Monthly Archives: April 2023

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"I officially resigned from the church. I'm glad I did it. It's made me the person I am today. Friends and certain family members (you know who you are) helped me more then they'll ever know. They helped me realize that Mormonism didn't define who I was." - Samuel https://wasmormon.org/profile/kf7heh/
"I officially resigned from the church. I'm glad I did it. It's made me the person I am today. Friends and certain family members (you know who you are) helped me more then they'll ever know. They helped me realize that Mormonism didn't define who I was." - Samuel https://wasmormon.org/profile/kf7heh/
Please confirm you want to delete the donations to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from your 2020 tax return. – “Paying tithing is more of a sense of commitment than it is the church needing the money. So they never wanted to be in a position where people felt like, you know, they shouldn’t make a contribution.” – Roger Clarke, the head of Ensign Peak, said he believed church leaders were concerned that public knowledge of the fund’s wealth might discourage tithing. | wasmormon.org
Please confirm you want to delete the donations to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from your 2020 tax return. – “Paying tithing is more of a sense of commitment than it is the church needing the money. So they never wanted to be in a position where people felt like, you know, they shouldn’t make a contribution.” – Roger Clarke, the head of Ensign Peak, said he believed church leaders were concerned that public knowledge of the fund’s wealth might discourage tithing.
Should we include these deductions in your tax return for 2020? Do the donations to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints still apply? – “Paying tithing is more of a sense of commitment than it is the church needing the money. So they never wanted to be in a position where people felt like, you know, they shouldn’t make a contribution.” – Roger Clarke, the head of Ensign Peak | wasmormon.org
Should we include these deductions in your tax return for 2020? Do the donations to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints still apply? – “Paying tithing is more of a sense of commitment than it is the church needing the money. So they never wanted to be in a position where people felt like, you know, they shouldn’t make a contribution.” – Roger Clarke, the head of Ensign Peak | wasmormon.org
Doctrinal Mastery Core Document Acquiring Spiritual Knowledge Principle 2: Examine Concepts and Questions with an Eternal Perspective To examine doctrinal concepts, questions, and social issues with an eternal perspective, we consider them in the context of the plan of salvation and the teachings of the Savior. We seek the help of the Holy Ghost in order to see things as the Lord sees them. This allows us to reframe the question (to see the question differently) and view ideas based on the Lord’s standard of truth rather than accepting the world’s premises or assumptions. We can do this by asking questions such as “What do I already know about Heavenly Father, His plan, and how He deals with His children?” and “What gospel teachings relate to or clarify this concept or issue?” Even questions that relate to historical events may need to be examined with an eternal perspective. As we stay anchored to our trust in our Heavenly Father and His plan of salvation, we are able to see issues more clearly. It may also help to examine historical questions in the proper historical context by considering the culture and norms of the time period rather than imposing current perspectives and attitudes. It is important to remember that historical details do not carry the saving power of covenants, ordinances, and doctrine. To be distracted by less significant details at the expense of missing the unfolding miracle of the Restoration is like spending time analyzing a gift box and ignoring the wonder of the gift itself.
Doctrinal Mastery Core DocumentAcquiring Spiritual KnowledgePrinciple 2: Examine Concepts and Questions with an Eternal Perspective To examine doctrinal concepts, questions, and social issues with an eternal perspective, we consider them in the context of the plan of salvation and the teachings of the Savior. We seek the help of the Holy Ghost in order to see things as the Lord sees them. This allows us to reframe the question (to see the question differently) and view ideas based on the Lord’s standard of truth rather than accepting the world’s premises or assumptions. We can do this by asking questions such as “What do I already know about Heavenly Father, His plan, and how He deals with His children?” and “What gospel teachings relate to or clarify this concept or issue?”Even questions that relate to historical events may need to be examined with an eternal perspective. As we stay anchored to our trust in our Heavenly Father and His plan of salvation, we are able to see issues more clearly. It may also help to examine historical questions in the proper historical context by considering the culture and norms of the time period rather than imposing current perspectives and attitudes.It is important to remember that historical details do not carry the saving power of covenants, ordinances, and doctrine. To be distracted by less significant details at the expense of missing the unfolding miracle of the Restoration is like spending time analyzing a gift box and ignoring the wonder of the gift itself.

