself for its “shunning” practices. Good heavens, you mean that the Church would socially exclude heroin dealers?! THE INJUSTICE IS STAGGERING. I don’t know if the makers of this video are actually anti-Mormon but I am not sure whether an anti-Mormon would have made this video any worse.

His closing line, “there’s good that comes from this”, rang especially hollow. What a parasite. “I just wanted people to know, it’s not all bad people that are involved with it.” So there are bad drug dealers out there — those who have regular contact with users, presumably — but he’s a good one? Yeah. I was not too impressed. Here’s the thing, and please forgive the generalization: it seemed very…. Utah. Where else would a guy try to drum up sympathy for himself slinging heroin? We’re to let his victimization at the hands of a shunning cult outweigh his utterly destructive behavior?

This video is ridiculous. This is National Geographic, not some off-brand reality TV channel. People expect the brand to be objective and trustworthy. This was neither.

HOWEVER ————

A few questions:

1. Should the Church excommunicate heroin dealers? Why or why not?

2. The opioid crisis is real, and I’m convinced there are lots of dealers (and many, many more users) in the pews each week. How could this be presented in a fair way?

3. Can a good person be a heroin dealer?