NOM

So this was unexpected. I had reduced my church involvement down to one hour of sacrament where I would play the organ and go home. No recommend, no other calling, that's it. As far as I knew a week ago, I could have kept this going indefinitely, but then they announced a stake realignment. Wards we...

Seriously, any tips out there? Maybe it's the times, but I can really feel my faith in humanity slipping. It wasn't long ago that I could proudly proclaim the innate goodness of human beings, but add in a little fear or propaganda, and it turns out even the best of us can be turned rabid. Either the...

Them: "Why doesn't alas come to church anymore?" DH: "Because she doesn't want to." This is a pretty good suggestion. However, the one upside to my attendance is that I've been able to run interference between the church and my family. I won't be suggesting they ask my wife directly, but this may a...

You guys have the missionary discussion voice down pat.

I put this in support because it's the closest fit, but I'm less traumatized by this than amused. Just to bring everyone up to date, my wife and kids stopped attending two years ago, but because I was the stake executive secretary it took me a little bit longer to back away. A year ago I finally set...

Was Dalton directly responding to the "pussy hat"? If so, then if she doesn't want people using the word pussy then she needs to consider electing someone who doesn't brag about grabbing them. Because grabbing women by the pussy is definitely an action unbefitting of a son of God. Political action i...

GoodBoy makes an interesting point that unraveling one's belief system may not be the best path or everyone, regardless of what is or isn't true. And I suspect that everyone maintains delusions, even those who have deconstructed religions belief. I sure do. This is something that if we were to focu...

It sounds like what you really want is some sort of validation or acknowledgement from your father that your conclusions, or decisions, concerning the church are legitimate. Maybe the thought has crossed your mind, "If only he were to read what I have read, then he'll see where I'm coming from." The...

Here's my contribution. My only regret is that I should have inserted the word "PANTS!" instead of the thing about Whole Foods. But you know, it was done in a hurry, and we live and we learn. https://i.redditmedia.com/qwIwgi-ixYp_X1HnXxtaqNx95wk8rZO1e5H1SuJ9niE.jpg?w=1024&s=653931549d19941ff03e02951...

What's happened to Sister Rowe is the same thing that happens to all dooms day prophets. Their predictions fail, followers leave, but those who stay invent ways to keep believing and become even more convinced. These movements are not based in realism, they are based in fanaticism. Predictions about...

Unfortunately, we cannot simply say that "it's all in your head" when believers tell us their spiritual promptings. While we may believe this is true with our evidence, a believer may simply "know" that their prompting is from God. A believer usually needs their promptings to betray them before the...

A researcher has taken devout Mormons and exposed them to religious stimuli to produce a spiritual experience inside an MRI machine. https://www.researchgate.net/blog/post/the-brain-on-god http://www.sltrib.com/news/4617561-155/study-shows-mormons-brains-light-up It's interesting to me because it va...

This sounds like it is confirming common sense; when you are in a highly us vs. them environment you lose empathy for those in the "them" group, and if the "us" group strongly identifies and reinforces the group and how those in the group should act they feel similarly. I found it interesting that ...

...skipping ahead a little, because the test is next week, I'm a little behind, and there aren't any Cliff's Notes. Part 24 of an infinite set of conference talk reviews. Sunday Morning Session - Russell Nelson, Joy and Spiritual Survival I was a little surprised by the name of this talk, because fr...

He really demonstrates the difference between introverted and extroverted disaffection. Introverts internalize their angst and sort of slow burn through the process, surprising people if they do come out, because the whole thing happens in between their ears. Anonymous internet forms are popular wit...

Is it election day yet? I need some Xanax. Part 14 of ∞ Conference Talk Review: Saturday Afternoon - Todd Christofferson, "Abide in My Love" This is a very nice message! The Bible tells us that “God is love.” He is the perfect embodiment of love, and we rely heavily on the constancy and universal re...

As with anything, they can implement changes in the spirit of the reform, or they can just outwardly meet the letter. After all, who needs an honor code office when you have a stable of bishops willing to revoke an ecclesiastical endorsement?

Democratic presidential candidates in Utah have received between 26% and 34% pretty consistently for the last 16 years. It was a bit lower when Romney ran, but I'm not including 2012. Compare this to Clinton's current polling which averages out to about 27%, and we can conclude that McMullin's prese...

Mormonism HAS made geographical convenience a hallmark of itself which is bloody fascinating. They build the community through geographical wards of a city or area and have them attend together at the nearest location. In areas with many Mormons (5 - 10% of the population or more) this makes being ...

For those interested, the Women's session, Saturday Morning, and part of Saturday Afternoon can be found here on Reddit, the NOM life raft. It's confession time. I completely forgot that this guy was an apostle. He's such a standard issue and basic white dude that I completely forgot that the latest...