Changing The Narrative –Reconstructing Mormon History

When Latter-day Saints discover problems with church history and doctrine, they often turn to church leaders and scholars for answers. Sometimes these answers are more unsettling than the problems themselves. Here’s a video compilation followed by quotes with individual sources where available. Some struggle with unanswered questionsabout things that have been doneor said in the …

Continue reading “Changing The Narrative –Reconstructing Mormon History”

Church and its Inoculation Approach to Addressing Historical Details

The church is working hard to inoculate the youth from the disease of church history. They are teaching seminary students in the scripture mastery program that historical details are not important since they can’t provide salvation, so let’s not get distracted by these less significant details. This conditions young members to ignore the troubling issues …

Continue reading “Church and its Inoculation Approach to Addressing Historical Details”

"It is important to remember that historical details do not carry the saving power of covenants, ordinances, and doctrine. To be distracted by less significant details at the expense of missing the unfolding miracle of the Restoration is like spending time analyzing a gift box and ignoring the wonder of the gift itself." The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or Mormon Church | wasmormon.org
"It is important to remember that historical details do not carry the saving power of covenants, ordinances, and doctrine. To be distracted by less significant details at the expense of missing the unfolding miracle of the Restoration is like spending time analyzing a gift box and ignoring the wonder of the gift itself." The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or Mormon Church
"During our evening conversations, Joseph would occasionally give us some of the most amusing recitals that could be imagined: he would describe the ancient inhabitants of this continent; their dress, mode of travelling, and the animals upon which they rode; their cities, and their buildings, with every particular; he would describe their warfare, as also their religious worship. This he would do with as much ease, seemingly, as if he had spent his whole life with them." - Lucy Mack Smith, Joseph Smith's Mother | wasmormon.org
"During our evening conversations, Joseph would occasionally give us some of the most amusing recitals that could be imagined: he would describe the ancient inhabitants of this continent; their dress, mode of travelling, and the animals upon which they rode; their cities, and their buildings, with every particular; he would describe their <​mode of​> warfare, as also their religious worship. This he would do with as much ease, seemingly, as if he had spent his whole life with them." - Lucy Mack Smith, Joseph Smith's Mother
"It implies it’s like darkening a room when we show slides. It implies that there is an image appearing in that stone and the light would make it more difficult to see that image. So, that implies a translation that’s a reading and so gives us a little clue about the whole translation process. But it also raises the strange question, ‘What in the world are the plates for? Why do we need them on the table if they are just wrapped up into a cloth while he looks into a seer stone?’" - Richard Bushman, Mormon Historian | wasmormon.org
"It implies it’s like darkening a room when we show slides. It implies that there is an image appearing in that stone and the light would make it more difficult to see that image. So, that implies a translation that’s a reading and so gives us a little clue about the whole translation process.But it also raises the strange question, ‘What in the world are the plates for? Why do we need them on the table if they are just wrapped up into a cloth while he looks into a seer stone?’" - Richard Bushman, Mormon Historian
"We still have pictures on our ward bulletin boards of Joseph Smith with the Gold Plates in front of him. That has become an irksome point and I think it is something the church should pay attention to. Because anyone who studies the history knows that is not what happened. There is no church historian who says that is what happened and yet it is being propagated by the church and it feeds into the notion that the church is trying to cover up embarrassing episodes and is sort of prettifying its own history." - Richard Bushman, Mormon Historian | wasmormon.org
"We still have pictures on our ward bulletin boards of Joseph Smith with the Gold Plates in front of him. That has become an irksome point and I think it is something the church should pay attention to. Because anyone who studies the history knows that is not what happened. There is no church historian who says that is what happened and yet it is being propagated by the church and it feeds into the notion that the church is trying to cover up embarrassing episodes and is sort of prettifying its own history." - Richard Bushman, Mormon Historian
"I frequently wrote for day after day, often he sitting at the table close by him, he sitting with his face buried in his hat, with the stone in it and dictating hour after hour, with nothing between us. He had neither manuscript nor book to read from. If he had had anything of the kind he could not have concealed it from me. The plates often lay on the table without any attempt at concealment, wrapped in a small linen cloth, which I had given him to fold them in." - Emma Smith, 1st Wife and 1st Scribe to Joseph Smith | wasmormon.org
"I frequently wrote for day after day, often he sitting at the table close by him, he sitting with his face buried in his hat, with the stone in it and dictating hour after hour, with nothing between us. He had neither manuscript nor book to read from. If he had had anything of the kind he could not have concealed it from me. The plates often lay on the table without any attempt at concealment, wrapped in a small linen cloth, which I had given him to fold them in." - Emma Smith, 1st Wife and 1st Scribe to Joseph Smith