|
HOAXES:
"Mormon Tabernacle Choir Kept Safe
from London Subway Bombing"
We have been flooded with e-mails
inquiring about several versions of a message being passed around the Internet
which state that Pres. Hinckley saved the Tabernacle Choir from the recent bombings in the
London subways. While some of the information in these messages is true, the critical part
is not true. In addition, there are problems with the message itself:
- The point of the messages are that canceling
the Choir trip to Europe proves that
Pres. Hinckley is a prophet (see example
1 below). We should not encourage to seek for a
sign. One should get a testimony of the Prophet by
the ministrations of the Holy Spirit, not by events.
- The message suggests that the
Lord loves and protects the Tabernacle Choir, but not those who were
bombed in the
subway.
- Pres. Hinckley called off all foreign trips of
the Choir some 18 months prior to the bombings. He did this because of world-wide
security issues, not
because of some future subway bombing in London. From the Church's Public Affairs Dept. and from the
Publicist of the Tabernacle choir, Michael von Rosen, the trip planning was not far enough along
to determine which subway the Choir might use. Since the
Choir normally travels on private busses, not public transportation, it is unlikely
that it would have even used the subway. The choir publicist also confirmed
to me (Stan Barker) that the choir would not have arrived in London until ten days after the
bombings.
In some of the messages the Choir member mentioned
is identified by a different last name. One
of our correspondents did research on their own. Comments follow the
messages:
Message One:
Subject: Mormon Tabernacle
Choir
Thought this was so interesting, just in case there was any question about
whether Gordon B. Hinckley is a prophet or not . In case
anyone has forgotten. A while back, around December, our Prophet
instructed the Tabernacle Choir to cancel their oversea tours including a
trip planned to London.
Why cancel a trip to London? London is a safe place right?
Did you know that the Mormon Tabernacle Choir was schedule to play on the
day the bombs hit London?
Here is a message from a member of the choir:
Dave Welch (the boss of my boss), who is in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir,
shared a very interesting story with us in a meeting this morning...
He said that 2 years ago the choir scheduled a trip to perform in
Scotland, Wales, England, and Paris for this summer. The trip was
planned way back in 2003, with all the hotels and venues already booked.
In December of last year, President Hinckley instructed the cancellation
of the trip due to what he called "unsafe world conditions." So
the European trip was canceled and changed to a tour of the Pacific
Northwest, which took place during the past two weeks...
According to the tour itinerary, the
360-member choir would have been in London on the day when the terrorist
attack took place.
Also from a member that works at the Church Office Building:
There is a little more to the story too.
I know several members of the Tab choir who confirmed this. On the
day of the bombings, the Tab choir would have been scheduled to be leaving
London for Scotland. One of the bombs exploded near the King's Cross
station, in one of the tunnels, the same train station that the Tab choir
would have gone through as they left for Scotland.
Listen to the Prophet even if his
instruction do not seem to make sense. He is truly a prophet of God
and still guides and leads the members of the church through dangerous
times and can lead us to |
Message Two:
Title: Truly a Prophet -
Right ?
In case anyone has forgotten : A while back, around December, our Prophet
instructed the Tabernacle Choir to cancel their oversea tours including a
trip planned to London.
Why cancel a trip to London? London is a safe place right?
Did you know that the Mormon Tabernacle Choir was schedule to play on the
day the bombs hit London?
Here is a message from a member of the choir:
Dave Welchy, who is in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, shared a very
interesting story with us :
He said that 2 years ago the choir scheduled a trip to perform in
Scotland, Wales, England, and Paris for this summer. The trip was planned
way back in 2003, with all the hotels and venues already booked. In
December of last year, President Hinckley instructed the cancellation of
the trip due to what he called "unsafe world conditions." So the
European trip was canceled and changed to a tour of the Pacific Northwest,
which took place during the past two weeks.
According to the tour itinerary, the 360-member choir would have been in
London yesterday when the terrorist attack took place.
They don't call this Hinckley guy a prophet for nothing!!
Also from a member that works at the Church Office Building:
There is a little more to the story too. I know several members of the Tab
choir who confirmed this. On the day of the bombings, the Tab choir would
have been scheduled to be leaving London for Scotland. One of the bombs
exploded near the King's Cross station, in one of the tunnels, the same
train station that the Tab choir would have gone through as they left for
Scotland.
Listen to the Prophet even if his instruction do not seem to make sense.
He is truly a prophet of God and still guides and leads the members of the
church through dangerous times and can lead us to safety. |
Response:
One of our correspondents contacted the Publicist
of the Tabernacle Choir, Michael von Rosen. Here is an excerpt
from their conversation:
... He said that
with the bombings, the choir would have probably had to then cancel, so it
likely would not have happened anyway. I asked if President Hinckley had
asked them to cancel and he confirmed that.
We absolutely believe that Pres. Hinckley
is a prophet and inspired, but it is best to not pass around this
kind of stuff, even when done in good faith. While messages like the above
may be appear to be faith promoting, they can also be faith destroying for some
people when the story is found to be in error. Truth is always
better than fiction.
|
