The church has lately been making regular changes to church policy and the church handbook. Most of these changes are met with praise, such as 2-hour church services! Others seem to simply be bureaucratic noise. Retiring the Home and Visiting Teaching programs, only to replace them with a similar Ministering Program, a big push to …
Category Archives: Thought
(Page 7)When Church Leaders Speak, Has Any Thinking Been Done
In 1945, the LDS magazine Improvement Era stated: “When our leaders speak, the thinking has been done. … To think otherwise, without immediate repentance, may cost one his faith, may destroy his testimony, and leave him a stranger to the kingdom of God.” This wasn’t just a random article, it was the teaching message for …
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The Anachronistic Olive Tree Allegory from Zenos in Jacob 5
Jacob 5 is a story about an orchard of Olive Trees and a servant who grafts branches from wild trees to tame trees and vice versa all according to the commands from the Lord of the Vineyard. The allegory represents the past, and future history of the House of Israel. It discusses the scattering of Israel before …
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Monetizing Ponderize – Do Church Leaders Cash In?
The term “ponderize” was coined by a Mormon Church leader, Devin G. Durrant, during a General Conference talk in October 2015. It is a portmanteau of “ponder” and “memorize” intended to convey a specific approach to studying and applying the teachings of the Church. I invite you to “ponderize” one verse of scripture each week. The word ponderize is not …
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Why Latter-day Saint Leaders Support the Respect for Marriage Act
Recently the US passed an act called The Respect for Marriage Act. This act requires the U.S. federal government and all U.S. states and territories to recognize the validity of same-sex and interracial civil marriages. It also protects religious liberty. Almost surprisingly, Latter-day Saint leaders supported the act. Support is a Dramatic Reversal Taylor Petrey, …
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Mormon Excommunication For Change – The September Six and More
The September Six were a group of six members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) who were excommunicated or disfellowshipped in September 1993 for their intellectual and historical pursuits that were deemed contrary to the teachings and doctrines of the Church. The six members were: The excommunications and disfellowshippings of …
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Be Open to the Magic of Awareness and the Wisdom of Insecurity
Even though experiencing a faith crisis is devastating, there is hope, it does get better. After struggling with a breaking shelf and feelings of groundlessness, we can reconstruct and find wonder again. There is still magic to be found in the world! Even when deconstructing a church worldview or faith paradigm, we must dig deep …
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Defiant Apologists Challenge the New Seer Stone Narrative
The Mormon church is shifting the narrative surrounding the Book of Mormon translation lately by admitting that Joseph used a rock in his hat as a main translation method. This narrative shift has put some apologists in an awkward position. The Joseph Smith Foundation apologist group has published a book discussing Joseph Smith’s use of …
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Thoughts and Prayers
In his lazy learners and lax disciples talk at the April 2021 General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, church President Russell M Nelson emphasized the importance of developing faith in Jesus Christ through intentional effort and action. He refers to doubters as “lazy learners and lax disciples” and blames them …
Whistleblower News Prompts Vacant Responses from LDS Corp
The popular news program 60 Minutes released a segment on its program discussing the obscene wealth of the church and the whistleblower complaint filed by David Nielsen. His complaint alleges that the Mormon Church claims to behave as a non-profit charity, but in reality, is a for-profit corporation pursuing investments and investments. The church never …
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60 Minutes Transcript: Whistleblower David Nielsen Speaks Out After Reporting the Mormon Church to IRS in 2019
The show 60 Minutes broadcast a segment about the Mormon Billions. Sharyn Alfonsi follows up with whistleblower David Nielsen who resigned from his position at Ensign Peak Advisors and wrote the whistleblower report in 2019. Since then, the Mormon church has been fined 5 million dollars by the SEC for illegal filing practices, but Nielsen …
New Primary Song: Celestial Mothers
This new Celestial Mothers song is a topic that is sadly lacking, while there are many many songs for fathers, fatherhood, and Heavenly Father. This is based upon the LDS children’s song, Fathers. Celestial Mothers in Heaven, begat you and meBut rarely are they mentionedAs part of our heavenly family Why does Church ignore them, is …
New Hymn: Oy vey, Heavenly Mother
This newly penned hymn is based upon the Eliza Snow poem, Oh My Father, which was turned into an LDS hymn. It is written in fake biblical style because, if it was good enough for Joe Smith in the Book of Mormon, why not. The Mormon song books are sorely lacking material around the topic of …
Doublethink and the Mormon Church
“1984” is a dystopian novel written by George Orwell and published in 1949. The novel is set in a totalitarian society in the year 1984 and follows the life of a low-ranking member of the ruling Party, Winston Smith, as he navigates the oppressive and all-controlling state. The novel is a warning against the dangers …
Timeline of the First Vision Story and Development
The First Vision is a foundational event in the history and theology of the Church. It refers to an experience Joseph Smith claimed to have had as a young man. In the spring of 1820, he seeks guidance and religious truth. In later accounts, he described going into a grove of trees and praying to …
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More Momon Thoughts on Evolution
Alongside statements from previous church president Joseph Fielding Smith that if evolution is true, the church is false and current church president Russell M Nelson that he finds evolution unbelievable because “Man has always been Man,” “it’s just the way genetics works,” we have other leaders offering their “inspired” views on evolution. Can we dismiss …
The Strange Hidden First Vision Account of 1832
There are multiple accounts of Joseph Smith’s “first vision”. This is a fact and today the church admits it. The church wants to dismiss these different accounts though by claiming that they really aren’t different because they tell the same consistent story. The details are in fact very different though. The earliest version of this …
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Why the Mormon Church Hid Billions of Dollars of Investments?
