NOM

Interesting to look at a list of the current leaders and see how few I know anything about anymore. There was a time when I could easily name each member of the 15 and call to mind what they look like and their speaking styles. Unless I return to some semblance of activity within the next few years ...

I find myself kind of wishing at times that I could "give place" for at least some pieces of what I once believed. While there are definitely big mysteries when it comes to the universe and it's easy enough to just assume we as humans understand very little, this doesn't translate in my mind to ...

This is very sad to hear. I didn't know Moksha outside of reading his posts here, but it still feels like losing a friend.

Imagine you are a Jaredite. On January first you seal yourself into your barge, along with your family, livestock, barrels of live fish, hives of bees . . . . I recently learned randomly that honeybees were introduced to the Americas in the 17th century. What this means, I guess, is that the ...

Someone who is extremely good at hiding?

It's probably going to end up being Roko's Basilisk.

https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is ... isk-2014-8

It is kind of interesting to think of God having to or choosing to work within the system that humans have created. That goes for language, money, cultural norms, etc. Rules dictated by religions fall within the context of a culture. Almost as if there weren't any universal cosmic truths. Hmm.

I've never really listened to the Sunstone podcast, but I saw somewhere that they had a Sterling McMurrin interview episode and that caught my attention. It turned out to be an interview that I've read part or all of before, but it was a good one. While I was there, I noticed that they also had a ...

What I've seen seems to fall into one of two main categories: Those who try to present evidence that's difficult to refute for traditional religious claims. Proofs for the existence of God, for example. Even if I don't buy their arguments, they can be interesting and at least exhibit some boldness ...

I've heard this monologue mentioned many times and I knew it started with a story about Sweeney meeting some Mormon missionaries, but I'd never got around to actually listening to it until now. Many of the things she discusses are relevant and relatable for anyone who has been through a faith ...

For me it wasn't so much the Mormon concept of God that led me to have a hard time buying into any alternative framing of deity. It was more about coming to understand why I held my beliefs in the first place. If I were to take on some new understanding of God, it wouldn't be based on tradition and ...

I saw Heretic the other night. The friend I went with is active but pretty nuanced and liked it as far as I could tell, though it was a late show and we didn't discuss it too much. There were a few scenes that made me instinctively feel slightly uncomfortable, maybe just because I was there with ...

In my opinion, the best thing by far to come out of that Mormon movie window was the sequel to God's Army, States of Grace . https://letterboxd.com/film/gods-army-2-states-of-grace/ I've just about given up hope on seeing Dutcher's Falling , but I'll be happy if it appears one day. https ...

I've been looking forward to this one and plan to watch it later this week with a (still fully active) friend. Glad to hear it's worth seeing.

That's a good summary of the experience. I sure identify with a lot of it, including the part about hiding the extent of my heresy in some relationships. The article mentions cases in which someone holds religious teachings up to some external standard and finds religion lacking. (It mentions ...

Nice to see the forum back up. Thanks to those who work to keep it alive.

How many planets will it take to provide all the matter needed to resurrect everyone who lived on Earth? How about the animals? Insects? Bacteria?

This is something I think about a lot. Do I believe in anything at all anymore? If you define believe as living as if something is true, then yes, I play along with all kinds of societal conventions, feel strongly about some moral issues, and even continue to follow a number of teachings I learned ...

How do you physically force a being who can't die to leave or not enter a place, anyway? For example, the one-third in premortal life and those in the afterlife who might want to visit family in a higher kingdom even though it's against the rules. (If they followed every little rule they'd have been ...