NOM

Doesn't matter what changes they make - they can't make the Church what it claims to be. Making a fraudulent, oppressive Church incrementally less oppressive doesn't change in the slightest its fraudulence. Short answer: nothing. The Church is a fraud - making it nicer shouldn't make me want to sta...

I find Dan Vogel hard to listen to. Is it just me? Yeah, a little bit. I think it comes from where John asks questions wanting brief concise answers, and Dan likes to really frame his answers in the proper context with all of the caveats and nuance so that he is not misunderstood or unfair. My appr...

I think the bigger picture with this and all of these "revelatory" changes is that the church is losing control. One of our bishopric councilors just had his son come home after a couple of months for anxiety. I can think of several people I know well who have come home early from missions recently....

Yes, this is some fantastic stuff. I really like the way both of these guys are very fair and not itching to jump on any sensational theory that would make the church look bad. I listened to all of the Dan Vogel stuff today at work; he really gives some great insight into the chiasmus claims, the ma...

We've had a lot of problems with this in our ward, where little kids go to church with grandma who is a member and they get on the records that way. They'll sometimes create a record in order to get a count in primary. While there are leaders who will make a concerted effort to baptize and reactivat...

I read Charles Harrell’s This is My Doctrine a while back and it is insane how many of the “proof the church is true” scriptures mean something entirely different than what Joseph Smith thought. I guess he was so excited/desperate/unsophisticated/arrogant to prove that the rise of the church was for...

DW would respond that the "lord works with imperfect people. Like Joseph smith". I've given up trying to rebut that view because it has become the go to answer when there is no answer. My go to response for this (because it is used so often) is that I don't expect JS to be be perfect, but I do expe...

It's fascinating to me that even though I'm on the dry council, NOBODY will ask me questions about church history, why I hate the fact that the church owns a mall, LBGTQ issues, etc. That elephant is bigger than the room, and nobody will see it. My experience too. I'm the executive secretary in the...

I always love it when an RFM podcast pops up... and I was waiting for this one since their talk. Great stuff, can't wait for parts 2 and 3!

It seems to me Joseph Smith would have been made acquainted with conditional prophecy in his money-digging education. Rituals, rites, and spells had to be done correctly, or the treasure would slip away. Wow, yeah, I never thought of it in that way but you're right. Zion wasn't established, the mil...

Go for it! I hesitated for so long in my 20s to really break out from the Mormon plan. Then I joined the military and found out to my shock that the world is full of amazing people outside of the church. Also, I currently live on the east coast. Not sure where you’re thinking of going specifically b...

Hoping they’ll loosen up on coffee so I can drink it openly instead of quasi secretly. Although the thrill factor of being “bad” without really being bad would be gone. It’s a running joke in my office about us all going to Mormon hell. I think it’s possible though. Lots of upside (easier to convert...

do we still have to covenant to give all we have to the COJCOLDS? I think we do, they changed a lot of the wording of things, but it was really subtle. That last part seemed the same... I know they changed the wording of the chastity one, and they really changed the first one completely. I remember...

Wow... not a fan. Some thoughts.... A few positives: It is shorter, but not by much. Don't have to move the robe.. I always hated having to do that. The more egalitarian language was nice. Not sure if this is with all temples, but the first room they painted up with a creation/garden mural. I'm in o...

My wife doesn’t really know anything of doctrine. It is all a social event. She is now studying and asking me questions. Maybe there will be some unseen benefits to this over time. Oh yeah, this could be a good thing. Just don't move too fast like I did. I wish my wife would still discuss church hi...

Backfire is such a strong thing too... if I could do it all over again, I would absolutely handle things so much differently to try and account for that ahead of time. Yes, same thing with me. I thought early on if I hit my wife with these issues I was discovering all at once she'd see the church f...

I was reading in, I think it was, Brigham Young Frontier Prophet where early on in the church, the priesthood would get together, drink "sacramental" wine and speak in tongues. One quote commented on how drunk they would get. So essentially this gift of the spirit was a bunch of guys getting drunk a...

The Q15 today take themselves WAY too seriously. Anything Bednar says IS scripture. He stands up first. Last conference when Nelson walked in and everyone stood, that look on his face as he motioned to command everyone to sit... he was just soaking in the adulation. I wanted to puke.

Served a mission in SLC, so I got to meet several GAs there. My favorites: Companion and I got to eat breakfast once with President Faust and really liked him. Down to earth and a nice guy. Met Hinckley, very nice and outgoing just like you'd expect. Once after p-day we had to rush up to University ...

I tried to go the route for a while of seeing the atonement, or Christ's suffering as a way for Christ to know us and understand how to help us to become better. But really the New Testament is all over the place doctrinally; enough so that people can make Jesus into whatever they want. I recently r...