Mormonism Talk at UC Davis: Informative or Offensive? (POLL)

An event about Mormonism that's being put on by the Agnostic & Atheist Student Association at UC Davis has become a source of online tension. 

Vote in the poll below this story to weigh in. 

The event, which is titled, “,” will be presented by Ted Cox, an ex-Mormon turned atheist. The Facebook page for the event has become a landing place for contentious debate about the presentation. Here’s the description:

“Ted Cox returns to Davis for an entertaining, informative, and provocative presentation on his insider experience as a Mormon. You'll learn the four secret handshakes to get into heaven, the real reason Mormons didn't ordain black priests, and why Mormons can't tell you what goes on in the temple.”

Here are some of the comments from the Facebook thread, (not in order). The poll is below this story. 

• Jeff Dale: The idea that this little speaker event put on by atheists would spark oppression against Mormons is absurd. Certainly there's nothing in our history of meetings and events to suggest that this will turn ugly; as I've gone to great pains to elaborate, the evidence is overwhelmingly the other way. We would like our views to be more influential, because we have reason to think that much human misery could be averted if our views were more widespread. We could be wrong about this, and we'd want to know if we are. But how would we find out if we didn't talk? And how can we talk about atheism, which is just the antithesis of religion, without talking about religion?
• Jack Kessler: Religious bigotry is never justified. Take my name off your mailing list - now.
• Steven McIntosh: I'm no longer a believing Mormon due to the overwhelming evidence against it, but revealing other people's secret handshakes is a pet peeve of mine. I would go if it weren't for that.
• Kfir Orgad: It is one thing for someone to talk about how he came to leave the faith but it is quite another to attack the sacred things that people hold dear … There is a fine line between education and disrespectful gestures done for the sake of shock value.
• Jeff Dale: Are there religious people who'd be disturbed by our frank talk about religion? Of course. But they're not interested in hearing what we have to say, so they're not the ones who come to our meetings or hang out with us. Do we sometimes get people aggressively challenging us, like you are? Yes, of course. And we always say more or less the same thing. You're welcome to join the conversation. We're not hurting anyone or advocating hurting anyone. 
• Joe Espenda: The fact is, though Ted is now a former Mormon, he was a very serious adherent to the religion at one point. The talk will be much more about what Mormons actually believe, rather than about why Ted left. 
• Todd Smith: I too went to this talk at Cal Poly and it was very good. I'd highly recommend anyone else who thinks they might be interested in it to go!

Update: As many of you know, this story was picked up by the blog Pharyngula, of FreeThoughtBlogs. Safe to say: It has had a drastic impact on the poll numbers. I suggest you view the results with that in mind (or forward this story to a prominent Mormon blogger, I suppose). Or continue conversing in the comments and at the event. Prior to Pharyngula, the results were: 

• Purely informative: 54%
• Purely offensive: 29%
• A combination of the two: 16% 

The presentation is Thursday, Feb. 16 at 6 p.m at UC Davis. . 

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