The Mormon church was recently charged with fraud and reached a settlement with the SEC agreeing to pay five million dollars. Their chief infraction was failing to properly file and misstating in filings they did submit about the church investments with the church-owned investment company Ensign Peak Advisors. The fraud reached all the way to …
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Elder McKay’s Sure and Certain Foundation for Unhistory and Brainwashing
Elder McKay the official Church Historian, with no credentials for history, but a career lawyer and executive gave a devotional at BYU-I in April 2023 titled A Sure and Certain Foundation. He detailed to students and young adults how to strengthen their faith in the church and how to face doubts. Elder McKay, Church Historian …
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These Are Not the Droids You’re Looking For
May the Fourth be with you. In honor of today – which is commonly known as Star Wars Day, because May the Fourth sounds like “May the Force be with you” – let’s look at a simple example of gaslighting, or as it can be referred to when aided by the Force, Jedi mind-tricks. May …
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Mixing Tithing Funds and Investments Maybe Legal But Doesn’t Mean Its Right
James Huntsman filed a lawsuit in 2021 against the church claiming that he was duped into believing that his tithing contributions were going to charitable work, while in fact, they are used to pad the coffers of the church investment accounts. He filed the fraud complaint against the church and states that “this is not …
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Church Finances: Follow the Prophet, He has the Money
Hinckley made it clear that the church doesn’t share financial statements because the information belongs to those who made the contribution. Since 1959, Church finances have not been disclosed to the public, and we can see that church leaders have actively tried to hide finances from the public. Even so, there are disclosures that can …
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Stay in the Boat or Follow Jesus Out
Considering the demeaning parable from Elder Renlund about the spoiled boy leaving the boat and Elder Holland being furious with members who “bail” and imploring members to “Stay in the Boat” as well as The Old Ship Zion references from Brigham Young, Mormon church culture has a lot of imagery around boats, and staying in …
Book of Mormon Horses: Real or Myth? Or Tapirs?
Irrefutable scientific evidence clearly shows that horses did not co-exist with Nephites or Lamanites during the Book of Mormon times. Mormon apologists stretch to come up with any explanation. their leading theory agrees with science on the one hand, that the horses in the Book of Mormon weren’t horses, but on the other hand, the …
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Demonizing Doubt: Nelson’s Talk on Lazy Learners and Lax Disciples
In his lazy learners and lax disciples talk at the April 2021 General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, church President Russell M Nelson emphasized the importance of developing faith in Jesus Christ through intentional effort and action. Those who don’t succeed in this self-administered brainwash he refers to as “lazy …
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Putting Questions on the Shelf is Unhealthy and Doesn’t Work
In the Mormon community, the practice of putting questions on a shelf refers to the act of setting aside doubts or concerns about the faith in order to maintain belief and avoid conflict with church teachings. Mormons are encouraged to trust in the leadership and authority of the church and to believe that answers to …
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Pascal’s Wager for Mormons and Ex-Mormons
Pascal’s Wager is an argument proposed by the French mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal in the 17th century, which attempts to demonstrate that it is rational to believe in God. It does not provide evidence or proof that God exists, but it sets up belief as a rational choice we can make and outlines the …
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Does Faith Survive Seeing the Forest for the Trees?
This idiomatic phrase relates to one who does not understand or appreciate a larger situation, or problem because they are considering only a few parts of it. If you can’t see the forest for the trees, you are too focused on small details or parts and so you are missing something more important; you fail to understand …
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On Being a Mormon Historian from Michael Quinn
The late Dr. D. Michael Quinn was among the many scholars who were forced to choose between promoting church propaganda and maintaining their integrity as historians in response to Elder Packer’s controversial talk “The Mantle is Far Greater Than the Intellect,”. Quinn delivered a pointed response to Elder Packer’s remarks in his lecture entitled “On …
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Elder Maxwell Tells ExMormons to Go Bowling and Leave the Church Alone
Many church leaders bemoan those who leave the church and then refuse to leave the church alone. Despite the ethical duty many ex-members feel to expose fraud when they see one or the training they have received to “always be converting” as missionaries. What about the hypocrisy when the church commonly talks about those who …
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