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 …
Continue reading “Putting Questions on the Shelf is Unhealthy and Doesn’t Work”
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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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 …
Continue reading “Does Faith Survive Seeing the Forest for the Trees?”
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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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 …
Continue reading “Elder Maxwell Tells ExMormons to Go Bowling and Leave the Church Alone”
Joseph Fielding Smith wasn’t the only church leader that didn’t accept evolution. He claimed, “if evolution is true, the church is false.” He could be dismissed as a “man of his times”, especially now that it’s been a lifetime since he published that statement in his Doctrines of Salvation book. We have this same sentiment …
Continue reading “Russell M Nelson Continues Mormon Tradition To Deny Evolution”
Brendan was raised in the church but from early on saw things that didn’t sit well with his soul. He recognizes many instances in his life where cognitive dissonance was telling him something wasn’t right. This led him to study deeply and even pursue a study of history, which led him to an internship with …
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Tax time in the US and as people are leaving the church, they are receiving real blessings. In many countries, donating money to a charitable organization is tax deductible, meaning this decreases your taxable income. This is a perk to tithing for some people, it can save you some money on your taxes, though not …
Continue reading “Stop Paying Tithing and Challenge the Tax Exemption Status of the Mormon Church”
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”
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 …
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BYU–Hawaii presented an international concert and devotional by recording artist, Dr. David Glen Hatch, on Thursday, April 4, 2023, in the McKay Auditorium. Brother Hatch, who has published sheet music as well as recordings at church-owned Deseret Book, performed some piano pieces and spoke to the audience in this devotional. Brother Hatch warns of the …
Continue reading “Mormon Fearmongering & Marginalizing Liberal Agenda at BYU Devotional”
Mormon Church President, Russell M Nelson is being honored by the Martin Luther King Jr International Chapel on Morehouse College Campus in Atlanta, Georgia. He is to receive a new award, the first recipient, which is to be called the Gandhi-King-Mandela Peace Prize. This is in coordination with the Gandhi-King-Ikeda Institute at the chapel. What …
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Before M Russell Ballard was an apostle, he is praised as a successful businessman. He was involved in various business pursuits in Utah. He was the top-selling salesman for his father’s Nash car dealership, which he left and in the late 1950s put his efforts into being the first Edsel car dealer in Salt Lake City. Sadly, …
Continue reading “Elder M Russell Ballard’s Colorful History With the SEC”
There are many many acronyms in the nomenclature of the Mormon church. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has come up with many nicknames for parts of the organization or even doctrines, most of which are acronyms. Some of these are “official” acronyms while others have simply developed naturally over time. It should …
Continue reading “What does TSCC mean when referring to the Mormon church? TBM? PIMO? MFMC?”
Mason Allred and Mark Ashurst-McGee discuss the various historical accounts of the Book of Mormon translation process, including accounts of Joseph Smith using a Seer Stone to translate the ancient record and accounts of Joseph Smith using the Urim and Thummim in a video posted on the “Church History/Latter-day Saint History” YouTube account, the official …
The New Narrative We have many statements and posts from current church leaders trying to normalize Joseph’s seer stone translation. We have Elder Uchtdorf and Brother Brad Wilcox discussing the rock in a hat and independently comparing it to a mobile phone of all things. We even have President Nelson demonstrating the rock-in-hat procedure Joseph …
The church has done much to normalize the fact that Joseph Smith used a peep stone or seer stone when he purportedly translated the Book of Mormon. They have released images of the exact stone he used and have received quite a bit of pushback since in the past, the narrative was he used the …
Continue reading “Elder Uchtdorf Compares Peep Stone to His Smartphone”
Heidi was a faithful member who enjoyed studying church history. Recently, the “new” church history became disturbing and sounded more like a cult. Through her spouse leaving the church she struggled with the fear-based messages of church leaders and digging in to understand when they are speaking as prophets vs as men, realizing that they …
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Laycie had a rude wake-up call when she was put into a situation to choose between her church and her child. Thankfully, she listened to her love and realized that she was in a cult. So happy to know that she got out and supported her child! ❤️ I’m here. I’m queer. I love the …
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After receiving the Faith Crisis Report, the church leaders commissioned and started quietly publishing what they call Gospel Topic Essays. These essays, for the most part, are the first time the church has published an official stance on many of the topics. They were published quietly and buried deep within the church site of materials. …
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What Does Gaslighting Mean? The term “gaslighting” comes from the 1938 play Angel Street, which Alfred Hitchock later adapted into the film Gaslight, in which a man tries to convince his wife that she is going insane so he can steal from her. When he turns on the lights in the attic to search for her jewelry …
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Members of the Mormon church are required to pay the church a tithe. This tithing is understood to be ten percent of the member’s income. This is the same for children who earn $5 for mowing the lawn to wealthy lawyers and doctors in the church. The church makes much of the sacrifice and blessings …
Continue reading “Development of Mormon Tithing – From Meager Origins to Ensign Peak Billions”
There are myriad warnings against dissension and apostasy by church leaders. Church leaders are afraid of those who leave the church behind. Those who leave have the gumption and the gall to stand up for what they believe in, rather than believing what they are told to believe. Those who leave have the courage to …
Continue reading “Mormon Authorities Threaten Doubters With “Don’t You Dare Bail” Messages”
The president of the Mormon church, LDS church, or as he wants it to be called The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter–day Saints had made a stand about the term Mormon. After years of the church learning to embrace the nickname and fund ad campaigns promoting members of the church as Mormons, President Nelson …
Continue reading “The Church Leaves the Term Mormon, But Can’t Leave it Alone”
What Happened between Fanny Alger and Joseph Smith? As a young woman, Fanny Alger was a servant in Joseph Smith’s house. She lived with the family for a time while also serving as a maid. Joseph Smith and Fanny got very close. Multiple accounts exist of Emma Smith, Joseph’s wife catching Joseph celestializing (sexually involved) …
Continue reading “Fanny Alger, Joseph Smith’s “dirty, nasty, filthy affair” Teen Bride”
David Nielsen, a former Ensign Peak portfolio manager, shared with his twin brother Lars about the shady practices and massive amounts of money the Mormon church, or the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have in investments. Together the brothers compiled information and reported it to the authorities at the SEC (Securities Exchange Commission) …
Continue reading “Whistleblowing On the Mormon 100 Billion “Rainy-Day Fund””
Jen supported her family through trials and desperately wanted to be together forever with her mother who passed when she was a teenager. But between experiencing sexism in the church, her son coming out as gay, and her daughter struggling with the corporate sales tone of her mission it didn’t add up. She struggled with …
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For the past week, the church has been all over the news. Not for something they will want to draw publicity. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced that the Church has been fined $5 Million for using shell companies to obscure the size of its investment portfolio. On February 21st, the SEC issued a …
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Elder Jeffrey R Holland gave a fiery talk at a devotional in Tempe, Arizona in April 2016. Tempe Rescue This is a very dynamic address, and he’s quite emotionally charged about those who leave. Though charged, Holland does come off as more intelligent than in his BBC interview where he claims he’s neither an idiot …
Continue reading “Elder Holland’s Taffy-Pulled Devotional – Don’t You Dare Bail & Stay in the Boat!”
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints With all the hubbub about referring to the church by the proper name, as directed by church president Russell Nelson, let’s stop and look at what the church name is. Why does the official name of the church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) contain …
Continue reading “Retrofitting Revelation For The Mormon Church Official Name”
